Ian Smeeton

My wife!!!! has been given a couple of ship models to build after being fascinated by the model ships on display at the Glasgow Riverside Museum, and expressing an interest in building some. She is an absolute novice, although quite crafty. I have offered to help, but as she is VERY independently minded, I get the feeling that apart from showing the odd technique to her, I will be sidelined! I did see on the original Hornby TV Series, that one of the plastic kit builders washed the sprues before starting. I cannot remember if it was just a rinse in water or if some other agent was used as well. I thought about washing up liquid, but wondered about the lanolin used to soften hands. Any suggestions? Regards Ian

I like this: https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/18596 Regards Ian

Viewed without signing in but had to 'Accept Cookies' twice. Regards Ian

works for me (Windows 10, Chrome Browser) Regards Ian

Izal Still sold in huge amounts in the sub Continent. Branded as 'John Wayne' Ad Strapline, "Its Rough & Tough & takes no sh!t from Indians" (Sorry, not very PC) Regards Ian

Hit F5 several times. No change Regards Ian

Those are not showing for me, David. I have left the tab open since my last post, and the first lot of the second set of today's photos are still not showing. Your second set of the second set is just fine, but your third set of the second set just has the titles

Hi David, They show up fine for me now. They are in B& W, not red for me. I will have a look back over the last few days to see if they show up. I always enjoy your photos each day. Regards & thanks for the repost. Ian

Is it me? Over the last week or so, David's second set of photos ( on days where they are in Black and White), are not appearing for me. Using Google Chrome, if that is any help. Regards Ian

I really enjoyed your talk, and being able to get up close and personal with the layout. My colleague from Whissendine Signal Box was suitably impressed, being more used to 5 inch and larger gauges Regards Ian

@Laurie2mil might have more info although he is modelling Yeovil Town in an earlier period. Regards Ian

Some methods are more extreme than others. Regards Ian

Caption? Regards Ian

I took a booking for 8 people one Friday night in my pub at 7.30. I always answered the phone giving the name of the pub, and the village that we were in as there were a couple of other pubs of the same name within a few miles. Friday night at the appointed time, the table remained empty. I rang the number provided to see if there was an issue, or a mistake had been made. Again, at 9.00 pm, I rang. My own phone rang at about 11.00 that night, the lady in question on the other end, and NOT happy. "Why have you phoned me. We had a terrible meal at your pub. We were put in a corridor outside the toilets. The service was terrible, it took hours to be served" etc. etc. I couldn't get a word in edgeways for ages . Eventually, she calmed down a little, and I stated that I was the Landlord of the Plough at Greetham, (my pub) and that I had rung her be cause they hadn't shown up for the booking (which I had taken myself) Well, this set her off again, that she had never rung me, that we had never spoken , and that she had never made the booking. I couldn't get her to see that the mistake was hers, and that I was seriously out of pocket as a result. We only had 22 seats, so her booking was for more than a third of my capacity and made a huge hole in our takings for the night. We had been fully booked, turning people away. I could have filled the space twice over, but according to her it was all my fault. Fortunately, his was before Tripadvisor was invented. I suspect that we would have had a VERY negative review, despite the fact that we had done nothing wrong. Sometimes you just can't win. Regards Ian

Union Flag and Australian flag. These two nations lost the most to the Japanese, however local civilian casualties were far higher. Regards Ian

We MUST remember them. They gave their tomorrows for our todays. Whether there are surviving members from WW1, WW2 or any later conflict, or not, we must STILL remember them Singapore, a War Memorial in her own right. Regards Ian

All on the bike?? Fair play to you Regards Ian

That smell seemed to be particularly bad on a Sunday evening as we were returning from visiting the Grandparents. I remember it well!! Regards Ian

IRONSTONE QUARRY RAILWAY MEMORIES: QUARRY LOCOMOTIVE SHEDS Privately owned ironstone quarry railway systems needed to provide suitable accommodation to provide both shelter and maintenance facilities for the locomotives in daily use on the quarry railway system. Whilst some quarry owners provided modern brick-built structures the temporary nature of ironstone quarrying led some owners to favour pre-fabricated buildings (usually corrugated sheet sheets secured on a stout timber frame) which could be removed easily and moved elsewhere as needs required. Earlier this year a railway enthusiast contacted the Museum to donate some negatives and prints to be placed in our archive. We are also very grateful to him for transferring copyright of his photographs, taken in 1967, to the museum so we may share the images with others. Image 1 Single track brick steam locomotive shed built by James Pain Ltd to serve the early years of the ironstone quarries around Market Overton in Rutland. The building was the operational base for four small Peckett built saddletank locomotives used in the quarries. Image 2 In 1955 Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd constructed a two-road loco shed at Market Overton Ironstone Quarry to provide facilities for larger steam locomotives then in use. It had two tracks beneath a pillarless roof of prestressed concrete and was known as Coopers shed after the name of the then manager. Image 3 During the early years of World War Two the Stanton Ironworks Company opened up a new ironstone quarry at Harlaxton near Grantham. As part of the development a new brick built locomotive shed was constructed to service both the locos working on the quarry lines but also the steel line down from the shed sidings to the exchange sidings at Casthorpe on the Denton branchline. In this photo Hunslet built 50550 class loco GUNBY awaits its next turn of duty in front of the loco shed. Image 4 The single track loco shed at Pilton Ironstone Quarry in Rutland. This building could accommodate three steam locomotives. Image 5 The single track loco shed at Cranford Ironstone quarry in Northamptonshire. Both Pilton and Cranford were operated by the Staveley Coal and Iron Co Ltd.

HALF PAST TWO Regards Ian

3'5 1/2" from rail height to the centre of the buffers is the normal height specified (according to a quick & dirty Google search) I am not sure what size buffer heads are on the 2MT in the photo linked, but checking that should give a fairly accurate height. Regards Ian

Our season has just finished, so there will be little from me until next Easter. However, our final running day of the season was very successful, with two Barclays in steam and three diesels in operation working the quary branch, shed yard and demonstration freights. 1931 of 1928 after servicing, ready for the afternoon. YE 1382 shunting the Quarry branch The working volunteers at the end of the last operating day. Thumbs up for a successful season, and also for the Museum having renewed Arts Council Accreditation. Regards Ian

Agree, but just thought it might be appropriate for Dfor5. Regards Ian

At Rocks by Rail, we currently do not issue tickets, however, I was thinking the other night, about using wagon label facsimiles as entry tickets. As we also offer 'Driver for a Fiver' events, tickets would be useful for that, too. I seem to remember labels marked OJO, one journey only, which might be suitable. Would anyone have a label in their collection which could be scanned, to use as a template? Suggestions for Family, Junior and adult tickets would be useful, too. Regards Ian

I know that its a 3/4 view, but going away. We don't get many 153's down our way. Wymondham Crossing last week. I think this was heading to RTC Derby in lovely Autumn sunshine. Regards Ian