corneliuslundie

I have found a reference in "Great Western Docks & Marine" (Tony Adkins, Noodle books, 2014) on page 32 from Chapman's "Twixt rails and sea" "The hoist-man or topman, as he is more frequently called, works his hydraulic levers and the cradle with its truck containing 20 tons of coal is lifted swiftly and smoothly upwards to the required height carrying the cradle-man with it. You see the cradle-man release the pin which holds the end door of the wagon and signal to the topman that he has done so." There often seem to have been facilities for collecting coal which had fallen from the wagon in the process of tipping. In one case a dedicated 5 ton crane is mentioned. Jonathan

A nice little vignette for a Valleys layout set in the right period (far too late for me). Jonathan

I have to duck for this one in Berriew, near Welshpool. It is an aqueduct on the Montgomery Canal.. https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5970686,-3.1991643,3a,49y,307.16h,86.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZ97Pw1AvuqpJUeL-rdwBAQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkyMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Fortunately buses are not too likely to come this way. Jonathan

Cambrian 146 was indeed a carriage truck, built in 1906 at Oswestry, 16 ft 6 in. long, renumbered 24 by the GWR but withdrawn in 1923. Mike Lloyd did a drawing of the similar 144 which will appear in the second Cambrian Railways drawings volume. The Cambrian numbered its NPCS in the same series as its carriages, hence the apparently high number. Jonathan

""my work phone is off!" Good J

I was thinking more of Ivor! J

"Great to see that we can still do trains like that today. Agreed. A proper train (well, a Deltic up front would have made it perfect). Jonathan

"Oops, sorry we built the bridge in the wrong place. You'll have to move the motorway." Seriously, quite a lot of civil engineering to move the motorway over to cross the bridge. Jonathan

I am surprised by what busmansholiday has written as it contradicts what I have read elsewhere, but I am happy to accept that he knows what he is talking about. Let's hope the HS2 rails come by rail then! And back on topic, I notice that most of the emissions from government at the moment are smoke and mirrors rather than useful statements - as usual for any government. I have just been reading the latest issue of Modern Railways with its thoughts for the future of railways in the UK, including HS2. One question which I know no-one can answer is whether HS2 will also be "nationalised" and simply become part of the network or whether it will retain some kind of separate existence. It will be interesting to see. But also a chance to thank those who regularly post videos of progress with various parts of HS2. Please keep up the good work. So let's get back to the engineering. Jonathan

"Does it mean that those who agonise over the correct shade of GWR red should also have mostly unlettered PO wagons?" Even for 1912, the year I model. Something to think about though I have a feeling that most South Wales collieries did paint liveries on their wagons. Jonathan

Sorry, but Scunthorpe is to stop making virgin steel. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-67329074 The previous link also said that. I agree that we will be able to import it from Europe but that is less green than making it ourselves as it includes unnecessary transport costs. And from outside Europe we can not guarantee that it will be manufactured in an environmentally responsible way. Even if it had not been a certainty already, the recent refusal of planning permission for a new deep coal mine to produce coal for Scunthorpe was the final nail in the coffin. What I find incredible is that in all the debate about Port Talbot moving away from virgin steel ino-one has mentioned that the steel produced there from scrap will simply not be suitable for many applications. Jonathan

And a completely biased and incompetent item on the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98486dzxnzo For a start there are numerous statements about spending public money. Do they have no idea of the funding mechanism? Jonathan

Sorry, Phil, but with Scunthorpe and Port Talbot closing we will be the only country in the G10 without facilities for making virgin steel. What has never been made clear in all the debate about coal and steel is that recycled steel is not suitable for things like railway rails, cars etc. There is just one very experimental steel plant somewhere in Scandinavia which is trying to make virgin steel using the electrical process but when I last heard it had not yet produced any. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cydr07nz2z4o Jonathan

Disappointing to read that the Ashington line reopening has been postponed to the end of the year. Jonathan

j3015 looks like a black and white photo with the signs photoshopped in. Jonathan