PhilJ W

Each wagon is sealed off from its neighbour when the train is moving so a fire would be confined to just one wagon The contents of the London docks were pumped over several miles of pipes for the hydraulicly operated cranes and lock gates etc. If punctured they could cause a fire as lithium reacts strongly when exposed to air. It was demonstrated once by someone hammering a nail through a mobile phone battery.

More likely to be on a bogie well wagon due to the weight. However the smaller Welsh locomotives would have been carried on them quite often. IIRC there are photographs of such locomotives loaded on wagons available. Another item often seen on a lowmac would be a Wickham trolly.

Any news of when they will be in service in 2018?

Evening all from Estuary-Land. No cooking tonight as when I went into the local Asda's the cafeteria was open. A somewhat limited menu today but I had an excellent omelette and chips, very nice. I also checked out the LED's that I got from Tesco's, 50 for £3 c/w batteries, they were described as 'soft white' but they have a yellowish tinge to them reminiscent of the old incandecent bulbs so ideal for pre 2000 layouts. I was looking in the supermarkets for those presentation boxes usually containing cheese, biscuits or booze or any combination of the three. I am after the boxes as they make ideal stock boxes only problem is that they appear to be either sold out or not put out at reduced prices yet.

Who will be the first to throw their toys out of the pram?

Normally it is Ian.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Last night I was on Facebook until just before midnight when it went into v-e-r-y s-l-o-w motion. So I clicked on a link to a program on the Galloping Geese and the history thereof. That lasted half an hour and was very interesting problem is I cant now find the link. If I can find it again I will post it, it was on a series called 'Colorado Experience', well worth a look.

Apart from prototypes and the initial 60 London United trolleybuses all the standard London trolleybuses except one had matching fleet/registration numbers. Like the Routemasters # 1000 had a unique letter combination followed by 100 being the one exception.

Belated happy new year to you all and goodnight.

To add to the confusion of RT registrations there was the SRT class which retained their original registrations.

When I went out on Friday I espied two interesting/unusual vehicles. The first was a GMC pick-up from the late 50's/early 60's, this was in the 'rough' paintwork condition that seems to be the fashion nowadays. The second was a Morris Minor 1000 van but instead of the standard van 'box' the van part was very like the Traveller but without windows and not even a splinter of wood in sight. Both vehicles were spotted in Benfleet but as I was driving I was unable to take any pics.

Today would have been my mothers 98th birthday. We lost her to cancer more than 30 years ago.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit windy here at the moment, enough to rattle the roof tiles last night. Today would have been my mums 98th birthday so happy birthday mum wherever you are. When I was working I was involved with the YTS scheme about 30 years ago. A chap who was on the scheme that I was involved with has posted on Facebook asking fellow trainees to get in touch with him. Considering the trainees were in the 16-19 age group it surprised me that he is now 51, where did all that time go? It doesn't work with dogs as they tend to lay on their backs waiting for their belly's to be rubbed.

It would be an interesting exercise to trace all 999 vehicles with certain registration letters. FXT is a case in point as well as the vehicles mentioned there were several other interesting vehicles that bore those letters particularily in the service vehicle fleet. Another set of letters that includes some particular gems is JXC which starts of with the Bedford mobile canteens and includes LT's very last half cab single deckers, the first RTL and a number of the Craven RT's.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Talking of contagious illnesses, on Boxing Day I went bargain hunting in Tesco's. While I was in there there was a toddler making some very miserable sounds. When I got nearer I could see that he had a very nasty looking rash. I made a few sympathetic sounds to which the childs mother replied 'Its OK its only chicken pox.' Cock/Henwombleness must be even more highly contagious. Apart from the fact that the place for a sick child is tucked up in bed there is the risk to those adults who have had chicken pox of them contracting shingles which can be very nasty.

Most of the 'Pre-war' RT's did not enter service until after war had started, indeed the last entered service as late as 1942. The dates given for registration numbers is the date they were issued. In the case of London Transport and some other large users of motor vehicles such as the Post Office the registrations are issued in 'blocks' and used as and when required. The FXT registrations are a case in point. Some were to be found on some American Ford lorries not delivered until 1941, complete with left hand drive and on the 'unfrozen' buses also in 1941. Under normal service registrations issued in blocks would be used not long after issue but with the advent of war and fewer new vehicles becoming available and stretched out the use of the block registrations.

I prefer them with the original Airfix couplings, even better than the current Bachmann ones IMHO.

Where I live Ratty would probably be contributing to a fox's tip top condition.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit windy here this morning, so windy in fact that the dawn chorus of the bin lorries was hardly noticeable. Just as well that my bin bags were a bit weighty and remained put until they were collected as I saw some bags drifting down the street like tumbleweed. Thats it for now, be back later.

Goodnight all.

The ones that I have or had as the case may be all had a weight riveted to the underside. I also have made up a few of the Airfix/Dapol kits to which I araldited sheet lead between the frames on the underside. I have had no problems with lack of weight of the Airfix/GMR ones though I glued the couplings into the straight ahead position which probably helped. The layout I used them on was an end to end without any serious curves so it didn't cause any problems.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Spent a few modelling tokens this morning and even got some extra ones. I had left a surplus model with a trader to sell on my behalf just before Christmas. It hadn't been sold when I arrived at the toy fair this morning but was sold shortly after so more modelling tokens to spend and quite a profit even after the trader received his commission. I took my friend and his young son with me, my friend found a few Triang playland 00 buildings dating from the 1950/60's. I purchased a few diecast vehicles plus some other bits and bobs. My friends son had received an X-Box for Christmas that came with two games. Problem was the games were rated 18! my friends boy is only 9 and special education needs that makes him the same as a 6 year old. The same games that came with the X-box were on sale at £10 in Tesco's but those suitable for children started at £15 and needless to say he wanted the most expensive at £22:50.

In icy conditions its best to keep in as high a gear as possible, this reduces the chances of wheelspin.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Wet and windy this morning but got to go out and spend some more modelling tokens this morning, there's a toy fair at Rayleigh. Checked my weight this morning and I've managed to loose a few pounds since before Christmas, but still overweight though. Thats it for now, be back later.