TheSignalEngineer

I think the time 46220 got to Bristol was on an overnight train from Crewe and beyond. It was a last minute replacement for something else and was the only spare loco Crewe had steamed up ready to go. There was a report of it in Trains Illustrated at the time.

My locos are the types, and where possible actual numbers allocated around or seen working through the area of my ficticious layout in the period 1956-61. It is set in the West Midlands in a bit that was ringed and crossed by various LNWR and GWR lines and based on a 'might have been' had some proposals come to fruition and other falling out of owners not taken place. The proximity of Wolverhampton Works meant foreign locos passing through en route and ex-works locos being snaffled by Oxley or Stafford Road on the pretext of running-in turns, such as a 97xx Condenser on the Swan Village trip or a 15xx in a Wolverhampton - Worcester - Stratford upon Avon diagram. Dudley Zoo specials also produced a variety of locos including B1s and Brush type 2s coming in from the Eastern Region. The more mundane produced out-of-the-ordinary sights such as a Jubilee working special coal train from the Walsall area to Hartlebury for Stourport Power Station or a Holbeck Royal Scot on ECS from a Troop Train. One GWR branch normally populated only by a 57xx on the Withymoor trip and a flying banana or 64xx and auto coach got cleared as a Dotted Red route because it linked two other lines to form an alternative route between Snow Hill and Wolverhampton. This meant that it sometimes had Castles on Class A trains when the main route was closed for engineering work. The 'Devil' factor comes into play when at the weekend I run a Footex for the FA Cup, Bulleid and Maunsell stock hauled by a Spamcam, or a 'CrankEx' hauled by a T9, diesel 10001, LNWR Coal Tank, double headed Pannier Tank and Fowler 4F or a pair of Super Ds. Oh, and just for good measure Palethorpes loading dock is being included, and a few 'personal' items, 4565 which I rode behind on the Newquay Chacewater train actually got to Wolverhampton Works, 90033 my first WD sighting will haul the Bilston Iron Ore and 46146 will sneak in somewhere because both my father and grandfather were Riflemen.

I have a few locos with Springside lamps and they are waiting to get new ones. They look vastly over-size, being only marginally more acceptable painted as LMS black ones that were common in our parish up to the early 1960s.

Unfortunately my notes disappeared during a parental house move around the time I got married. I too can remember a lot of my spotting trips and a few photos have survived over the years. One particular trip was to Rugby at the time of the 'Austin Fortnight' in 1960. Many of the main expresses were going over to EE Type 4 diesels, also the original Peaks were working on the WCML and some locals had Derby Sulzers. Despite the diesels a lot of reliefs were running and we saw 12 Stanier Pacifics and a number of Brits. We rode home behind 'Private E Sykes' on a stopper to Birmingham, logging nearly 200 locos in one day.

Crewe and Swindon used different primer and undercoat IIRC. The brass and copper trimmings and amount of lining also change the perception and then there is the frequency and degree of enthusiasm applied to cleaning. Add to that the effect of age on the varnish. For example what is the correct colour of a green Southern coach, given that it could be freshly painted then before the next scheduled full repaint 10 years later it would have a retouch and revarnish up to three times.

Going back to the cabin, this was the finished model with a picture of the original and my sketches before I started building. The cabin was demolished c1968. The model is about 36mm wide excluding the oil cupboard

1. There's been a diminishing of folk actually making things, particularly locomotives and, to a lesser extent, rolling stock (ironically, Covid might have had the opposite effect, but I can't tell first-hand). This might be because of improved RTR (which, to be fair, is now often better than what many could make for themselves; and, it's usually considerably cheaper). As far as locos are concerned I think the improvements in RTR have cut down making it yourself. For my own particular modelling area and timescale I can only think of two regular performers not available RTR or announced by the mainstream sources. Those would be the Johnson 2F and Stanier 3P. Some of the others are a little long in the tooth but mostly not too bad with e bit of embellishment. Coaching stock has improved a lot but from my point of view there is a big hole with LMS Open stock, which I have built using Comet sides, and Period 1/2 stock some of which was around from 1925 to the mid-1960s. I've also just started on some Gresley Opens for my ER excursions set. Wagons have also improved a lot, but we still only have a generic 5 plank and tank wagons. Again many are a good basis for a bit of improvement but to get the variety I want I have a lot of kits from Parkside, Cambrian and Chivers amongst others. Some are from now-defunct sources but can be picked up if you look and wait. 2. The number of new kits being made available (again, particularly locomotives) has also diminished (cause and effect?). I think full loco kits have diminished although I don't usually build complete locos myself, only a bit of alteration to RTR. The range of carriages and wagons that it is possible to build if you are doing about WW2 to 1964 is quite extensive. I think modern methods such as 3-D printing may change the market with made to order copies of things people have produced for their own modelling. 3. Far more layout I see at shows and in the press seem to be much the same; again, with regard to locos and rolling stock. And, in several cases, there's a proliferation of RTP buildings/structures. The corollary of this is the smaller number of scratch-/kit-built items, and this is not just in OO. I would agree that what is on display is now quite repetitive. I am not 'turned on' by a layout full of 16T minerals with a 9F and a standard brake van or lots of the same 12T box vans 4. The general standard of layouts in general at shows has never been higher in terms of presentation/appearance/lighting. However, I wish I could say the same for the running on some of them. Many of these layouts represent the BR steam/diesel transition period. That's why it's refreshing (at least to me) to see, say, a pre-Grouping depiction where, out of necessity, much more will have been made. More and more layouts are controlled currently by DCC (which doesn't always improve the running!) and many now have (annoying?) sound, often too loud! Standards of construction have gone up. Maybe this is because improved RTR stock has given more time for the infrastructure. Operationally some excellent looking layouts are abysmal. My particular bugbear used to be badly loaded wagons. I remember one particular layout I have seen at least three times and has featured in the mags which has a conflat loaded with an A type container firmly fixed at one end. To me in instant fail. I enjoy pre-1948 layouts as they need a lot more work both in finding information and building sufficient stock of the right types. My pet hate is DCC sound fitted TMD layouts with 12 Class 66 all in different liveries which wouldn't be around together in timescale or location. I seems a pre-requisite of these layouts to show how clever you are by setting all of the locos to produce maximum noise at the same time. Besides that sort of thing why do we have to have lots of DCC train noise and no background sounds? just listen to those great old Transacord discs. Railways in reality have urban or rural background noise, traffic, station staff talking to the crew during a stop, block bells from the signalbox window............ 5. Though I have no 'hard' evidence (other than talking with the manufacturers) most kits (particularly those for locos) are never finished to complete satisfaction. This is substantiated by the number I've seen bought off eBay (not by me; it's as mysterious as nuclear physics!), where many are just a mess. When I say 'complete satisfaction', I admit, that's subjective, but many I've seen don't run well, are glued together and are painted with tar! It took me a long time of fiddling with kit bashing and painting to get to an acceptable level of modelling. Some people just don't have the patience to do it. When I made the model of my Grandad's Lineman's Cabin which appeared on Black Country Blues it took me a whole day to produce the three window frames to a standard that I thought was needed for a layout under the glare of publicity like that was. There is only one known photo which I took in 1967 and no drawing to work to, so getting it to look right was a long process over about two months. 6. There is more of a reluctance now for folk to 'alter' what they've bought (in case it decreases the value?). 'Oh, I've just spent £XXX on that model and by improving/altering/renumbering/renaming/weathering it it'll be devalued. Anyway, if I keep it mint/boxed it'll appeal to collectors'. What has happened to the notion of 'improving' something? I don't like that collector approach myself. very little of what I have is pristine, my first modification job was to weather a Hornbt Dublo 8F. My railway runs in the days of Urban Grot, so I want the trains to fit in with that. 7. Where 'personal' alterations to RTR stuff have taken place (particularly with regard to weathering), the results can be stupendous. This is an area where things are better than they've ever been (at least in my view). For someone to be almost 'apologising' for not building kits is nonsense. Nonsense, when weathering like this brings a pair of (modified) Bachmann RTR locos to life; the work of Tom Foster. I certainly think that a lot of RTR can be improved by slight additions and subtle weathering as long as it is not overdone and in the right shades for the type of stock and period. The colour of 'track dirt' has changed over the years with the change in traction, materials carried and type of brakes. You get a different type of grot from old fashioned Iron on wheel rim brakes to that from modern composite disc brakes, and of course fitted freight stock with the brake pipes actually connected was a rarity before the 1960s. The stock on the railway was also a mixture of new build, complete overhaul and local patch up. My stock is evolving from pristine through about ten stages to unidentifiable grot. For example 16T minerals were still being built in my setting so were between ex-works and about 15 years old so are painted up accordingly and mixed in with 7-planks varying from done up quite well to ex PO with a few bits of name showing, mostly a dirty coal dust colour with a few unpainted new planks around. 8. More folk seem to be paying to have their modelling done by others for them, even to the extent of not being able to fit decoders themselves! A case of upbringing and changing times? My Grandfather who was the biggest influence on me worked for a cycle builder before WW1. After the was he joined the LNWR in the days when most of the railway on the ground you built up as you went along. Training with him I learned a lot about metalworking and woodworking, and how to keep things running by repairing and making copies of broken parts. He could make something out of nothing so it seemed. The fence at the bottom of his garden was built c1956 from matchboarding recovered during the replacement of Vauxhall and Duddeston signal box. It was still standing over 40 years later. Some window frames and floorboards made cold frames for the garden. In my shed I am still using a stool which he made in the early 1950s. Following his lead I still do most things myself, decorating, gardening, minor household repairs, etc where I possibly can. 9. An encouraging sign is that there are some fine, younger modellers out there; and I stress the term 'modellers'! Those who actually make things for themselves, are keen to learn and, most importantly, are 'not afraid'. I've seen some good stuff around recently. A few of the younger generation are embracing modern technology to make more detailing such as trackside and on-track equipment found on the modern railway. 10. in actual terms, RTR items are not more expensive than they ever were (under £200.00 for a forthcoming RTR Hornby A2/3 - half that of a complete kit!). That said, kit components seem to be increasing in price. Relative to other prices locos have probably not gone up very much especially when you compare the quality of current offerings. Hornby Dublo's late offering of the rebuilt WC retailed at £5 15s 6d in old money. That is the equivalent of about £125 today. I have noticed an increase in price of some components for my home-spun stuff. Wheels from the big manufacturers have increased out of all recognition and the last pack of wheel bearings I bought had gone up by about 50% 11. The age profile in the hobby has never been at a higher average, which probably means a glut of items coming on the market in the not-too-distant future; at lower prices? Supply and demand? I think there has definitely been a levelling off in the price of older stuff e.g. fairly common Hornby Dublo items go quite cheaply, although boxed good condition rare stuff still seems to fetch silly prices if two or three people are chasing it. 12. Some clubs might not survive for much longer, and not just because of Covid. Which asks the question, how many exhibitions will return? I think that's a bit of chicken and egg. Clubs promote exhibitions and exhibitions financially sustain clubs. I think some clubs will go under as the costs of running a venue are too great these days. There are also too many counter attractions. Society is based too much these days on 'Instant Gratification', hence the rise in the amount and quality of RTR. 13. We've never had it so good! As far as what is available RTR we definitely haven't, and with on-line shopping the range of materials and ready made components available is probably as good as ever. Sorry for a long-winded reply, but I think the original post raised many good points and these are some of my own views. Eric

No, it went all stations to Rowley Regis then Snow Hill connecting with the Shrewsbury - Paddington Parcels. After Snow Hill it shunted into the yard at Tyseley before continuing to Hall Green, Shirley and Stratford. It later returned via Leamington to Snow Hill.

When I got back into layout building one of the first things I bought. I had been surprised by the number of posts about model X is rubbish, keeps falling off the track and someone would reply it's because the manufacturer Y used rubbish wheels, you need some of brand Z. When you check out the said wheels they cost nearly as much as the wagon. I deduced that most of the running problems I had were wheels hitting check rails, switch blades and crossing noses or bad electrival contacts. On checking the wheels I found that the range of measurements on my RTR wagons between the extremes was about 1mm. Now any mew RTR item has the wheels checked for back to back, free rolling and in the case of locos the wheels including the pick up contact points are clear, the pickups correctly set up and the rods don't foul. Cures 90% of problems. Most of the others are detail bits not fixed on properly. These thing usually take just a few minutes and are well worth the effort. Eric

And another with matching buildings https://flic.kr/p/h677fu

There's a picture of it at Carnforth on Flickr What happened to THUNDERSLEY ??? by 70023venus2009, on Flickr

Vote of thanks to Andrew. Realised late on Tuesday night that I had run out of top hat bearings, added them to my list of needs and placed order at 23.43 11.00 Friday and the whole lot is on my workbench. Brilliant.

I remember some of the sixties, steam engines, dirty carriages, even the electric trains on the line with green signs were filthy. Nice clean diesel trains and very clean electric trains on the Euston line. Started trainspotting in the 60s. I remember some bits. I went to grammar school in 1959, so became more independent in my trainspotting. Summer 1960 start of the Austin fortnight spending 3 shillings and 4 pence (=17p) on a Child's Cheap Day Return from New Street to Rugby out on the Clacton train and back on a steam hauled evening stopper. Sadly my notes are long since gone but I remember seeing 200 locos in one day. By the following year I had graduated to going with the bigger lads on Sunday trips organised under the guise of the school Railway and Canal Society to Manchester, Liverpool and London. Sadly the trainspotting started to slip a bit later when I discovered the delights that the neighbouring girls grammar held. I must say though that a couple of them were not averse to providing the on-journey entertainment when we started to organise coach trips around the country. I was not a star performer at school, too many distractions in the real world, so by 1966 I was training on the BR S&T scheme. My last Headmaster wrote on my report "I hope he has done enough work to be successful in his chosen career". Well, I lasted full time to comfortably retire at 56 and was in demand for paid help and advice for another 10 years until I got fed up of the hassles with the Revenue and called it a day.

Thanks for that one, I've not seen a picture ftom that side before. The train is on No.4 Shunt neck at Washwood Heath. Trains on the Down were turned into Nos 1, 2 or 3 Arrival Roads by Washwood Heath Junction. At No. 3 box they were drawn forward for the Jocko to come on the back and pull them up No. 4 Shunt Line into the neck which was raised above the King Point for Sidings 1- 23 at No.4 box. Most were gravity shunted from there but occasionly whole trains were taken up and down just to put them on the back fan out of the way until they were required. Stacker was probably doing a move like that and the Troublesome Trucks decided they weren't going to stop.

Empties, fortunately.

If it's part of a station try Wolverhampton High Level in what is now Platform 5. There used to be a parcels depot at the end nearest the station buildings.

in 1954 my Uncle had a 125cc BSA Bantam. He and a mate travelled from Birmingham to Gorran Haven, about ten miles south of St Austell, to join us on a family holiday. We had travelled on the Friday night train and had our breakfast in St Austell at 7am on Saturday morning. They took over 24 hours to get there including a sleep and it was almost dark when they arrived. Unfortunately they arrived at high tide, a very high one, and didn't realise that at such a time the water came up past the top of the beach and up the road. They managed not to drop the bike in the sea but got their boots full of water in the process.

Ah, the dreaded Airfix Wobble. Yes Clive, the centre boss is too small and there is too much clearance between the two bits sticking up at the sides of the bogies and the carriage floor. There is a raised strip across there but it isn't raised enough. When Palitoy took over the Airfix tooling and did a re-run of the LMS CK and BTK under the Mainline label they altered the tool to give a small raised block of plastic to each side of the boss to reduce the amount of play. The cheapskate solution comes from the box of styrene offcuts at the corner of the workbench. Just build up each side by an equal amount until there is only a small gap. Apologies for the quality of the picture but this was not the bit intended to be in focus as I was trying to produce the different underframe for the Leeds Forge BTO and wanted a shot of the middle bit. You can usually get away with doing only one end which will then give you a better ride as the bogies can still rock fore and aft but only one can rock from side to side to take up any variations in cross levels on the track. Once you have decoded the depth, I think the Mainline 'blob' was about 80 thou, the time to do a coach is a couple of minutes and the cost of next to zero. Eric

I don't know whether they had them fitted originally. Photos I have seen have nothing or just the junction boxes in the case of one in LNER livery. The two pictures of the D170 I particularly remember did have jumpers. Eric

Some weren't straight either. There's a picture of a Gresley coach on John Turner's Flickr site with a distinct slope in the lining from end to end. Eric

Probably as much as young Mr Bullock reporting it consisting on one occasion of an EE Type 4 and a single 12T Van.

Same with my prescription on which I used to get three bottles each time but for some time I have been restricted to one. My pharmacy lady told me it was all part of the preparations for this Breaksh1te rubbish so they didn't run out as many of our medications come from the EU, mine from Ireland. For the last two years there have been periodic shortages. The office where my daughter works in a global pharmaceutical manufacturing outfit has spent £40 million trying to no-deal proof their supply lines.

Tuck your trousers into your socks and open the windows

My first six-wheeler was an old Ks Low Siphon. It wouldn't go through the siding points on my then layout so the middle wheels were glued in place and the bottoms filed off clear of the rails.

Coming from the west side of Birmingham the LNER was never my strong point. IIRC the D.120 stretched to about 60 examples plus another 30-odd similar vehicles built on s/h GNR frames to D170/176/177. There were 80 of the Thompson-based BZ built in 1950. I think the D.120 was probably a popular subject because of the hassle of getting a 6-wheel underframe running on smaller radius curves. Regarding my Chivers van, it probably doesn't match any prototype one as when I started to look for photos I found about half a dozen examples which all had detail differences. Some were possibly later changes as the short step boards only appeared in a later BR livery example. I'm not sure whether the battery box positions matched up between lot numbers but I don't think so. I'm happy with the way I built it although the step boards are a bit thick but not that noticeable as it trundles round the layout on the local parcels train. Eric