Hornby have supplied pictures of the moulding samples of the three new wagons they are developing. These are the Tope, Rudd and Clam which are to be released later in the year, in grey and yellow livery, both as solo models and in sets of three of each with a weathered finish.

The opening times are Saturday 24th May 10.30-17.30 and Sunday 25th May 10.00-17.00. Prices are: adults £6.50, senior adults £5.50 and children £4.00. A special offer on Sunday (only) allows up to two accompanied children to be admitted free with a paying adult or senior adult.

Many other exhibitions would have one large star layout in any one year. Incredibly, Railex 2008 has the space to bring together a whole host of these headlining layouts including 'Dewsbury Midland', 'The Gresley Beat', 'Thornbury Hill' and a rare appearance of Kevin Wilson's stunning 7mm layout 'Bucks Hill'. In fact, there are no space fillers, every layout attending having been invited on merit for its high standard of modelling.

The full list of confirmed layouts includes:

7mm and associated scales: 'Bucks Hill' (0 gauge Kevin Wilson), 'Camp 93 - Parsons Lumber Company' (On30 gauge, Richard Turner), 'Penpoll Quay' (0 gauge, Luton Model Railway Club), 'Teamwinders & Sawdust' (On3 gauge, Murray Reid), 'Stoney Middleton' (O-16.5 narrow gauge, Malcolm Hine).

4mm scales: 'Dewsbury Midland' (00 gauge, Manchester Model Railway Society), 'Farkham' (00 gauge, St Johns Mickleover Model Railway Group), 'Fisherton Sarum' (4mm scale 00 gauge, Graham Muspratt), 'Keyhaven Quay' (4mm 00 gauge, Andy York), 'London Road' (P4 gauge, John Redrup and Jol Wilkinson), 'Maindee East Engine Shed' (P4 gauge, Steffan Lewis), 'Ripper Street' (4mm scale 00 gauge, DEMU Thames Valley Area Group), 'The Gresley Beat' (00 gauge, Cliff Parsons), 'Thornbury Hill' (00 gauge, Bruce McIntosh), 'Western Road Diesel Depot' (P4 gauge, Mike Anson), 'Widnes Vine Yard' (00 gauge, Wirral Finescale Railway Modellers).

2mm and associated scales: 'Bodmin' (N gauge, Ray Slack & Ian Hibbutt), 'Oceanside' (N gauge, High Wycombe & District Model Railway Society), 'Stoney Lane Depot' (N gauge, Grahame Hedges), 'The Broadway' (N gauge, Alan Lawrence).

As in previous years, nearly fifty traders or manufactures are supporting Railex. Many of these being of specialist nature, selling those hard to obtain bits and pieces that are not seen at other shows.

There is also a demonstration area where some of the best modellers will be showing how it's done. Although a massive show, Railex has a very relaxed feel about it, even when busy. The wide gangways and good circulation areas provide easy viewing of all exhibits and demonstration areas. Lockers are provided by the stadium to store coats and bags. This service is free, although requires a £1 coin deposit.

If coming by car, it is recommended that all Railex visitors head for the adjacent William Harding School (access off A413 Wendover Road). This has ample free parking and is for the exclusive use of Railex visitors. It is less than a five-minute walk by a pedestrian link to the exhibition.

Wow! What a wonderful forum we truly have in MRE!

I have just acquired a Hornby 8F for my currently-building model railway, which is to be based on Bournemouth West in 1957.

I couldn't really justify it on an S&D train as no 8Fs worked on the line until the 1960s, but I do so like 8Fs. My best bet was a picture I saw in a book I bought last Wednesday which showed one of three 8Fs which had just been repatriated in summer 1957 and refurbished and numbered 48773-5 (I think) at Eastleigh. Could I have one of them on a running-in turn to Bournemouth? A bit far-fetched.

Now, thanks to Pat, MRE and John Cherry I can have 48536 on a genuine 8F turn direct to Bournemouth.

Thank you, both.

Jeremy English

Of spray lubricants, GT85, sold as a plastics compatible mechanism lubricant in bike shops, has, after 6 years use, produced no ill effect on Bachmann or Hornby plastic axleboxes. It enables very free running for years from a single application, has a long fine dispenser and, with care, can be positioned very precisely in the tiny quantity required.

I would join in George McKie’s recommendation of the Woodland scenics pack. It seems expensive but lasts forever. The two greases, two powders (PTFE and graphite) and sticky oil are particularly valuable.

Paul Jansz

Brian McDermott echoes the cries of others that they want 00 (presumably) snap-together modular signals – that have to work into the bargain!

Now it would be possible, but not trivial, to engineer such things for modern light signals in that scale, but to get semaphore arms to move on (remote) command on a snap-together tree-o-signals? How would you do that?

Seriously, how are you going to get the actuator to work?

The whole thing would have to be self-contained and I get the impression that we are talking about something that people expect to be modularised to the point that the posts themselves would be sectional. I’m getting the picture of some post segments having to be an inch or less long (e.g. so you can add a distant signal to an extant home signal on a single upright pole).

Perhaps this is the one case where people should seriously attempt to figure out how they would build such a beast before putting pen to paper.

Does anyone have a practical idea on how this modular, snap-together signal could be approached (using only real outside-the-telly technology)? I’ve got one but it isn’t working in my head yet so I’m damned sure I’m not spending money to try doing it in the real world.

Steve Mann

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If somebody wanted to make a special train of horse boxes, I have a suggestion. Whilst at St Albans Abbey station signal box in the 1960s we had a special which contained a fair few of these. It was the Musical Ride of the Household Cavalry and they came to perform in the town. The loco was a Standard Class 5.

Peter Gomm

I think you'll find that in any poll of favourite books, hardly any people will include the same books, so there will be no winners! However, in the spirit of sharing ideas and experiences, I would like to put forward three books which I keep coming back to and which offer me endless inspiration for modelling: Modelling Scottish Railways by Ian Futers is truly inspirational for anyone in my part of the country and I keep coming back to it, with the West Highland and rural Northumberland sections attracting the most interest. Two books by Oakwood Press, Harton Electric Railway by William J Hatcher, and Carrying Coals to Dunston by Ernest Manns both keep well away from the old Oakwood failing of telling us what people had for dinner on the opening day. The Dunston one is invaluable for understanding how railways to Tyneside originated and is incredibly full of atmosphere. The Harton one is a pure gem, full of detail but not a word wasted; I keep coming back to read this time and time again. I have thought of a 3-level layout of South Shields with the BR station on a viaduct, trolleybuses on the street and the Harton electric railway burrowing round in circles beneath. All I need is the space!

Also on the subject of books, I have collected a number of books written about the Long Island Rail Road and have developed quite an interest in it. I have been very tempted by Atlas N scale offerings of models from the 1950s, but never quite got round to doing anything about it (you can't model everything you're interested in!). I wonder if Steve Mann has ever modelled the Long Island, or been tempted to. Sometimes I get the impression that he doesn't like it very much, but I commute by First ScotRail every day and I could understand that if you commute on a particular line, you are probably less inclined to model it!

David Fairgrieve

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1. Ian Allan ABC Combined Volume Summer 1960. For reasons unknown, my mates and I always referred to these as 'The Ten & Six Books' rather than Combined Volume - they cost 10/6d (52.5p) for a number of years. You cannot imagine how many times I refer to it.

2. Trains Illustrated. OK, I know it's a magazine - but just pretend I had the money to have them produced as bound volumes!

3. Heyday of the Holiday Express by Richard Woodley. 184pp of superb research detailing WR services on 9 July 1960.

4. Railway Modelling by Norman Simmons is another one of those books that I reach for regularly.

5. Famous Layouts No.2 by Peco details some of my modelling inspiration from Railway Modeller - 'Charford', 'Buckingham', the 'Berrow Branch' and the 'Craig & Mertonford'.

6. Shadows/Reflections/Silhouettes/Echoes of the Great Western/ Big Four by RJ Blenkinsop. OK, that's about eight books but I wouldn't want to be without them.

7. Summer Saturdays in the West by David St John Thomas and Simon Rocksborough Smith. You can almost smell the smoke hanging over Newton Abbot station on this peak summer Saturday (27 July 1957)!

8. Southern Coaches by Mike King. I used to use generic terms like 'a rake of Bulleid coaches' or 'a Maunsell set'. How wrong I was!

9. BR General Appendix. Well, at least I'm brave enough to admit to liking this one!

10. Thomas the Tank Engine (Combined Volume), by the Rev W Awdry. And probably braver still for admitting to this one! Seriously, though, I do have really fond memories of these books in my early youth.

Brian Macdermott

Back in Snippet 165, I described how a US train had derailed, run for several miles, then re-railed itself. I was surprised to learn (via Railway Observer, May 1961) of a similar event here in the UK.

On 16 March 1961, D600 Active was working the 'up' Cornish Riviera. Passing Newbury at speed, the trailing bogie derailed, but re-railed itself on trailing points at the east end of the station.

The next time you get a derail followed by a re-rail on your layout, you can tell onlookers that you are simply following the prototype!

Brian Macdermott

First, I have to apologise and say I was wrong in my previous email about the reuse of parts of the River Class after the Sevenoaks Accident on 24 August 1927. After consulting with other members of SEmG I have discovered that various standard reference (RCTS, for example) do mention the later reuse of parts in the W Class. The initial rebuild of the River Class (K and K1) into U and U1 classes took place in 1928. Certain parts not used in this rebuild and were stored and used later when the W Class were built from 1931 to 1936.

Interestingly, you can still compare both variants of the U class as they are extant. An example of the U class rebuilt from the K class (31806) is at the Mid-Hants railway. For a new build you can see 31618 at the Bluebell. The K class conversions were identifiable by a lower running plate leading to larger splashers, double spectacles to the cab front and cab side cutaways which extended into the curved part of the roof. They also retained their original numbers although they lost their names.

So, I hope this clears up any confusion caused by my earlier email.

John Russell - Vienna, Austria

In fact such an arrangement of distant signals would be quite unusual. There would normally be only two 'distants' in the circumstances above, which would only be 'cleared' when the home signals allowing trains to carry on along the fast or slow lines were 'off'. The 'fast distant' would be left 'on' (at caution) if the crossover move was required (the 'locking' would force this). Usually, all the home signals would also be left 'on' for such a move – the 'fast' to 'slow' signal should only be pulled 'off' when the signalman is satisfied that the approaching train is slowing and is 'under control', so that it is running slow enough to make the crossing move. Similarly, there should be no 'distants' for any platform loop move. The modern colour light equivalent is 'approach control'.

The only recent occasions that 'splitting distants' were used were when two relatively high speed lines diverge.

All the above said, I think it is fair to say that 'splitting distants' were more common in pre-Grouping days but were frowned upon by the Board of Trade railway inspectors as they were seen to be a 'trap', failing to warn of the reduced speed required for the diverging move.

Tony Walmsley

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Jim Campbell can save one distant signal on his plan. There wouldn't be one for trains entering the loop but there would be one for the through line.

Peter Gomm

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I certainly don't consider myself a 'signalling expert', but might be able to help Jim Campbell. I think much of what he is saying revolves around the distance between his gantry and the platform - is that section long enough to hold a train?

If Jim wants to send me a sketch plan of the relevant tracks/points with lengths marked on it, I'll have a look. Email brianmacdermott(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Brian Macdermott

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The questions asked by Jim Campbell present some very useful points (sorry) when it comes to signalling a layout.

The very first thing I would recommend to anyone faced with a question like this is to study photographs of similar places in the real world to see how the job was done there. This is obviously easier if you understand signalling basics but, even if your grasp is limited, the pictures will tell you a story. And, if you learn from that story, not only might you get signalling which looks right but also signalling which adds to the sense of time and place you want for your layout. And it does make a difference in appearance if the line was ex-LNW or ex-Midland, although the principles are similar.

The big question from a visual viewpoint on a model railway is the distance between the connection from 'fast' to 'slow' and the next points where the slow line. Here the aim is to make it look right as much as to get the signalling right. The fact that there are two signal boxes involved suggests we are looking at, probably half a train length or more between the two lots of signals, and that leaves a bit more space without things appearing overcrowded. If the signals are close together, shoving in too much will make the scene look overcrowded - even if it is umpteen hundred percent prototypically accurate.

So, first get the stop signals right (a stop signal is what many people call a home signal) and the way it is described sounds perfectly OK. In rear of the 'fast' to 'slow' crossover, there will be a splitting signal on the fast line, with the higher arm on the right hand doll reading to the 'fast' and, to the left of it, a lower arm on the left hand doll reading to the 'slow'. The slow line will be protected by a single arm stop signal in rear of the trailing end of the crossover. The signals could be on a gantry or separate. Look at photos to get the feel of how it was done in the part of the world you are modelling. In the scenario you describe, there will be a distant signal arm mounted below each of the three stop signal arms and, as we are on the LMR, it is likely that all three would be worked 'distants' (i.e. they can be cleared, when appropriate, to the 'off' position).

Now the split in the slow line; obviously a splitting stop signal with two dolls and the higher mounted arm of the two would read to the principal line of the two (most likely the straight route, parallel to the fast line).

Now we come to the bit you didn't mention. Is there another signal box at the other end of the station? If there is, then the slow line splitting signal would probably have a distant signal mounted below both of the stop arms, although it is likely that the one reading 'round the back' (of the platform) would be fixed at 'caution'. So you now have this second signal with one arm higher than the other to signal to the principal route.

We can now go back to the first lot of signals and your main question (at last!). You need only one distant signal arm reading off the fast line towards the 'slow'. That distant signal would only be cleared when the 'distant', reading towards the principle route at the next signal in advance (the splitter for the slow line platforms), is cleared. Similarly, the distant below the stop signal protecting the crossover on the slow line would be cleared only when the 'distant' for the principle route on the slow Line splitter is cleared.

That should meet your particular situation without overdoing the signalling and making it look perfectly OK (and correct!) for 1960s LMR working. I hope you managed to grasp the terminology I used and that this made some sense!

Mike Romans

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Jim Campbell asks an interesting question, and I suspect the answer could depend on several factors. For example, what is the distance between the crossover and the platform loop points following it? If it is more than ¹/₄ mile (in principle!) then the home signals could be as he suggests, but if it is less, then the platform loop splitting signal could very well be on the gantry as well, which would be ¹/₄ mile clear of the crossover.

In the latter case the ‘dolls’ could be of three different heights. Assuming the former, the gantry would represent the ‘outer home’ and it could have fixed 'distants' for the slow lines (i.e. non-movable distant arms fixed at 'caution').

As readers will know, the reason for the ¹/₄ mile ‘overlap’ beyond a stop signal (home) was to allow for a train overshooting the stop signal. In steam days at least this was a serious mistake by a driver which would (usually) be reported, but it did happen occasionally and (assuming the signalman had also not made a mistake) usually without an accident resulting.

As a quarter mile in 4mm scale is around seventeen feet, if we make any attempt to model the scale distance, all these signals will be off the layout! So, once again, we have the choice between showing realistic signals in the ‘wrong’ place and not showing any signals at all!

However, many larger stations had blanket speed limits in force and did not use distant signals at all within station limits. They often had gantries, with home signals on them, on the station approach to let drivers know which platform or siding they were travelling to, though there wouldn’t be a ¹/₄ mile clearance. Drivers were expected to moderate their speed to the distance they could reasonably expect to be present for the route signalled. This, incidentally, was why a driver approaching a platform or bay which already had a train standing in it (or even a van next to the buffers), would normally NOT get a clear signal to approach, but might be ‘called on’ by a hand signal (flag) or appropriate controlled calling-on signal arm.

If I was modelling a largish station, I would be strongly tempted to place a gantry close to the station in this manner, with appropriate (much simpler) outer home signals at a suitable distance (usually a train’s length on a model). I assume that the crossover on Jim’s layout would necessarily be much closer to the station than a scale ¹/₄ mile and that it would be most likely be within station limits.

To pick up one of Jim’s points, gantries over station approaches on busy lines would often have an amazing number of signal posts and arms on them and it could take an experienced driver to know which ones meant what.

Anyone who is using the signals as part of an automatic control scheme will need to consider overlap, though that required functionally on a model is usually very much less than a train length provided we model the 'distant' as well, to ensure the train is running slowly when it approaches the 'home'.

You see, it’s already getting complex and we haven’t even considered movements in the wrong direction which could also be signalled within station limits. Many platforms were bi-directionally signalled as Jim mentions his is.

The other point which always fascinated me was interlocking. By the end of steam, the interlocking between signal and points levers (and track occupancy sensors, etc.) had become so complex that levers had to be pulled and returned in a specific order (look up rotary interlocking block on the excellent signal box website http://www.signalbox.org to see what I mean). It is quite difficult to operate the signals on a model layout correctly, even if they are sited correctly, unless you know how they would have been interlocked on the real thing. Fortunately, we don’t worry too much about that today!

Other points to consider is that different regions had slightly different preferences in signalling, the practices did change over time and that some possible moves were never signalled by full-size arms. Some regions (e.g. GWR) had specific shunting and calling-on signals, some liked half-sized shunting signals below the main arms and some preferred ground signals in busy stations. In country areas some moves had to be signalled by the signalman leaning out of his window with a flag. This would make a nice touch on a model and, yes, I have seen a model of this action!

Don’t forget also that circular banner-type electric repeaters were used on obstructions such as overbridges. I thought these had all long gone but the other week I saw one on the main line just outside Edinburgh.

Anthony New

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Well, seeing as I've been banging on about signalling, I'll have a stab at answering Jim's questions. For a start, though, I have to say that only one of his queries has a definite answer, the rest fall under the "it depends...." category.

Firstly, the easy one! The 'distant' for the station box, if it is not to be mounted on it's own post, must be on the section signal (outermost 'starter') of the adjacent box. Under the circumstances described (I'm thinking Taunton, where the East and Middle boxes were only a few hundred yards apart) this would certainly be the case as the boxes are very close together, the section being only between that 'starter' and the station's (outer) home signal, which could be as short as the longest length of train permitted.

The 'home' controlling the loop would most likely be as he describes, the through route having a taller post and the loop a shorter post on a bracket, as the loop is a secondary option, if you see what I mean. If on a gantry, is it still likely that a bracket would be used rather than another post, as the signals then provide a visual reminder of the route options. As ever, there are exceptions. St Deney's, I seem to recall, having every signal on a single post, which meant your signal could be 20 yards to the right - very confusing! It would be unlikely that the loop has a 'distant' of it's own as it is not a through route, anything going into the loop would be assumed to be stopping at the station, and the entrance to the loop would (usually) have a fairly severe speed restriction. Thus, a train approaching the station would see the 'distant' 'on' and know that it was likely to be stopped at the home signal for some reason, or that it was heading for the loop. If the 'distant' was 'off', then the driver would know he was going straight through and could carry on at line speed without having to worry about the speed restriction on the entrance (or exit!) to the loop. If there were to be a 'distant' for the loop, there would be a danger that the driver might misread the signal and attempt to go through the loop at line speed, say 80mph, through a 20mph crossover, which could be messy.

The cross-over is rather more difficult. I'm assuming that the four running lines carry on as such after the station and do not diverge, and that the four lines are two 'downs' adjacent, and two 'ups' adjacent. In which case, the crossover would be signalled in the same way as the loop, in effect, unless (unlikely in normal circumstances) the crossover were of the high speed persuasion and had the same speed limit for either route. In this case, a (mythical) distant bracket with signals, of the same height, could be used and the home signals would be of the same height. If the four lines are in the 'up' and 'down' slow line next the 'up' and 'down' fast line (i.e. running as though two parallel mail lines), the crossover becomes more of a junction. In this case, a distant is a possibility. I've never quite worked out why, but I suppose it could be just different company operating practices - the former adjacent direction lines being favoured by the most companies, the latter by (amongst others) the SR. Such variations survived into BR and probably to this day.

As ever, all the above doubtless have 101 exceptions and other variations, but the general rule of thumb would be that through routes are likely to have a 'distant', while loops and crossovers etc. tend not to.

On an entirely different subject, JustLikeTheRealThing are shortly to launch a BR Mk1 horse box for 0 gauge; although what one looks like I have no idea, I'm still not convinced they aren't having a quiet joke!

Richard Watson

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For a 1960s model, I think Jim is looking for too complex a resolution. If the distance between the first cross-over and the second giving access to the platform loop is only a matter of two or three train-lengths, then it would be likely that the first cross-over would be operated electrically by the station signal box. The box by the cross-over might be left but modelled as 'out of use'. The signals protecting the first cross-over would be 'outer homes' for the station box and the signals at the station protecting/controlling access to the platform would be 'inner homes'. No 'distants' would be needed anywhere. It's even possible that the 'outer homes' would be colour light signals to give an interesting mix of signal styles.

John Webb

The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) has informed Bachmann that the Dynamis DCC Digital Control System (Version 1) has been issued with Conformance Warrant 2008-1004.

Graham Hubbard, Managing Director, Bachmann Europe Plc said today, "We are delighted that the Dynamis DCC system has received its NMRA Conformance Warrant. Dynamis was developed at Barwell in association with ESU our project partners. The issue of the warrant follows the rigid self certification process carried out by ESU and final checking and approval by the NMRA".

Want to know what locos hauled the Royal Scot on Saturdays in 1961, or what locos and trains were seen at Preston on a particular summer Saturday in 1962? If so, then the Steam Railway Research Society (SRRS) has provided many of the answers with the publication of a series of West Coast Sightings and Preston Surveys.

Each A4 size book has introductory notes, shedcode list and a section on Specials and Excursions. All steam and diesel loco sightings are noted (but not electrics) along with where they were seen. An added bonus is that update sheets will be free to purchasers.

West Coast Sightings

This is for the full route from Euston, covering all daytime Class 1 passenger and main parcels trains.

1959. Expected 2009.

1960. Expected Winter 2008.

1961. 65pp. Available now, £12.95 (inc. p&p).

1962. 59pp. Available now, £12.95 (inc. p&p).

1963. 58pp. Available now, £12.95 (inc. p&p).

1964. Expected Winter 2008.

Preston Surveys

These are in-depth studies of each summer Saturday and include details loco, shed, train reporting number, time, number of coaches and notes.

1959. Expected Summer 2008.

1960. Expected 2009.

1961. Expected Summer 2008.

1962. 146pp. Available now, £17.95 (inc. p&p).

1963. 141pp. Available now, £17.95 (inc. p&p).

1964. Expected Winter 2008.

Combined Summer Sunday and Bank Holiday versions of most of the Preston Surveys will be available later in 2008.

I hope Peter Blencowe won't mind me correcting him but the junction on the Chester - Crewe line, where the line from Whitchurch joined, was Tattenhall Junction and not Beeston as stated.

Dave Skipsey

Neil Bowsher ponders "has it shortened, or lengthened, the odds on the B--- P---man?". An interesting question, but surely it depends on whether enough people will SHELL out for it, what the TOTAL demand will be and perhaps even if Hornby have JETisoned the old moulds! I guess the oil to make the plastic should come from Q8. Modellers need to MOBILise now to get themselves heard.

Sorry for such an ESSOteric posting.

Edwin Chappell

What an excellent suggestion by Graham Higgins, so here is my lists.

Books:

The Somerset & Dorset in the 50s Part 1 by Ivo Peters.

The Somerset & Dorset in the 50s Part 2 by Ivo Peters.

The Somerset & Dorset in the 60s Part 1 by Ivo Peters.

The Somerset & Dorset in the 50s Part 2 by Ivo Peters.

The Somerset & Dorset, An English Cross Country Railway by Ivo Peters

Somewhere Along the Line by Ivo Peters

Farewell to North West Steam by, wait for it, Ivo Peters

Southern Steam Album by Ivo Peters – anybody noticed a theme yet?

Classic Steam by ????, yes Ivo Peters and finally…….

A Modellers Guide to the Somerset & Dorset by our very own Brian Macdermott. That’s only because I couldn’t find another book by Ivo in my collection - only joking Brian!!

I know Brian won’t mind being in 10^th place to a man that he and I almost worship. In terms of photographic technique, particularly in the use of cine film, he was years ahead of his time.

DVDs:

Talking of cine film brings me onto my list of ten favourite DVDs and Videos. They are:

The Ivo Peters Collection Volumes 1 to 10. A reserve list would be The Ivo Peters Collection Volumes 11 – 20.

No surprises there then.

Clearly, I do enjoy many other books, particularly those on the South Western Main Lines and the Withered Arm and good DVDs on the same topics. I also enjoy books and films about the West Coast Mine Line in the transition years but nobody will reach the genius status that Ivo possesses in my mind.

Dick Flower

Perhaps I can respond to John Howard's query re fish trains in the diesel era. I am pretty sure I can remember being stood on Finsbury Park station as late as the early 1970s and seeing a fish train heading south - presumably near the end of its journey. On the occasions I can remember it was a Class 40 of the Scottish allocated batches - D260- D266 or D360 - D366. These were good cops at the time - along with the last two surviving Baby Deltics D5905/5909 double heading on what I can only assume was the Ashburton rubbish train. Happy days!

I wish I had had a camera then but it was enough of a victory having won over my mother to be allowed to travel the railway system unaccompanied from the age of 12. I never did forgive her though for not letting me go to Crewe with a man I met on Birmingham New Street...!

You are stirring the memory pot, aren't you! LE Velocettes - 'flying dustbins' in the local parlance that I knew as a teenager, but no mention of a Frances Barnett, or similar with tiny engines (125cc two stroke Villiers types) which I had for a year or so, but my mother did not know and it was stored at a friend's home!

The bigger boys had 350cc AJS machines, or 500cc - that was the tops, but Sunbeams, Triumphs were part of the scene. The absolute out and out 'tops' was the 998cc Vincent Black Shadow V engined. One was from the Gods on such as that. Perhaps rivalled by the BMW 650cc opposed piston layout bikes, then re-emerging onto the market.

Happy days - only national service to look forward to!

Well, back to mumbling in my corner again!

Relax, this is not another plea for 00 scale track, but rather an explanation of why maybe Peco track is as it is.

Some 30 years ago I had a chance to meet Mr Prichard Snr and, in conversation, I mentioned the fact that his Peco track was more H0 than 00. In answer to this he recalled that when he first proposed making Peco flexible track in yard lengths, he got only a strangely lukewarm response from the trade. He went on to say that, in the end, it was only the promise of a large order from North America, and if memory serves Canada in particular, that allowed him to actually put the track into production. Of course, as you can no doubt guess, the rub was that the overall design of the track leant more towards a North American design that it did British practice, although the issue of the track being sufficiently robust was another consideration.

At the time, some magazine reviews mentioned this very scale anomaly, but as the alternative then was either Wrenn Universal fibre based track or make it yourself, the competition was not exactly overwhelming. Apparently, even then, it was not until the first Streamline points came out that the Peco revolution fully took off. It is interesting to see how the design of Peco points has changed over the years. They are certainly far more sophisticated pieces of kit these days.

With the plain track, just one question remains; how many yards have been produced over the years? With some 40 years of modelling behind me, I must have personally consumed an innumerable quantity over that time.

As for the Graham Farish 'Formoway' track, a friend once had a large amount on a loft layout and, although at the time the range was larger than Peco's (with single, and double slips, three way and curved points etc.), the actual build quality was not as good as the Peco alternative. If you used Tri-ang or Hornby Dublo stock, the running was OK, but with anything running on scale wheels, the running was a dead loss and, after a while, the electrical continuity on the points was literally a dead loss too. However, be that as it may, who remembers looking at the GF Formoway advert on the back of old Railway Modeller magazines and longing to be able to build such a complex layout.

Finally, one tip when laying Peco points: as well made as they are, and no disrespect to the product, there are on occasions small burrs, or very slight misalignments, on the frogs/crossings. So, before laying the points, pin them to a flat surface and give them a gentle rub over with a smooth flat file, followed by a light polish with some wet and dry paper. This does improve the running and reduces the chances of scale wheels occasionally 'catching an edge' and derailing.

Hope this is of interest.

Ian David Smith

Richard Slipper has put his finger on an oddity that the British alone persist in – naming the 'size' of their model railway stuff for a 'gauge'.

In the USA they refer to 'HO scale', 'N scale', 'Z scale', 'O scale' and so on. Since HO really was invented here, I’d venture to extend my neck and say the phrase 'HO Gauge' refers to something that doesn’t actually exist.

Trees are certainly never 00 gauge, but they might be said to be 00 scale.

Of course, while the track scale and the body scale are so out of kilter in the most popular UK model railway products, the use of '00 gauge' is useful to indicate a nearly scale model with a non-scale chassis intended to run on cartoon track.

(Grinning big when I wrote that, of course).

You do see gauge mentioned as part of a scale definition in the USA sometimes. HOn3, for example, indicating HO scale running on 3 foot narrow gauge and "O27 gauge" referring to Lionel-pattern models that are O scale but run on non-scale profile track (whose gauge is the same as O scale, confusingly).

Perhaps it isn’t the track that needs changing, but the terminology we use when trying to buy it.

I only refer to 'N Gauge', rather than my more usual 'N Scale', in my letters when I do because I’ve found, since the Internet was invented, that some UK correspondents can be difficult when exposed to different terminology and can be quite inflexible. I once made the terrible mistake of referring to the day’s local temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and was savaged for not having the sense to quote it in the "proper" Celsius and some people seem to break out in hives if I use fractions of an inch rather than metric measurements even though they still work in real life. These days I translate to avoid trouble. Which is where I tripped up with Nick Stanbury.

Nick is having trouble with my use of 'LHSs'. This is entirely his fault for not being au courant with UK usage – nobody in the US, that I correspond with, calls them Local Hobby Store s (yet); only the English bods do.

Nick should recall that I’ve bought model railway/railroad gear in both the UK and the USA as I’ve said in MRE. I know how to get UK stuff here in the USA including Thomas, Hornby, Dapol and, of course, Peco. He can’t have it both ways: either the mass-produced "scale" track is readily available or it isn’t. If it is, I am having an undue amount of trouble getting even the most basic information about it. If it isn’t than my original point is made.

I wasn’t being sarcastic when I thanked Nick. I had Googled scale track in about a dozen different ways and hadn’t found anything useful other than a Wikipedia article which did not include any links to a place I could actually see the SMP product. Nick’s reply actually contained the most information anyone had supplied about the stuff, which is why I thanked him.

I may order the catalogue under the link he supplied since the link itself had no pictures of the product. One hopes the printed page has pictures on it.

Anthony New sends a bunch of useful links – none of which has the pictures I’m seeking, unfortunately. Not only that, there is a discussion halfway down the forum page on having to hand-lay points in situ. That would frighten-off anyone looking for the convenience of flexi track, If you’re forced into hand-laying the points on the trackbed then hand-laying the rest of the track is child’s play from my side of the fence. Still, it’s another part of the puzzle and I thank Anthony for steering me to the forum and the suppliers. No doubt, if I read long and hard enough, it will begin to be clear whether this stuff is worth the hassle.

One might be drawn to conclude either that SMP-type products are so unpopular the people selling them can’t afford a digital camera (fitted to almost any electronic device as an afterthought these days) or that the stuff is so ugly no-one can stand the sight of it. I’m only half joking when I say that. We live in an Internet world. Why don’t retailers and/or the manufacturers get with it? It costs so little in money and effort to add pictures to a website it is almost laughable, yet I consistently see retail sites (almost invariably in the UK) with text-only catalogue pages.

I was (and am) looking to see something as simple as a picture of each product being sold, along with a close up comparison of the scale track against regular 00 track (e.g. Peco streamline or sectional track). It’s not like this is rocket science. This is how you persuade people not familiar with your stuff to buy a 'better' product, when the definition of 'better' is judged entirely on appearance. Comparing one type of scale track to another is useful only to those already convinced of a real need to change from commercial 00 Gauge products.

SMP, and the other companies selling into this market, seem to be operating on a 'you’ll find us if you want to' basis. This isn’t how the world gets changed (which is what we are talking about when we discuss 'better track'). They seem to be happy catering to a small elite.

Anyone up for a good gasometer argument?

Steve Mann. NYC

A ready-to-run 'Thumper' is a great idea. Would a sound equipped version need to carry a health warning?

Patrick Peake - Perth Australia

To mark the 60^th Anniversary of the formation of British Railways in 1948, Modelfair has commissioned a limited edition of 50 gauge 0 ex-GWR Castle Class locomotives by Ace Trains. These will be in the unique experimental lined light Pea green livery that was carried for a short time by a number of Castle’s immediately after Nationalisation. There are 3 names available:

7011 ‘Banbury Castle’

4091 ‘Dudley Castle’

5010 ‘Restormel Castle’

By John Cherry

Rugby Central, 3 August 1957. A relief to the Newcastle–Bournemouth was run from York using Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No.48536 for the train throughout. It is thought that this was one of the longest - if not the longest - journey made by an 8F hauling a passenger train. Additional interest was that the leading pair of carriages were a Gresley articulated set.

I hope you will allow a brief follow up to the Neil Armstrong 'first words' item.

There is a commonly repeated story concerning Armstrong's last words on the moon, which allegedly were: "Good luck Mr Gorsky", and the story has entered the realm of urban legend. Use this link to read the details.......

Pete Runnacles

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Colin Watts says of Neil Armstrong’s 'One Small Step' speech: "The important point is that the world had no problem understanding his meaning".

Right.

Colin either wasn’t there at the time or has forgotten the weeks of perplexed speculation surrounding that cryptic statement. It was so not understood that Kurt Vonnegut later parodied the confusion in a scene from his teleplay Between Time and Timbuktu to hysterical effect.

I doubt anyone will remember the fuss in a few more years since all the official versions of the speech, including the recorded re-enactment that you can experience at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, have been carefully 'enhanced' to include the originally very absent 'a'. The only place you might stand a chance of hearing the original is in, believe it or not, the Disney MGM attraction where at one time they would 'blue screen' kids into the Armstrong lunar footage holding a giant cue card. And they say Americans have no sense of humour.

How lucky that the signal has been found to contain the proper wording upon "careful examination" with "modern techniques".

The modern phrase for this practice is 'retcon', (Retroactive Continuity). The modern expression of disgust for having it done unnecessarily is "Han shoots first!". Put me down for one of those.

Imagine what will happen when this technique is seen as acceptable in any circumstance. Don’t like the way the Titanic sank? No problem. Just wait long enough and get to work with the computer. Or maybe it’s that you want your version of the causes of the Sevenoaks Fiasco to be the 'real' one. Wait 25 years and fire up photoshop.

We are living in a Wikipedia 'mass opinion trumps fact' world. How marvellous that the digital age should put us back to 'everyone knows' instead of that pesky and expensive 'peer reviewed' fact system we had for a while after literacy became widespread and printing was reasonably cheap.

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The recent postings on signals have raised a query in my mind concerning the correct use of 'distant' signals on our club layout, currently under construction.

We have a quadruple track main line, with 'fast' and 'slow' lines in each direction, although for the purposes of this question we only need to consider trains travelling in one direction where we have a 'slow' line running adjacent to the 'fast' line with a one direction cross-over from the 'fast' to the 'slow'. Further along, at the approach to a station, there is a loop off the 'slow' to provide two platform faces to the 'slow' line. The 'fast' line runs through with no platform.

The cross-over is controlled from an adjacent box whilst the platform loop is controlled from the station box.

Assuming a gantry in advance of the cross-over by my understanding there would be a 'home' signal for both the 'fast' and 'slow' lines plus a shorter post 'home' signal for trains crossing from 'fast' to 'slow'. In advance of these (off stage on the model) I assume there would be three 'distant' signals, one for each of the 'home' signals.

My concern is over what happens with the platform loop. I believe this would require a bracket style 2-posted 'home' signal. Now what happens with the 'distant' signals for these? I would expect a bracket 2-posted signal. However, due to the short section the 'distants' have to be placed along with the previous 'home' signals on the gantry but as approaching trains might be off either the 'fast' or 'slow' lines, both lines would have to be equipped with those two 'distants'.

To keep the number of posts down, one of the 'distant' arms would be mounted on the same post as a 'home' but even so we have a gantry spanning two tracks requiring at least five posts and seven arms (assuming the next 'fast' line 'distant' is further on) for what appears to be a quite simple track layout.

Have I got this right or have I over complicated it. Or, alternatively, have I missed something altogether which would make it even more complicated.

There is a further complication on the loop in that it could be used to terminate trains coming in from the opposite direction but I think that is best ignored for now.

In case it makes a difference, the layout is based around 1960 BR Midland Region. (although at times it goes back to LMS for one members stock).

I would be grateful for any comments please.

Jim Campbell

Can anyone please tell me if Hornby have successfully changed the as-supplied chimney on Royal Scot class 46140 The Kings Royal Rifle Corps (or any other model, e.g. The Rifle Brigade) with a replacement, scale size, chimney from Hornby – assuming the latter are available. If so, please tell me how.

Alan Fryer

Thanks for the replies regarding Twickenham Station photos from Brian Macdermott and Peter Gomm. Twickenham Museum has rail side and a long shot from the London Road bridge, but not a head on shot of the main house, yard etc.

Peter Gomm's suggestion is a very welcome one, except that that I don't think that Co. Limerick has a bus preservation society, although there is a regular vintage motor cycle club event from the UK here (motor cycles are my other hobby). I did attend the first Cobham Bus Day at the bus museum (I lived about two miles from it).

However, with the intended move to France in the near future, it will be easier and cheaper to get to the UK so I will let you know, Peter, and perhaps we can arrange 'summit'.

Ken Darville

I think I missed the earlier postings offering suggestions for lubricating Chris Patrick’s Hornby plastic square axles to improve running. That said, he ought to bear in mind the possibly adverse effects of any lubricant on the plastic axle and axlebox; many lubricants will attack plastics, however slowly. Chris has already noted the further potential problem of using a grease which offers some resistance to the rotation of a light axle.

One safe lubricant would be graphite, but this is not readily available in powder form and, if bought as a grease, could contain damaging solvents. Chris could try inserting the ‘lead’ of a sharpened pencil (grade BB or softer) into each (clean) axlebox and twiddling it round to deposit a small amount of graphite. If this doesn’t seem to work, he could produce graphite dust by filing the ‘lead’ of the pencil and inserting a tiny amount into the axlebox – fiddly but it should be effective.

Another lubricant which should be safe is a silicone spray, as commonly used by plumbers when assembling push-fit plastic pipe fittings or (so my wife tells me) for adding a sheen to the leaves of house plants. Here again, only a tiny amount will be needed; the aerosol will probably come with a fine capillary tube to aid application. Alternatively, squirt a small quantity into the wife’s best eggcup or similar and apply it to the bearing on the end of a wire.

Nick Stanbury

I read that two correspondents were talking about chain fine link and lubes for models. I obtained very fine link chain from Antics in Cardiff at £2.25, for a project I am doing (ref. 8611). They are also able to supply the Woodland Scenics lube pack for £19.95, containing a selection of oils and greases for model railways. I hope this helps.

George McKie

Yesterday, I closed down the discussion on 'what track people want' but this does not mean that you cannot mention the subject of track and, indeed, today I have included two emails about sourcing SMP track and the discussion of scale continues. The 'discussion' on what track people wanted, left a number of questions asked of the Double O Gauge Association (DOGA), questioning its validity, which I felt the association had a right to answer.  I have therefore include details of DOGA here as a 'news' item.

The Double O Gauge Association was founded in 1994 by several modellers from Crawley MRC. Stephen Siddle, the current Treasurer, joined it following a strongly supportive piece by Iain Rice in the then Modelling Railways Illustrated announcing its formation. At the time there were 135 members.

In its early years, the association operated largely as a ginger group essentially run by the founders and it was not formally constituted until about 1999 when it became a democratic body. By the time of the first DOGA AGM in 2000, several of the founders had moved on. The committee was reconstituted at that meeting and the association, in its current form, really dates from then. By the time of the 2000 AGM, membership had risen to about 250 and at the end of the last membership year, DOGA had 400 paid up members; the annual membership fee is £12.

The association has a quarterly Journal, an active email list, several regular members meetings a year, a couple of area groups and it attends around 10 model railway exhibitions a year. There must be around 25 members involved in helping man the stand at various exhibitions around the country, so there is plenty of scope for members to express their views and become actively involved.

The bulk of the membership remains in the southern half of the country, which is why DOGA have sadly had to withdraw from York show, where a 3 day exhibition made manning a considerable strain. The current committee includes members of 5 different clubs, as well as members who do not belong to a local club. Several committee members have exhibition layouts on the circuit and several serving members have held responsible positions within their clubs.

By David Middleditch

Preparation: Line the interior of a wagon with three layers of cling-film. Build the load inside this.

Pit Props: These can be produced from short, thin, buddleia twigs glued together with PVA.

Coal: Use a plaster, base painted black, with coal on top.

Timber: Matchsticks at an angle glued with PVA make a good timber load.

Today's (Monday) MREmag for me is a classic edition. It has a bit of everything: news and views, memories and suggestions for the future, questions and answers, from contributors internationally. Combined with an excellent 'E-mail of the Day' and even ending on the old adage 'leave 'em laughing' with a nice little pun from our long suffering 'Ed'.

Regarding the future and memories. Graham Higgins suggested a list of railway books. This reminded me of Terry Gough's Berkshire Past and Present, which includes pictures of my 'school' station late '50s mid '60s. Prior to catching the train home, my school friends and I would stand nearby with our backs to the road guessing model of the approaching motor bike (now you see where this is going) by sound only. Around 1964 the commentary would run something like "Beezer Goldie", "650 Bonnie", "200 Jimmy", "Crusader Sports" etc. etc. with every 10th bike or so just the one word... "Japanese".

I always associated the LE Velocette with the local police, 'noddy' bikes!

If you are modelling the new bike garage/display around this period, don't forget the clean floor under the Jap bikes and the oil stains under the British ones. Don't get me wrong, I do like all the old British bikes and can recommend the book Classic British Bikes by Andrew Kemp and Mirco De Cet, ISBN 1-86147-005-3.

John Challenor

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Good-on-yer Pat; the track debate was getting a bit personal and tedious. Now, has anyone got a good joke?

Bill Towers - Brisbane

Congratulations to Kernow Model Centre and Dapol for making my day with the announcement of the 2H unit. In terms of usefulness on a Southern based layout, this unit scores very highly and I am sure it will be a winner.

The next question is: has it shortened, or lengthened, the odds on the B--- P---man?

Neil Bowsher

Miniature chain can be obtained from jewellery suppliers, or indeed from old jewellery in charity shops (not the wife’s jewellery box, I hasten to add!). It is also marketed for model ships in a variety of sizes and an e-mail or phone call to Westbourne Model Centre (http://www.westbourne-model.co.uk) will probably get you what you want.

Anthony New

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Colm should call Squires on 01243 842424 and ask for a copy of their Tools and Materials catalogue. Their prices are on the high side but, provided you order £10-worth, there's no delivery charge. I use them a lot. Alternatively, search for 'Amati chain' on the inter web thingy.

Chris Patrick

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Colm Flanagan asks about availability of model chain. Just give Footplate, in Kidderminster, a call on 01562 - 750076. They stock a German product sold in small packets containing lengths of chains that I guess would be ideal for projects that Colm probably has in mind. There are different sizes of link available, but each packet contains only the one size so make sure you specify which you want (sorry can't remember the stock numbers or price). It was some time ago when I saw this in the shop and meant to post the message then as it has been the subject of previous postings, but it went clean out of my mind.

Tony Elliott

Positively my last post on this subject.

Anthony New has, I think, realised the point I am have been trying to convey. So might Jane Sullivan and Richard Kelham, but in different ways. Thank you all for your varied responses.

Perhaps, I need to explain it out more overtly.

If people who model in P4, for example, worry about the accuracy of their track gauge to the extent of only 3/100s of a millimeter, one would assume that everything else they model is to such a fine degree of accuracy and tolerance. I suspect that, with perhaps only a very small number of exceptions (if any), it isn’t. Therefore, the discussions about track gauge and the fidelity of models (not just P4) is rather spurious if perhaps fun! It's like the supporters of Ipswich Town planning a promotion party last October – pointless but fun.

I agree that 4mm scale is 1/76.2, but is it always so in practice? Of course not! Stuff is advertised as "4mm scale" "00" scale, 1/76, "00/H0". I’ve seen even non-railway items, such as trees of all things, promoted as "00 gauge". Trees to a track gauge? Utter nonsense, of course, but we know what all these naming conventions mean - a compromise and approximation within the constraints of engineering and cost.

I can’t personally see any point in worrying about track gauge (or signal positions for that matter) to such accuracy if everything else is less accurate. Let it look good, but surely the end is more important than the means? Provided items are in context and look OK, it doesn’t matter a jot what they are. That does not mean, however, that we should accept mediocre representations nor strive for greater accuracy; we just need to be realistic about it and our expectations.

We should all enjoy our modelling whatever it might be but please do so bearing in mind that 'correct' is absolute and finite that few will ever attain. Everything that is not 'correct', is 'incorrect' to some degree and 'incorrect' is infinite in its scope and manifestations.

I shall continue to consider my next project using Bredon as my muse, ready to run stuff and off the shelf items with some kit-bashing and odd bits of self-made contrivances, as required. I can get only curves of 2 foot (or so) radius into the space and might even use set track curved points. The signals will have to go where they can. Oh Philistine that I am!

If Anthony has any room in his 'P4 fallout shelter', I might be interested in renting it.

Richard Slipper

I’m pleased that Steve Mann found my notes on SMP track of some help. However, I did not intend to suggest that SMP products are ‘ubiquitous’ or the answer to every maiden’s prayer. Indeed, my other comments on scale track highlight the fact that no single product is likely to be of universal appeal, at least in terms of cosmetic appearance, even if dimensionally acceptable to the great majority.

I’m not surprised to hear that Steve has trouble sourcing the products of SMP (Scale Model Productions) in NYC, or elsewhere outside the UK. The manufacture of this range (and many other model railway products) has never been more than a cottage industry and, even in the UK (with its ever-decreasing number of ‘proper’ model shops), stockists have never been prolific. From personal experience as a former manufacturer and wholesaler, the export of most model products is fraught with difficulty and is just not worth the effort unless one has the clout of Peco or Hornby.

For the record, Steve, what on earth are ‘LHSs’? Are we missing out on something exotic?

Nick Stanbury

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Anthony New

I would like to thank those who gave such helpful replies about the Blue Spot trains and their brake vans. Another question has occurred to me on this subject. Did these trains last into the diesel era and, if so, which diesels hauled them?

Thanks in advance.

John Howard

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The Aberdeen Fish used to be one of the more exciting spectacles when I was a boy. One of my most vivid boyhood memories is of this train at Leuchars Junction, headed by one of Dundee's V2 locomotives, in the summer of 1951. The V2 was flat out, doing at least 60mph, as the train swooped down through the long curve from St Fort and thundered through the junction. I stood open-mouthed as the fish vans swayed with a whiplash effect, wondering how on earth they all managed to stay on the rails.

Braid Anderson

Please could I correct a couple of items relating to the interesting debate about the 'River' Class?

1) John Russell, is incorrect in dismissing the link between the Ks and Ws. It has been stated that the SR made use of the River's tanks, cabs and rear bogies in the construction of the Ws. He is correct in emphasising that the engine part of the Ks became the U Class. It should be remembered that one batch of Us were new builds (1610-1639) and were distinguishable from the rebuilds by their higher running plate and, consequential smaller driving wheel splashers - have a look at 31806 on the Mid Hants and compare it with the two Bluebell locos, 1618 and 1638.

2) Geoff Ford writes of his possible interest in a model of the K Class - Wills Finecast produced a kit many years ago and it might it still be produced by its successor?

Furthermore, I recall, during the 1950s, when I first started as a 'trainspotter', my father asking whether I had seen any Rivers. A hurried look at my Ian Allan book informed me there was no such animal, but he persisted. While perusing our local library's 625 section, I came across Casserley and Asher's book Locomotives of British Railways and there emerged the solution to my father's question. They had been rebuilt and were still very much with us ... then! Later, when my father was quizzed about our family history, his knowledge of SR locomotives was investigated, especially as he had no interest in railways other than as a commuter from Beckenham Junction to Victoria for many years. It transpired that the father of one of his best friends at his primary school (the Paragon School' - they don't give schools names like that these days!) was an engine driver at Bricklayer's Arms and spoke (quite positively, if I recall correctly) of the 'Rivers' and the 'Schools' that followed them!

Finally, while travelling on the inaugural train from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway (1984), I engaged in conversation with a gentleman about locomotives and my Kentish background came out. He took out a wad of photographs and asked if I had seen 'one of these'. 'One of these' was a live steam (3.5 inch gauge) River Class tank he had recently completed. I had to agree that they were very handsome locomotives - his model certainly was.

What a shame their reputation was sullied by poor track and an unwillingness of the publicity conscious SR Board to countenance further research into the springing of the rear axles and bogies, which might have given the SR a very useful mixed traffic locomotive, which they did not get until the arrival of the Fairburn and Riddles 2-6-4T in the 1950s.

I hope this helps.

Terry McCarthy

Regarding Graham Higgins' letter (MREmag 12th May) about "top ten must have" railway books - in December 1985, my youngest had a Thomas The Tank Engine set for Christmas and his older twin brothers a Hornby HST set! At that moment, a former Trix Twin kid from the 1940s re-entered this wonderful hobby, occupying the lads' bedroom until the threat of divorce eventually took us up to the loft!

Catalogues, magazines and Peco 'How to' booklets apart, we quickly bought Cyril Freezer's Plans for Larger Layouts, a Chris Ellis railway modelling book and Roger Amos Practical Electronics for Model Railways ....hey, it was 1986! Then, within weeks, we had discovered fantastic reference books by the late Jack Simmons (The Railways of Britain and The Victorian Railway) and the late lamented Brian Haresnape's British Rail Fleet Survey series and Design For Steam 1830-1960. Add to these SK Baker's splendid series Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland, plus the incredible and Alan Jowett's wonderfully hand-written railway atlases and you believe you can argue with anyone!

Counting the above series as just one book, my lousy maths tells me I have just one 'must have' top ten book left. That, of course, would be a certain history book series on Rovex, Tri-ang and Hornby Railways..yes?

Johnny Haynes

I've been following the discussions about signalling and a wry smile came to me when someone suggested: "just place them where the driver can see them". I must strongly protest as this is most unprototypical! Give a signal engineer a mile of straight track and he'll stick the signal just out of sight on a curve beyond, or behind a bridge or a station canopy, or behind foliage that never gets trimmed!

Signalling is a science in itself and, if you're going to do it, you might as well get it right. For modern image, that also means installing AWS ramps, TPWS grids for overspeed and train stop purposes and the concrete troughing to contain all the cables. In similar vein to Mr MacDermott's snippets, how about a scene for these layouts that don't have many trains running? How about some dodgy blokes with a battered van nicking the cables?!

Keep up the good work, and try to remember its just for fun.

Andy Parr

Ken Darville's letter really caught my eye. As a Twickenham lad, myself, I've often idly wondered about modelling this station and I'm glad to find a kindred spirit. The fearsome gradient of the Strawberry Hill flyover would be a talking point in itself.

A good potential source of information could be the Twickenham Museum (http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/). Their website contains lots of pointers, as well as some useful addresses. Better still, their website contains two shots of the outside of the old station (type 'station' into the picture search facility), which should provide a starting point.

Best of luck, Ken!

Tom Wright

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Ken Darville is seeking photos of the entrance to the old Twickenham Station. I grew up near ‘Twickers’ and recall the completion and opening of the new station (on a slightly different site) in 1954 - although, my memories of the old station are few and faded.

There are several views in Waterloo to Windsor (Middleton Press, 1988), including two of the station buildings and approach/forecourt, one being late 19th century and the other early 1950s (complete with a bus on route 203, which terminated there). There is another rather grainy 1895 view of the outside in Twickenham As It Was (Borough of Twickenham Local History Society, 1975). The latter photo came from the collection in Twickenham Public Library, which no doubt holds other views of the station.

Further views, including some of the frontage, appear in The Railways of Richmond upon Thames (Forge Books, 1991), London’s Disused Stations Volume 5 (Connor & Butler, 2005) and Britain in Old Photographs: Twickenham, Teddington & Hampton, A Second Selection (Sutton Publishing, 1998).

Nick Stanbury

I, like many others, I'm sure, was delighted to see that the four British-based A4s will get together at the National Railway Museum in July.

I couldn't help feeling sorry, however, for our Dominion of Canada, which sits in a dingy shed at the railway museum in Montreal, preserved but not loved, dirty and unlit. I visited it last year and was disappointed to find how it has been treated. The American's Dwight Eisenhower, by contrast, sits in the pride of place in a Midwest railroad museum.

I've often thought that, if I won the lottery, I'd like to try and repatriate Dominion of Canada to Britain to run again. It is a fine locomotive and doesn't deserve its current lot in life - although I guess it is still better than that of the rest of the A4s that didn't get preserved.

Derek Hayes - Vancouver, Canada.

Three more layouts are reviewed in the new issue of British Railway Modelling. The first of these is 'Billingham' which was built in 00 scale by Middlesbrough MRC and as you might guess from the name and location, of the club, it is set in the North East. It consists of four-track main line passing through a countrified setting with a small station and coal drops at one point along the half of the rectangle visible to the public.

The second layout is Nick Skelton's DCC operated 00 'Ardlui', set in the Scottish highlands. It is an oval which includes a fiddleyard in the back portion and a country station in the viewed area.

The final layout is 'Ynysybwl Fach', set believe it or not in Wales and on the Taff Valley Railway. It is a 7mm scale model which includes a colliery with associated sidings and workings. Built by John and Owen Gibbon, it is set in earlier times. This is a wonderful period piece and well photographed.

Practical advice includes making an Aristocraft Class 66 radio-controlled, building the DJH BR Standard 2-6-2T 4mm kit and constructing limestone hoppers from a kit by S Kits.

The main inspirational article is about the railways serving the ironstone industry in the Cleveland area. It is by Mike Leonard who has worked hard to encourage manufacturers to produce locomotives of the area. Another article looks at modern freight trains.

There is a critique of the Graham Farish Class 37/0 and reviews include the Hornby Van C and C-Rail Intermodal 20' Tank-tainer. There is also news of products on their way or recently released.

We thank Rails of Sheffield again for their continued sponsorship of the competition. Two weeks have been set aside for your entries to be submitted so the closing date this month is 22:00 on May 27th. Please don't leave it to the last moment as mail is only periodically collected and then has to be passed on to the quiz master. Don’t forget to send your entries on a separate e-mail with the subject "May Quiz Answers" and please include your full address just in case you have the good fortune to win. Here are the questions:

By Brian Macdermott

An unusual loco combination was photographed on an express at Stafford in 1954. Jubilee 4-6-0 No.45599 Bechuanaland was coupled ahead of Fowler 2-6-4T No.42397.

In Friday's MREmag, Brian Macdermott quoted: "One small step for man". Whilst clearly not a model railway matter, readers may be interested in the following:

At the time of the mission, the world heard Neil Armstrong say "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind". As Andrew Chaikin details in A Man on the Moon, after the mission, Neil said that he had intended to say 'one small step for a man' and believed that he had done so. However, he also agreed that the 'a' didn't seem to be audible in the recordings. The important point is that the world had no problem understanding his meaning.

However, over the decades, people interested in details of the mission have listened repeatedly to the recordings, without hearing any convincing evidence of the 'a'. In 2006, with a great deal of attendant media attention, journalist/ entrepreneur Peter Shann Ford claimed to have located the 'a' in the wave-form of Neil's transmission. Subsequently, more rigorous analyses of the transmission were undertaken by a number of people, including some with professional experience with audio wave-forms and, most importantly, audio spectrograms. As of October 2006, none of these analyses support Ford's conclusion.

Colin Watts

Does anybody out there have any sympathy for the poor old horse (era 1-4)?

While human 4mm passengers have an amazing array of well appointed carriages in which to ride the (slightly narrow) rails, can it be right to expect horses to travel in cattle trucks? For the lucky few there may be the odd etched brass kit, or even a very old Hornby/Wrenn BR pattern box. My old Tri-ang TT railway had a very elegant horse box, so why had the horse been forgotten today?

They were once numerous on the railway system transporting working and race horses around the country: there is plenty of photographic evidence. We have enormous variety of rolling stock from our ever resourceful providers, but I believe this is a glaring omission and an opportunity to add variety. Please vote next year for a horse box in next year's polls!

Mike Lutterloch

Many thanks to Brian Hewson for his information on freight on the Cambrian. I have now ordered the DVD. I was amazed that the closed Whitchurch - Chester line held redundant wagons as well. They must have been propelled a few miles down the line from Beeston junction to Broxton before being parked as the line at Whitchurch was severed about 600 yards out from Whitchurch and was used as a headshunt for Shrewsbury - Crewe freights to allow following passenger trains a clear path before reversing back onto the mainline and continuing to Crewe.

Thanks Brian.

Pete Blencowe

Has anybody thought of checking Meccano Magazine? I'm sure that when the model was introduced in the Hornby Dublo range, there would have been an article on their use.

Peter Gomm

Terry Dyckhoff (MREmag Friday 9/5/08), within his posting on East Coast fish trains, states that his recollection was that the Passenger Brake Vehicle (PBV) was within the train on the West Ealing milk empties to the West Country.

The location of the PBV within a milk train (both loaded and empty) was dependant upon operating requirements and as such could have been anywhere. Some examples:

1. The 'up' West of England milk trains from Penzance collected loaded milk tankers from a number of locations which were added, depending upon the specific location, either at the front or the rear. It normally started from Penzance as tanks with the PBV on the rear. On arrival at Plymouth, it was re-marshalled in accordance with the operating instructions, which meant all those destined to traverse the GWR/WR route would be in front of the PBV. Any tanks for transfer to the SR were behind the PBV for detachment later at Exeter St. Davids.

2. Milk trains from Kensington to Morden South usually had the PBV at the front so that, on arrival at Morden South, the train could set back into the depot. Locomotives were not (officially) allowed to enter the milk depot therefore the presence of a PBV between the locomotive and the tanks meant that it effectively acted as a barrier vehicle.

3. The 6.48pm Exeter Central to Templecombe called at Seaton Junction to collect the loaded tankers, which it attached by setting back into the sidings and hence, upon departure, was formed of loaded tanks from Exeter and points west, PBV and loaded tanks from Seaton Junction. On arrival at Templecombe the train was re-marshalled in accordance with destination.

To return to a fish and milk theme, there was a loaded fish train from Grimsby to Swindon and, on arrival at Swindon, loaded fish vans for Cardiff were combined with empty milk tanks from London, destined to Carmarthen, Whitland and other South Wales locations. It was all (at that time) class 3 traffic.

Glen Woods

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote in about a need I had to lubricate the square axles on some old Hornby wagons. There were some replies and I have experimented a bit myself.

I should say that these are intended for a simple layout using 'Ernie' track for the young son of a work colleague. I paid only around £1 per wagon, so Dave Boyce's suggestions, which are really for treasured rarities, etc., aren't really right for my present purpose. The back-to-backs are tight (as Anthony New's email) and can't be adjusted as the wheels (inside the tyres, of course) and axle are one piece. They do run through all the points on my own layout except Hornby curved points - which also cause a proportion of my new items to derail. There's no problem on the 'Ernie' track.

Bill Towers suggested Lanoguard, which is only available in the UK in large tubs and is recommended for underwater use and for off-road bikes, etc. I couldn't find Inox lubricant (Inox is short for Indium Oxide which has lots of references on the Internet, but not specifically for lubricant). Incidentally, searching for 'lubricant' on the net leads to some eyebrow-raising insights into what some people get up to in their spare time!

In the end I put in a mail order for Tamiya Molybdenum and CK general purpose grease. Whilst waiting for delivery, I found a single steel axle with pinpoint ends in my box of bits. I experimented by replacing into the worst of the axles with this, squeezing the axleboxes together and turning the axle. Replacing the original axle showed a big improvement. I wondered why at the time, as the cone at the end of the steel axle is very smooth so shouldn't have reamed out the axlebox, but I now think that perhaps there was some old grease in there which was soft enough to be got rid of in this way. Obviously, the next step was to go over all the other poor running axles the same way. This gives a variable amount of improvement, but always at least some improvement.

The CK grease is very thick, not right for modelling I think, although it's done a good job on the sliding door of my greenhouse. The Tamiya Molybdenum grease has a levelling effect, those axles that were still not very good after the 'steel' treatment were improved, but better ones didn't spin so freely with grease as without. However, the greasing has improved the general running of the birthday present rake of wagons, they run more quietly and steadily with grease than without. The amount used is tiny, much less than 1 gram on a dozen axles altogether.

Chris Patrick

There may well be a number of readers following the signalling debate who, rather than being experts on the subject, would like a well written, easy to follow introduction to British signalling practices.

May I recommend the February 2008 issue of the Hornby Magazine, which really does explain the basics of the subject well.

Even though signalling is not exactly a new topic to me, reading this article did help me in determining what I believe would be the most marketable types of signals for production. As so many layouts have stations, one would think there would be a good market for a couple of types of operating starter signals. As well as adding to realism on layouts with through stations, I think an operating starter signal would significantly increase the operational interest on branch termini. While stop signals would be the most usable on oval or continuous run layouts, let's not forget the small disc signals in yards, which could also add substantial and realistic interest to operation. These have been modelled as operating signals by the Europeans before, so from a manufacturing point of view are not out of the question.

Other contributors have made the point that it may be difficult to justify a distant signal on the grounds of space compromise, as most of us would not have the space to logically place it far enough away from the home or stop signal. Also, as there are less layouts with junctions than layouts without them, a range of junction signals might be harder to market.

I am not saying that distant or junction signals should not be produced, but rather that I feel there would be a market for more than one type of both stop and starter signals, as these will be most used on layouts. If a manufacturer is considering developing a range of signals as a result of the desire expressed for them through this magazine, then these are the types of decisions that have to be considered.

I think most of us would agree that our hobby is not an inexpensive one, so I am certainly all for anything that increases its operational enjoyment, which I believe operating signalling will do.

Richard Whitmore

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British railway signalling is really quite simple if you ignore the inevitable exceptions and the pre-BR company procedures. The problem is that, unless the system is looked at from first principles, it appears confusing. Hence, observation alone will not suffice. The basic building blocks, 'block posts' and 'clearing points', don't necessarily have a physical presence. A 'block post' would usually be a signal box, but doesn't have to be, and 'clearing points' are just measurements, often given a physical representation such as "by that telegraph pole there" for operational purposes. For 'panel boxes', where the 'bobby', more often than not, cannot see the location, track circuits are relied upon.

Speaking from personal experience, before my railway days, as an avid model and real railway fan I found books on the subject confusing, or at least the ones I read were.

Having been trained and having quite a lot of preconceptions overturned, it became clear that any book or website that opens with something along the lines "There are three types of semaphore signal....." is going to remain confusing. That's not to say a book describing GWR 'calling-on' arms isn't of use.

Neil's point about layout not following prototype practice is, in a lot of cases, spot-on. The layout of track is (and was) often constrained by signalling rules leading to formations that may not seem logical when considering expected moves on a layout. This is particularly so under 'absolute block' working and when working within our cost and space limitations. How many of us would take into consideration achieving single line working of our double track main lines (and, frankly, why would we bother). However, as he also alludes too, unless we cheat with signals as we do with the radii of curves, speeds, timetables and train lengths, we would all have very dull layouts. Most of us would be able to get a short loop in our lofts if we were lucky! Clubs with healthy budgets and plenty of room obviously have an advantage there.

Modelling, for the vast majority of us, is simply creating a representation of the real world that satisfies us, much like any other art form. Creating an exact historical record in it's entirety is neither practical nor, for most of us, desirable.

Richard Watson

There was an interesting article in one of the latest magazines about getting started on a layout. This got me thinking about the general state of our hobby today.

It is true to say that the amount of 'ready made' equipment we have today makes it a relatively easy task (funds permitting) to create a realistic and good quality layout, with imagination being the foremost skill needed. This is wonderful for us all and I guess I am like a lot of hobbyists who mix ready made and scratch built in their layouts. I am in awe of those who have the patience and skill to build locomotives from scratch or who spend hours creating beautiful buildings and lineside equipment. Again, I probably rate as 'Mr Average' in that I have scratch-built and kit-bashed a few wagons, detailed a few locos and generally dabbled.

I do like the new resin buildings from Hornby and Bachmann which can be detailed and it would be easy to take a 'why bother' attitude to building kits. But, therein lays the beauty of our hobby in that we can choose to create something and take satisfaction at having built it, be it a wagon kit or a huge layout.

I am in the process of building a locomotive shed layout and have used some of the Scalescenes downloadable kits. These are superb and for a one off payment I can create as many kits from the download as I wish. I have had the satisfaction of building an engine shed which I can extend or even build another for the price of the card. I have also built some low relief arches which are typical of many city/town railways and I can build as many as I like or rebuild if I am not satisfied. I am nothing more than a satisfied customer, but it is an example of what we have at our disposal now. I am enjoying building my buildings from card, plastic and whatever I can lay my hands on. Of course, if all fails, I can buy everything from the Hornby or Bachmann ranges and it will probably look better. But, with my efforts, I have the satisfaction of building it myself.

The same applies to track and signals which have been in the news lately. One can use ready-made or one can self-build either from scratch or from kits. It just depends on how much you want to create yourself and that is the crux of the hobby. It boils down to how creative we are with our imagination. Regardless of which approach we take, our imaginations are the only limiting factor in building the layout of our dreams.

Andrew Carter

Further to the query regarding the shortage of Lenz decoders, there are several reasons why supplies have been thin on the ground through the winter months. However, supplies are now coming back on stream and if Simon Morgan would like to contact me at sales@candmmodels.co.uk, we should be able to supply his needs.

Mike Parsons - C&M Models, Carlisle

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With reference to Simon Morgan's enquiry about the above, I suggest he takes a look at RMweb in the 'products' section there is quite a lot of information regarding the supply of Lenz decoders. In a nutshell, it would appear that the long time agent for Lenz (McKays) are not able to supply their decoders at present, the reasons are not given and it would be folly to speculate as to why. However, McKays have been offering a very good service for a long time and have a loyal customer base.

Lenz now appear to have appoint