Quote from: Trainfish on February 26, 2026, 10:31:20 PMAs for the trains, well, those kettles all look the same to me 

How many HSTs do you run? 

And while he was at it, I had my early Electro Diesels renumbered and weathered too.
So there is a reason for buying two of everything after all
All of these EDs could have been seen together, so despite the run down of steam in the 60s, the new guard electrics and EDs were brightening things up a bit.


E6002 started off as the Signal Box MU Stock Green version E6003. It was not right livery wise for either its 1960s condition or 1980s condition. So it became E6002 which did have a small yellow panel.


E6003 and E6004 are Gaugemaster versions without yellow panels.


E6007 and E6009 are Dave Jones commissioned early blue versions with lower stripe. Only E6007 - E6013 were done like this.


E6035 and E6039 are Gaugemaster commissioned models of the early blue with white roof livery. All of the last batch of EDs wore this livery before the 1969 mass repaint into BR banger blue with full yellow ends.

(Oh yeah. I have a couple of them too, E6005 and E6033, just in case...)

More like down in the weathering works this time.

@Ensign Elliott has done a splendid job on these steamers, both renumbering and weathering, getting Bishopstoke ready for the 1960s era.

All of these would have been seen together around the former LSWR in the Eastleigh/Southampton/Lymington/Bournemouth/Weymouth area:


The Standard 4MTs were the last tanks to run the Lymington-Brockenhurst Branch, after M7s, Ivatts, and Standard 3MT tanks.

The Standard 4 moguls were usually seen on the Southern with tenders of higher water capacity, but by 1965 almost anything was acceptable. This one was the last mogul on the Weymouth line in 1967.

The Standard 5MTs also generally had the larger water capacity tenders, but not all did. With careful research, this one cropped up in the 1960s.


The 9Fs were used on the Fawley oil tank trains in the early 1960s, and this one was based at Eastleigh in this condition at that time.
 

I can't claim anything for the layout as it was built long before I joined the club

These are fantastic videos and great modeling.

After all these years I've only just noticed the coffin being carried towards the church. Maybe I'm weird but I do like seeing a good funeral which is why I have 2 so far on my layout 

As for the trains, well, those kettles all look the same to me 

Quote from: Newportnobby on February 22, 2026, 10:29:34 PMA very old Kraftwerk track from the 1970s Vertigo sampler album 'Suck it and see'

This is very suitable for watching trains running around the layout at near prototypical speeds ... a video soundtrack ... with occasional sidetrack cameos on industrial scenic details ... I must get my record deck fixed ... I note that there are several examples of suck it and see double vinyls on eBay at the moment!

An evening of grimy steam locos last night with factory weathered B1, J39, Fairburn and J50:-

Scruffy B1 61231 on passenger duties on Heatherley by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

J39 64841 with box vans on Heatherley by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

Grimy Fairburn tank 42267 with 2 coach train on Heatherley by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

Dirty J50 with box vans on Heatherley by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

I'm no fan, sorry folks!

Quote from: martyn on February 24, 2026, 08:25:33 PMI havent any relevent photos to say whether the ex LMS Stanier type brake vans as modelled by Farish worked on the WR or not, but they were seen on the ex GE section lines in the 60s.

I'd be more surprised if the LMS design of van didn't appear in the south west - you'll find a photo of one at Plymouth Friary in 1981 on Paul Bartlett's site for example. The chances of them not getting there in the 1960s must be zero (don't forget Bristol was served by the LMS). Post nationalisation there'd be little incentive to swap brake vans on through freight at the regional boundaries.

As with the GWR Toad, the LMS vans were also popular for use as staff riding vans - often with the end verandahs filled in.

Note that very few brake vans had automatic train brakes fitted. Most were either unbraked (grey) or were through piped (bauxite). Air-piped ones often had yellow panels on the sides and ends.

Their role was to keep the loose three link couplings tight - something that the guard had to work as as the train travelled up and down hill. Wagons fitted with automatic train brakes (air or vacuum) would also have instanter or screw link couplings - meaning less snatch as the loco took up the weight of the train.


@port perran get yourself a nice mix of BR standard, LMS, LNER, SR and GWR vans. You can always claim a standard van has suffered from a hot axle box and needed replacing with a GWR toad!