Our world in miniature, hobbies

Good on you Philip, that is the icing on the cake !!!!

In true Blue Peter fashion, here's one I made earlier...

Hi all, & thank you for that Dutchman. I only have a word/work basic editor which is well past its use by date. I am better at doing paper cut out & stick on, than IT edit. The over-bridge advert is the resized photo with the two motives glued on. I am never to old to learn, especially surrounded by talented experts on this subject. Thank you so much. I just could not wait. I will put the surround frame on when it is all dry. Once again, all thanks to you Dutchman. ps. edit post added 17th I love the advertisent for our site on Hall Brooks railway. Can you imagine the figures on the station murmuring about the www. "What on earth is that?" they ask. It reminds me of the tele show 'Goodnight Sweetheart' where Nicholas Lyndhurst has to explain what a mobile phone is.

Hi. I love it, Dutchman. Your interest & kindness regards our railway, has so enthused me that I popped into Antics this morning & bought the tender class 2MT. If a model railway is too authentic, say if mine was a perfect copy of Foleshill & spot on with every truck. van & wagon for a particular time, (which with my level of skill, I could not do anyway leave alone space) it would be so dry, lack fun & would need a running commentary in order to explain it. As it is, our railway has grown from when my grandson was aged four & has served as centre of fun for all of us for the last ten years. Sean had best marks at school for his managing materials, along with his soldering. So, it serves its purpose in so many ways. Again, thank you so much.

Hi all. I feel the same way Catshed, just by being part of our site community. Another big thank you to Dutchman for the pics & live links. I have made my corridor conectors, ready for our new DMU which should arrive this week. I have put a pic up of how easy they are to make on my gallery. They are the one thing on our railway, that I rearly see on other models, even at exhibitions, yet they are so easy to make. My modelling skills are very limited, but I try to create the right impression with what I can do.

Very interesting Philip One the first model railway magazines* I ever bought had an article on making corridor end connectors from that black paper which photographic film came wrapped in. *It also had a scratchbuild article entitled "A Johnson Belpaire in EM" which made about as much sense to me back then as it probably does to the average reader of this site today!

Hi Another pic on my gallery with you in mind, Dutchman. I won't keep doing this on the forum, as your interests are much wider than just my model railway, but you have made such a contribution to my thoughts on the model that I have little more of a way of showing my appreciation to you for your help. Wait until you see yourself along with our other friends from our site, on the new section of the model when built. Best wishes. gallery/display

Hi all Can you remember these? It's dustbin day in Bramble Grove. All I have to do now is find some dustmen, complete with their leather shoulder pads for carrying the dustbins. How times have changed. Hope you like.

That looks like the type they used for communal bins Philip. Does it have a big circular hole at the back?

Here you are Philip - one bin-man, complete with a bin on his shoulder! http://www.dartcastings.co.uk/montys/MSV59.php

Hi Dutchman & Tony. The rear flap is sealed shut, but I may work on that so that it looks as though it is open, yes & I do remember the round holes with the rubber flaps. The main body tips in both directions. Thank you Tony for the dustbin men link, you are bril. I was told that Dart Castings started off in Coventry & that Pete Waterman had an interest in his early days. One of the company founders lived in Dartmouth Road. I am not sure of the facts about that.

The reason I mention it Philip is that it looks slightly too modern for the period you are modelling. I think individual bins were still being emptied into side-loading dust carts.

Hi all, The Drewry bin system started in Coventry in 1955, where the rubbish was tipped onto the back. The last four side-lid Bedfords were sold to Nuneaton UDC in 1956. The remaining ones were converted into reclamation collections, bone & animal stuff. I think am ok. Some local authorities were using the side-lid lorries as late as 1980s. I saw several 'Karrier' dustcarts on flat-bed trucks going through Foleshill & that was 1970 time. Our railway era is very broad. It covers my trainspot period which started 1956 & finished in 1966. It means that I might just be able to squeeze the odd bit of blue in. The model might not be spot on anyway, as a boy, I can remember seeing Dennis on one of the radiators. Two of my buses are too early for the railway, but they have survived.

Thanks for the correction Philip

Hi all A true story. Buses & Dustcarts (a story dedicated to Dutchman, Tony & Midland Red). Not a Wally. A man & his family came from Kidderminster to retire & live in Coventry. Walter, now in his nineties, was a Midland Red bus driver, who spent his last Midland Red days in Kidderminster as the depot foreman. He settled down here and was also a Sunday School teacher (he knew his stuff on any subject that he was involved with). That's how I came to know him. A very lovely man. He is huge too, so you did not argue with him. He was not here long before the lure of driving that he so missed, drove him to join the team of dustcart drivers in Coventry. He is the source of much of my info on the City Engineers' activities. The Story. One day, Walter was on a dustcart pickup round in Longford when he smelt burning & upon inspection realised that he had a burning load in the cart. He immediately told the binmen to phone the depot & tell them that he was going to drive at high speed to the Bermuda site which was a municipal landfill tip then, he would not risk going through our city centre. Just as he was doing a 'formula-one' along the road, he was stopped by a police car. He told the officer that if he did not get this burning load to Bermuda immediately, both he & everyone around would be the first people from the Novotel to be on the moon. He was then given a police escort where he was touching speeds of sixty along the Bedworth bypass. As the burning load was being ejected at the site, it flashed over, but no one was hurt. The dustcart had suffered some damage. It was repaired. Some time later, I was waiting for the no.20 outside McDonalds in the Burges & to my delight, there was Walter, reversing the same dustcart between KFC & the next building. I don't think that there was a hand's width between either mirrors and the two walls, but he reversed back as straight as a needle. I have always been proud to know Walter who just treats it all as a day's work. Best wishes.