Horsetan

This was very good. I've been listening in during dinner 🍽

"Gravel? Luxury!!"

It's this fella - real name Dave Basford, a.k.a K2 Kits. I've attached a copy of his current etch list for anyone who fancies a go at ordering direct from him. the etch list latest 23-04-25.pdf

You may be able to adapt a London Road Models 2F chassis - see ref. "Chas6" at the bottom of the list

This looks like a mid-1980s K's spec. By this time, K's were operating out of a premises in Teignmouth, Devon. The wheels are K's own - they were mounted on "D"-ended axles to try to make quartering easier. Problem is that the plastic wheel centres can go brittle with age, and wobbly wheels aren't unknown. The biggest weakness is the motor - by this time, K's included the H2M motor in every kit except for their "Milestones" range - even the LMS Garratt kit had the H2M in it. Whilst it had a built-in gear cradle, quality was a bit hit-and-miss as the motors were made on the cheap. If you're really unlucky - as I was back then - the motor will lack proper bearings either on the front of the shaft (where the gear cradle is) or behind, or both. This is a factor in the H2M running hot even when not under load, which then leads to distortion. It's not really a suitable motor for anything heavier than a light shunter.

The top end sounded like a bag of nails, reminiscent of the 1960s-1980s Simca / Talbot car engines.

The Brian Clough Negotiating Technique

The Street View suggests that the station building itself has been bricked up and is in poor external condition.

Just a tantalising glimpse on Street View

Needs an interior to bring it up to date?

Will I get the oul popcorn out?

I have two, inherited from a friend a couple of decades ago - one Exactoscale, one London Road Models - neither of which I have ever used, as the traditional Antex 25w takes up less space. The last time I used the RSU was at the end of 2002...in Australia. It's certainly very quick, from what I can remember, but things like layers laminated together might still benefit from a wipe with a traditional iron.

The photo is also a very rare and useful show of the York Road "pointer light" subsidiary signals in operation. With the main 2-aspect head showing danger, the miniature lights (arranged as 3+2) display the route for shunting - in this case, the red light is extinguished, and the right-most route is cleared to green-under-yellow. Just visible to the right is the other main head, with its subsidiary pointer underneath showing red - the normal indication. The main heads appear to be the same type that was frequently used on surface sections of the London Underground, quite likely a Westinghouse product. Westinghouse colour light signals were also in service at Coleraine for decades, and were again common to the London Underground and the Southern Region of BR. Cravens 105 and 129 are superficially similar in the windscreen section.

Are there any British RTR DMUs which have similar curvature at the front? If so, it might be possible to cannibalise sections for a model.

That sounds very much like the flexi plastic that Lima used to use for bogies and underframes; it was all but impossible to glue.

As usual, I've gone for the two that are preserved: one green, the other black 'n tan Could be March '27....

Be careful what you wish for....

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that my choices will appear in 4mm scale

The last time I was there was in 2001. It was very difficult to work out where the pier siding had run, whilst the Goods Bank and station area had long since been flattened - I think a school has been built there since.

Training Ship for cadets?

If you've seen the size of Rails' warehouse, it's not like they're short of space. I wouldn't be surprised if some items have been sitting there so long that they're starting to decompose....

Probably gone off for scrap.

That "A" is a bit of a bargain if it stays at that bid level. The Mk2s....not so much.

This is the one that's preserved in the Haifa Railway Museum in Israel. It still has the number 203.

There's a lot of blue in those white LEDs....