NickBalmer

Hello Robin, It is really sad that a few years ago when on a visit to the reserve collection at IWM Duxford we came across several rotting boxes full of one of the Bailey Bridge models at the back of a leaky open fronted garage, with pools of water in which these bits were lying. We raised the issue with the official who was showing us around, and he shrugged it off, as something he couldn't do anything about. The bits had been in beautifully fitted boxes with green baize liners. I believe that Bassett Lowke in Northampton who made them. Bassett Lowke were makers of live steam railway engine models in 2.5" gauge (and probably other sizes.). Regards Nick Balmer

Hello Mike, Thank you so much for the link to the Engineering Manual. It will keep me amused for many hours. As a modern day civil engineering contractor I find these sorts of things fascinating. Recently I found out that one of my Great Grandfather Alan Railton was a Site Agent / Contracts Manager for one of the major civil engineering contractors, Topham, Jones and Railton, who built several of the major Dreadnought bases at Singapore, Gibraltar, as well as civil ports including Port Talbot and Swansea during the period around 1895 to 1904 when he died. The most interesting large plate format photos were taken at most of those sites full of details of similar trestles, pile drivers, concrete mixers etc. I have an inclination to make a model something very similar to what you are going with a steam shovel, trains etc. Many of TJR's locomotives came from the Manchester Ship Canal and seem to be very well documented. After my gt great grandfather died Topham Jones & Railton went on during World War I to build causeways at Scapa Flow and many of the Royal Naval Munitions factories and depots. Regards Nick Balmer

Hello Mike, I would love to know where you got your drawings for these pontoons from? I have "One More River to Cross" and although it has a great many drawings of other pontoons and bridges, it doesn't appear to have this type of pontoon. It also greatly encourages me to see that I am not the only person who is scratch building World War I equipment in 1/43rd. It is a great scale for this period. I am currently building a Thorneycroft J to Geoff Lacy's plans, and hugely helped by the Gosling's restoration photos. They are quite the best resource on that truck. As for colour of pontoons, I am unsure, but much WWi equipment seems to have been a shiny gloss green, but I am uncertain if this was later paint used on restoration. We had a First World War toolbox in our barn that was coloured a faded earthy dark Brown with a tinge of green in it. Sadly that succumbed to a rotted out base some years ago. I used a matching colour on the Lanchester I built in 1/43rd scale some years ago. Regards Nick Balmer