IMPERIAL AT WORK

It's a time of great upheaval at Maudetown Colliery, in this early 1980s view. But, it's not down to Thatcher's mission to kill-off the Unions and switch to cheaper imported fossil fuels. Rather, the shed in which the layout is housed has seen some further renovation work over begin overt the weekend. Before the layout was packed away into store, I set up my camera and gave NCB No.1 Imperial a quick run around the sidings.  The motorised Knightwing kit looks just the job shuffling vac-braked stock and the yellow livery adds some vibrant colour to the surroundings. Hopefully, the rest of the shed rebuilding won't take too long and Maudetown can be set up properly with its new extension - but everything is depending on the weather over the next few weekends...

No.1 positions a tank wagon beside the water column. The site relies on deliveries of treated water from down the valley, to keep the resident steam engines topped-up. Although, at this time, the use of 'puff-puffs' is becoming an increasingly rare occurrence.