Hobbies and Interests

“Books are priceless don’t spoil them.” All of us must have heard or read this saying in our school and college libraries isn’t it. Well, you know why this saying was pasted on the library’s wall, it’s because many of us bind the pages of a book and mark it with pen as a reminder to where we were reading. Ultimately, it spoils the beauty of a book and leaves it looking grimy. That is why only, our teachers always suggested us to use a bookmark instead. It is extremely easy to use and also keeps the book neat and clean. But with the changing times, the role of a bookmark has changed to a greater extent. Apart from serving its prime function, it is a great tool for book promotion.

Yes, these days bookmarks are gaining huge popularity as well as acceptance as promotional products. The major reasons for this is that, firstly, bookmarks are easy to print, secondly, these are easy to carry along and thirdly, these offer you good advertising space, fourthly, a free bookmark is kindly received. In addition to it, bookmarks act as a constant remainder about your product and of course it is a useful item for the recipient. Even if the reader is busy reading the book, he/she will be in constant interaction with your brand too. As a matter of fact, these days even the authors greatly use bookmarks for the promotion of their books known as authors bookmarks.

The author’s bookmarks are small, handy promotional products that can be distributed among the prospects at several occasions such as at a writer’s conference and at the bookshop, these can be inserted into the books of the particular writer as well as in related books. In addition to it, these can be kept in a library near the reading area, so that the readers can use it while reading.

The author’s bookmarks come in a variety of design, shape and colours these days. As per your requirements, you can design it yourself or can get it designed through professional promotional product designer and publishers. There are many such designers and publishers based in traditional market as well as online. As per your ease, you can contact them and get the authors bookmarks to rightly promote your book.

Caroline writes articles for author like author marketing services, author marketing, author bookmarks and author book promotion for more information on author promotion visit http://www.authoressentials.com

When we plan, for the most important day of our life, i.e. our wedding day, the most important thing that comes in our mind, next to, the wedding locations and the dress are the wedding photographs. If you have planned, your wedding in the beautiful city of Cardiff, you will always want to select, the best photographers available to get, the best wedding photography Cardiff. The simple reasons, behind it is that, even if the location is perfect and the guests are happy, this is a day, which is never going to come again in your life, and you need to make it memorable, so that, it can stay alive in your life, forever. The best way, to do this is through the wedding photography Cardiff. The pictures taken during the various events, surrounding the wedding will remain treasured with you forever, through the photographs. The wedding photography Cardiff makes your pictures stand out in the crowd. With the inclusion of your taste and your personalities, they will invariable reflect the real person in you, as a couple.

However, it is necessary to select the kind of wedding photography Cardiff that will perfectly suit your needs and requirements. Since, every individual is different, so are his or her tastes, likes as well, as dislikes. You wedding photography Cardiff will speak about you, so you need to select the photographer, who can understand your requirements and is open towards discussions and opinions, from their clients. Only, under such circumstances, you will be able to communicate with the photographer and let him know as how you want your pictures to look like.

Your wedding photography Cardiff will bring, in the WOW- effects in your wedding photographs and make it to stands out, in the crowd. The wedding photographers Cardiff are an interesting lot of wedding photographers, who are full of innovative ideas and creativity. It is always, the desire of the wedding couples to have the best pictures of their wedding day, as well, as the entire period of merriment and happiness that they have shared with their near and dear ones. They want these memorable moments captivated, but they also want a photographer, who can get very artistic during the photography. Nowadays, we see couples everywhere move about in their wedding dress, strolling through deserted places, roaming through fields and chasing other wild pursuits, just to get their best ever picture clicked.

Thus, selecting the best photographers becomes all, the more important. The photographs will continue to give happiness, for years together and keep reminding them of the love expressed, on their wedding day. Wedding photography Cardiff is the best to be considered. Weddings are their proficiency. The photographer here has won numerous awards, for their extraordinary work and helped to develop the take of Wedding Photography to newer heights.  The Wedding Photographers protect your memories in a unique style, the wedding photography Cardiff reflects the romance of the day or moments full of emotion, in a unique way and creates dazzling images that narrates the story of your exceptional day.  Their custom-made services, in an affordable price, set them apart, from other photographers.

Reviewed by Pat Hammond

Over the last 40 years we have progressed from a situation in which there were virtually no books on the history of toy trains to one in which there is a wealth of information available in our libraries and on the Internet. But one subject that was crying out to be recorded in print was the story of the Leeds Model Company (LMC), once the third most important in Britain. Now, in time for the centenary of the founding of the company, David Peacock of the Leeds Stedman Trust has put his considerable knowledge into print. It is an excellently told story with a wealth of reference material, and includes a bonus of considerable value – but more of that later

After the introduction, the chapters deal with: Rex Stedman, the early days up until 1921, the first series tank engines, 0-4-0 saddle tanks, models produced for BassettLowke, Great Central Railway models, rolling stock, special projects, R.F.Stedman & Co., Mansted Foundry, the Hordern layout, Newalloy, the fire at Jack Lane, Nettle and the ‘Brighton Belle’, the second series tank engines, introduction of Bakelite, exhibitions, austerity and afterwards, train sets, post-war copying of products, Ellemsee, the final years and the 2012 Centenary.

The introductory chapter contains a list of previously published articles and there are other reference lists within the text. At the back of the book there is a glossary and an excellent index. There are also no fewer than 19 appendices which cover catalogues, mechanisms, wheel standards, tank dimensions, lithographs (full listing), type B rolling stock, couplings, bogies and axleboxes, the LMC smoke unit, track, signals, buildings and accessories, power units, drawings, transfers, packaging and labelling, raw materials and tools and Stedman Lindon & Co. Ltd.

That says it all; nothing is missed out and it is written in an easy to read style, with plenty of pictures.

Now for that bonus I mentioned earlier.

Stuck to the inside of the front cover is a plastic pocket containing a DVD and instructions on how to access its contents. It carries over 100 superb photographs of the models in the Leeds Stedman Trust’s collection. They have been taken by Norman Childs and are all downloadable. There are notes below some of the pictures describing their significance and restoration details and a list of them, with production dates, appears at the back of the book.
Also on the DVD are two videos. The first was made by David Peacock and Jack Ray in 1984 (revised in 1994) for the Gauge 0 Guild. It is a succession of colour slides with a voice-over by the two gentlemen. The second, a better quality video, David made more recently with the help of Chris Pettit, again for the Gauge 0 Guild, but this time with movement. In it David Peacock introduces us to his LMC layout

The £19.95 that you pay for the book is worth it for this pictorial resource alone.

So there you have it – a much needed book by an expert on the subject. I strongly recommend it.

Thus in 1949 did the Leeds Model Company introduce their first ever boxed train set. This comprised an 0-4-0 saddle tank loco, two Bakelite box vans, one Bakelite open wagon and a single 15ft (4.5m) oval of track, all packed neatly in a brown leatherette presentation box. Various plans for enlarged layouts were depicted on the inside of the box lid.

The set was ‘comprehensively guaranteed for one year’. The three rail (centre third) track was made up of eight 2ft 1.1/2” (.65m) radius ‘Metalway’ curves and two 18” (.45m) straight sections, one of which carried connectors for the power source – which was not supplied. The set with a locomotive without smoke apparatus was priced at a twelve pounds, four shillings and five pence (£12.22). This odd amount reflected the effect of purchase tax! Buyers had the option of a smoke unit in the loco which if fitted added one pound ten shillings and seven pence to this, the set price then totalling thirteen pounds fifteen shillings (£13.75). The early sets were supplied with inside cylinder locos with liveries of one or other of the big four companies and wagons to match. Later, the outside cylinder 0-4-0ST in BR livery was substituted, but the wagons remained with the original transfer liveries and numbers. The ‘Metalway’ track consisted of steel rail in white metal chairs with 16 sleepers to the yard. The central conductor rail was either the uniquely LMC slender brass trapeziform section or standard brass bullhead rail.

Passenger train sets were also available in big four and BR liveries. These contained a post war 4-4-0 freelance tender locomotive with three Bakelite coaches but rather crammed as they were into a goods set box, (‘Goods’ deleted and ‘Passenger’ handwritten), they were sold without track.

Power to the track, recommended by LMC, was based on the Kirdon ‘Parpak Three’ rectifier with a separate slide resistance speed control, which was available in conjunction with the train sets. The units were finished in black crinkle paint and neatly packaged in brown mock leatherette boxes matching the packaging of the train sets.

Paradoxically, no mention of the 0-4-0ST or either goods or passenger train sets appears in the otherwise comprehensive 1952 and 1953 catalogues, the last publications of high quality produced by LMC; neither was there any mention of the sets in the price lists issued in 1957, 1959, and through the 60’s up to the 1967 liquidation.

 A good number of sets both goods and passenger have survived, some having either been well cared for or little used are in extremely good condition. Recently a set with outside third current collection came onto the market and was purchased by a Leeds enthusiast. Enquiries were made to the Leeds Stedman Trust as to the likelihood of this being as originally supplied. Investigation showed that the centre rail as originally fitted had been moved to the outside third position, and that the current collector on the locomotive bore the name ‘Romford’ and likewise was not an original LMC item.

No record can be found as to how many sets and of what type were ever sold. The number would certainly have been small in relation to Hornby Trains. Despite the ‘worthy’ LMC objective of promoting wider sales, and a series of advertisements in the Meccano Magazine, the higher price of the LMC sets would have been just as much a deterrent to purchase as for other Leeds products.

Details of the sets, track, and power units are fully covered in the book ‘The Leeds Model Company’ which relates the full history of LMC and which will be available from the Leeds Stedman Trust later this year.

Author: David Peacock is a Model trains trustee of the Leeds Stedman Trust

This article has received 3 Ducks – Gerald Duck

Back in 1928, Rex Stedman founder of the Leeds Model Company, and by then running the company under his own name, created for a branch of the wealthy Hordern family living in Cobbity N.S.W. Australia, an exceptional model railway. Described as ‘a very complete model railway system’, the layout measuring 17 feet (5.2m) long and 9feet 3 inches (2.8m) wide was built by members of the R.F. Stedman & Co staff, including Rex himself, at the Jack Lane, Hunslet, factory in Leeds.

Standard Leeds items of rolling stock and Stedman special locomotives were included in the full inventory of buildings, comprehensive working signals and all of the other items making up a complete model railway. The layout featured a five road terminal station with an imposing hotel building, a through station, three engine sheds, a turntable and coaling stage, two small and one large main signal box with a 60 lever frame, goods and coal offices etc. There was a double main line, with a very complicated array of points and crossings leading to the terminus, engine road and main shed. There was a four road goods yard with a shunting neck. The points on the main line were mechanically operated via levers and rodding from the main signal box. Contacts on the same levers served to operate the appropriate signals, all of which were electrically operated with working lamps, the fine wire for these being elegantly recessed into the signal posts. Points and signals were interlocked. Small switches and push buttons controlled non-signalled roads and dead ends. Current collection was by outside third rail.

For many years, after being put aside by the original purchaser, the railway and much of the stock was lost but was discovered in Queensland in 1985, stored rather carelessly under the owner’s house. It was in very poor condition indeed.

After several changes of ownership its restoration is well in hand. Two locomotives and several coaches were recovered with the layout. Both locos havelong been in good hands as have most of the coaches, although several of these have been repainted in GWR chocolate and cream. One rake coaches in the original Hordern orange livery came back to England in the 1970’s, was purchased by the Leeds Stedman Trust, and returned to Australia to join other rolling stock on the layout. These coaches must hold the world record for 0 gauge model travelling, 37,000 miles in all, quite apart from any distance run on the layout!

Much later in 2009, a surprising collection of locomotives and goods vehicles were purchased from an antique shop in Mittagong, New South Wales, quite near to the original location of the Hordern home in Cobbity, Fortunately the buyer made contact with The Leeds Stedman Trust, only to discover that all items were from the Hordern stud. Most were in very poor condition, with mechanical damage, missing parts and heavy rusting. In the worst case only the roof and floor with axleguards in place remained of a six wheel brake van.

Work continues in Australia and the UK with the reconstruction of the layout and repair and renovation of the locomotives and rolling stock. Smaller items which could be made away from the layout, station roof supports, and buffers have with replacement footboards for a six wheel brake van, a quantity of replacement rail and signal finials been supplied from the UK. David Peacock (Leeds Stedman Trust) and Glyn Eden, custodian of the layout, working together recently put in a combined 100 man hours to repair damaged track and pointwork, and to install the first stretches of rail to restore the outside third electrification. At the completion of this period it was possible to run locomotives over the entire layout for the first time in 80 years.

Damage to the original wiring loom is so extensive that new wiring is required and a new and simplified control panel has been constructed. The Leeds Stedman Trust is delighted to be able to participate with the restoration work, providing rare spare parts, information and expertise to enable the reconstruction to proceed. The aim remains to have the layout operational with as many as possible of the original locomotives and items of coaching and goods stock by 2012, in an event organised to mark the centenary of the Leeds Model Company.

Further detail on the layout, the Hordern layout and the Leeds Model Company are given in the book, ‘The Leeds Model Company 1912 – 2012’ written by David Peacock which will be available at the end of this year.

Author: David Peacock is a Model trains trustee of the Leeds Stedman Trust

This article has received 4 Ducks – Gerald Duck

Here is a good question for a model railway club quiz night. ‘Name the three leading British Model Railway Manufacturers in the period 1920 – 1940’   Easy to get the first, Hornby! Well done, now the second?  Something to think over but most will get Bassett-Lowke.  Correct.  But the third?  Far fewer will know of the Leeds Model Company, yet it was indeed number three in the manufacturing  league.  Founded in 1912 by Rex Stedman the company finally ceased trading in 1967, but its many products remain in service today, some in their original standard scale three rail format, others converted to two rail and fine scale operation.  Of these products the most familiar will be the moulded Bakelite coaches, open wagons and box vans, produced in great numbers both before World war two and into the late 1950s.  Also familiar are the range of small boiler standard tank locomotives, six designs dating from 1935, and one from 1948. These remarkable models were engineered to come from one set of standard tooling both for the bodies and also the mechanisms. Despite this each locomotive, whilst sharing the family resemblance is quite individually identifiable, by its size and wheel arrangement, and with a varied range of chimneys, domes, safety valves and other features.

Throughout the 1920s, the Leeds Model Company regularly introduced new models into its range. Starting with a series of essentially freelance clockwork driven standard tanks, and a small 0-4-0 saddle tank, the company started to mass produce scale models of prototypes from the major companies, LNER (principally ex Great Central  locomotives) and  Great Western.  Coaching and goods stock was initially all handmade, but from 1922 costs were dramatically reduced by the use of paper lithographs attached to wooden body shells. By 1936, the year when moulded Bakelite vehicles were introduced the company had in all produced to the highest standards of draughtsmanship and colour printing 81 designs of lithographs.  Among these the brilliant ‘Brighton Belle’ Pullman car set of five coaches was recently used as the basis for the Darstaed ‘Brighton Belle’ set, and for subsequent Pullman car variations.

Finance to build the Leeds Model Company from a small operation into a substantial manufacturer initially came from G.P.Keen. Keen was one of the leading influences in the model railway hobby in the last century. For many years he was President, Chairman and Exhibition Manager of the Model Railway Club; the present HQ building of the Club bears his name – Keen House. He was a wealthy man and commissioned many fine models thus supporting several of the model makers and model companies of the time. In 1920 Keen provided the finance enabling Rex Stedman to expand the Leeds Model Company business and on 11th March the company was incorporated as The Leeds Model Company Limited, with Keen and Stedman as subscribers and directors.  The money enabled Stedman to move in 1921 from the small premises in Harewood Street to a new factory at Balm Road Mills, Hunslet. Manufacturing capacity was immediately enlarged and the company from its modest beginnings was then fully under way.

Well before their collaboration in the new company, Stedman had produced many fine models for Keen, rakes of coaches for Keen’s K-Lines layout were started in 1917, and completed through the succeeding years. From 1925, and under the name Mansted Foundry , (a play on Stedman’s name), ten locomotives, most specially designed to Keen’s requirements, were supplied to K-Lines.  One above all stands out as arguably Stedman’s finest model, the LNER  Gresley U1 Garratt, now kept in the National Railway Museum York. This powerful 0 gauge locomotive once hauled on a special trailer three men with a total weight of 39 stones – 248 kg, and 103 trucks on the K-Lines tracks.

Author: David Peacock is a Model trains trustee of the Leeds Stedman Trust

This article has received 4 Ducks – Gerald Duck