Welcome to British Railways Illustrated, Volume 5 No. 5. The mighty Gridiron, doomed now, alas, to survive only as archaeological remnants, is the latest in a long line of BRILL features devoted to yards and their associated workings. A glance at the maps and plans will impress the dreamiest branchliner (the one that lurks within us all) of the grand place of Edge Hill and its astounding Gridiron in our railway affairs. It is probably the most powerful and vivid demonstration available to us of the railways' once-unchallenged part as Power in the Land... Do I dream when I see a model of Edge Hill, at the old Clapham Museum in the days when Leeman Road still held WDs, 9Fs, B16s and Pacifies? If that model were real (it was representational, I think, rather than to a recognised scale) then, whereisit? Fourum, from Mike Mitchell, is a bit of a departure this issue, devoted to a man, rather than a place or loco; Station Master Dewar, a man in whom, through pride and dedication, institution and person became one. People figure again in Disaster at Frog Island, an unlikely-sounding place where the equally unlikely-sounding (and unsuspecting) Tommy Wadsworth and his missus sat above their fishing tackle shop, blithely unaware that an 04 2-8-0 was about to pay them a visit... Richard Hardy's words and observations are usually fascinating and invariably well-received, and it only took a gentle arm twist to get him to elaborate on a letter recalling his time as Divisional Manager Kings Cross. His Kings Cross Comment in Nooks and Crannies take us on a fascinating tour around a station he knew intimately. Reared in the knowledge that this was one of our principal terminus stations (maybe the best known in the country) some readers will find some of the sights almost hair-raising! Nocturne provides an illustration of that queer, and queerly attractive feature of the steam loco at night, that subtle distortion of the subject. The work of Mike Mitchell (again) and George Heiron (again) brings a new look atJubilees, variously bathed in unearthly light, and made all the more fantastic by the tenebrous backgrounds. News that GALATEA will be the nextJubilee to emerge from its own long night, to join the other two, BAHAMAS and LEANDER in the clear sunlight of preservation (this is called pushing an image to the limit) inspired a search for a suitable photograph - alas abandoned - of this determined survivor. No less determined are the folk responsible for its reincarnation - for advice on how to help (like buying a special Bachmann model) contact Locomotive Marketing Services The WDs - the 2-8-Os at least - are probablv unique in being remembered as much for their sound as for their looks. Not that delicacv of form, pride of line etc.. etc.- were their most noted attributes - they were literally "throwaway" locos designed for a shortish life, a point taken on board in pans of the continent but-cheerfully ignored bv BR- Thev were often imperfect steamers, they rocked and lurched and banged - there were times even, when one went by and - horror - the number couldn't be read. But they were simple and cheap - The Austerities describes the development and work of these marvellous things, in (or rather, on) which filth and neglect were taken to hitherto undreamed-of extremes....