Shady deal

I was fascinated by the photo showing Charlie Edwards ( OBA 69 Letters) on a model steam train. There is a young boy that appears to be giving out toys with labels on and looks like labels under his arm, would this be, say a Christmas treat or something?

Also in the early fifties I bought a 350cc single cylinder motorcycle from a shady dealer that sprung up after the war. He told me it was used as a sand racer on some island somewhere, and was originally war surplus. This I gathered as there was a small adjusting screw on the cylinder head which when you turned it one way it gave you a smoke screen from the exhaust pipe. It started to smoke without adjusting the screw so my brother said it must be worn out, so he stripped the engine down and found a load of sand in the crankcase, also the piston was of an unusual shape – like a beer barrel smaller at the top and bottom but wider at the middle. He reassembled it with a new piston and rings and decided to take the 1/4 inch side-play out of the crankshaft. After this the bike went really well but looking back could this have been one of the Spagforth Splints made in the Upper Volta? Thanks for the best Mag out there. Dave Kidd Woodbury, Devon, UK