nigb55009

Fly to the rainbow, Scorpions

If you look on Barrowmore Model Railway Groups website, ther BR Diagram books. In the one titled "British Railways Diagrams of PO Wagons, Part 1" on page 169 of 266 is the diagram of MODA95780, diagram no, PX010A.

Shot in the dark, Ozzy Osbourne

Unfortunately it was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sweet Lorraine, Uriah Heep

Always the sun, The Stranglers

Wind of change, Scorpions

Doctor Doctor, UFO

Breaking the law, Judas Priest

9T85 returned with traffic for Central Wagon, near Springs Branch, usually empty wagons for loading with scrap or wagons for repair or even scrapping. There was also fuel tanks for the Diesel Depot, empty wagons for Lowton Metals, again for loading with scrap. As well as any other wagons such as empty MGRs that may have been detached from Fiddlers Ferry trains that had been repaired at Arpley Yard. There was also yhe occaissional traffic for Wigan Down Goods Yard, also known as Chapel Lane. T85 would have left Arpley about half past eight. This trip would als serve Bickershaw, as required, with MGR wagons to and from repair.

As I said earlier, the trip numbers changed later in the decade. This was partly due to a reduction in local freight traffic. T90 was a Springs Branch duty, along with T85, which served Co-op Glassworks, amongst others. The two were amalgamated into one, T72, I think aroond 1985. A lot of the trip numbers remained unchanged for many years, but eventually the whole Warrington area was reorganised. I have an old trip notice from 1975 for the old Liverpool Division. It covers trip workings for Edge Hill HS, Garston HS, NorthwichHS, Warrington HS and Springs Branch DD. It also covers shunt locos for station and carriage siding pilots. If I can find any further info I will post it here. Somewhere I have some Section CG WTTs, which cover th WCML from Crewe to Carlisle. They are the older type covering Mandatory and Conditional services.

The class 47s with HAAs & CAR could have been to/from the Cumbrian Coast. They consisted of 30 wagons + CAR, as did the north west area MGRs, based around Bickershaw, Parkside, Bold and Sutton Manor. So not easy to to tell one from the other. The GMC waste trains unloaded at Appley Bridge on the line between Wigan and Southport. The empties heading south (up) through Warrington BQ would be returning to Northenden. The photo of the two class 25 hauled freights were probably trip workings. The leading one looks like the Prescot tripper that served the BICC cable works. The rear train looks like the Gathurst trip, also on the Southport line, this served the ICI expolsive works as well as other traffic from the Springs Branch area. Not sure of the trip numbers, they changed some during the eighties. The sand hoppers would have been either from Crofields or Ravenhead. The Ravenhead train (8F21) also went to Springs Branch with MTV open wagons with sand for the Co-op Glassworks at Platt Bridge. The return empties to Oakamoor ran as 7K02.

Sleeping on the job, Gillan

Over the hills & far away, Gary Moore

Yeah, that's the one. There are other pictures of it as a tool van. Most of the windows were plated over during the conversion.

In steam days lineside vegetation was managed to reduce the risk of fire from sparks emitted by steam locos. After the end of steam it was considered unnecessary. This allowed the vegetation to flourish. If you think roughly twenty years later thats about the time the problems of low adhesion began, along with the introduction of second generation multiple units. Thats when the decision to remove trees from the lineside was taken. I`m not saying landslides never occurred before the end of steam, but there has been a significant increase since the mid eighties.

This is a growing problem caused by previous administrations. When all the " Leaves on the line" chaos began it seemed the simplest method was get rid of the root cause, pardon the pun. Trees were removed from embankments, little thought given to where all the rain water soaked up by the vegetation would go. How many cuttings are being reprofiled, at great expense, new drainage systems are built in to these major earthworks to take water away. The use of modern traction, more powerful, faster accelerating than the previous generation of rolling stock, doesn`t help the stituation, but thats progress. Perhaps if more thought had gone in to the problem when it first began it wouldn`t be happening quite so often today.

A further search has found more information about the vehicle. It was originally built as a standard Mk1 BG, numbered 80922. It was later converted to a TLV ( Trailer Luggage Van) for use with the Southern Region Motor Luggage Vans (MLV), which were used on boat trains to Dover Marine, later Western Docks and Folkestone Harbour. During 1976 the TLVs were withdrawn from passenger service and converted to Enparts vans at Swindon and Horwich Works. Later some, including 975612, became a Tool Van for use with the for use with Breakdown Trains. ADB975612 was allocated to Cardiff Canton.

Bachmann produced a model of a Mk1 BG numbered ADB975612. The vehicle was olive green and carried the wording " To work between Derby Loco BREL and WR Old Oak Common HST Depot". Olive green was used for Departmental vehicle which was later changed to BR Blue. Could the photo show this vehicle after a repaint? Another photo on Flickr shows the vehicle at Didcot, it also carries the wording "HST ENPARTS", on the opposite end to the number.

Red, Sammy Hagar

Rylands Sidings, on the WCML north of Wigan. I hardly remember it really, I was four or five years old, it was just before the end of steam, 1967ish. Later, the iron bridge, which crossed the old top yard at Wigan NW. It also crossed the lines into Wigan Wallgate. From about 1975 myself and my younger brother would catch the bus down to Springs Branch on Saturday mornings. First real memory was 4472 Flying Scotsman, heading north past Rylands in 1969.

Perhaps players sent to the sin bin will be offered counselling and given time to reflect and take responsibility for their actions.

Rule 1 sounds good to me. In 1990 the 47s were replaced by class 60s on the Cumbrian MGR services. I`m fairly certain 56s didn`t get to that area until after privatisation. Have a look on Flickr at Dave McDigital, there is an album dedicated to Cumbrian coal trains. It also shows class 25 and 40 working MGR trains around the areas I mentioned above. The class 47 hauled MGR trains had an air-braked brake van on the rear for the propelling movement between Walton Old Jn and Arpley Jn at Warrington.

MGR traffic would have originated between Corkicle and Maryport on the Cumbrian Coast. At the time you intend to portray these would have been hauled by class 47s. Occasionally other classes would be used for part of the journey, a class 47 would be provided before the train left Warrington on the final leg of the journey to Fiddlers Ferry. Class 56s appeared in 1985, after the miner's strike. Coal for Fiddlers Ferry was moved from Knockshinnoch, on the G&SW mainline. The 56s worked between Carlisle Yard and Fiddlers Ferry. Drivers at Springs Branch were trained on 56s for this work, so it was not unusual to see pairs of class 20s substitutions due to a shortage of suitably trained drivers or even class 56s. On at least one occasion a class 56 worked through to the colliery. The Springs Branch crew being conducted over the route.

Big city nights, Scorpions