The Pilotman

I recently acquired some Really Useful Boxes so that I could rehouse all of my rolling stock from the banana boxes I’ve been using up until now. In no time at all, one of the boxes was being examined for suitability as a new sleeping location….

Lovely image, that. Looks like a brand new Italian ferry wagon behind the loco.

Given the proximity of the house to the tracks, and the fact that double glazing was probably unheard of at that time, I’ll bet the occupants could hear the point motors from indoors every time they were swung over.

The 155 was a two car unit from new (as shown in both your pictures). Most became class 153s later when they were converted to have a driving cab at both ends to operate as a single coach unit.

That's a different type of wagon in that image; one of the Belgian registered versions.

I consider myself very lucky then when you lugged it (and yourselves) all the way to Utrecht!

But there is a service station there on the M5 if anyone’s interested…

I once drove from Perth to Shark Bay (850km) but split the journey by stopping the night in Geraldton which is about halfway. Even so, I found it very tiring indeed (much more tiring than London to Fort William which isn’t much shorter and which I had no trouble doing in one day) but that may have had something to do with the tedious ****hole with whom I was travelling 🙄

Thanks for that explanation, Richard. Ad suitably amended.

Definitely Reading. The old (down main) platform 4.

Not much to go on... It’s most likely to be a Bath Road loco so finding out which 31s were based there in the early 80s would be a start. If you’re that bothered about finding the number a trawl through Flickr looking for a loco with that same marking on the headcode panel is probably your best bet. Maybe someone is up for the challenge, but I’m not 😝

I have for sale a total of 30 of the N Gauge Society’s kit number 68 (NGSK0680) of the POA Scrap/Aggregates open box wagon as used by Tiger Rail Leasing, ARC and Foster Yeoman etc. Each kit is unstarted and features a Peco 15ft wagon chassis (NR-122), five plastic parts (base, two ends and two sides) plus etched ladders as shown. Transfers are not included but are available from the N Gauge Society (or elsewhere depending on which livery you wish to model). I would like to sell them in batches of six kits but would split into other amounts subject to interest. Earliest possible posting date is April 20th. Payment by bank transfer only please. £12 per batch of six kits (or £50 for all 30) + £5 P&P (will use Royal Mail tracked delivery service.

Grab yourself a complete prototypical rake of 20 Peco N Gauge China Clay hopper wagons (TOPS code CDA) in the original ECC International Silver/Blue livery. All the wagons were bought new and have rarely been used. All are in the original packaging in “as new” condition with no damage or missing pieces. I would prefer to sell as one complete lot but will consider splitting the wagons into smaller lots subject to interest. Earliest possible posting date is April 20th. Payment by bank transfer only please. £200 + £5 P&P (will use Royal Mail tracked delivery service)

More proof, if any were needed, that Star Trek was not a comedy.

I think we can safely say, yes.