NXEA!

And if you want to sample/witness 180's alongside 222's at 125mph along the MML, 27/12 is your date as Hull Trains are (provisionally) being diverted from Doncaster via the Old Road, Toton, Loughborough, and thence to St Pancras because of an ECML blockade. The two down services are tightly timed between London and Leicester; 66 minutes allowed in the case of one service. Schedules are below. Up: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/N49640/2013/12/27/advanced http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/N49642/2013/12/27/advanced Down: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/N49956/2013/12/27/advanced http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/N49648/2013/12/27/advanced Thanks must go to Supercoss for the information, and Sleaford Zoo for the RTT links on WNXX.

When you say 97/98, are you referring to the year of the photo? In which case this is likely to be incorrect, as Healey Mills became the dumping ground for switched off 37/47/56's in 2004, so it would be after this point in time. Hope this helps.

23/10/09, 4 years ago! Might be a while, Colas probably won't hire it again, as well as the fact it's currently stopped at Carnforth with wheelset problems apparently.

Indeed, hoping that 768/772 eventually come out of Carnforth. If it be some Duff action you're wanting, get your arse over to East Anglia, ad-hoc Duff's to Yarmouth/Lowestoft, or alternatively come here in the summer for the drags! 802 was on fine form last month.

That would be 47746 David! Freshly outshopped from Carnforth and it's first passenger working since 2003!

Four from preservation being quoted but no numbers confirmed is what's doing the rounds - 37025/175/401/403 hired? 025/403 are being mainlined by SRPS, I'm sure 401 could be mainlined fairly easily too. Just throwing it out there...

It's not Essex, but I have some photo's of the 15.55 Yarmouth drag today which I did from Norwich to Yarmouth, 47802 giving a good account of itself too! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Here are the photo's, and I'd just like to apologise to those of you who are offended by the quality, they were only iPhone shots, the weather was poor and they look worse blown up on the Mac! They actually look respectable on the iPhone... I also have a few from a brief visit to Gidea Park and Woodgrange Park if anyone's interested. Links to the sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/sets/ If you can't be bothered to flick through, here's a few links to the best ones of today to save you the hassle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9859928385/in/set-72157635732610765 http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9859933385/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9859924504/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9860040353/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9860045603/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9859973376/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9860072463/in/set-72157635732610765/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/65427552@N03/9859989805/in/set-72157635732610765/ Enjoy!

Not a problem mate, glad I could help!

The 170's stopped appearing at Witham for several reasons - For a start, capacity was desperately needed on the Rural routes, especially on Norwich-Cambridge. The Lowestoft/Peterborough-Liverpool Street services were cut back to Ipswich, which freed up three units. These three 170/2 3-car's then transferred to take over the Norwich-Cambridge route giving a carriage extra of capacity on every service. The three 170/2 2-cars diagrammed for Norwich-Cambridge transferred to the Ipswich-Cambridge route to give a better passenger experience. The three Sprinters on this route then transferred to Norwich to give extra capacity on Norwich-Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft/Sheringham services, single 153's doubling up to pairs, 156's replacing single 153's etc etc. Second of all was passenger capacity, as well as line capacity on the GEML south of Ipswich. The three-car 170's were very often rammed on shoulder-peak services, and with their slower acceleration, their stopping-pattern was generally limited to fast to Shenfield, Chelmsford, Witham, Marks Tey, Colchester and Ipswich to avoid getting in the way of EMU's and the Norwich's. The decision was taken to divert the London-Harwich service to Ipswich, with connections made to/from Harwich at Manningtree on Norwich services, and the Lowestoft/Peterborough services were withdrawn, and using unit's available off-peak, a through service in the same path was made available for an xx.38 Liverpool Street-Colchester Town, the reasoning being an 8/12-car EMU is far more effective at moving passengers than a 3-car 170. Also, the better acceleration of the EMU's and the more robust timetable allowed Kelvedon and Ingatestone to gain half-hourly services. The Hatfield Peverel stop was transferred from the Braintree's to the Ipswich's to speed up the Braintree's by a couple of minutes, with the additional Ingatestone stop inserted into the Clacton's, with the Romford stop previously in the Clacton's inserted into the new xx.38 Colchester Town service, as well as an extra Kelvedon stop. 170's occasionally make their way to Witham, one stood in for a 90 and Mark 3's a few months back at the last minute all the way through to Liverpool Street, and some work through to Ilford to visit the wheel lathe. A couple visit Colchester if you're interested, the last two Peterborough-Ipswich's run through in passenger service to Colchester for stabling. Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the help!

I've found an absolutely fabulous photo of Waddon Marsh in dilapidated condition, the platform loop has been severed with just a single 2EPB in the station, very inspirational because of the almost forgotten air about it.

Interesting you mention Dundonald Road, as that's the exact road where Mum's side of the family lived for 8 years!

Looks I'll be popping to the shop tomorrow then! Thanks. Thanks for that. Ratio it is then.

Cheers for the help guys. Oldddudders - 5th photo down on the link you showed me, is that the goods shed on the left? Looks like I might be able to get away with buying the Ratio one and painting it suitably... And thanks for the information on the West Croydon-Wimbledon line too. Andyman7 - that sounds perfect as my scenic section is only going to be around 6 feet long with the running lines diving into tunnels either end! Well, that's the current plan at least. Thank you also Phil, and Rivercider - I might start adhering to Rule 1 more in which case I can run a hydraulic if I fancy. Interesting, might look into the Backtrack article. Thank you!

Hello all, I am after information regarding goods facilities around London, particularly on the ex-LSWR lines. I'm modelling a fictional urban branch off the West Croydon-Wimbledon line, so the facilities in questions aren't going to be massive as its just a modest 2 siding + headshunt yard. If anyone could link me to photos of goods shed in the region and in this area of London or point me in a certain direction, I'd be grateful! Don't know whether I could get away with the Bachmann Goods Shed based on Shillingstone (I suspect not), or whether I have to kit-build or scratch-build (Oh dear lord!). Or, did small branches on the Southern Region around London not even have a goods yard, and was it just some small sidings with a yard crane etc etc? Thanks in advance you lot!