2750Papyrus

Mmm... to quote Sidney Weighell, talking about the Wensleydale branch, "Those D20s were terrible locos, really bad riders. They used to roll about."

According to Yeadon, 3050 spent its early life at Hitchin but was at Colwick from November 1935 till withdrawal in 1947. A Nottingham - Grantham stopper?

Thirty years ago, I had a secretary who could tell whether I needed sugar in my tea or not. Scary!

At one time, our local Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages was called De'Ath.

The J11 was a successful and long-lived engine; I believe at one time Thompson considered it as one his LNER standards. However, the O4 must be one of the best freight locomotives built in this country and hence gets my vote.

Much though I like lines of the Atlantics and their near-cousin 4-6-0s. in terms of success my vote has to go the Directors. Capable, long-lived and multiplied for use in Scotland - a success story indeed.

That's a splendid model of a house I must have passed dozens of times. Where can I get a 4mm scale mortgage?

I agree with Clive, J37 this time, Atlantic last.

I think it can be difficult to tell the wider gauges from a side view, you need to look along the track to appreciate it. At an exhibition including a branch terminus which has been mentioned in these pages, it was only when I was walking away and looked back at the layout that I realised it was not 00.

Must be strong - it's made the couplings droop!

My code 75 FB curved points have now been ballasted to match the surrounding BH track and, to be honest, the difference is not as obvious as I had feared. Not enough to delay making the FB double slip into a similar permanent arrangement.

I thought the original East-West scheme included improved services beyond Cambridge to Norwich, Ipswich and the east coast ports?

I couldn't find my Midland Railway history when the Johnson vote was open but stumbled on it straight away when looking for the Bulleid biography! It confirmed my thoughts that the first compounds were by Johnson but that it was Deeley who linked the live/exhaust steam control to regulator opening. This led to the most successful use of compounding in the UK so, if allowed, the Compound gets my Deeley vote. If not, a belated vote for Johnson and Deeley's long-lasting claim to fame becomes the introduction of the power classification system subsequently adopted by the LMS and BR eg 2F. One of the more intriguing "might-have-beens" is the proposed Deeley compound 4-6-0. Sadly, the politics surrounding the Pagets led to his resignation and arguably condemned the Midland and LMS to years of the small-engine policy and double-heading.

The media had it in for him.....

Standards......

Are you sure you're not pregnant? In that case, 9 months.......

Has to the Schools class for me, most powerful 4-4-0 in Britain and I thought the smoke deflectors suited them.

I have just bought a copy of "Thompson His Life & Locomotives" by Tim Hillier- Graves, published by Pen and Sword. I've only skimmed through it as yet but it does cast new light on events such as the changed role for Bert Spencer. It would be interesting to read a TW review!

I have three contenders, the early Claud 4-4-0s, the E4 2-4-0s and the J65-69 series of 0-6-0 tank engine. For me, the best-looking versions of the Clauds and the best performing were those rebuilt under the Gresley/Thompson regime so I for the purposes of the poll, I am afraid they have to go. The E4 2-4-0s were a very versatile and long-lived class, some lasting more than 60 years, and the last 2-4-0s to remain in BR service. The J65-69 tank engines were also very versatile, performing well on a range of duties from shunting to the Liverpool Street suburban service. They were also long-lived with examples lasting over 60 years. However, they were probably more widely dispersed across the LNER network (I have a 3D printed example numbered 7365 which spent some time at Hitchin). For that reason, they form my nomination.

J or S D?

Oops! I did look the J27 up in my Green Book but looked at technical details rather than designer. I can understand the B16's popularity but internal Stephenson gear and short travel valves suggest the design was a bit dated, indeed significant rebuilding was undertaken by both Gresley and Thompson. So I think I will withdraw my (disqualified?) vote and abstain on this occasion.

I have loved the look of the Raven Atlantics since I was a child, but for the purposes of the poll it has to be the J27 - simple, reliable and long-lived.

Our last cup of tea at a cafe was sitting outside at Buckfastleigh almost exactly a year ago. Maybe our next one too?

Another vote for the GN/LNER Northern Heights. I may have previously posted my recollections of lying awake as a small child listening to (goods?) trains struggling up the gradient from Stroud Green to Crouch End. Later, an essay option in my GCE English paper was "Problems of Transport in My District". The 14 year old me solved these by re-opening and electrifying the Northern Heights branches, gaining a grade 1 pass (the only one in my year)! Unfortunately, the BRB did not then have sight of my reasoning, so I will attempt a modern justification. I believe that routeing HS1 to St Pancras has subsequently resulted in a shortage of paths for trains to traditional Midland Railway destinations, contributing to the need for HS2. In the 60's, there was apparently a proposal to link the Midland main line to the GN Mill Hill branch, presumably near the Hale, and divert Midland trains into KX so that St Pancras could be closed. Fortunately this did not happen but if the link had been constructed and the branch retained, a useful diversionary route would have been established. The recent transfer of much GN short distance traffic away from KX surface station to Thameslink, and the current re-opening of bores 5 & 6 of the tunnels from KX, would then present the opportunity to run trains to Midland destinations via Finsbury Park and Mill Hill from the old KX suburban platforms. (I wonder what could have been done with some of former goods facilities in the KX and SP areas to improve passenger terminal capacity.) And of course, retention of the branches would have enabled running the preserved N2 and quad-arts to Ally Pally for model railway exhibitions!