rogerzilla

SVR had some nice looking stuff today. The Terrier was being coaled by men with shovels and wheelbarrows due to its tiny bunker.

One day 66s will be as popular and feted as Black Fives. Maybe.

On display at Kidderminster today.

During their current spat with the ORR, WCRC is running ECS trains in place of the Jacobite to avoid losing the path (in the same way that airlines fly empty planes to avoid losing valuable Heathrow landing slots). It's moronic.

I'd guess the cost is excessive. "Oil" in this context normally means the filthiest, cheapest "bottoms" from the refinery, known as bunker fuel in the shipping industry. It has to be heated with steam coils just to.make it flow.

Oil firing would put me off going. It has an unpleasant smell and, at some point, hopefully well away from any houses, the fireman has to clean the tubes while the loco is steaming. The resulting black cloud is not a good advert for preservation.

I REALLY miss the on-train brunch muffins from the 90s. The train coffee was terrible, so I always bought that at New Street, but the muffins were in the buffet car. I spent a summer working in Derby and was getting breakfast expenses because of the early start.

I wasn't that bothered about seeing it but some people may have booked gala tickets for that reason. Oh well, it's all in the small print!

Swindon is pretty grim. The newish platform 4 is ok (if uninspiring) but the main platforms 1/2/3 are awful, with a very weathered GWR canopy, a scruffy main building and the legendary "we've stopped caring", Railtrack sensory garden, which ended up as a few desiccated weeds and was eventually reserved for BTP because, well, crime. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11868464.sensory-garden-at-train-station-makes-way-for-police-base/ I'd also nominate Bristol Parkway because it looks as if it was built in a weekend and designed to last a year or so. Mostly corrugated steel, and utterly hideous.

More generally, if the layout isn't too large, join all the track and let it "float" on the baseboard. Check for any kinks or separating joints and ensure it's all unstressed before fixing it down. For large layouts, at least get any continuous-run loops done in this way. Sidings can be treated separately.

The SVR website says it won't be running at next weekend's steam gala. Must have teething troubles.

I only have a car licence, so 7.5t is my limit! I agree air brakes are rather impressive.

The other factor in the Abermule collision is that the train crew that took the wrong token were not keeping a proper lookout. The station staff realised the error before the train was out of sight and tried bouncing a signal to attract their attention, to no avail. It also seems they didn't see the oncoming train at all, as they kept steaming until impact. The crew of the other train certainly did see what was happening, and survived by jumping out at the last moment.

It was quite a few years ago, but about 20 years after they became compulsory for cars.

The last time I hired a big lorry (7.5t) it didn't have seatbelts. When a vehicle exceeds a certain mass, it isn't going to stop fast enough to throw you through the windscreen.