Wickham Green too

The little square recess above the window division - they happen to be red & blue in this case but I think that's a livery matter ! 7375 and 2112 : East Croydon : 17/4/87

Cab doors are clearly shown on the GA drawing in Jim Russell's 'Southern Locomotives' - OK that's an E1 but I don't doubt the D1s were the same.

Don't forget the some of the earlier NIR Power Cars WERE effectively locomotives with passenger accommodation ( and driving cabs at both ends ) so saw frequent use on freight trains .......... early thoughts for the 80s may well have been along similar lines.

Maybe something closer to the NIR 80 class - also a MkII body but with fewer doors. ( Incidentally - why didn't the 80 class get AM10 style ends to the Power Cars ??!? )

I think the mistake was probably using the heat gun to dry the dirty thinners ☹️

Wot - no 5BEL ??!? Considering the minimal difference between a pair of 2EPBs and a 4EPB I'm amazed the latter hasn't been done for relatively little investment. Oh - you forgot to mention 6PUL/PAN/CIT !

But the lost production wouldn't necessarily just impact domestic supplies - beef & dairy are currently valuable EXPORT commodities ................. or is the thinking that if they don't export, they save on transport emissions, too ??!?

Would be fun programming the DCC so each of the twelve door pairs on a six car train operate independently ..... maybe the guard's swing door too !

Beeching all over again !!?!

... but so were the frankly quite ugly class 126 !

John has been kind enough to check Barry Fletcher's contemporary notes and they confirm that 31487 did retain 'SOUTHERN' on the tender when renumbered in June'48. Not long afterwards ( date not recorded ) it received lined black livery with B.R. style Gill Sans 'BRITISH RAILWAYS' on the tender and cabside number to suit ......... in May '49 it lost the tender lettering ( so blank ) but gained a smokebox plate. Needless to say tender insignia changes MIGHT be explained by tender swaps - but it seems that Rails' combination is more than a little unlikely within the known timescale.

Would make more sense if further Quad, Quin or Twin variants came from the same source.

Obviously none you've mentioned ........ I know nothing of Thameslink north of the Thames - but if it's not stopping there I'd guess it's empty.

That's pretty close to a Mk2 Class 124, isn't it !

The original HMRS 'Siphons' book states "All the bogie Siphons ... had brown bodies and ends with black underframes ..." - maybe conflicting information will be published in the forthcoming revision.

Don't forget one MN was tried with an automatic stoker .............

The loco looks to have a fresh coat of Rail Blue - which might give a date clue !!?!

Possibly too far away ? : https://www.bing.com/maps?cp=52.142147~1.069125&lvl=19.2&style=x&pi=5.5&dir=329.1

Obviously before someone had the great* / stupid* idea of smothering Santa Special thingies with strings of fairy lights. * delete to choice

They're 2.85m wide ( 9'4'' in old money ) ....... and they're somewhat longer than Eurostar at 23m 'cos they're not articulated.

But there are lots of signal boxes and/or level crossings and/or crossing huts on that thread ..................... as it happens, neither Haughley, Baylham nor Wassicks appear on Corneliuslundie's listing - sorry to waste your time responding. ☹️

Have a word with KR Models for that one ! 😊

Try the Signal Box Photos thread perhaps ? 😕

Not really wanting to get into politics here, I suspect Ben Elton didn't want to spend the whole programme delving into the minutiae of WHY there are long running strikes - in the rail industry and elsewhere.

Not to be confused with all those short lengths of centre third rail they installed for AWS operation !