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C126

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Posts posted by C126

  1. 16 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

    ... any actions that would penalise competing modes (basically road), would be anti-competitive, illegal and open to challenge.

     

    As an ideological fool, can I just ask why a suitably composed law can not prohibit challenges?  If a theoretical govt wished to make freight go on a monopolistic railway (and was able to pass a law thus - a big caveat), why can it not pass a law to do this?  Sorry to open a can of worms, but I have often wondered why govts are made out to be impotent with things like this.  Thanks.

     

    • Like 2
    • Agree 1
  2. 16 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

    Unfortunately the title that's obvious to YOU might not contain the key words someone ELSE thinks obvious ...... truck / wagon, carriage / coach  or locomotive / engine frinstance !

     

    I quite agree - the Librarian's nightmare.  We need someone to compose an 'Authority File'!  😀  Just look at the disparate 'tags' for pictures on Flikr, for example, for the same subjects.  O well, I will keep the thread here, and watch the cobwebs grow on it...

     

  3. I thought it might be useful to have a 'library' for RMweb of all those random P.D.F. files people might find of interest.

     

    If you have a scan of something you think others might need, please post here with a suitable description in the message, so others can locate it with a quick subject key-word search.

     

    Let me start it with a brochure for B.R. (or BR) staff about their new uniforms from April 1968, called "Your new uniform".  Hope this is of interest to all.  Best wishes.

    Your new uniform 1966.pdf

    • Like 3
  4. 10 hours ago, Rivercider said:

    Have the freight propelled in to the depot from the local yard which is just off-scene 'up the line'. You might, or might not, need a brake van at the front of the propelling move depending on local circumstances as shown in the Sectional Appendix.

    In the Bristol area in the 1980s freight traffic was propelled from Lawrence Hill yard along the freight only Avonside Branch for about a mile to Avonside Wharf, there being no run-round facilities at Avonside. Also in Avonmouth the Rowntrees warehouse at Avonmouth was served by a trip working that then propelled back (right line) for about two miles to Hallen Marsh due to the track layout at Avonmouth. Both moves required a brake van at the front of the movement in which shunters and guard rode as they both crossed gated road crossings.

     

    cheers  

     

    Thanks, @Rivercider .  This sounds good, and an excuse to have a rare brake-van.  There is a picture in one of Paul Shannon's books, I think, perhaps of this branch, with the shunter and guard leaning indolently on the back of the brake-van's verandah, 'watching the world go by'.  Their poses looked perfect for whether arriving or departing.  Look forward to seeing how the speed controls work/look.  Best wishes.

     

    • Like 1
  5. Gosh, was it really three years ago we had the discussions about this?!  So sorry for your changing circumstances, but glad to see you are using the opportunity to make something new.  Your example inspired me to type up a couple of Working Time Table pages eventually for my layout (still unfinished).

     

    Any chance you could post the missing photos on this thread as a record, if it would not be too emotionally taxing, please?  I always liked your 'split station' layout, and was envious of the idea.

     

     

    • Like 1
  6. Having rummaged through the copies I could find of the B.R.B.’s Annual Report and Accounts, the total tonnage (MT) per year is as follows:

     

    1972       168.842

    1973       195.82

    1974       176.3

    1975       174.729

    1976       176.209

    1977       170.355

    1978       170.507

     

    [Gap in reports.]

     

    1984/85    96.8

    1985/86    139.7

    1986/87    138.4

     

     

    For those whose eyes are not yet bleeding from boredom, I thought I would try to describe the figures cited under ‘Statistics [col.] 5B’ of each report (figs are thousand-tonnes):

     

    1973.

     

    Train-load and wagon-load:

    i) Coal & Coke                       99,415

    ii) Iron & Steel                     34,950

    iii) Other train-/wagon-load     52,155

                         Sub-total       186,520

     

    [(iv)] +Other (estimated)        7,400

     

    [(v)]                           TOTAL 193,920

     

    However, in 1974’s report, 1973’s total is ‘revised’, listed for comparison as 195,820 KT.  Item (iv) (my appellation) appears to be an annual ‘corrected estimate’, but ceased after a few years (perhaps a reflection of the efficiency of TOPS).

     

    (iii) lumps together COY block-trains and wagon-load/Speedlink, alas.  It would have been interesting to have figures for each sector, presumably unavailable till ‘Sectorization’ in the late ’80’s.

     

    Anyway, this has decided me on the W.T.T.s for Oct. ’73–May ’74 and Oct. ’85–May ’86.  Thank you all for your contributions and interest; it is much appreciated.

     

     

    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
  7. 38 minutes ago, ejstubbs said:

     

    This was likely an autodialled call.  ...

     

     

    Many thanks for this, @ejstubbs .  I had wondered about the details of these things.  Strangely, our cheapo telephone hand-set used to display the incoming line nos., but now says (usually) only "Incoming call", even if the person is in the programmed 'directory' on the 'phone.  (Yet it did display that 'silent call'!)  Keep meaning to 'surf the web' with the model no. (I think it is a Binatone) and see if this is a reecognised fault, or just B.T. trying to get more money from us by increasing our sub. to a 'call blocker' rate.

     

     

  8. Had one of these calls Saturday, which was dead and then rang off when I answered.  The Bristol number (I do not have it with me, alas) is listed as a fraud site on the www.  I enjoy repeating, "From where did you get this number?" repeatedly until "Jo" terminates the call in despair.  What a way to earn a living...

     

     

    • Like 3
  9. @Covkid Memoirs, please! 😀

     

    If I remember correctly, the Coal Network came about not only owing to the bean-counters' demand for greater control of costs (instead of sharing!), but because the Speedlink routes were less convenient to the domestic coal depots.  Hence centering on Didcot Yard for the south-east.  But an accountant can make anything appear 'un-economic' if desired...

     

     

    • Like 1
    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
  10. 20 hours ago, Rivercider said:

    I don't have any WR WTTs for 1973/74, but I do have some for 1976/77. Back then there was a Mandatory WTT and a Conditional WTT for each Division. Quite a few of the Conditional freight trains did run each day, though others were more by customer request or traffic demand.

    The WR London Division Mandatory WTT is PA, you would also need the London Division Conditional WTT PF which contains some of the freight workings.

     

    One observation. By 1987/88 Acton Yard had more or less ceased to deal with wagon load traffic, (it never became a proper part of the Speedlink Network), but was then used as a hub principally for aggregate traffic from the Mendips,

     

    cheers

     

    Many thanks, @Rivercider .  Michael Rhodes (Illustrated history of Britsh marshalling yards ) quotes Acton Yard closing to Speedlink traffic from 1984 onwards.  Also, I must take into account the launch of the Discrete Coal Network (was this an official name?) in 1987, so I think I will bring the year forward to October '86-May '87, to include more trains.

     

    It occurred to me to read the B.R. Annual Reports!  I hope they will list freight traffic by sector, and I can base my choice on something based on evidence.  A bit dull-witted of me not to think of this before...

     

     

  11. @stivesnick Many thanks for this gen.; much appreciated.  I thought the October-May time tables would be best, as more traffic would run through the autumn-spring, rather than a slacker summer.  But I could be wrong.

     

    So far I have:

     

    OCT '73-MAY '74.

    Southern = M (Mand.), N (Cond.).

    London Midland = A & B (Cond.), and also J? T?

    Eastern = A (Mand.), K (Cond.).

    Western = PA (Mand.), PF (Cond.).

     

    OCT '87-MAY '88.

    Southern = WE.

    London Midland = CC? CR, CS, CW?

    Eastern = LD, YH.

    Western = PD.

     

    I realise I ought to 'define my terms' in listing the inter-regional yards to be plotted.  More to post later...

     

    Thanks again and all good wishes.

     

  12. This probably sounds quite daft/pointless, but I am preparing a 'retirement project' for the winter, viz, a diagram illustrating a comparison between 1970's wagon-load freight trains and 1980's Speedlink freight between the London marshalling yards.  In the style of a previous exercise, I want to show the services between the regions' yards at two 'peaks', and the differences should show the changes (e.g., Norwood Yard's closure for the Southern Region).

     

    I thought the best two years' Working Time Tables to use would be October 1973/May 1974 and October 1987/May 1988, being those before the two national economic recessions.  Do most people here think these years would be most useful?  If not, which year(s) would be better, please?

     

    It appears the H.M.R.S.'s W.T.T. holdings are not as extensive as hoped, but this problem is for the future.  I am eager to learn which 'area codes' would be needed for these two years; so far I have only the Southern Region's:

     

    October 1973 (Mandatory) : M.

    October 1973 (Conditional) : N.

    October 1987: WE.

     

    Presumably I need Western Region, London Midland Region, and Eastern Region as well.  Does this sound a (relatively) useful graphic exercise?  Am I missing anything?  Would another area/freight flow be of greater interest?

     

    All ideas gratefully received.  Many thanks for giving this your consideration.  Neil.

     

     

  13. Sorry to 'bump' this, but if someone could identify the purpose of the 'real' one of these, I would be grateful.  I thought this was the S.R. concrete Lamp Hut.

     

    DSCN0615.JPG.fa7f6d59b8acf6b520069f951c14f739.JPG

     

     

    DSCN0616.JPG.25dd174fad99fa979991e663c20fbe31.JPG

     

    It is oblong, the blank sides longer than the front/back.  I think the kit was Roxey, but it is old.  Thanks for any info.

     

     

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