On the block Allan

Having a chat with some friends the other day about the gun powder wagons I mentioned that as a lad I was told that they were built with a low profile to enable them to fit into tube tunnels, for whatever reason. Others had not heard of this. Any thoughts anyone? Allan.

This morning, Monday, 113 trains are shown as cancelled for the rest of the day on the Greater Anglia website at 05.00, of those trains, 111 serve stations in Suffolk and only 6 serve Norwich! Al.

On the Greater Anglia website at 08.00 this morning (Sunday) 77 trains were shown as cancelled for the best part of the day and not one cancellation included the place Norwich, makes one wonder why? Al.

In the late 60s and early 70s at a time when everyday run of the mill freight would not run on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, (my observations) would there have been any M.G.R or Oil trains shown in the W.T.T to run on a regular basis on Saturday afternoons and Sundays? Allan.

Question for any secondmen from the early diesel era, Can the steam heat boiler on a diesel locomotive work if the prime mover is/has shut down. Was it not possible or was it forbiden in the rules, would it be possible on some classes of locomotive and not others or would a different make of boiler make a difference? If it could work, would there be a time limit? One example is if the locomotive failed in cold weather would the heat for the train still be able to be maintained?

Hello Pete, I was a box boy in Ipswich Goods Junction signal box between July 1970 and September 1971 and one Saturday there was a special from the Southern Region heading for Norfolk (could have been Wroxham?). The train was formed of S.R. DEMU stock and the signalman was not satisfied that the red blind on the rear was an alternative to the tail lamp and had the train stopped. Sorry I can't help with further information but hope this will help. Allan.

Thanks folk for your info. If you have the time eastwestdivide, #8, your notes will be interesting thanks.

Hello all A couple of questions for anyone in the know, What was the max speed of Motorail trains conveying car flats in the seventies? also, was the passenger accommodation First class, First and Second class or just Second class? I think I recall seeing photographs of the formation including sleeper carriages. Allan.

Strange really, if the wasp stripe locomotive is doing what it is designed to do then a large percentage of the time the sighting of the wasp stripe would be obscured by coaches or box vans etc being propelled.

What about the fumes and any sparks from passing pantographs?

Loose coupled is a reference to wagons that are not connected brake wise to the locomotive, nothing to do with the coupling itself, therefore in the past the loose coupled portion of a train was marshalled at the rear with a brake van as the last vehicle. Allan

Hello Michael, My reference to wheels was the centre part of the wheel which is black plastic with a metal tyre fitted to the outside, wasn't sure if it had a name or term in it's own right, the wheel sets I was referring to as a pair of wheels and an axle. With my early attempts at improving running I tried to adjust the pick-ups which made matters worse, By the way my class 14 is also fitted with Loksound V4. Stick with it Michael I think you'll get there, I almost gave up with mine and left it at the back of the loco shed for a few months, glad I didn't give up. Allan

Michael, The problem I found with my Heljan 14 lay with the back of the plastic wheels being slightly proud of the metal tyre in places thus preventing the pick-ups from making good constant contact, remove the base plate, drop the wheel sets out and try removing a small amount of plastic around each wheel near the tyre and see if this goes some way to improving the performance, I did this with mine and wow what a difference, I was so pleased with the smooth running it was some while before I had a break from running it. Regards Allan

Nice photos, had to look twice to see if they were models or 12 inches to the foot. The BR Mk1s with B1 bogies as a norm had a max speed of 90 M.P.H. anyone know if this also applied to the suburban Mk1s? Allan