rodent279

But..... pre-TOPS, how would they know the whereabouts of a suitable wagon?

I have an idea that I've seen a photo of 33's working to Ilfracombe. Must see if I can dig the photo up.

That, or the boiler from a PLM Chapelon 4-8-0.

I've driven along the A41 between Bicester and Aylesbury quite a few times over the last few months, going to & from Leighton Buzzard, a couple of times via Whitchurch & Cublington into Wing. Most of the stretch between about Woodham (where the GC Grendon Underwood-Ashendon line crosses the A41), through Waddesdon, to virtually Aylesbury, is a series of building sites.

Awesome, thanks for that! Problem solved, LMS 1946 black, British Railways on the tender. Cheers.

I keep saying it-a fleet of 20's, 37's & 40's would have fulfilled 90% of BR's traffic requirements. All but the heaviest freights and fastest passengers would have been catered for.

The Bulleid-Raworth bogie, in its 1-Co version, carried the buffers and draw gear, so therefore had to be built to withstand and transfer all the buffing, braking and traction forces between locomotive and train. That's why they were massive and over-engineered, compared to say a class 37 bogie. A similar arrangement, though different design, was used in the EM1 electrics, though the bogies were also physically linked together with a sturdy pin through an eye between the bogies. Whether this transferred all the traction forces, or was just to assist in steering the bogies through curves I don'

Haven't got a kit yet, other priorities, mainly house clearance, have been foremost. Both kits look good, I guess I just need to do a bit more research to identify whether the tender carried the early BR lion and wheel before it was rebuilt. I remember my dad saying it was filthy when it took them to London, and that ties in with the photo I've seen of it awaiting entry into works-it looks a bit rough!

One box that I have not seen a photo of is the former Sears Crossing box, on the WCML, just south of what is now Ledburn Junction. A quick Flickr search has pulled up a photo of 46134 in 1951, but there's no sign of the box. Considering it was a stone's throw from where Ronnie & his mates did their misdeed in 1963, I find that surprising (although did the box close before then?)

In 1987, 86426 was "repainted" into its original 1966 colour scheme, albeit with full yellow ends, to mark the 21st birthday of the InterCity brand. I saw it many times at Euston, and out and about on the WCML-all that appears to have been done is while cab roofs and window surrounds were added, and raised aluminium numbers and lion & wheel. The result was convincing (not that I remember the originals)-but although the blue is standard BR rail blue, it does look a little lighter, because the white roofs and windows seem to lift the blue a little.

Hmm. Thanks for that Paul. Embarrassingly, Adrian has responded to a post I made on OnTrackPlant! I wasn't aware there had been any replies though, as I hadn't had any emails, so have I thought I'd post here. Thanks anyway. Would I be right in thinking that the one I linked to on your site, 81354/DM1754, is the same type as 1763, but unrebuilt? Cheers Neil

Can anyone identify this Taylor Hubbard crane? It's numbered RDE 1763/8½, so it's an 8½SWL machine. Obviously I know what it was when the photo was taken by my father, which was around 1963, during the electrification of the southern section of the WCML into Euston. My question is what later number/s did it have? How long did it survive? Where was it based? Was it rebuilt into a higher capacity machine (I know some TH machines were)? And is it a sister of this machine, photographed by @hmrspaulof this parish? https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brcranedrt813--/h381a39d2

What was the service interval and train length like before Ventnor closed?

In original parallel boiler form, yes, they do look not quite right, but with no. 4 taper boiler & top feed, they definitely have a rugged, get-on-with-the-job look about them. They look to me like a shortened, outside framed inside cylinders 28xx. I guess a kind of halfway house could be done if a small Prairie were fitted with a no.4 boiler, and a tender instead of side tanks. The result would be an outside cylinder mogul, with 4'7" wheels-another GWR neverwazza, like the light mogul 9351.

Beauty is in the eye........ They're not exactly easy on the eye, in the same way as CoT, Castles and others, but I think they're a solid, chunky no-nonsense design that clearly stood the test of time, and earnt their keep. 4'7" wheels would be the same as a small Prairie, but would require a crank axle, the pony truck from a small Prairie might be useable as well. If a new boiler was required, possibly a couple of no.4's could be built, as spares for existing locos, to lower unit costs (maybe it doesn't work that way, I don't know?), or a generic parallel boiler & Belpaire