rodent279

Thanks, a very interesting read, on a subject that I knew nothing about!

Was it electric all the way through, or just to Alton? I can't find anything on Flickr showing 3rd rail at Alresford.

Would they have been working in multiple, or in tandem?

So what defines a Coal Tank? Surely more than just the wheel arrangement?

Correct, at least according to O.S. Nock, is his volume on Gresley Pacifics.

And damn fine it looked too! I like unusual liveries, but I have to admit, when I first saw it, I thought it didn't look right. It was only later that I discovered that there was historical precedent. One of my bugbears is that everything had to go into its original livery, which for most diesels, is GSYP or GNYP. I don't mind those liveries, but I do like a bit of variety.

Thanks. I'd love to see photographic evidence of a 27 at BY! On a related note, I'm sure I've seen a photo of a class 27 on the GC at Leicester Central, or somewhere near, in about 1966/7, prior to final closure. Can't find the photo now, I've tried Flickr to no avail. Can anyone help please? Edit:- found it (the 27 at Leics C), @w124bob posted it on Monday, at the top of this page. Must go to Barnard Castle .....

2090 looks beautifully scruffy.

You know, I dig how they like to paint them up all nice and smart for display, but I'd kind of like to some rolling stock displayed in "as taken out of service" condition, complete with flat flies and rust stains.

25057 again, this time 4 years earlier, while still an LMR engine. Here it is seen stabled at Nuneaton on 15th September 1984, with a suitably appropriate speed restriction sign in the background, just a shame the arrow is pointing the other way! After withdrawal in March 1987, one of the last to be switched off, 057 was sent to Vic Berry's scrapyard in Leicester. However, 057 was one of the few to get out alive, and is seen here, shortly after having asbestos stripped out, in July 1988. Since you can't have too much of a good thing, to complete the story, here's a couple of 057 in service in preservation, on the North Norfolk Railway in June 2001.

Didn't realise they made it that far up the WCML. Did they ever reach Bletchley, or points further south (on the WCML)?

Thanks, yes, I guess there's nothing to say that there wasn't another sleeper placed directly over the lamp bracket, which has already been unloaded.

A few photos of 25057 shortly after entering preservation, in 1988/89. Taken at Quainton Road during its brief stay there.

Why is the tail lamp hung from the coupling hook, and not from a lamp iron?

Strictly speaking, it would make sense, to me at least, given that the ER ran along the eastern side of the country, if the LMR had been the Western Region, & the WR had become the South Western region.