Poor Old Bruce

April 1

16 hours ago, lather said:

And my guess on the 1K02 service is that it most likely does look like the power car tests, as it's heading for Crewe. I guess coming back from Carnforth, they could cut across to Leeds and come back to Derby that way, which is maybe why the return service doesn't appear in the WTT.

Not so. The test trains would run between Crewe and Carnforth as there were convenient triangles at each end to turn the train.

March 27

12 hours ago, Ian Rathbone said:

LMS, MR & BR Crimson Lake/ Maroon are all the same colour.

2 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

Surely two completely different things!

Apart from using different components to the mixture due to changes in the chemical compositions over the years, what Ian says is correct. The finished colour remained the same. Don't get confused with the red of 'Blood and Custard' which I believe is officially described as 'Carmine' and actually is a different colour.

March 7

16 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

I bought a damaged K's Jubilee recently just because it had a Stanier 3500 gallon tender!

Good plan 👍

March 7

On 05/03/2024 at 17:16, RFS said:

Here's a photo of 92239 taken in 1964 on Robert Carroll's Flickr site which clearly shows how the lamp irons were fitted.

Dual lamp irons to boot! To take standard or non-standard BR(W) lamps.

February 26

53804 has acquired a Fowler tender at some time while 53805 has retained an original Deeley tender.

February 19

3 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Then it would be interesting to know how they were UNloaded !!

Generally the reverse of loading 👿😀 (just a thought).

February 16

David is still about so his DVDs should still be available. Don't know if he does RMWeb but others on here may know a bit more.

February 10

Lovely! Great news for a slightly different Industrial. Now the problem, do I choose 965002, 965007 or 965010 (or all three!!).

February 6

You need the relevant County Record Office or Local Studies Library. One or both of them should have 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps of the areas at different dates. You do have to take the OS track plans with a pinch of salt at times as the do sometimes miss out some track details like crossover points.

January 17

6 hours ago, Right Away said:

Further to this topic, does any member know if there was an actual threshold of dimensions specified by BR (LMR), above which, any locomotive would be barred from operating under the energised 25kV catenary south of Crewe? Would it have been a simple “the tallest height of any part of a locomotive from rail head must not exceed a certain amount” or a rather more specific directive?.

Note: A Stanier 5MT with standard LMS chimney having a maximum height of 12’ 8” was permitted, whilst an 8F with 12’ 10” height, was barred.

In addition, what directive pertained to the operation of “foreign” locomotives “under the wires” and were any such directives ever transgressed?

I think the limit was 12ft 10in.

January 17

As far as I am aware, it was the OHLE south of Stafford that was put up with some reduced clearances. Locos which eventually received the yellow stripe were happily working to (through?) Stafford up to the time that the OHLE was energised south of Stafford. I assume that Crewe was chosen as the changeover point because there were better resources there to actually do it. Nearly all trains stopped at Crewe in those days whereas many didn't stop at Stafford.

January 11

Could it be from a 'Prickly Pear' kit?

January 7

Saw the layout at DEFine yesterday. Fantastic little layout. Granted not 100% running quality (teething troubles) but best layout there as far as I was concerned. Well done @5050 👍👍

January 1

On 20/12/2023 at 18:16, montyburns56 said:

Hanley 1975 by David Blower

From the caption " The Potteries Loop was a 7 mile 25 chains alternative route between Etruria Junction and Kidsgrove Liverpool Road on the North Staffordshire Railway's main line to Macclesfield"

I actually travelled on that line in 1963. Derby to Crewe trains were run from Derby Friargate station (about a 15 minute walk from my parents' house) on three consecutive Sunday mornings so I went for a ride as Friargate to Egginton Jct was not very often used by passenger trains. The Potteries Loop Line was a bunus as the train took a sharp right turn from Etruria. It re-joined the main line at Kidsgrove Liverpool Road and set back to Kidsgrove Junction to resume the Crewe line.

December 19, 2023

22 hours ago, locoholic said:

A hopeful sign recently has been pre-grouping brake vans - MR, SECR and LSWR done, only GCR, LNWR, NBR, CR, etc etc etc etc to go!

How about a LNWR 'Crystal Palace' Brake van. Lasted well into BR days on the Cromford and High Peak Line.

December 17, 2023

20 hours ago, Covkid said:

Struggling to remember which manufacturer produced the motorized 12 ton van back in the 1960s for the same effect.

High Level Models do a motorising kit for wagons. Used one for a cast resin J70.

December 14, 2023

On 13/12/2023 at 14:41, mabel said:

I have a number of official photos of this derailment. Falcon was indeed used at the recovery site. It appears (from the photos) that a huge dragline excavator was used to cut a slipway (for want of a better description) into the side of the embankment, which was then ‘paved’ with sleepers. Two class 47s (with huge wire ropes attached to their coupling hooks) then dragged the 37 up the incline whilst still on its side, to a point where the crane(s) could lift the loco back onto its wheels. The whole process took a month or so to complete. The 37 was repaired and returned to traffic. I even have the final costings of the operation attached to the photos which I will dig out if anyone is interested. Incidentally, as far as the photos show, the 37 didn’t reach the water, as the leading cab dug into the soft embankment.

Photos would be very interesting please.

December 8, 2023

Seen in 2022

December 2, 2023

16 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Years ago I got a fright just as I switched on the headlights as I entered that tunnel. I was driving home after having a new exhaust fitted. The engine cut out and all the lights failed, and there's no hard shoulder. The battery in the old mini was in the boot, and its wire to the engine ran in the same channel as the exhaust, which had melted the insulation!

My Mini Clubman Estate did that in the middle of the roundabout adjacent to Truro police station.

November 10, 2023

1 hour ago, SteveyDee68 said:

As a self-confessed addict to collecting small industrial locos or anything associated with docks, this announcement is not good.

Not good at all.

I’m a shunting locomotive addict, and I ~~have been sober~~ haven’t bought a loco for 122 days…

That might change very shortly…

Must resist… MUST resist…