43110andyb Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Just found this thread and making some enjoyable and similar comparisons from a ‘Northern’ perspective! Our jaunts towards the south were comparable to Birmingham New st with a late journey north and then for us west to Carlisle leaving it far too late to get back with worried parents on arrival home 3/4 hours late! Your photos are a great help to me doing research for ‘Charwelton into the 80’s’ so please keep posting! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 17 hours ago, 43110andyb said: Just found this thread and making some enjoyable and similar comparisons from a ‘Northern’ perspective! Our jaunts towards the south were comparable to Birmingham New st with a late journey north and then for us west to Carlisle leaving it far too late to get back with worried parents on arrival home 3/4 hours late! Your photos are a great help to me doing research for ‘Charwelton into the 80’s’ so please keep posting! Yes it was the opposite way round for us southern lot. My haunts were the Southern and Western regions for me Bescot was the southern most spot where we had a chance of seeing 'Northern Exotica' Class 20s and late numberd 56s and the like. And yes I remember ending up home in Kent way to late on occasion. All these years later for totally unrelated reasons I spend a fair bit of time in that area. I think I will hunt out some Bescot shots. Cheers steve 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 Bescot Northern Exotica at Bescot. That is probably the first and last time the Black Country will be referred to as exotic. 20045 56090 Can anyone Identify the 40? 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium iands Posted December 30, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 30, 2020 Can't help with identifying the 40 I'm afraid, but I did notice the loco immediately behind it appears to have lost an argument, the cab is drooping down a bit - or is it an "optical illusion"? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 7 minutes ago, iands said: Can't help with identifying the 40 I'm afraid, but I did notice the loco immediately behind it appears to have lost an argument, the cab is drooping down a bit - or is it an "optical illusion"? I think you are right. I have only just digitised the pictures so it's the first time for me to zoom into them as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 33 minutes ago, SouthernBlue80s said: ...I have only just digitised the pictures... Do you know what resolution you're scanning at? I did a load of slides at 2400dpi and was surprised how many loco numbers I could read, at least on those where I had it in focus! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) 29 minutes ago, eastwestdivide said: Do you know what resolution you're scanning at? I did a load of slides at 2400dpi and was surprised how many loco numbers I could read, at least on those where I had it in focus! I used to have a good scanner. However I now have a printer, copier and scanner in one. And tried the scanner for the first time with these pictures.....and the scanning quality is appalling on it. So I resorted to cameraphone pictures of the original prints. So that is why they are not great quality pictures but more of a record of the atmosphere of the time. I stuck up a 70s and 80s 47s sighted in south eastern division document over on my other thread, I take it you have seen it, thought you would find it interesting. Edited December 30, 2020 by SouthernBlue80s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I suspect you might get better results with the scanner if you can work out how to set the scan resolution. It might be running on autopilot or else it’s a cheap and nasty one! See if there’s undiscovered scanning software lurking somewhere. And thanks, yes I’d seen the mega-list of 47s. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
50A55B Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 3 hours ago, SouthernBlue80s said: Bescot Northern Exotica at Bescot. That is probably the first and last time the Black Country will be referred to as exotic. 20045 56090 Can anyone Identify the 40? It’s one of the 40145-150 batch with the extra headboard brackets. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold nigb55009 Posted December 30, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2020 I`ve found a couple of pics on flickr which show 40150 has similar rust/paint chips at the base of the nose at No. 1 end. Pictures are dated early eighties, which is in line with Steve`s other photos. I could be wrong, but it`s the closest match, to my eyes anyway. Cheers, Nig. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Reading I used to hang out at the Western end of the station on hot days looking to see what would emerge out of the haze from the west. I am guessing 1981 for these pictures. (Looks like I guessed wrong - probably 1983) 33025 Edited January 1, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Marvellous - just look at all those BRUTES. Reading was somewhere I passed through much more often than I spent time. Edit - 33025 had a works visit in mid 1981, it was named in August 1981. cheers Edited January 1, 2021 by Rivercider Additional info 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 33025 looks like it's on a Northfleet working, judging by those bogie cement tanks. To Theale or possibly Greaves Sidings (N of Banbury). 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Rivercider said: Marvellous - just look at all those BRUTES. Reading was somewhere I passed through much more often than I spent time. Edit - 33025 had a works visit in mid 1981, it was named in August 1981. cheers Yes that last picture for me has an interesting every day background. Given your information on and the condition of 33025 I think these must have been taken Summer of 82. Cheers 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, eastwestdivide said: 33025 looks like it's on a Northfleet working, judging by those bogie cement tanks. To Theale or possibly Greaves Sidings (N of Banbury). Thanks Chris. I always wondered what the working was. I remember that morning being very atmospheric and I was full of anticipation of what I might see. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SouthernBlue80s Posted January 1, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2021 Not a very good picture. But here is one that will take some of you lot down memory lane. Reading, West end with that hut, Summers day, Young Spotter, 56 passing through. 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium brushman47544 Posted January 1, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2021 52 minutes ago, SouthernBlue80s said: Yes that last picture for me has an interesting every day background. Given your information on and the condition of 33025 I think these must have been taken Summer of 82. Cheers The earliest date for a Class 47 to be fitted with a headlight is 1983, so can’t be earlier than that. The headlights were discussed in another thread back in 2013 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) 20s at Derby It was always a bit exciting for the Southerner to head further north to places with a different atmosphere, not so often visited. Edited January 2, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) On 01/01/2021 at 12:58, SouthernBlue80s said: Not a very good picture. But here is one that will take some of you lot down memory lane. Reading, West end with that hut, Summers day, Young Spotter, 56 passing through. That is a short nameplate. My guess is 56031 Merehead, which was named in September 1983. cheers Edited January 3, 2021 by Rivercider Tidying up. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Thanks Kevin. It's really good to get a bit more detail on time frames / loco identification on some of the pictures, as my records when it came to photographs are fairly non existant. 1981/1982 were my big Reading years. So these Reading pictures must have been from one of my final day visits. Actually, thank you all for your observations and into so far. Cheers Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, SouthernBlue80s said: Thanks Kevin. It's really good to get a bit more detail on time frames / loco identification on some of the pictures, as my records when it came to photographs are fairly non existant. 1981/1982 were my big Reading years. So these Reading pictures must have been from one of my final day visits. Actually, thank you all for your observations and into so far. Cheers Steve Once I got my first SLR camera in 1979 I was quite good at note keeping, and fortunately nearly all my notes survive, which helps as there are one or two places I cannot remember visiting! I was going to try and work out the likely destination of the Yeoman PGA hoppers, though it was not until 1996 I worked at Westbury TOPS. I think FY PGAs went through Reading from Merehead to Dagenham, Acton, Brentford and West Drayton. From 1986 FY class 59s were the preferred power on most of the stone trains. cheers 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) I wish I was just 3 years older and started say in 1977. But, as I said previously, still very pleased I saw the railways during their last big decade. The final decade of a large scale industrial economy in the UK. (In my head I am 20th century man, part of the industrial world. I don't really gell with the 21st century information age. I function in it and utilise some of its better aspects - such as RMweb for example. But I don't warm to it) I only have my spotting notes from 1985 - 1990. I so wish I had 1980 - 1985 but lost somewhere along the way. I am a rather meticulous person as a rule. So not noting what I photographed went against the grain really. You were far more organised. Edited January 3, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s Dyslexia strikes again 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SouthernBlue80s Posted January 3, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) Sheds at Westbury My attempts at fumbling about in a dark room after a visit. A Sunday in the mid to late 80s when all was quiet. Edited January 3, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 The originals are way better. But my current scanner is so basic it is no good. So they are photographs of photographs, I don't pretend to be a good photographer - so they are more a memory jogger/record of the time. Some with some use for modeling too. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, SouthernBlue80s said: The originals are way better. But my current scanner is so basic it is no good. So they are photographs of photographs, I don't pretend to be a good photographer - so they are more a memory jogger/record of the time. Some with some use for modeling too. The first one of the three Westbury depot photos in particular works on several levels. As well as providing a lot of detailed information for modelling purposes it is also artistic and moody, and works well in black and white, - I think the pit helps make it work cheers 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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