Peterborough North

[St Enodoc]

Definitely Lyons Pies included in BR packed lunches in the late 60s. And Kia-Ora had replaced those juice drinks which I have definitely never seen.

 

BR packed lunch very nostalgic to me as we got one on a school trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury which was my last BR steam experience.

Jubblies were always frozen in my day - no good for packed lunches but an after-school treat in summer. You'd cut or tear one edge off and squeeze the thing up just a bit, so that you could suck the flavour out before chewing away the plain ice. Then repeat until it was all gone. The risk was squeezing too hard so the whole thing would shoot out of the packet on to the ground. Another tanner wasted if that happened.

[Mallard60022]

Jubblies were always frozen in my day - no good for packed lunches but an after-school treat in summer. You'd cut or tear one edge off and squeeze the thing up just a bit, so that you could suck the flavour out before chewing away the plain ice. Then repeat until it was all gone. The risk was squeezing too hard so the whole thing would shoot out of the packet on to the ground. Another tanner wasted if that happened.

No chance, pick up, wipe off and scoff. That's why our immune systems are better than today's feeble youngsters. 

Phil

[St Enodoc]

No chance, pick up, wipe off and scoff. That's why our immune systems are better than today's feeble youngsters. 

Phil

Plymuff ground must've been cleaner than Mill Hill. We got our immunity from the water which was said to have been through Mogden sewage works seven times on average.

[rockershovel]

I've saved the image of the two trains, one of the best photos yet.

 

There's no doubt that there is a crucial "size" for a layout when the illusion of space and perspective "gels" and this layout definitely has that quality.

[Mallard60022]

Jubblies were always frozen in my day - no good for packed lunches but an after-school treat in summer. You'd cut or tear one edge off and squeeze the thing up just a bit, so that you could suck the flavour out before chewing away the plain ice. Then repeat until it was all gone. The risk was squeezing too hard so the whole thing would shoot out of the packet on to the ground. Another tanner wasted if that happened.

I thought that said Jubilees were always frozen............................. had me thinking for a while.......................

Phil

[great northern]

We didn't have frozen thingies in our family, it was always ice cream, even a choc ice if I had washed dad's car recently enough. And here is another photo.

One A4 having gone through, another now appears, this one at the head of the 0826 Nottingham -KX. I am indebted to Peter Coster for the information that this train was known as the Mark Lane Flyer, and that it was a Top link KX job, usually an A4.

This was almost wholly composed of MK1 stock, but I have been using the same rake for several Grantham duites up tp now. I decided to see if I could make up the correct formation from loose stock, and was defeated only by a BSK which had incompatible couplings, hence the Gresley on the front. I know these things don't have to be got right, but it is nice when they are. The spotters are out early today, and it is clouding over already. I hope they have their pacamacs.

[CUTLER2579]

I presume the A4 would have gone on at Grantham, but it would be interesting to know what brought it from Nottingham to Grantham.  I would guess at a B1.

Edited June 13, 2016 by CUTLER2579

[great northern]

I presume the A4 would have gone on at Grantham, but it would be interesting to know what brought it from Nottingham to Grantham.  I would guess at a B1.

There was a purely local train from Nottingham to Grantham arriving there just before 0800. It called at all stations on the way, and I suppose could have had a B1, L1, K2 or even a J6 or J11 at the front. That comprised a core of BSK SK FK TSO BSK. To that was added SO CK BSK which had come from Newark, according to HMRS, though the official formation book says it was all MK1 save for one BSK. The KX engine would then come on, and after contemplating the scenery of Grantham for 26 minutes the Nottingham business executives would continue thier journey to London. I keep saying it, but it really was a much slower world then. Was that such a bad thing? They would be in time for a meeting at soon after 1100 in the City, and I'm sure the people they were going to see would have been miffed at the suggestion of them turning up any earlier.

[great northern]

The A4 has got a little closer now.

And if the spotters were hoping that nice Scottish chappie 60027 Merlin might have sent one of his local engines for a change they will be disappointed, as it is Gannet again. That was taken by our man up his pole, or whatever it is, the next one by our chap on Platform 3.

[35A]

Apologies for asking, in case this has been covered in the preceding pages, but is there a reason why you have simplified the exit from bay platforms 4 & 5 (between the water hoses in the first pic of the previous post)? Is it just for practical/modelling reasons? I could never understand why the approach was so complicated 'in real life' for a pair of bay platforms - or why it stayed that way until 1972, by which time the bays were only used for holding relieving locos or failures removed from down expresses.

 

I'm getting quite hooked on regular visits to this thread now, to reminisce on how things were when I was a nipper!

[dashnieuil]

I have now found the rest of my photos, which the PC had decided to file in a totally different folder and under a different date. I thought these things were supposed to run in a totally logical way? Well, this one doesn't, it does things in completely random fashion. For instance, I will finish up with at least three versions of an image Raw and JPG to start with, and then resizes to get them on here. I'd have thought that they would appear in the order in which they were done, but no, they shift about so that I get that message telling me that they are too big to upload. I don't much like computers.

 

Here are the photos I was looking for last night.

B1 and A4.jpg

61190 on the Grimsby is waiting time, and is about to be passed by 60007 on the Down Fair Maid. Apparently this train often ran without the headboard, as it does today, but in this case because I can't find it, or perhaps I didn't have one in the first place? There is a strange effect on this one in the area of the loco and first coach. I wonder if I hadn't quite turned the power off, and the loco was still moving slowly. If I'd jolted the camera, surely the whole thing would be blurred? Whatever the reason, it does give an impression of a moving train.

Sir Nigel.jpg

We must have a portrait of Sir Nigel whenever he appears.

I have been following your posts for a couple of years now and congratulate you on an excellent layout. I need my daily fix of PN and am currently following you from Oregon. Returning to France next weekend and looking forward to working on my layout. Looking at the "speed blur" I can see a similar fuzz in the foreground gravel of the second picture. Could it have been a smudge on the lens causing this effect?

Best regards and a belated happy birthday.

Dan

Edited June 14, 2016 by dashnieuil

[rockershovel]

Regarding "a slower paced world", one thing I do notice working with Northern European (mainly Dutch and Italian) and Scandinavian companies, is that compared to British companies, there is much more day-to-day responsibility distributed at lower levels within the organisation, which tends to result in a lot less "meetings" and related workplace amusements.

 

I'm currently working with an Italian company that I've done a good deal of work for, over the years. They have far fewer graduates, but they take in a regular intake of graduates, school leavers and others as "trainee CADD technicians". Over the next two to three years, most of them will be distributed to a wide range of roles; some graduates will find themselves on career paths leading to field technical specialities and supervision, for example. Some school leavers will be sponsored to do degrees or vocational education.

 

I find very similar situation with Dutch and Scandinavian companies, although Scandinavian (especially Norwegian) ones are something of a special case in various ways. Germsn ones are similar, I'm told.

 

I'm not saying this is an unmitigated benefit, but it is certainly a different way of doing things, and there is no escaping that fact that European companies seem able to buy up British ones and make a profit, while the converse is much less true.

 

Meanwhile, an article in the Guardian informs us that the Bank of England's chief economist has produced a report highlighting that in 1970, around 10% of gross profit was paid in shareholder dividends, while the comparable figure now is 70%. I dare say that like most such statistics that isn't anywhere near the whole story, but it's an astonishing number and I rather suspect that if our hypothetical 1958 commuter was asked, he would regard it as quite unrealistic, not least because of its effect on the structure of the business.

[rockershovel]

#11534 is a classic example of the illusion of space and distance. I don't know how far it actually is in reality from the N end of the station to Spital Bridge, but it's a great deal more than five coaches; yet the illusion of distance is definitely there.

 

Likewise, the station approach track work. I have a persistent mental image of trains approaching from the North, and stopping on the main (ie, Station Road side) through platform, platform 2 as was, making a pronounced s-bend crossing from the through main lines (platforms 3 and 4, as was). This doesn't seem to be present on tne model?

[Richard E]

Likewise, the station approach track work. I have a persistent mental image of trains approaching from the North, and stopping on the main (ie, Station Road side) through platform, platform 2 as was, making a pronounced s-bend crossing from the through main lines (platforms 3 and 4, as was). This doesn't seem to be present on tne model?

 There is an S bend now, but that is as a result of the remodelling in 1972, it was rather different before that.

[Richard E]

I thought that said Jubilees were always frozen............................. had me thinking for a while.......................

Phil

Phil,

 

Is that a new way of keeping the strategic reserve from deteriorating?

[great northern]

Official duties this morning, standing in pouring rain acting as starter on ladies' captain's day. I'll catch up and reply to queries later, but here are some more images to be going on with.

Gannet emerges from under the roof.

and Doncaster A3 Ladas runs through with a relief to the 0800 KX - Leeds.

[great northern]

Apologies for asking, in case this has been covered in the preceding pages, but is there a reason why you have simplified the exit from bay platforms 4 & 5 (between the water hoses in the first pic of the previous post)? Is it just for practical/modelling reasons? I could never understand why the approach was so complicated 'in real life' for a pair of bay platforms - or why it stayed that way until 1972, by which time the bays were only used for holding relieving locos or failures removed from down expresses.

 

I'm getting quite hooked on regular visits to this thread now, to reminisce on how things were when I was a nipper!

This was one of the things we just couldn't fit in, much though I would have liked to get it absolutely right. When Norman Saunders transferred my draft plan onto Templot he found that we were short of space to get another turnout off the Down main, and that there wasn't sufficient width to get those complex slips in. However much room there is, it isn't ever quite enough. I agree entirely about the prototype. Why was it deemed necessary to be able to access both of those bays in every different possible way, especially as Platform 5 was so little use anyway?

 

it is always good to acquire another regular visitor, and I'll keep posting the pictures for as long as you all want to see them.

[rockershovel]

Ladas? What, like rusty Russian taxis?

[great northern]

#11534 is a classic example of the illusion of space and distance. I don't know how far it actually is in reality from the N end of the station to Spital Bridge, but it's a great deal more than five coaches; yet the illusion of distance is definitely there.

 

Likewise, the station approach track work. I have a persistent mental image of trains approaching from the North, and stopping on the main (ie, Station Road side) through platform, platform 2 as was, making a pronounced s-bend crossing from the through main lines (platforms 3 and 4, as was). This doesn't seem to be present on tne model?

These shots show what it looked like in the 50s.

Looking North, probably 1960/1 actually, as Spital Bridge shed has gone.

and looking t'other way. The model does start the curve as far up to the top as is possible, and really isn't far off actually. One of the great attractions of the prototype was that I could find a really good excuse for the two sharp curves needed to get onto the main baseboard. My feeling is that the curve into the Up platform which existed before the latest alterations was even sharper than this, as Richard E has said. It certainly felt so when sitting in a train as it was negotiated. Just goes to show really that in steam days at least a curve which didn't look that severe to the eye was enough to cause a severe PSR.

[rockershovel]

Regarding the "multiple access" point work, might it be because of the constricted space at the other end? Crescent Bridge is not far from the platform, there would have been the access to the coal yard (which became the car park later) and the carriage sidings W of the main lines... There are the Nene, Oundle Road and Peacock bridges in rapid succession, and much of the line there is on an embankment.

[rockershovel]

Re #11554, I take it that is from Spital Bridge?

 

I see the chimneys .. are they the Power Station? I have been told by several sources that the car park was formerly the coal depot for a power station, which must have stood where Premier Inn (?) now stands - formerly the Peterborough Evening News offices, among other things. The buildings which have variously served as Pets R Us (or whatever they are called), contractors offices and a solicitors office, are clearly of railway origin.

[Mallard60022]

LNER/ER modellers that have not seen these  may be interested.

They are designed by Mike Trice and produced by Shapeways.

Phil 

[Northroader]

Very useful, I must have one, what is it?

[Mallard60022]

Very useful, I must have one, what is it?

Are you being serious? If so then I can provide a link.

Phil

[Richard E]

The power station stood on the river, just where Rivergate shopping centre is - Asda marks the spot, my partner recalls the days when it still stood (oh, and I must say happy birthday to her again when I get home - going to get the quiz master at our regular pub quiz to announce it, as they do. Not going to insist on an appropriate track from Sgt Pepper to be played though although she has been chuckling all day at the fact that I slipped a CD of it into her birthday card. I expect she'll get me back in a couple of months time ).

 

An earlier incarnation of Town Bridge used to carry the electricity cables across the river, my research suggest they were suspended under the roadway!