Peterborough North

[The Stationmaster]

Was Stan B still in charge or had Norman P taken over by then?

 

Stan in command, he also used to keep a very friendly Grouse (of the Highland variety) in his own little cubby hole but it didn't appear on that particular trip.  It did however make an appearance on a trip on the ECS back towards Wolverton which I travelled on on one occasion

 

The platform bells that I remember were operated from the signal box. There was usually a code to signify not only the platform number but also the direction from which the train would approach.

 

The standard lever colour for (platform) gong levers was yellow but when distant signal arms began to be repainted yellow from the 1920s onwards there was a swop of colours and distant levers became yellow while green, the previous colour for distant signal levers, became the standard colour for gong levers.  Not all Companies subscribed to the RCH standard so gong levers might well have not been green on some Companies but it was definitely used for gong levers on the Northern Division of the LNER in former NER territory.  

[great northern]

So that's the funeral done, and a rather sparsely attended wake afterwards. Hardly surprising really, with very hazardous minor roads, and a wind that nearly cuts you in two. I ate two cream scones, which are forbidden.

 

What's happening at PN? It is still very busy on the Up, and Control has decided to slip another coal train through.

[rockershovel]

Funeral of a golfing friend of 35 years today, but sadly a lot of people aren't going to get to it because of the conditions. I've got a lift in a 4x4 so i'm OK. Getting up the hill to the golf club for the wake won't be fun either. We'll make the best of it.

 

Back to railway matters, and 60504 has departed, so its classmate can proceed, though no-one has done anything about the incorrect headcode. 60505 is seen lurching round the dog's leg curve.

505 south.JPG

meanwhile the shuttle from East is on its way up again, with a Claud which is on loan to Spital Bridge.

claud under bridge.JPG

If I might venture a constructive criticism, the composition of the first picture draws the eye towards the excessively sharp curves, evident in the angle of the leading bogie, and the well-known “narrow gauge effect” associated with OO. The second picture is a near-perfect composition, though.

[great northern]

If I might venture a constructive criticism, the composition of the first picture draws the eye towards the excessively sharp curves, evident in the angle of the leading bogie, and the well-known “narrow gauge effect” associated with OO. The second picture is a near-perfect composition, though.

It was a sharp curve, of course, but I totally agree with you, not as sharp as I made it look. I let the loco run a couple of feet too far, and was too idle to move it back.

[great northern]

Control has now to decide whether to let another coal train through. This one carries supplies for Little Barford power station, so the decision is that it shall run. As usual the shedmaster has borrowed a visiting loco for this duty.

next, the relief loco for the Birmingham-Ely has to be allowed down to the south end and to reverse into the bay.

[great northern]

Somebody seems to be unduly fascinated with the rear view of a B17.

It will be resting for a while yet, as before the train it will tale over arrives, there is a  one from Louth still to come. I seem to remember that when asked for another look at the Cravens DMU, I promised that it was on its way from Louth. Well, it arrived, and It was photographed, but it came out horrible, and the mush in the background could not be sorted. I did promise though, so here it is.

[chaz]

Love the rear end view of the Sandy.

 

If, as I suspect, that Cravens DMU only ever runs as a two-car you could effect an immediate improvement to its look by removing that ploughing attachment between the buffers.

 

Louth to WGC! That would be quite a trek.

 

Chaz

[FPH 603]

Somebody seems to be unduly fascinated with the rear view of a B17.

1626 2.JPG

It will be resting for a while yet, as before the train it will tale over arrives, there is a  one from Louth still to come. I seem to remember that when asked for another look at the Cravens DMU, I promised that it was on its way from Louth. Well, it arrived, and It was photographed, but it came out horrible, and the mush in the background could not be sorted. I did promise though, so here it is.

Cravens.JPG

Nice to see that Cravens again! I also like the different view of the B17.

[great northern]

Love the rear end view of the Sandy.

 

If, as I suspect, that Cravens DMU only ever runs as a two-car you could effect an immediate improvement to its look by removing that ploughing attachment between the buffers.

 

Louth to WGC! That would be quite a trek.

 

Chaz

It's like this. The driver of the DMU is old Bert. He says that all his regular passengers know where the train is going, so why should he mess around with these new fangled things, whatever they may be. And where is this Welwyn place anyway?

[Oldddudders]

It's like this. The driver of the DMU is old Bert. He says that all his regular passengers know where the train is going, so why should he mess around with these new fangled things, whatever they may be. And where is this Welwyn place anyway?

I think the signalman might have heard of Welwyn. A particularly nasty accident in 1935 - 14 fatalities - led to an additional form of signalling control named after the scene of the accident.

[JeffP]

And here's me thinking it was the Well Inn where a Miss Annie Likesit lived in our schoolboy poetry.

[landscapes]

I've now found that I took one more photo of Silver Link. It's an effort at something different, but I could have positioned the locomotive better.

14 leaving 2.JPG

In the opposite drrection came 60505, which had just taken over a Class C from Craigentinny. It managed to get out of the yards, but no further than this, as its shedmate 60504 is still at the platform.

505.JPG

It would have got no further anyway, as the fireman has put up the wrong headcode, and the bobby in North box will have spotted that, though I didn't. Otherwise it is a nice crisp picture, and the lattices were easy to do for once.

 

Hi Gilbert

 

Very nice photos, is the A2/2 a new addition to your layout or have I just missed any photos of it before.

 

Great model, I do like those Thompson Pacific's.

 

Regards

 

David 

[great northern]

Hi Gilbert

 

Very nice photos, is the A2/2 a new addition to your layout or have I just missed any photos of it before.

 

Great model, I do like those Thompson Pacific's.

 

Regards

 

David 

60505 has been around for a while now David. Tim did a great job on it, so good in fact that whenever I see it I fancy another one.

[great northern]

Just a WD and a DMU this morning, but this evening is much more glamorous.

One of the highlights of any day on the ECML, especially when it is the Haymarket engine in charge.

It's a pity the cameraman had run out of colour film.

[FPH 603]

Just a WD and a DMU this morning, but this evening is much more glamorous.

12 1.JPG

One of the highlights of any day on the ECML, especially when it is the Haymarket engine in charge.

12 2.JPG

It's a pity the cameraman had run out of colour film.

I've heard somewhere that 60012 could have been preserved and moved to Australia. As far as I know it would have gone to Thirlmere, but they just didn't have the money to ship it across.

[great northern]

The Elizabethan is next seen as it passes under the roof.

I'm not sure how I managed to get so much light on this side of the train. We then follow its progress past the broken columns, and a quietly throbbing DMU.

and we can't resist a rear three quarter view as it heads away North.

[31A]

Great shot under the roof!

[JeffP]

Gilbert, can your camera take time exposures?

I ask as I used to read Jim S-W's thread on Birmingham New Street, where he put the camera on a very small aperture, (which gives better depth of field), then time exposure, and highlighted various parts of the loco/stock with a tinly LED torch.

[great northern]

Gilbert, can your camera take time exposures?

I ask as I used to read Jim S-W's thread on Birmingham New Street, where he put the camera on a very small aperture, (which gives better depth of field), then time exposure, and highlighted various parts of the loco/stock with a tinly LED torch.

I'm limited to F8, which I use whenever possible, and 15 seconds is the time limit. That sometimes isn't enough on dark days. I can open it up to F2.8, but then as you say, I lose depth of field.  I could get a bigger camera, and far more range, bu then of course I wouldn't be able to get it into the places where the G12 will go. One can't have everything.

[rockershovel]

And here's me thinking it was the Well Inn where a Miss Annie Likesit lived in our schoolboy poetry.

Miss Anne Keeps, surely? Lived in a pub in Wiltshire, if memory serves...

[great northern]

Back to the relatively humdrum now, as the Birmingham-Ely arrives behind a Standard 4.

the loco detaches, and as it moves forward the 9.40 Down Newcastle approaches.

Edited March 4, 2018 by great northern

[The Blue Streak]

I've heard somewhere that 60012 could have been preserved and moved to Australia. As far as I know it would have gone to Thirlmere, but they just didn't have the money to ship it across.

 

Yes that one pops up from time to time, rumour has it that as per the Canadian A4 and Eisenhower that 60012 would have been given to Australia for free providing that someone here coughed up for the transport costs. Unfortunately it seems none of the preservation groups could raise the funds and the Govt. of the day wasn't interested. Bit  of a shame really.

 

I've heard the same story come up now and then for years, so there may be something to it. I wonder if the Kiwi's were offered Dominion of NZ?

[45156]

Hi Gilbert,

 

The sheer variety of locos and stock that appear here just takes my breath away.  And all in era too - no anachronisms at all. 

[JeffP]

Loving that photo of the standard 4 under the canopy.

[great northern]

Hi Gilbert,

 

The sheer variety of locos and stock that appear here just takes my breath away.  And all in era too - no anachronisms at all. 

The J3 is a bit dodgy actually, but yes, generally I do try to keep to the straight and narrow. If I allowed myself to stray further, I dread to think where it might lead. That J36 for example, very nice. And C1s, they are very nice too. No!, stop it.