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Is there anything to help date this Car train? - what are the cars?


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Hi,

 

This came as an undated neg, the train is hauled by Brush type 4 No 1609 (no D) at Twyford. the loco is in Std blue and was off Bath Road from 1967 before being re-allocated to Canton in Aug 1969, following on to Landore in October 1969 for several years, all of which could be on a car train at Twyford! Therefore i wonder if the cars can help with the date. TBH I don't even know what they are -but you guys will!

 

Thanks in advance for your help, Tony

post-4594-0-64617200-1466511626_thumb.jpg

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They are early mk3 cortinas so with a pre TOPS number I'd say 70-74, shame the cars aren't the other way round as grilles changed with time

There was a subtle change in the rear lights when they went to the plastic grille too, but I think we're too end on to make that out. All three bodies there; some are 2 door saloons. Perhaps the fact that they are all Cortinas could* mean we are close to the initial launch of the model. If there had been the odd Mk.IV Zephyr or Zodiac in there that would have shortened the timescale a bit.**

 

* only a speculative could!

** Some early views of the first built Cartic-4 show Mk.I Cortinas and Mk.IV Zephyr/Zodiacs which narrows it to 1966, as the Z car came out about half a year before the Cortina Mk.II.

 

Incidentally, back in June 1978 I saw a trainload of the as-then unlaunched Mk.III Marina on a car train, so sometimes what's on a car train like this can be seen before the launch date of a model.

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I have 8 Hornby Cartics loaded with - Ford Anglias !!!

 

R6397_1.jpg

 

Mate had a beat up old anglia with a nice view of the tarmac under the footwell !!

 

To the tune of "Valencia" we sang

 

"Ford Anglia, your on the boil your leaking oil the very thought of you is tragic" !!!.

 

Happy days

 

Brit15

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The cams on the early pinto engines weren't the best, not quite as bad as early Astra ones but not good

F.O.R.D. - Fix Or Repair Daily - those OHC engines usually died at around 70.000 miles, if the body hadn't rotted out first......

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It was probably a Dagenham- Severn Tunnel Junction working; for many years, Ford had a terminal on the site of the former STJ steam shed.

 

Probably was Brian as it's on the Down Main Line heading west.  The location from which the photo was taken is known as Land's End although the pub of that name is a little way off and nowhere near the railway.

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The cams on the early pinto engines weren't the best, not quite as bad as early Astra ones but not good

A mate of mine has had a 1979 Granada in the family since it was a couple of years old. It's the now ultra rare 2.0L base model with the Pinto engine rather than the much more common V6 engined version. We've had many a conversation over the years about the failings of the Pinto and he has always maintained that the issue was that the holes in the oil spray bar for the cam were too small leading to oil starvation and consequent wear to the cam. Once you'd fitted a spray bar with larger holes the issue went away.

 

Cheers

 

David

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A mate of mine has had a 1979 Granada in the family since it was a couple of years old. It's the now ultra rare 2.0L base model with the Pinto engine rather than the much more common V6 engined version. We've had many a conversation over the years about the failings of the Pinto and he has always maintained that the issue was that the holes in the oil spray bar for the cam were too small leading to oil starvation and consequent wear to the cam. Once you'd fitted a spray bar with larger holes the issue went away.

 

Cheers

 

David

At about that time, I worked for a motor factors in Stoke- we did a lot of repeat business in reground camshafts for 2 litre Ford engines, apparently down to inadequate lubrication.

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1970's Fords weren't all bad. Another mate had a Pinto Cortina estate, he changed the OHC spray bar regularly along with frequent oil & filter changes - never had any problems.

 

As my dad used to say about ALL cars, Oil is cheaper than bearings !!!

 

Brit15

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I have 8 Hornby Cartics loaded with - Ford Anglias !!!

 

R6397_1.jpg

 

Mate had a beat up old anglia with a nice view of the tarmac under the footwell !!

 

To the tune of "Valencia" we sang

 

"Ford Anglia, your on the boil your leaking oil the very thought of you is tragic" !!!.

 

Happy day

 

Brit15

Looks like Harry and Ron have missed platform 9 & 3/4 again!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

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A few years ago I had a 1977 Escort Ghia with the 2.0L Pinto (Aussie market only model). Given its advanced years and woeful state of neglect it was a good engine, being torquey, powerful and reliable. Maybe not a classic like the Xflow but pretty competent. Sure, it leaked and burned a staggering quantity of oil, and the starter motor fell off a couple of times but it did maybe 30,000 km over 18 months without suffering any major mechanical failure. I did make a point of changing the cambelt early in proceedings though :D, mainly because my father once experienced a broken one on a rental Cortina many years before.

 

I do remember, though, a time when every car accessory shop/motor factor in the UK .had a wallful of vacuum packed aftermarket Pinto cam kits on display which, even as a naive teenager, I suspected might say something about the design.

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