THE WESTERN REGION DIESEL HYDRAULICS - A Pictorial Observation

[Dan Griffin]

will these be available in WH SMiths, like the 50/deltic and 47 ones were?

[EddieB]

Railways Illustrated  have just announced a new publication "Hydraulic Legends". A 100 page special at £6.99. 

 

 

https://shop.keypublishing.com/product/View/productCode/SPECHYDRA/Hydraulic%20Legends

Interesting to see the inclusion of "industrials" - but is it more than two or three pages of "general" text?

[robertcwp]

There was no maximum height difference between any of the D8XX locos and in all cases the maximum height was 0.25" below the the 13ft 1" maximum allowed on certain 25kv electrified sections south of Crewe.  As far as clearances were concerned D8XX, as a total group of locos were permitted to work into Crewe.  So there was definitely no overall clearance restriction variation between the sub-varieties of D8XX (5 different diagram numbers) and maximum height was in ant case measured with the roof ventilators open

 

If there had been a separate restriction due to exhaust positions (which strikes me as logical) it would almost inevitably have been covered by letter rather than any other way and hence not at all unlikely that it might have been unevenly applied as tended to be the case in such circumstances.

Don't think I suggested there was a height difference. As I understood it, the issue with the 42s was that their exhaust went straight up and could put oily deposits on the wires whereas just about every other diesel type, including 43s, had offset exhausts. It might all be an urban myth though but it was 43s that had a brief period working into New Street in 1967 and around Bescot, not 42s, but that could have been because OOC had 43s.

[The Stationmaster]

Don't think I suggested there was a height difference. As I understood it, the issue with the 42s was that their exhaust went straight up and could put oily deposits on the wires whereas just about every other diesel type, including 43s, had offset exhausts. It might all be an urban myth though but it was 43s that had a brief period working into New Street in 1967 and around Bescot, not 42s, but that could have been because OOC had 43s.

 

I know you didn't suggest a height difference, what I was doing was ruling it out in case anyone did come up with it in support of your point about exhaust positions.

[valleymodeller]

I finally managed to get a copy today at my local WH Smith's  (Pontypridd, South Wales), I was surprised they had them in a local store and had about five copies too.

 

I have to say it was well worth the wait as there are some excellent photos of green, maroon and blue diesels therein. The captions are good to. Well worth the price, and an excellent addition for any WR fan of that period.

 

Thoroughly recommended.

 

Tony

[robertcwp]

I finally managed to get a copy today at my local WH Smith's  (Pontypridd, South Wales), I was surprised they had them in a local store and had about five copies too.

 

I have to say it was well worth the wait as there are some excellent photos of green, maroon and blue diesels therein. The captions are good to. Well worth the price, and an excellent addition for any WR fan of that period.

 

Thoroughly recommended.

 

Tony

Thanks. Still no sign of them in WHS at Holborn Circus or my local one.

 

Several stands at Warley had them on sale last weekend.

[Pteremy]

No sign in WH Smiths Wallington - but it is a small one. However I have found that you can order post free, and with Paypal, from https://rail-books.co.uk. 

[EddieB]

Copies at WH Smith’s Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush yesterday.

[caradoc]

Got my copy in WH Smiths in Glasgow and it is well worth buying, the coverage of the Warships in particular is excellent.

[The Stationmaster]

Ah, finally secured a copy today, the last (only?) copy in our local WHS branch.  Excellent choice of pictures including - for once - plenty of green livery views which is really nice to see.  Very good, accurate, captioning too (although strangely the picture of 1029 on page 51 is described as 'near Maidenhead; while two other views not quite so obviously at Waltham are described as such.  However 'near Maidenhead' is still a lot more accurate than some captions I've come across elsewhere in which 'Waltham' has been been to Ruscombe).  Interestingly attention isn't drawn to the, unusual, and very much bluer repainting of the bottom bodyside lime green band on D7014 on page 61 - one of at least two locos which carried the band repainted in that colour instead of the original much yellower shade (another loco in the class at one time had the original shade on one side and the repaint on the other following damage to the paintwork on only one side).

 

But why please perpetuate the myth of white window surrounds on the Hymeks?  They were not white (although Joe Lewis in his book described the colour as 'off white') but in reality it was a very pale grey almost with a hint of 'duck egg grey' to it and visibly very different from the white of the 4 x character headcode digits on new locos.  I know it shows up as very pale on many photos of the class but it wasn't white but a very pale grey with a hint of some other shade in it.

[robertcwp]

Ah, finally secured a copy today, the last (only?) copy in our local WHS branch.  Excellent choice of pictures including - for once - plenty of green livery views which is really nice to see.  Very good, accurate, captioning too (although strangely the picture of 1029 on page 51 is described as 'near Maidenhead; while two other views not quite so obviously at Waltham are described as such.  However 'near Maidenhead' is still a lot more accurate than some captions I've come across elsewhere in which 'Waltham' has been been to Ruscombe).  Interestingly attention isn't drawn to the, unusual, and very much bluer repainting of the bottom bodyside lime green band on D7014 on page 61 - one of at least two locos which carried the band repainted in that colour instead of the original much yellower shade (another loco in the class at one time had the original shade on one side and the repaint on the other following damage to the paintwork on only one side).

 

But why please perpetuate the myth of white window surrounds on the Hymeks?  They were not white (although Joe Lewis in his book described the colour as 'off white') but in reality it was a very pale grey almost with a hint of 'duck egg grey' to it and visibly very different from the white of the 4 x character headcode digits on new locos.  I know it shows up as very pale on many photos of the class but it wasn't white but a very pale grey with a hint of some other shade in it.

Thanks for your comments. 

 

I'm not sufficiently familiar with the Waltham/Maidenhead area to know exactly where the photos were taken as they are ones I have collected.

 

Interesting points about Hymek cab window surrounds and different greens on the bands and not something I had known about. 

[Phil Bullock]

No time to find a stall with a copy at Warley although did look - and not seen it elsewhere

 

So went on Amazon and got copy from Nigel Bird books - many thanks for excellent service.

 

Cant add anything to what has already been said - although several of the photos have been seen elsewhere the reproduction in this book - especially in colour - certainly appeals. Favourites are 855 on the return Paignton - Worcester at Gloucester Eastgate and the Class 14s on Gloucester trips at Dursley and Stonehouse - also D9531 at Bristol, one of the first to go and now immortalised as Ernest at the ELR....

 

Only possible gripe is a lack of anything at Worcester but as this is a representative selection of the photos that are out there then thats hardly surprising. Many thanks Robert for all the hard work which went in to the captions which are a revelation compared to those in some other publications - particularly the coaching stock comments!

 

Phil

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks for your comments. 

 

I'm not sufficiently familiar with the Waltham/Maidenhead area to know exactly where the photos were taken as they are ones I have collected.

 

Interesting points about Hymek cab window surrounds and different greens on the bands and not something I had known about. 

 

Robert they were all taken at a location officially known as Waltham Sidings and are from the south side of the line looking roughly north east, the picture on Page 51 also shows traces of where the Main Lines was slewed towards the Relief Lines after the middle siding was removed in the mid-late 1960s.  The construction work in the background is what became the Black & Decker factory but it has long since been demolished.

 

The 'different' lime green on a few Hymeks is something which rarely seems to get a mention and it was very useful to see a good colour picture.  And like Phil my thanks once again for producing an excellent book with some really interesting and useful illustrations

[robertcwp]

 

The 'different' lime green on a few Hymeks is something which rarely seems to get a mention and it was very useful to see a good colour picture.  And like Phil my thanks once again for producing an excellent book with some really interesting and useful illustrations

I might have noticed that colour at some point but probably put it down to the vagaries of 1960s colour films.

[robertcwp]

 

 

Only possible gripe is a lack of anything at Worcester but as this is a representative selection of the photos that are out there then thats hardly surprising. Many thanks Robert for all the hard work which went in to the captions which are a revelation compared to those in some other publications - particularly the coaching stock comments!

 

 

My own bigger gripe is that there is nothing in South Wales but I don't have any decent colour shots of hydraulics there in my collection. Lots of my collection were taken by Norman Preedy and he seemed to like the West of England.

[Phil Bullock]

Maybe we can hope that Strathwood could come up with "Seventies Spotting Days in South Wales" . Which could encompass hydraulics . 

Oooh not 70s Mr P!

 

We want Teddy Bears and Warships so have to be 60s....

 

Phil

[Strathwood]

Maybe we can hope that Strathwood could come up with "Seventies Spotting Days in South Wales" . Which could encompass hydraulics . 

Sorry no more in the Seventies Spotting Days series planned, but we will be doing more Seventies Diesel & Electric Days Remembered soon, but more importantly if you are after some South Wales hydraulics we have a good number for next year in Sixties Diesel & Electric Days Remembered VI & VII.

 

Kevin

[tetsudofan]

Two copies of the book at WHSmiths at Folkestone this morning, only one there now.

 

Keith

[Fat Controller]

Two copies of the book at WHSmiths at Folkestone this morning, only one there now.

 

Keith

There were three earlier in the week...I was surprised to see that Rochefort's, in Cheriton, didn't have any, as they stock a pretty broad collection of railway magazines.

[robertcwp]

They were on sale today at the Peterborough show. I was even asked to sign a couple of copies!

 

There are in fact two South Wales shots in the book. One is a Hymek at Landore and the other is Hymeks at Cardiff Canton. 

There were three earlier in the week...I was surprised to see that Rochefort's, in Cheriton, didn't have any, as they stock a pretty broad collection of railway magazines.

Might be because, as far as newsagents go, it's a WHSmith exclusive. You can order online from various places or pick one up at a show.

[dibber25]

Ah, finally secured a copy today, the last (only?) copy in our local WHS branch.  Excellent choice of pictures including - for once - plenty of green livery views which is really nice to see.  Very good, accurate, captioning too (although strangely the picture of 1029 on page 51 is described as 'near Maidenhead; while two other views not quite so obviously at Waltham are described as such.  However 'near Maidenhead' is still a lot more accurate than some captions I've come across elsewhere in which 'Waltham' has been been to Ruscombe).  Interestingly attention isn't drawn to the, unusual, and very much bluer repainting of the bottom bodyside lime green band on D7014 on page 61 - one of at least two locos which carried the band repainted in that colour instead of the original much yellower shade (another loco in the class at one time had the original shade on one side and the repaint on the other following damage to the paintwork on only one side).

 

But why please perpetuate the myth of white window surrounds on the Hymeks?  They were not white (although Joe Lewis in his book described the colour as 'off white') but in reality it was a very pale grey almost with a hint of 'duck egg grey' to it and visibly very different from the white of the 4 x character headcode digits on new locos.  I know it shows up as very pale on many photos of the class but it wasn't white but a very pale grey with a hint of some other shade in it.

 

Good to see mention of the Hymek window frames. Whenever I've reviewed model Hymeks, they always have white plastic window surrounds and I've always remarked on it. I usually call the actual colour 'duck-egg blue'. If you repaint model window frames in the correct colour it makes a huge difference to how good they look. It's also particularly obvious on the Rail blue/SYP livery. (CJL)

[Godfrey Glyn]

Paul has copies at Alton Model Centre; it's a great book and well worth the money.

 

all the best

 

Godfrey

[Pteremy]

Haresnape also refers to 'off-white trim', but also 'pale grey' in captions and that the colour actually varied. Neither the Railway Observer or Railway World commented on the window frames when covering introduction in 1961, emphasising instead the 'blending green'.  Lewis (referenced by Stationmaster) makes the point that the colour scheme was - by design - a repeat of that applied to the production Deltics. Was that 'off white', or something else?

 

Colour photos of the first members of the class do show very bright white frames, to my eyes at least. So as ever the only safe thing to do is find a photograph of what you want to model and follow that.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

There were three copies in WHS in Wimborne this afternoon. One of these is now under our Christmas tree.....

[Tim Hall]

There were three copies in WHS in Wimborne this afternoon. One of these is now under our Christmas tree.....

 

We had a dead kingfisher under our tree once....cat assisted....