Peterborough North

[The Great Bear]

If you are really not interested in seeing this sort of thing, just say so and I will desist.

Makes a change from the glorious parade of trains. As a fellow roundy-roundy layout owner (albeit much more modest) but who hasn't gotten around to running trains properly it's interesting to see how you do things. I recall articles you penned in magazines a few years back but seeing things in action here good too.

 

So, for me, more of this please.

 

All the best

 

Jon

Edited November 11, 2016 by The Great Bear

[great northern]

I've been at a Club dinner and prizegiving this evening, so this will be a short post. One image only, but it features another Pullman.

[chaz]

I've been at a Club dinner and prizegiving this evening, so this will be a short post. One image only, but it features another Pullman.

117 and B1 1.JPG

 

Good to see some filthy NPCS in the background. I can't remember who it was who described in his book needing to clean a patch on an SR parcels van to find out if it was painted crimson, green or blue. Now that would be filth...

[great northern]

Good to see some filthy NPCS in the background. I can't remember who it was who described in his book needing to clean a patch on an SR parcels van to find out if it was painted crimson, green or blue. Now that would be filth...

Ah well, I do take notice occasionally you see. Heavy weathering was applied as suggested.

[great northern]

Another shot of Bois Roussel with the Queen of Scots, about to emerge from under the roof.

I don't know how that headboard slipped sideways en route from the last photo.

And the next fiddle yard shot. The Ivatt has travelled forward onto road 1, and now reverses the stock into the cassette which has been placed in readiness. The loco will shortly stop automatically, as power finishes just past the turnout.

[TrevorP1]

Before I carry on with another piece from Ralph Turner I'd just like to add my own appreciation of the article in HM. It's not a magazine I normally buy I certainly enjoyed the article and the fine photographs. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw that your first 'cop', Gilbert, was the A3 Woolwinder. Ralph always claimed that this was his favourite engine. He was a boy cleaner in 1955, so maybe, just maybe, it was his handiwork you saw on that day.

 

With incredible stupidity, none of us ever asked why 60055 was his favourite. Enginemen usually appreciate machines which perform better so possibly Woolwinder's  A4 boiler, with it's longer combustion chamber, helped on that score when he became a fireman. He also liked V2s but not the one which features later in this account...

 

A few more words from Ralph now before I finish off next week.

 

"One of our goods turns were the petrol trains as far as Royston. We had to travel out to Finsbury park on the cushions and then hitch a lift on the brake van of a goods over to Dalston. Here we relieved the men who had brought a WD 2-8-0 and 20 or 30 petrol tanks from Tilbury. This was a night time job and as we went along you could see the sparks falling onto the tanks - which usually leaked. Often they were so bad that petrol ran down the sides of the tanks. There was a 'runner' between us and the tanks but what a waste of time that was!

 

"Now, I thought all this petrol running away was a terrible waste and one night as we waited for the tender to fill at the Finsbury Park water stop I decided to try some in my cigarette lighter. My mate soon missed me and went mad when he caught me filling my lighter from the drips on one of the wagons. His words are unprintable but it was along the lines of telling me not to strike the lighter or we'd all be blown to bits and land in Seven Sisters Road...

 

"We would come off at Royston and take the engine back to Hitchin tender first. We hated this because we could never get the coal damped down enough so we were plastered in dust. From there went back to The Cross on the cushions looking like two coal miners.

 

"Top Shed closed in 1963 and by that time I was in No.4 Freight Link on the main line express goods. I also did main line passenger work to Peterborough and Grantham. I can still clearly remember one of my last turns now. It was a Ferme Park to York night turn were we lodged in York and came back next night with the the Aberdeen fish.

 

"One night they gave us a run down Green Arrow. It was so overdue for washout that all we could see in the gauge glass was a mass of thick yellow scum. We could see firebox stays leaking everywhere. By rights my mate should have failed the engine before we started but we tried to get the job done. Besides, what even worse old heap might they have given us to replace it?

 

"To add to our woes it was thick fog all the way. I've never worked so hard in my life as I did that night. Nothing I did would make the thing steam and by York I had literally emptied the tender. I thought slavery had been abolished!

 

"When we booked on the next night at 9:00pm my mate was having none of it and he failed the V2 straight away. Amazingly they found us a nice A3 for the fish and we had a lovely run home.

 

"When Top Shed closed I had to go to Finsbury Park on the diesels. I hated it. What a mess up! A days work might be riding out to Hitchin passenger to come back second man on a light engine or perhaps, second man on a Cravens railcar all day. I soon got fed up with this and in spite of the rough days I was very sad at the passing of the steam engine. Riding round all day on a glorified bus wasn't my idea of railway work so, with a heavy heart, I left the railway in 1964.

[chaz]

 

Before I carry on with another piece from Ralph Turner I'd just like to add my own appreciation of the article in HM. It's not a magazine I normally buy I certainly enjoyed the article and the fine photographs. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw that your first 'cop', Gilbert, was the A3 Woolwinder. Ralph always claimed that this was his favourite engine. He was a boy cleaner in 1955, so maybe, just maybe, it was his handiwork you saw on that day.

 

With incredible stupidity, none of us ever asked why 60055 was his favourite. Enginemen usually appreciate machines which perform better so possibly Woolwinder's  A4 boiler, with it's longer combustion chamber, helped on that score when he became a fireman. He also liked V2s but not the one which features later in this account...

 

A few more words from Ralph now before I finish off next week.

 

"One of our goods turns were the petrol trains as far as Royston. We had to travel out to Finsbury park on the cushions and then hitch a lift on the brake van of a goods over to Dalston. Here we relieved the men who had brought a WD 2-8-0 and 20 or 30 petrol tanks from Tilbury. This was a night time job and as we went along you could see the sparks falling onto the tanks - which usually leaked. Often they were so bad that petrol ran down the sides of the tanks. There was a 'runner' between us and the tanks but what a waste of time that was!

 

"Now, I thought all this petrol running away was a terrible waste and one night as we waited for the tender to fill at the Finsbury Park water stop I decided to try some in my cigarette lighter. My mate soon missed me and went mad when he caught me filling my lighter from the drips on one of the wagons. His words are unprintable but it was along the lines of telling me not to strike the lighter or we'd all be blown to bits and land in Seven Sisters Road...

 

"We would come off at Royston and take the engine back to Hitchin tender first. We hated this because we could never get the coal damped down enough so we were plastered in dust. From there went back to The Cross on the cushions looking like two coal miners.

 

"Top Shed closed in 1963 and by that time I was in No.4 Freight Link on the main line express goods. I also did main line passenger work to Peterborough and Grantham. I can still clearly remember one of my last turns now. It was a Ferme Park to York night turn were we lodged in York and came back next night with the the Aberdeen fish.

 

"One night they gave us a run down Green Arrow. It was so overdue for washout that all we could see in the gauge glass was a mass of thick yellow scum. We could see firebox stays leaking everywhere. By rights my mate should have failed the engine before we started but we tried to get the job done. Besides, what even worse old heap might they have given us to replace it?

 

"To add to our woes it was thick fog all the way. I've never worked so hard in my life as I did that night. Nothing I did would make the thing steam and by York I had literally emptied the tender. I thought slavery had been abolished!

 

"When we booked on the next night at 9:00pm my mate was having none of it and he failed the V2 straight away. Amazingly they found us a nice A3 for the fish and we had a lovely run home.

 

"When Top Shed closed I had to go to Finsbury Park on the diesels. I hated it. What a mess up! A days work might be riding out to Hitchin passenger to come back second man on a light engine or perhaps, second man on a Cravens railcar all day. I soon got fed up with this and in spite of the rough days I was very sad at the passing of the steam engine. Riding round all day on a glorified bus wasn't my idea of railway work so, with a heavy heart, I left the railway in 1964.

 

 

These pieces are full of interesting anecdotes and provide us with insights into the working of the steam railway that most enthusiasts have little real understanding of. Thanks for posting them - got any more?

[TrevorP1]

These pieces are full of interesting anecdotes and provide us with insights into the working of the steam railway that most enthusiasts have little real understanding of. Thanks for posting them - got any more?

 

 

I only wish I did have more. There is one last piece for next time but sadly that will be all for Ralph. It is to my eternal regret that none of us tried harder to get something down. If only I could be transported back in time with a mobile phone that I could make notes on and take recordings... 

 

There are still a few ex BR steam men still about and they are worth listening to and making the effort to preserve their experiences.

 

Ralph obviously loved his job but he, like all railwaymen, had a different 'take' on it to us enthusiasts. They saw the hard and dangerous side as well as the good times. What on earth was it like in that tunnel under Kings Cross? Absolutely deafening, stiflingly hot, almost unable to breathe and sometimes having to rub a spanner on the tunnel wall to make sure you were still going forwards...

 

Ralph died of lung related problems, many blamed the fact that he smoked, but I wonder what the Hotel Curve added to the tobacco?

[Oldddudders]

 

There are still a few ex BR steam men still about and they are worth listening to and making the effort to preserve their experiences.

How right you are. I recall more than one such footplate guy who had an endless supply of real-railway stories. One in particular, George, comes to mind. He had moved into supervisory roles, where his big frame, and parallel life as an RSM in the Terriers, with a voice to match, made him an imposing figure. I would see him at lunch and the tales just tumbled out. I urged him to write them down. When he retired he took a sort of supernumerary messenger job for Network SouthEast HQ, but he was gone too soon and nothing saved for those of us who would feast off such stuff.

[manna]

G'day Gents

 

Even in the early 70's with no steam, a diesel run railway was full of stories, and almost the same as steam, working down to Moorgate and back out again was still a exciting run, fairly normal until you got to Kings Cross Met station, then you had to open up the cl31, cutting across the ex Midland lines in total darkness, you engine bouncing and jerking about, the thunder of the loco, so loud that you could feel the pressure in your chest, the exhaust leaking into the cab, and coming out into daylight with a sickly yellow fog being pushed out of the tunnel in front of your engine, as you came out of the tunnel, you shut off power, and with just a touch of the brake handle you would stop at the top of the incline, it was that steep. In the summer, it was easy to get away from platform 16, try that in winter, with a wet rail and steam heating you had a job to see the guard give you right away, then with your foot on the sander, you opened the controller a bit, nothing, a bit more, waiting for the engine revs to increase, a bit more, you could feel the engine start to strain, bit more... then release the brakes, and with a bit of luck you were away, if not you'd be sitting there spinning the wheels and burning the rail, and your signal would be put back to red.

 

manna

[great northern]

Reading the above real life reminiscences, I can only say that it does all of us good to have the rose tinted spectacles removed now and again. Apart from the dreadful conditions that could occur, what caught my eye was " hitch a lift on the brake van of a goods". Is that really how railwaymen were supposed to get to work?

[The Stationmaster]

Reading the above real life reminiscences, I can only say that it does all of us good to have the rose tinted spectacles removed now and again. Apart from the dreadful conditions that could occur, what caught my eye was " hitch a lift on the brake van of a goods". Is that really how railwaymen were supposed to get to work?

 

No - they were supposed to walk or ride their push bike (some had motorcycles of course and some could afford cars (depending on the availability of overtime and Sunday turns).  Don't forget that many, especially outside the London area, lived near to their place of work although some, especially the likes of Relief Signalmen, had a need for transport and tended to be among the first to go in for motorised transport.  And if it saved a bike ride or walk and there happened to be a train going your way ...

 

And equally in many jobs we were required to live within a certain distance or journey time of our place of work - that even applied to me when I went into my final 'big railway' post in 1994 but I did have an 'On Call' commitment so that made a difference of course.

[TrevorP1]

No - they were supposed to walk or ride their push bike (some had motorcycles of course and some could afford cars (depending on the availability of overtime and Sunday turns).  Don't forget that many, especially outside the London area, lived near to their place of work although some, especially the likes of Relief Signalmen, had a need for transport and tended to be among the first to go in for motorised transport.  And if it saved a bike ride or walk and there happened to be a train going your way ...

 

And equally in many jobs we were required to live within a certain distance or journey time of our place of work - that even applied to me when I went into my final 'big railway' post in 1994 but I did have an 'On Call' commitment so that made a difference of course.

 

 

When I was in my mid teens my Dad had a friend who was a guard. Now and again he would take me to work with him. One Christmas Eve he had a late turn on the Lymington Branch. Sign on was at Southampton Central and this is where we left our bicycles. Then it was  passenger to Brockenhurst to work the remainder of the day's trains and take the empty stock to Eastleigh at the end of the day. The problem was that by the time the ECS got to Eastleigh there would have been no more trains to get home on... That night the ECS went from  Southampton to Eastleigh with no guard. I seem to remember they also picked up a chap who had missed the last train till Boxing Day.

[great northern]

Oops! Nearly forgot your late night photo.

[great northern]

And, having hit the wrong button, here it is.

Just a slightly different angle, really.

 

[31A]

No - they were supposed to walk or ride their push bike (some had motorcycles of course and some could afford cars (depending on the availability of overtime and Sunday turns).  Don't forget that many, especially outside the London area, lived near to their place of work although some, especially the likes of Relief Signalmen, had a need for transport and tended to be among the first to go in for motorised transport.  And if it saved a bike ride or walk and there happened to be a train going your way ...

 

And equally in many jobs we were required to live within a certain distance or journey time of our place of work - that even applied to me when I went into my final 'big railway' post in 1994 but I did have an 'On Call' commitment so that made a difference of course.

 

 

I thought it read as though it was part of their 'Travel passenger' within their shift rather than their means of getting from home to their signing on point; although I'm sure goods trains between Finsbury Park and Dalston were probably quite frequent in those days, by these days' standards it does sound like a rather haphazard way of diagramming a train crew's work!

[great northern]

This morning I will first complete the process of removing a train after it has run its course. The locomotive goes off on shed.

In this case it was New England duty 28, and so the Ivatt is placed back into that slot. It would normally be up against the far side, but that would obscure the number. That leaves the stock now in the cassette, and it is secured by the foam insert.

From there it will be lifted down and a couple of feet to the left, and placed into the appropriate slot in the cassette box. I can't photograph that though, as I don't have enough hands.

 

And for those who prefer just to see the trains run through, one final shot of Bois Roussel, as the Pullman heads north.

Plenty of light today, so I can take some more later

[trw1089]

Really like the staging area photos and descriptions Gilbert, provides inspiration for me that's for sure!

 

Cheers
Tony

[The Stationmaster]

I thought it read as though it was part of their 'Travel passenger' within their shift rather than their means of getting from home to their signing on point; although I'm sure goods trains between Finsbury Park and Dalston were probably quite frequent in those days, by these days' standards it does sound like a rather haphazard way of diagramming a train crew's work!

 

I'd be surprised if they were booked to travel on a freight - more likely booked to walk (that far!? - but only 40 minutes walking time) or catch a 'bus from Finsbury Park to Dalston (the 'hitch a lift' implied to me that it wasn't the way they were booked to travel).

[great northern]

I'd be surprised if they were booked to travel on a freight - more likely booked to walk (that far!? - but only 40 minutes walking time) or catch a 'bus from Finsbury Park to Dalston (the 'hitch a lift' implied to me that it wasn't the way they were booked to travel).

That makes good sense Mike. Find a way to avoid a 40 minute walk, especially if the weather is cr*p.

[great northern]

And now, an appeal. No, not for your money, though if you want to send some that's OK , but for some suggestions about your preferences as to where I should take photos from. South end? North end? Helicopter shots?  Whatever takes your fancy. I'm getting a bit jaded frankly, as I feel I've exhausted most of the possibilities.

[The Stationmaster]

And now, an appeal. No, not for your money, though if you want to send some that's OK , but for some suggestions about your preferences as to where I should take photos from. South end? North end? Helicopter shots?  Whatever takes your fancy. I'm getting a bit jaded frankly, as I feel I've exhausted most of the possibilities.

 

Although they are a bit '1960s railway Modeller-ish' I do like the helicopter shots as a bit of a change from the linesiding (I do enjoy the linesiding of course).  Someone I'm acquainted with might ask for more pictures including an N5 - pretty little engines so i won't argue with him (and he's bigger than me).

[Mallard60022]

From the "gob on it" bridge please.

Phil

[45156]

I just got home from a few days away to find the current HM lurking among the soggy mail on the mat, and was browsing it to find that there was a piece on a layout that really looked familiar, and I was pleased that yet another of the layouts that I first met on RMWeb was being featured in the monthly glossies.  Well done on a very good article, and I was pleased that you took a less conventional approach, and didn't spend half the piece discussing the baseboards and construction.

[great northern]

I just got home from a few days away to find the current HM lurking among the soggy mail on the mat, and was browsing it to find that there was a piece on a layout that really looked familiar, and I was pleased that yet another of the layouts that I first met on RMWeb was being featured in the monthly glossies.  Well done on a very good article, and I was pleased that you took a less conventional approach, and didn't spend half the piece discussing the baseboards and construction.

Thank you for those kind words. I have to say I'm well pleased with the way Mike Wild and Hornby Magazine dealt with all of this. I was met with much encouragement when I suggested a less conventional type of article, and no attempt was made to edit it into some type of "house style". Good photos from Mike, and very well reproduced, and he even allowed me to have a couple of my own pictures included.

 

As to my approach to the article, I find the need whenever PN is featured to explain all of the strange and unorthodox goings on that took place, as anyone who doesn't know the real thing would otherwise think that I have no idea of how the real steam railway was run. That wouldn't leave room for all the stuff about baseboards and electrics, but I just feel that side of things has been done to death anyway.