Prototype for everything corner.

[The Johnster]

7 hours ago, Ben B said:

 

It's why the 08 shunter is my favourite diesel loco; high bonnet, coupled spoked wheels... and still in service on the main line when far more modern designs have been and gone. Imagine if the battery conversions (like they're trialling at that light-rail factory in Dudley) work out, the last few Gronks in revenue-earning service might see their centenary!

 

Not just coupled spoked wheels, outside framed coupled spoked wheels, what's not to love...

 

They are perfect for their originally intended work, 24-hour yard shunting, and pretty good for station pilot work, both jobs that have largely disappeared from the modern railway scene.  Bombproof reliable, we had one over on Cardiff Docks in the 70s that could not be restarted without difficulty and was left running continuously until the oil filter blocked, eighteen months!  In fact they are pretty handy things to have around for anything that does not require much speed or distance.

 

This was their Achilles heel, as they took forever to clear sections and got in the way; signalmen hated them.  The ride was superb, better than Pullmans, unless the loco was in motion at which point things deteriorated rapidly (the only thing gronks did rapidly).  They had square wheels and the springs that you though were shock absorbers were actually shock amplifiers, an old Dock driver once told me that, in the darker corners on moonless nights, he knew if he was off the road because the ride improved...

 

The sideways-facing-inwards driving position is counter-intuitive, but in practice gave excellent sighting in both directions and was comfortable for an eight-hour shift of backwards and forwards.  They were draughty, but the heaters were good and could be supplemented by turning on the hotplate.  The made no demands on the drivers, who simply climbed on and drove them. 

 

I was once back (in the 70s) sitting outside the cabin waiting for my train to be brought up off the docks at Cardiff Tidal Sidings, nice summer evening with a muggatea, and could hear the gronk coming up from the bottom of the yard.  It seemed to be taking it's time, and labouring, and passed me eventually with three full trainloads to shunt out, including mine, each of well over a thousand tons and up a gentle incline.  The little engine was completely sure-footed, and moving very slowly, but moving nonetheless; you could almost see the coupling stretching and there were all sorts of creaking and groaning noises; wonderful!  Impossible not to love 'em when you've seen this sort of thing!

 

They continue to be Really Useful Engines on the big railway, industrial systems, and heritage lines, proof of a valid initial concept, the ultimate British yard switcher.  They are built like brick sh*thouses, are mechanically agriculturaly simple and robust, and there is no reason that some will not achieve a century of service and more.

 

They are very intricate in appearance, form following function, and as such make for extremely interesting models with a lot of detail to ooh and aah at.  The gift that keeps on giving. 

[The Pilotman]

I’m not sure what the train that appears at 3m30 in this video  

is but it’s come off the Greenford branch at West Ealing and looks like it’s formed of two GUVs, 6 Mk2 BFKs and a Mk2 BSK. ECS on its way to Old Oak Common perhaps, but from where?

Edited June 28, 2023 by The Pilotman

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

And 100% prototypical (apart from being tinplate although it would have to be GWr engines running over it to get it spot on. (yes, the GWR dd really havea  section which was electrified using a centre 3rd rail although all GWR trains running over it were steam hauled).

Didn't the GWR have a 50% interest in the first electric stock on the H&C?

[brushman47544]

2 hours ago, The Pilotman said:

I’m not sure what the train that appears at 3m30 in this video  
 

is but it’s come off the Greenford branch at West Ealing and looks like it’s formed of two GUVs, 6 Mk2 BFKs and a Mk2 BSK. ECS on its way to Old Oak Common perhaps, but from where?

It looks like the same Class 31 that worked up light earlier in the video. I would guess that the stock has come from Old Oak and is returning there, having been turned for some reason via the Greenford loop.

[Davexoc]

5 hours ago, The Pilotman said:

I’m not sure what the train that appears at 3m30 in this video  

is but it’s come off the Greenford branch at West Ealing and looks like it’s formed of two GUVs, 6 Mk2 BFKs and a Mk2 BSK. ECS on its way to Old Oak Common perhaps, but from where?

 

Can't think why a selection like that would need turning, so, is it a stock transfer from Old Oak to somewhere north or east?

Leaves OC heading west, turns off towards the Birmingham direct route, comes off there at Greenford to head back towards OC, but then heads up to the NLL after Acton Mainline, Acton Wells towards Willesden, then on towards Stonebridge Park/Wembley or Wolverton, or around the NLL towards an ER destination. Runs that way purely to avoid an extra run around at Acton.

[nigb55009]

The first class 31, 31180, runs east light engine at the start of the video and returns west at the end hauling three fuel tanks. 31187 is hauling the mixed

bag of coaches. Could it be that train is a loaded test run after 31187 has undergone maintenance at Old Oak Common. The coaches may just be some

redundant stock put together to form a test train, sectorisation would have meant very few spare rakes of coaches would be available for such a train at 

short notice. The paintwork on both 31s looks new, but 31187 appears to have it`s buffer beam painted red oxide, as if recently repaired. 

The fuel tanks hauled by 31180 could be heading to Reading Depot.

[DavidB-AU]

45112, RFO 1211 and 13 x KAA en route to Long Marston in 2007. Note the flames from the brakes!

 

 

[brushman47544]

9 hours ago, nigb55009 said:

The coaches may just be some

redundant stock put together to form a test train, sectorisation would have meant very few spare rakes of coaches would be available for such a train at 

short notice.

 

I thought the BFKs might be spares or redundant from Waterloo - Exeter sets. IIRC, those rakes had two BFKs back to back in the middle but were they later reduced to one? Or perhaps they are going for a repaint in NSE livery?

[The Stationmaster]

20 hours ago, The Pilotman said:

I’m not sure what the train that appears at 3m30 in this video  

is but it’s come off the Greenford branch at West Ealing and looks like it’s formed of two GUVs, 6 Mk2 BFKs and a Mk2 BSK. ECS on its way to Old Oak Common perhaps, but from where?

re the train at 3m,32 I will put my money on it having started from OOC and it will be heading up the bank at Acton.  That was a standard move at one time for stock going to Wolverton.

[The Pilotman]

7 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

re the train at 3m,32 I will put my money on it having started from OOC and it will be heading up the bank at Acton.  That was a standard move at one time for stock going to Wolverton.

Thanks Mike. It was the strange rake of coaches that prompted me to pop it in this thread. 

[Rugd1022]

We often used to go round the houses with a rake of stock on test runs when 31s, 47s or 50s came out of the Factory at Old Oak after some fettling, back then there was always a spare set of men to be able to do it when needed. Likewise taking stock over to Willesden and Wembley, for instance the Penzance sleeper stock, which was a daily turn for us at 06.00, taking it via Greenford, West Ealing, Acton Wells, Acton Canal Wharf etc, then back to Old Oak light engine.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Rugd1022

[Davexoc]

On 28/06/2023 at 23:35, nigb55009 said:

The first class 31, 31180, runs east light engine at the start of the video and returns west at the end hauling three fuel tanks. 31187 is hauling the mixed

bag of coaches. Could it be that train is a loaded test run after 31187 has undergone maintenance at Old Oak Common. The coaches may just be some

redundant stock put together to form a test train, sectorisation would have meant very few spare rakes of coaches would be available for such a train at 

short notice. The paintwork on both 31s looks new, but 31187 appears to have it`s buffer beam painted red oxide, as if recently repaired. 

The fuel tanks hauled by 31180 could be heading to Reading Depot.

 

Back then a loaded test run was usually 09.10 Padd - Oxford, used for pre or post major exam, or for persistently problematic locos. This was always an additional loco piloting the train loco, which if passed fit, could do the return solo.

Getting a path for a test run during the day was nigh on impossible. You need a clear run on the main between HSTs, the relief will tell you nothing mixing with the stoppers etc. One time I did a trial run on a weekday late shift, we caused mayhem on the down main when the 47 threw a main generator earth fault causing us to stop at a green alongside Southall DMU depot and request a path back to OC in limp along mode. Another occasion it was a 31that let us down, with the main generator flashing over as the driver opened up as we crossed onto the down main. Both these were light loco only, loaded test runs were rarer as they take a bit more arranging.

Taking an HST for a run was easier, and they usually were Swindon and back. Through Didcot at 132mph coasting from the overspeed cut-out is quite memorable, blink and you miss it....

Most test runs were during the night shift, light loco to Slough and back. Load simulated by using a bit of straight air brake. I did manage 3 in one night, and I think it was 6 for the week, but there was too many locos sitting around OC awaiting a run at the time.....

 

[Metr0Land]

Something a bit different to park in a siding awaiting attention

 

[37114]

9 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

Something a bit different to park in a siding awaiting attention

 

There is a pic somewhere from the other end, the car at the front was a nicely restored MGB roadster which was badly damaged but I believe was repaired 

Edited July 2, 2023 by 37114
Typo

[Metr0Land]

Isopon and T-cut work wonders don't they?

[melmerby]

12 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

Something a bit different to park in a siding awaiting attention

 

Now that's what I call too much weathering...............😁

[Wickham Green too]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Now that's what I call too much weathering...............😁

I think the mistake was probably using the heat gun to dry the dirty thinners ☹️

[Matt37268]

16 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

Something a bit different to park in a siding awaiting attention

 

Any idea what the story is? 

[keefer]

13 minutes ago, Matt37268 said:

Any idea what the story is? 

Click the pic for the Flickr page.

"Three mangled cars written off when this Motorail GUV , 96180, derailed and hit a bridge parapet between Coventry and Rugby at Brandon on 29-6-91."

[melmerby]

Further into the album is this:

[montyburns56]

It's a little known fact that CCT actually stands for Car Crushing Train.

[rodent279]

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

Further into the album is this:

That certainly looks restorable, far worse examples have been brought back from the dead.

[Colin_McLeod]

Headlights  and tail light both lit in this NIR picture.

 

[Budgie]

31 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Headlights  and tail light both lit in this NIR picture.

 

 

That suggests they don't know whether they're coming or going.

 

I'll get my coat.

[newbryford]

On 01/07/2023 at 21:20, Metr0Land said:

Something a bit different to park in a siding awaiting attention

 

 

Not as expensive as this one...