bécasse

The Haywards Heath - Horsted Keynes line did see at least one regular steam service until May 1955, a mid afternoon northbound service which continued to East Grinstead and beyond, typically hauled by a K. Many through electrified lines on the Southern continued to see one early morning steam train bringing newspapers down from London, most included nominal passenger accommodation.

But the Unit wasn't all that clever, there were certainly at least a couple of occasions when it came so close to breaching the EFL that certain stations were instructed to bank all their cash immediately. They weren't told that it was so that the four-weekly salary payment could be made, but it was. I can remember being given an hour by my boss to identify which stations were likely to be holding large amounts of cash at 10.00 on a mid-week morning - no easy task given that, even at the time, credit cards were being used for most high-value ticket purchases. Still, my pay made it to my bank on time so I must have got it more or less right. It rather surprised me at the time that no one knew which stations generated large amounts of cash (as opposed to total takings), although I was later seconded to a DDK-inspired retail strategy study which uncovered the uncomfortable fact that local managers were actually (and unnecessarily) increasing the railway's retail costs while claiming to be reducing them.

One forgets the initial summer Saturday service of five 7-carriage trains an hour running throughout between Pier Head and Shanklin which was quite something to see, and well thought through one might add. Sadly the demand soon dropped off and with it the service intensity. Incidentally all those trains were met with buses on route 39 to Wroxall and Ventnor at Shanklin, which may well have been the most intensive regular route that the island ever saw. During January, February and March 1967, when the train service was replaced by buses, those buses ran between Esplanade and Shanklin as "Rail Replacement" and then continued to Ventnor as Southern Vectis service 39, an arrangement unusual, and possibly unique, in itself.

If it isn't going to be fixed permanently to the baseboard there is a lot to be said in favour of double-sided tape. Two centimetre lengths of tape every 30 cm (say) will readily hold down a plan like this.

Crossovers being missed in the surveying work has been the biggest problem area that I have noted during years of using such maps. However this may not have always been the surveying team's fault as a lot of extra crossovers were installed during the Edwardian era as a response to the partial outlawing of rope/chain shunting, and this coincided with a major OS resurvey of the UK. The map always shows what was there at the time of the survey or partial resurvey. As to the accurate depiction of buildings, I suggest that one should try overlaying maps of the same place from different surveys - which will quickly bring to light a lot of drawing or surveying anomalies, especially where there is photographic evidence that the actual buildings didn't change over a significant period.

Looks easy blown up like this! Or it would be if the fingers and thumb didn't increase in size too.

It is an Anglo-American (ie Esso) vehicle probably originating from the refinery at Fawley - so it may well have journeyed over the SDJR.

The worm has probably been "loctited" to the motor shaft. Boiling water should suffice to break the bond, something I discovered when I saw an exhibitor dipping one end of a failed motor in a plastic cup of newly purchased tea at a show, and asked why.

One of the things that I have learnt from exhibiting regularly in France is that wine bottle corks make first class track cleaners, natural or reprocessed cork ones are best but the plastic variety work too. They readily remove track-top gunge without being in the least bit abrasive - and, post lunch, there is always an abundant supply available free.

His first work, on GWR Permanent Way, was first class so I have pre-ordered a copy on that basis. I think it has to be better than Adrian Vaughan's OPC work on the subject which is, to my mind, overly subjective in its coverage, even if Adrian did learn the basics of signalling from my late father-in-law.

Having drawn attention to the existence of such a banner repeater at Ilfracombe set me off wondering why it was provided. Then the penny dropped - heavy passenger trains leaving Ilfracombe (very much "uphill") were banked in the rear, so the banner repeater was provided for the benefit of the banker's driver. There were other terminals located at the foot of bank (Glasgow Queen Street comes to mind), but whether any of them were similarly equipped I don't know. In relationship to the original question, the Ilfracombe example was a total red herring, not only the wrong company but provided for an irrelevant purpose.

It would also have allowed the banking loco to drop back down the bank if any emergency occurred while the train was in the tunnel. Having once been on a passenger train (hauled by an ailing Class 4 standard tank) which took all of 15 minutes to clear the tunnel, I can vouch personally for the fact that it didn't take much for conditions within the tunnel to become very foul indeed.

Normally the platform starters would be positioned in such a way (on short posts) that they would be visible to the driver of even a short train. In the unlikely event of that not being possible, banner repeaters might be used although examples of such a use were very rare. I can think of one example - at Ilfracombe, suspended under the canopy, but that was Southern, not Great Western. "OFF" repeaters were intended for use by the train dispatchers and guard.

I don't think that many did get repainted in BR crimson. I have only managed to definitely identify one vehicle whose number I have forgotten but which was a Met. 5-compartment vehicle with one compartment converted and labelled for the guard's use.

The real issue with GWR toads was the design of the veranda which had both a low parapet and a low roof (and nothing to hang on to) - and the guard had to go out on to the veranda to work the brake because that is where the column was. Other companies' vans had verandas, usually but not always at both ends, where one felt safe even if the van was pitching around (which wasn't uncommon on an unfitted goods), the parapet was a good height and it was easy to hang on. I only rode on a toad once, that once was quite enough, not only would it have been quite easy to have been pitched over the parapet but one could easily have cracked one's skull on the low roof as one went.

Apologies for my error in respect of EFPLs at Baynards. I had looked at its signalling diagram for another purpose only a couple of months ago and somehow come away with the mistaken impression that EFPLs were fitted there. I usually recheck such things before posting but stupidly failed to do so on this occasion! Thanks to Martin for pointing out the error of my ways! I still haven't sorted out in my own mind as to whether the Brighton only used EFPLs when it was short of levers or if there was sometimes some other reason. I have come across more photos which appear to show them than I would have expected to if the former was the case, but, of course, it could be that the presence of an unusual feature was one of the reasons that the photo was taken - it can be a great mistake to assume that old photos are representative of the everyday life and times of a railway.

The LBSCR normally fitted economic FPLs where the FPL and the point were worked by the same lever. I haven't seen a diagram for Cranleigh but certainly Baynards on the same line had economics.

I believe that quite a number of ex-GW toads were converted to personnel carriers for the Civil Engineers once even the WR accepted that they represented a safety risk. Enclosing the veranda at least removed the risk of being pitched overboard.

Like Bernard, I am a bit doubtful as to whether it is an AEC (even though it was my first thought). The radiator looks a little bit too wide in proportion to the cab, but that might just be an optical illusion brought about by the harshness of the blow up.

If it is to be an accurate representation of Kingston Wharf, a Terrier is no good to you because it is too big! That was why a P, which is even smaller than a Terrier, was used. Before the Southern Railway rebuilt the access, locomotives weren't used at all, it was all horse worked.

Only a Flemish woman ................https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/06/06/see-how-woman-driver-ignores-barrier-at-railway-crossing/

I see that you have already pencilled in the necessary adjustment to the height of the shed door to accommodate the overhead wires...........

The train is a special and, judging by the fact that a special headcode has been allocated, an inter-Divisional special at that because specials within a Division would normally carry the nearest relevant route headcode. I wondered about the possibility of a Portsmouth-Chatham naval special.

It is worth noting that the Great Western certainly wasn't alone in preferring right-hand drive. Many pre-grouping companies were right-hand drive too and this was continued to some extent post-grouping - it isn't unusual to find post-grouping loco classes which included both LH and RH drive locos. The stated reason for the preference for right-hand drive was that, with the fireman on the left-hand side of the cab, his right arm was in the right place for wielding the coal shovel.

"Loose" firsts were generally used for special traffic, typically Ocean Liner Expresses and race specials, all first trains weren't unknown for the latter.