brianthesnail96

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

That would need the London Transport cab roof modification which Accurascale haven't announced ........................ er ... yet ?

I'd be very surprised if they haven't (along with the tripcocks etc to do one in LT condition). 

42 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

???

I think we're referring to the BR passenger lined green; unlikely I'd suggest, given that they never carried it in BR days. So far as I'm aware none of the preserved ones have either although I stand to be corrected there (although we have had tan, blue, red, and light green of course, as well as lined BR black).

My money is on a red one (which is of course the best livery ever carried by a 57xx 😉). The myriad little changes made to suit their new life underground will be right up Accurascale's street. 

Didn't realise you dabbled in 16mm as well as the 5" stuff Mike. That looks really good. I'm sure I'd have stuck with it myself had I seen the slomo in action- your homebrew version looks just as effective. 

By the way I had a similar set up with point levers at the front of my 0 gauge layout (albeit off scene), I took that to a couple of small exhibitions and actually being "front of house" worked really well, although you'd probably want someone to act as shunter and to talk to punters and someone else to concentrate on driving!

I wasn't complaining, quite the opposite- I missed it the first time around and it's a great picture!

2 hours ago, keefer said:

Also https://flic.kr/p/muBFsn

 

 

 

I suspect we've gone full circle and that's the photo that started this thread 

Here's a few recently uncovered near me- all BR standard types but a mixture of planked and plywood and 2 and 3 piece ends. There's 6 or 7 in total all end to end carrying on past the scaffolding frame. Presumably came off of the Dursley branch line. There's at least one more in the same yard that's in excellent condition and freshly creosoted that I presume is still in use for storage- these ones are empty.

This sort of thing would perhaps have been a more controlled method of extraction- I saw this referenced somewhere on Facebook, this is another Facebook link but you should be able to view without signing in/ up. 

Kelbus gear in use at Southall

And a another picture of it in use (and another "bring out the big guns" loco, to try and make some very tenuous link to 59 003) elsewhere on RMWeb 

How to wake up a 37 that's having a lie down

On 24/08/2021 at 18:54, AMJ said:

@brianthesnail96I'm sure knowing Bachmann that if you wait long enough your preferred loco will be in the range.

I was being thoroughly tongue in cheek, as Quarryscapes has highlighted there's no two the same (and they evolved over time too)- it's be preposterous for them to tool for all possibilities but someone usually expects them too. 

My particular "want", especially with the ugly air pump on the smokebox, is particularly obscure! Alan George's current (or at least, most recent running) state is pretty close to Nesta as modelled though. 

5 hours ago, MarkC said:

In fairness, neither does LNG - you need either a tiny injector (which, interestingly, is fed via a Common Rail HP MGO line and solenoids, a concept last really seen on marine engines when Doxfords still sailed the seas, although the control valves were mechanical) to start the ignition process like a conventional diesel, or a spark plug.

Indeed- a lot of natural gas injection stuff should read right across to hydrogen. 

I was on the development team for the dual fuel injectors used in the Volvo LNG trucks that were launched a couple of years back (concentric nozzles for LNG and diesel, each with it's own actuator) and seem to be pretty successful- I believe the main company behind that project has run them on hydrogen with very good results, just as a proof of concept so far but we'll see what happens.

Hydrogen has a lot of potential both for I/C (although it's not exactly flawless- it doesn't ignite under compression so forces you down less efficient combustion strategies) and in fuel cells (also not flawless as they need very "clean" hydrogen and their efficiency is load dependent) but I do wish people would remember that it doesn't grow on trees... The "emissions" are meaningless unless considered alongside the energy cost of actually producing the stuff.

Best way to consider it in very simple terms is as as a battery as opposed to as a fuel source in it's own right. 

Ahh- it's one of the semi- streamlined ones (bit like a Duchess really...) which along with the slope explains why it got as far as it did before it all went Pete Tong!

My (now) fiancé's student digs were the other side of said bridge to mine, the hill the far side of the bridge is very steep, more so than it looks in the photos- it's also narrow, as is evident! I would have thought it would be fairly apparent that going that way might not be the best plan. 

The height is signed in imperial and metric from the road junction as well as the bridge itself (which is close enough to said junction to be visible). Of course that's not much help if your vehicle is less than that but long.

Incidentally I always thought she lived in Mutley, not Mannamead- evidently not!

My Dad used to drive "Alan George" on the Teifi Valley (before I came along and spoilt his fun- although it was still a regular feature of my childhood holidays!). Now I'm pretty disappointed that Bachmann aren't doing one in mid green with a very stylish airbrake pump tacked on the side of the smokebox, but I suppose given they've tooled a very accurate looking close relative in Nesta I can't really grumble too loudly. 

I shall certainly be buying one for him; it's just a question of whether I can resist buying one for me too! 

A chap on the "retrorides" forum has posted a thread up with pictures from his dad's photo album from his driving days with BRS and Pickfords throughout the 1960s; not only are there some excellent detail shots of vehicles "in use" but there's some good inspiration and reference photos for loads, liveries, warehousing and loading methods too. Several examples of 15- 20 year old vehicles in use alongside much newer ones. 

The thread can be found HERE  hopefully! 

Bernard Mills' "Backtracking Around Friary, Laira and the Plym" has some good pictures of the branch before it was buried under roads, pizza restaurants and hotels. I bought the book while staying in Plymouth in the Lockyer's Quay hotel and was quite surprised to find out that where I was sat used to be a goods depot, although I was aware that what is now Gdynia Way was originally a railway- the Cattedown Road bridge crossing it has a very railway look to it. 

Plymouth's railway history is fascinating, not least because so much has vanished!

On 23/06/2021 at 14:37, petethemole said:

 

As traction engines tend to be driven by two people, one steering and one controlling the valve gear, regulator  and brake while managing the boiler and fire, which would need a licence, when the latter is nominally the 'driver' ?  I've had the pleasure of steering a small one (Wallis & Steevens tractor) around the Great Dorset Steam Fair ground (though not in the 'Play Pen') with the owner driving.  It is possible to drive single handed, more easily on smaller engines.  The owner referred to would go to and from rallies single handed, towing a water tank and a Land Rover on an A-frame.

Late response to an off topic question, but the driver is the one in charge, which is the one with the regulator, reverser and slightly token brake to hand, not the one furiously spinning a wheel around in the hope of having some impact on the direction the thing is pointing!

Incidentally I'm fairly sure you can still drive a traction engine on rubbers on a car license but you certainly can't drive a roller, steam or otherwise- that requires a Category G license. You can steer one without (I do from time to time) but not drive.

8 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Really ?

 

more people died because there was a fire engine that was green, than there would have been killed had there been no fire engine at all, due to the strike ?

 

Are you sure ?

 

No, people died because, well, mostly politics, but also because someone decided that it would be alright to use fundamentally the wrong tool for the job (Goddesses are pumps, not emergency response fire engines) with insufficiently trained crews. Royal Irish Rangers Charles McLaughlin and Hugh Thompson lost their lives as a result. 

In that situation it was probably still the right thing to do. Unlike fire brigades, trains not running is not life and death.

30 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

When fire services went on strike, Green goddesses appeared.

And people died as a result. 

If you're going to throw the rule book out of the window you might as well just say run the things cracks and all and see what falls off instead. Probably not as interesting for the spotters as all the fantasy "what ifs" flying around though. 

Peto (which I've just noticed has a nice shot of 1453 in lined early crest green on the cover, with "proper" smokebox numberplate) has 1472 as being shopped at Newton Abbot in October 1957 for a heavy casual, Gloucester for an unclassified in April 1959 and Stafford Road for a heavy intermediate in April 1961.

Peto also has a great picture of 1444 in early crest lined, the caption for which notes that it was also shopped at Newton Abbot in late '57 but was still outshopped with the early crest.

1472 almost certainly got the early crest lined in 1957, at this time she had a top feed. I'd guess Stafford Road was responsible for the late crest, it gained a non top feed boiler at this time (Peto records boiler swaps at both NA and SR overhauls). I've not managed to find any photos of it between '59 and '61 to confirm when the livery changed though. The bottom edge of the tanks were patched at some point so a repaint would have been necessary. 

South Devon Railway Twitter feed has black and white photo of 1472 showing the lining if you zoom in https://mobile.twitter.com/southdevonrly/status/1142078039041421312/photo/1

In case that doesn't work, here's a zoomed and cropped screenshot as well, I've messed with the contrast a little to make it easier to see the lining.

30 minutes ago, Blobrick said:

 

 

Hi Ray

 

With regard to 1454, I ve found a photo on page 34 of "Western Steam in Colour : Branch Lines" by Chris Leigh, which was taken at Yatton, but alas undated, that supports your belief  that  this loco was turned out in unlined green with early crests

 

Bob C

There's one of 1454 here https://railphotoprints.uk/p249682189/h3D955D33 that's unusually unambiguous. What a great picture. 

Edit- by the end of summer '60 it was in lined late crest according to this picture on Flickr. I'm sure a dig into Peto would give a more precise answer. 

Another shot of 1453 here that shows the lining. 

https://flic.kr/p/5KbUn7

There's quite a few photos of her as she was one of the regulars on the Chalford and Sharpness autos out of Gloucester for a few years and I assume the unusual livery and smokebox numberplate made for a more interesting photo- although you can't see the lining in most photos! I spent quite a lot of time looking for one that kept unlined black but with top feed until the end, I can confirm Ray's memory above is correct and 1462 was scrapped still in early crest black, I've found a couple of pictures of it on the scrap line at Exeter and that's the one I picked. 1466 did also carry lined early crest green- but only in preservation!

Having consulted the timetable I carefully planned a visit to the GWSR a few years ago with a work colleague and her 7 year old such that we could ride on all 3 trains (steam, diesel and DMU) without having to hang around for ages at any one station. Best laid plans and all that... the DMU was allowed (bouncy seats and you can see the driver and out of the front) but we had to wait for the Hall to come back around 'cos the class 20 wasn't cutting it! 

So in my experience of visiting with non enthusiasts for a day out steam is definitely key. I don't think it would have made a jot of difference what the engine was so long as it was steam. 

I've not actually been on the Llangollen railway but we stopped at the Chainbridge Hotel at Berwyn for lunch on a classic car run- a couple of us nipped across to the little cafe on the station instead and were made very welcome, it was a fantastic part of the world to drive through and I imagine it's pretty good out of the window of a Mk1 too. Hopefully I'll be able to confirm this at some point...

These ones are from last summer's exploration, the footpath across the fields from here are decidedly soggy at this time of year. A view of and along the trackbed across the concrete bridge over the River Cam at Draycott. This is rather hidden in plain sight as it's behind an industrial estate and you don't ever really get a view of it unless you walk away along the river bank and look back. There are several other smaller bridges, both traditional brick arch and another concrete structure, between here and the footbridge in my last post. I'll have to try and snap a few of these. 

The picture of the bridge is looking towards Dursley, the one across it back towards the junction. This was the most significant structure on the branch, again some pictures of it in use are here http://www.dursleyglos.org.uk/html/dursley/railway/coaley_cam/coaley_cam.htm

First time attempting to post photos from my phone, hopefully this works... 

Home is a few hundred yards from the Midland Railway branchline to Dursley from Coaley Junction. Quite a few remnants, I've only photos of the more obvious ones! 

This is the fairly well known "Gallows Bridge" footbridge over the railway alongside Everlands road, which the railway ran parallel to. Now it just pokes out of the hedgerow looking very out of place, a footpath runs alongside it across where the railway isn't. These were taken over Christmas.

The second picture taken from the bridge is very close to being a match for the second photo on this link http://www.dursleyglos.org.uk/html/dursley/railway/cam_dursley/cam_dursley.htm

To be pedantic it was the original wooden bridge that was known as the Gallows Bridge, the replacement that still stands was pretty late in the railway's life.