Arpster

Until road haulage companies are made to pay for the true costs of their operations (i.e. increased road maintenance and congestion, increased CO2 emissions and air pollution) then they'll always be able to undercut rail on wagonload freight. Arp

The last I heard, the aforementioned 'Top Secret Project' is on track (pardon the pun) to be completed in time for Warley. When are we going to spend another afternoon in the pub shuffling little bits of paper around, Axlebox? Arp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIkMxXnKJfU - Have a listen here. I never knew it was pronounced "Crigh-ch". Arp

Aha! I saw that consist waiting to leave Heaton Depot (three power cars pulling a Mark 3 coach at that point) as I was waiting for the metro to the match on Saturday. I remember thinking "If only I had my camera I could have put a photo on the 'Prototype for Everything' thread" and lo and behold someone else has! Arp

Conversation interrupted at Blackgill. Arp

Morning all, Last set of photos from the Glasgow exhibition, then we can get back to discussing Porcy's film-making skills. A view we don't get to see often, of Beamish Blackgill signal box through the tunnel mouth. Either the driver of the K1 has just had a SPAD incident or that ground shunt signal is stuck in the 'off' position... Axlebox's J72 trundles through the station with a single CCT. The new order has arrived: dieselisation of the Tyne Dock iron ore trains! A pair of NER 0-8-0s, one big and one not-so-big. Q6 63379 has finished its day's work and is stabled back on the shed for the night. Shed pilot J71 no 68316 moves a couple of loco coal wagons to run them up the coal stage. More creeping dieselisation: a (slightly blurred) new Clayton struggles up the hill with a train of steel plate wagons. Someone appears to have forgotten to unload them at Wallsend. I blame Porcy. Another new diesel, virtually brand new, rolls through the station with a load of steel from Consett. The driver of the number 5 Northern bus to Consett pulls in to pick up his elderly passenger. The end. Arp

Ah, now that's much better, Porcy! As long as you don't tell anyone that it took 14 takes to get that video of the ore train then they'll all think you're a natural. And John: that's a great photo! My dad doesn't need any encouragement to build another rake of 56t hoppers. He's already threatening to buy a rake of Dave Alexander's and build them before Warley in November! Arp

Excellent video of the high octane action that can be found on Blackgill. You need to put some kind of funky soundtrack on it, Porce. I'm sure you could come up with something from your extensive record collection. And what do you mean about "the operators battling with each other"?! Surely it would be "the soothing tones of a model railway being run calmly and efficiently"? When do we get to see the video you took of the ore train looking down from the bridge at the other end? Arp p.s. I've been informed by the gaffer that the porter's name isn't Stan, it's Percy. It's important that we get these details right.

Ta for the map, Porcy. I've had a look at my diagram for Washington South and the line those hoppers are standing on is the 'Up Independent' (with the rusting line on the left being known, intriguingly, as the 'Tavern Siding'). There is a dolly on the bracket signal at the east end of the Up Independent though, suggesting it could be worked both ways, but there's no access to the branch to Glebe and 'F' Pit collieries. There are also a number of sidings marked on my diagram for Cook's Ironworks which seem to be lifted by the 1970s (as I guess Cook's was closed by then). If you want to see a video of the iron ore hopper doors in operation (and have a ride in the brakevan of a train up from Tyne Dock to Consett) then it's worth watching the 1967 film 'Consett Steel' on the BFI Player (footage of the trains from about 9 minutes onwards): http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-consett-steel-1967/ Arp

I've got the signalbox diagram from Washington South in a tube at home. I could have a look at the access from that siding on there. It would be interesting to know what those three ground shunt signals in your second photo are for... Glad you enjoyed seeing the layout at Glasgow, Mike. Arp

Thanks for the kind comments, chaps. Phil: there's a book by Roger Darsley that's a good starting point: https://www.waterstones.com/book/consett-to-south-shields/roger-r-darsley/9781906008574 - available from your local transport bookshop (or an internet giant that doesn't pay any tax...). A few more photos for today. We've fast-forwarded a year to mid-1959 and we see Tyne Dock's T1, 69917 eking out its last few months of service as Blackgill banker before going to meet its maker (Gateshead works, incidentally). Q6 number 63379 emerges through the tunnel from Beamish with a loaded 16-wagon coal train. According to the sectional appendix, this is the heaviest load that a Q6 is allowed to take up the hill to Consett and only then provided a banker is attached. 63379 blasts past Blackgill box, the fireman and signalman exchanging a friendly wave as the former mops his brow in between stoking his fire. Across the crossing they head, away up to the steel works. And now comes the banker, working hard at the rear of the train to get speed up for the 1 in 51 climb ahead. 69917 passes the colliery exchange siding where NCB's D54 (Hawthorn Leslie recently arrived at Blackgill from Ravensworth Ann colliery) is busy sorting out its train of fulls. As the train disappears off up the hill, peace and quiet falls over the (slightly blurred) station again. K1 62024 rolls down the hill with the daily pick-up goods. Tyne Dock's Q7 63473 takes a train of empty coal hoppers up the hill to Morrison Busty colliery. A few hours later Q6 63379 brings an empty coal train into colliery reception sidings. A couple of spotters wait on the end of the platform for the next ore train to come through. The number 5 bus comes round the corner past The Bank Tavern on the way to Consett. 68691 (borrowed from Croft Depot for the weekend) simmers in the shed yard. N10 no. 69105 heads off up the colliery branch to collect another loaded train. The T1 arrives back on the shed yard after its latest banking duty... ..and is stabled alongside Blackgill's complement of smaller tank engines. Stan the porter busies himself cleaning the windows of the down platform shelter (they soon get dirty with all of those trains blasting past on the way up the hill). The station goods shed. It doesn't get much traffic these days. The end of the working day.

I'm going to ignore the comment about my beard, Porcy. It's purely for practical reasons, dontchaknow. Where do you reckon this photo is taken in Washington? On the line leading away from the junction towards Biddick Lane? If so, that would probably make those green things on the right piles of timber sheeted over in Calder's yard. Those hopper type structures are probably what's visible in the first photo on this page: http://www.washington.co.uk/ot.htm. The buildings on the left are probably Cook's foundry, in the ruins of which I found an old mine tub wheel (which they used to produce) when I was a kid, which still resides under my dad's car port. I'd also like to know what the long line of 21t hoppers is doing in the siding to the right. Maybe waiting to go up to Glebe and the 'F' Pit? Arp Tony Lamberts excellent phot of a Sulzer Two on the Iron Ore fulls at Washington South Junction.Sulzer Type 2 by Tony Lambert, on Flickr

Glad you managed to catch the layout in Glasgow, Gary, and I hope you enjoyed watching it. No immediate plans for any exhibitions in Scotland (it's such a big job to dismantle and move it that it tends not to come out very often!). The nearest it'll be to getting north of the border is the Railex North East show in 2017. Or maybe you can get down to Warley in November? All the best, Arp

A quiet moment at Blackgill signalbox, the mist rolling in off the hills.

The Blackgill Gang were up in Glasgow at the weekend and Tony Wright's post about the layout (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64295-wright-writes/page-368&do=findComment&comment=2222373) has prompted me to stick up some photos of my own. Blackgill did behave itself remarkably well over the weekend. Yes, there were the usual niggling derailments here and there, but most things cooperated and many of the trains didn't fall off once over the whole three days. We were slightly short-staffed at the weekend, but managed to keep things running most of the time. I hope that all of you who were there managed enjoyed seeing the layout and managed to see some trains running! One issue we did have was the sad demise of the Compspeed Rambler Minor controller that operates the shed yard. That limited the moves we could make somewhat and meant that our newly-written timetable for the show went out of the window a bit! If anyone has such a controller going spare, then my dad would love to take it off your hands! One of the benefits of a three-day show with a layout that was behaving itself was that I managed to take a load for photos. I'll share some of them here, a little at a time. On a sunny summer's day in 1958, J77 68410 (on loan from North Blyth) simmers in the headshunt outside of Blackgill shed whilst waiting its next duties as yard pilot. A ganger passes by on his walk along the mainline... ... as over by the shed, a cleaner is busy shovelling away the ash from the resident locos... ...whilst his mates check the racecard for that afternoon's meets at Gosforth Park and Sedgefield. The sun is starting to be covered by stormclouds now, with the weather rolling down from Consett over the Durham hills. The empties are waiting to be worked up the branch to the colliery. The low cloud is drifting across the fields and the signalman puts another shovelful of coal on his fire. "Typical", he thinks, "I knew as soon as I washed the car it would rain!" Blackgill station is a foreboding place when the day closes in. The porter had better get some lights lit. That's better. The rain is really coming down on the hills now. There's a real motley selection of old wagons on the coal drops today. The empties from the coaling stage are ready to go down the bank when the pick-up goods returns from Consett. The passengers are wrapped-up against the elements. But I think the worst of it has passed now and the sun seems to be breaking through again. Ah, yes, that's better. We can have a walk back down to the shed now to see what's being brought out for the day. There's a J21 that worked up from Blaydon the day before. And the resident T1 being prepared for banking duties on coal trains up to Consett. But our old friend 68410 is still waiting for something to do. That's it for this lunchtime. I'll put up another load of photos later. Arp

Thanks for the excellent photos of Blackgill, Tony. They really capture the layout well - shame about all of those wonky signals, but that's the price you pay for carting a delicate piece of wood and metal halfway across the country! Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks again for coming over to photograph my dad's hard work! Arp

Have we had these before? http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/2607/44081-at-Steele-Road http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/2021/60079-at-Hawick-South http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/3780/Cicero-at-Hawick http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/2031/Steam-locomotive-65232 http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/2045/Steam-locomotive-62425 http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/show/4047/Last-week-at-Riccarton-Junction If so, apologies. If not, enjoy! Arp

One of my favourite places to go walking on a cold, clear day. It's really hard to imagine a Q6 working across the top of those moors with a train in tow. Or even an EE Type 3!: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/stanhope_and_tyne/index23.shtml I love the slowly-rotting sleeper-built snow fences, the walls made from stacks of old stone sleepers (that are 150-years-old!), the little culverts that still carry moortop streams under the trackbed, and of course the ghostly remains of Bolts Law engine house standing at the top of the incline like an old Roman fort. I remember going for a walk with my parents in Washington a few years ago and finding, at the bottom of a long embankment where the S&T crosses Oxclose Burn, a culvert made entirely out of stone sleepers like the ones in your photo. An unexpected thing to find in the middle of a new town! Arp

Ditto what everyone else has said. I pop in here every day to enjoy whatever photos you've posted but am happy to wait until your mum is on the mend. Here's hoping she makes a speedy recovery. Take care of her.

I know this thread is called "Photos" of East Yorkshire, but I wondered if this video has been posted in here before (it was on the old RMWeb about 8 years ago)? It shows Scarborough in 1983 with the Class 03 going about its business at great speed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOcpqHB7C1k I'm not sure it's as exciting at railway terminii these days. Arp

Maybe you'll be able to spend a bit more time around the back than at the front this time, John? Arp

Hold on, who's that handsome chap with the nice shoes appearing on BBC's flagship Look North programme?!

Hello all, Long time no post! The Blackgill Gang were assembled last night for an education and practise session in advance of the Newcastle MRS exhibition in a couple of weeks: http://www.newcastlemodelrailway.org.uk/exhibition A few niggles were ironed-out and a few new problems identified but generally things ran well and we're all slowly getting the hang of Blackgill's foibles and idiosyncrasies (of which there are many!). Even Porcy managed to work out how to shunt the pick-up goods and how to get a coal train into the colliery sidings! Hopefully the old girl (she's nearly 20!) will perform well at Newcastle show and hopefully some of you will be there to see it. All the best, Arp

Superb photos of Micklefield, Dave. Thansk for posting. It's pretty incredible to see those bright and shiny MGR hoppers in amongst a load of grotty old 16-tonners and those tippler wagons. Arp

It's definitely the GPO building which, apart from the delivery office on the ground floor, is now pretty much disused. I think most of the sorting of mail now goes on at the Team Valley place. And if it's good pubs behind the Central Station you're after, get yourself to 'The Split Chimp' in one of the rail arches along Forth Street. It's a 'micro pub' that serves a great selection of craft beers which you can enjoy whilst listening to Pacers and coal trains thumping and banging past above your head! Arp