E3109

Can i just give a hat tip to my friends over at the Wigan Transport Trust. Should be of interest to Apollo and Owd Bob I suspect! https://wigantransporttrust.wordpress.com/

So let's get some paint slapped on the Cans first then.

Damn. Just realised, it wasn't you after all. But can I just ask, are you still making the EM1 type panto kits? Gonna need a few, due to the fact that the Heljan ones are pretty appalling! Cheers E3109

Indeed and I'm pretty sure there was a painted instruction on the outside wall, next to the oil stores, that stated 'PULLMAN OIL ONLY' until the bitter end! Hoping someone has a photo of this. Incidentally Michael I'm sure you bought my MTK 506 a few years ago via EBay, if so, how did you go on with it? E3109

Without elaborating on this subject (Rules etc!) I respectfully refer you to the appalling case of Shafilea Ahmed sir.The day when the 'rules' interpreted from a book, trump the bond between parent and child, well we may as well give up any semblance of humanity. We haven't got there yet but I do fear we're getting close to it.

Point taken Chard, but I feel there aren't people involved in sufficient numbers or with sufficient passion to make enough difference. A common coupling system would be a starting point, and as much as I prefer traditional buffers and shackles maybe its time has ended. The multitude of coupling systems on the railway has, I think it's fair to say, proliferated since privatisation although to be fair, BR started it! Still, at least we haven't yet gone down the foolish path trodden by the former Victorian Railways in and around Melbourne, where the once identical and common user Comeng EMUs were refitted with different systems as specified by two different franchises, even though they shared the same routes...

In a nutshell. Since the demise of BR, HM Government departments have little to zero interest, passion or knowledge regarding rolling stock specs. Almost the same can be said of the TOCs, although I'd agree that they may know a little bit more about their customer base than HMG. Maybe it's time for some sort of RCH to return to the fore once again.

Good to see that you rarely consume any Aspartame. In the meantime, I'm off to consume some Vimto cordial. Not the compromised crap they sell here, but imported Saudi stuff that is true to the original Nichols recipe, made under licence, and pours like syrup as well as staining your teeth. There's no conspiracy like the conspiracy we're living in and for the moment I'll leave it at that, seeing as I caused the thread to drift in the first instance.

I often think they missed a trick by not acquiring the Vulcan Foundry site at Newton-le-Willows, and populating it with EE export stuff from around the world. I admit I'm biased to all things EE but although there is now a sprawling housing estate on the site, it's just a shame that the iconic Vulcan Tower wasn't saved as a feature that I'm sure even the new residents would appreciate and cherish. Regarding the NRM, it would be good to see one or two examples of EE export designs in there, say a Portuguese 1400 at least?

I still refer to Marathons as Marathons and I'll be damned if I ever refer to my favourite peanut-based chocolate bar by the name given to the Mars family's pet horse. There is a lot to be said for being a Luddite.

Class 87s at Reddish https://www.flickr.com/photos/drs20304/8495593850/in/photolist-dWJ953 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ron_h/4953158467/in/photolist-aXGtJa-aXGu6n-8xGerV https://www.flickr.com/photos/24041160@N02/6537517175/in/photolist-aXGtJa-aXGu6n-8xGerV The last photo is from the Reddish Open Day in 1973, probably the only occasion any steam locos visited there?

No, from what I can gather the Altrincham line ended at London Rd I.e. Piccadilly, at 13 and 14 and my understanding of this is that they weren't even through roads, just buffer stops! This seems so implausible nowadays, really need to check out photos of it to verify. The Alty DC sets did go as far as London Rd though, in fact most of the OLE gantries between Oxford Rd and Piccadilly are genuine MSJAR vintage portals. According to form the DC was cut back to Oxford Rd in 1958, and the short section between the two stations was altered to AC. It's possible that the bay platform at Oxford Rd is a legacy of this, in fact there were two bay platforms there and you can see where the former 'extra' bay was to this day. I don't know what Oxford Rd looked like prior to its rebuild but perhaps the two bays were there even then. Many of the Altrincham services terminated there even before the DC was cut back. This is a fascinating subject in its own right, I'm certainly going to have an Altrincham set on my Reddish layout whether they visited there or not. If only because I can legitimately put the pan up!

Regarding the traction that visited Reddish. Obviously 76s and 506s were a permanent fixture with it being their home depot, along with EM2s up until 1968. Class 24s/25s, 40s and 47s were also extremely common there too. Going off photographs, the following were also present from time to time: 08s (in for maintenance rather than pilot duties, these tended to be done with 76s rather than a borrowed Jocko. Even after withdrawal, 76015, 76040 and possibly others have been noted). Co-Bos and Midland Pullman sets were maintained there for a time in the 1960s. I've seen at least one photo each of a class 37 and a class 50 there. Class 45s were occasional visitors, especially towards the end. Class 87s (!) apparently every loco visited for power pack mods, these required the use of an overhead crane. According to form, Crewe Works didn't have capacity as it was busy with other work. I do have an emailed photo of 87023 (named) outside the main shed, but don't know who took it thus cannot post it here. Blue Square DMUs of classes 104, 108 and even 120. 304s and Bury 504s were also common visitors, presumably for the wheel lathe. Merseyrail 502s/503s also went to RS from time to time (again, tyre turning?) I think it was Charlie Petty of this parish, who said that Glasgow AM3s (303s) visited in the 1960s, for repaints. So, clearly there was a lot more variety there than is commonly assumed. Now I'm wondering about what other locos and units went there over the years. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the Departmental Claytons, which worked out of Longsight for a time may have attended. I wonder if a class 56 ever went there? I certainly saw one undergoing exam in Longsight shed in 1984 (after the Reddish closure), which was unusual in itself. Class 81-86 must surely have visited on rare occasions for the wheel lathe? And perhaps 123/124 Trans-Pennine sets. What about 310s, and thinking about it, I wonder if any 306s visited for component recovery for 506s, prior to breaking up at Horwich Works just down the road. Clutching at straws now, but what about 10000/10001? If for no other reason than the fact that they shared similar bogies to the EM2s. I'm surprised I've never seen any shots of the old DC Altrincham sets on there, surely as Manchester Area EMUs they must have visited on occasion, bearing in mind other 'foreign' Manchester EMUs did, as well as the Liverpool sets. If anyone can assist here, I'd be very grateful and especially so if there are any photos. Cheers E3109

Are you sure that's Vietnam? Bamboo trains are a Cambodian 'thing', originally borne out of necessity but now something of a tourist attraction in their own right. They won't be around much longer in their original form, in fact they may have gone already as the line through Battambang is about to be, or already has been reinstated. The plan was to build a parallel line to maintain the 'Norries' as a working feature.

Excellent! I'd say that's around 1982 Bob, used to hang round those scrapline 'Rats' quite a lot on Sundays. 25188, 25141 and 25130 I think they were. The 350s included 08423 and 08342, from memory? The leading one looks like 08395 which, inexplicably, was transferred to SP all the way from Selhurst! 40107 was also there for ages, though obviously not at the time you took these. And 40158 ended up here too for a while, IIRC it was withdrawn at 'SP' in early 1984 having failed an exam. 40158 was distinctive as it had a class 37 style plated over headcode panel at the No 2 end, poor thing suffered the indignity of being converted to a flat wagon at Donny Works, and used for moving class 58 power units around the site. I think this road was/is known as 'D Line'.

In the meantime they poison the foodstuffs (specifically soft drinks) with Aspartame, and nobody bats an eyelid. Aspartame is, in essence, excrement from the e-coli bug which in itself is basically excrement. And the FSA approve this stuff.

"THE Asda" is, was and always will be a Scouseism and rightly so. Even if it gets renamed Sainsbury's. And I should know for I am one, albeit in exile and with a woolly-back accent.

Absolutely Bob but still, the Lord Peter Smith Party always claim credit. If you're daft enough or bored enough to bother with Facebook, there is a page entitled 'Wigan Council What Are You Doing To Our Towns' and it's a right sh1tfest, especially as there are local councillor elections next week. Enjoy! Apart from that, SP is a strategic location on the WCML and I'm happy that it remained functional during the dark years of rail privatisation... Even if it functioned as a locomotive abattoir not that long ago.

Paint a yellow end on it. The Normals will never notice.

I've seen brand new bullhead rail waiting to be installed, in a couple of locations where I work. So it's certainly still rolled. I would imagine that costs play a part, i.e. Do you relay the entire siding with flat bottom BS110 or whatever, or do you buy a small amount of 'obsolete' rail (at premium prices presumably), in order to fit in with the layout you wish to rehabilitate.

Never been a big fan of 'trams' but I certainly acknowledge that they were pivotal in arresting the decline of our railway, and for that alone they deserve respect surely. Still wondering whether they'll get exported rather than scrapped (because the bean counters think trains are disposable after ten years like cars). A 'tram' would look rather nice in XPT livery....

Never done a layout based on a real location before now, and to be frank I wish I'd done it years ago. I'm currently doing Reddish Depot and what I've found is that researching the building and track plan from photos and official BR/BTC documents, I've come to realise how well the place was constructed. It won't be perfect, nothing is but I'm still going to get it as accurate as possible. I reckon once this is finished, my Asian interests (which are currently sidelined) will also involve a real location rather than somewhere that 'might have been' near Bangkok. Thoroughly enjoying the research as much as the construction, and I reckon that's what's kept me plodding on. Of course RS being RS there were a lot of 40s there as well as the resident leccies, and seeing as 40s have always been my favourite BR diesels that surely helps! Ultimately it's up to the individual what they choose to model but in my experience, modelling an actual location has been something of a pivotal decision and only wish I'd done it when I got my first train set! Cheers E3109

The Americans seem to think they invented railways anyway! Mind you, if they had an equivalent of D326 I bet it would've been saved...

If Asda discontinues their gorgeous Moroccan spiced humous due to the merger, there will be hell to pay...!

Plans for the 306, you say. I appreciate that you may not be in a position to say any more, but now my ears have pricked up!