RJS1977

Another thread elsewhere mentioned the possibility of a flying junction at Southcote and a third track between Oxford Road and Southcote junctions. Wouldn't it be better to get that done before electrification?

My uncle once worked in a power station which had a number of cooling towers. One day one of the power station staff was showing a visiting senior manager round the towers. The tour ended on the opposite side of the cooling ponds to where it had begun. Noticing that the senior manager (like himself) was wearing wellingtons, his guide suggested that they could take a shortcut back across the pond "But step exactly where I do". The guide set off across the pond, the water lapping around his ankles, so the senior manager followed him ... and disappeared! He hadn't realised that the pond was 6' deep, with 5'10" posts submerged at regular intervals....

Even longer ago than I thought then....

Instead of wires, how about electrifying Exeter-Plymouth using a long, round,tubular conductor (say, about 15" diameter), lying in the centre of the track....

I bet it was before the stones went up, too...

Not sure about that - there have never been any trains at Dartmouth station!

I always understood JBA to stand for "Jolly beautiful automobile" -clearly not in this case!

Looks like someone else may have had the same idea: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/91836-warship-at-old-oak-today/

For the first time in a while I've had chance to see how the work's progressing in South Wales. The new IEP depot building in Swansea has been erected - there also appears to be a large new footbridge close to Llandore. A temporary footbridge has been built at Port Talbot. A new pseuso-GWR bridge has appeared at Bridgend. It was too dark to see much after that!

Flying Scotsman? Pendennis Castle?

If somebody gave you one of these, would it be a Little Prairie On The House?

Only back that far? I knew a track engineer whose ambition was to reintroduce the Broad Gauge!

Unfortunately Swindon Works has had a bit of a "jinx" for preserved locos - at least whilst it was an active workshops. A Warship used to be on display outside the Works but workers angry at the announcement of closure in 1985 cut it up! I just hope none of the current preserved occupants of the Works suffer the same fate....

Variation on a theme... http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MM929#.VDMaTvnYXpw

The stretch my friend told me was talking about was at Airport Junction - apparently the cables on one side had to be temporarily connected some years ago when the junction was laid in. Unfortunately while the cable was disconnected a building on the other side of the line caught fire and burnt through the remaining cable!

My understanding (from a former S&T engineer) is that there are usually two sets of signalling cables - one each side of the line to act as backup to each other, so I can't figure out how this has happened!

Nigel - yes, the shed (or at least parts of it) are in the car park at Wallingford! Unfortunately they have had to saw through some pretty substantial beams to get it into small enough chunks to transport by road but hopefully we should be able to get it back together again!

I noticed on the way to the Beaconsfield show yesterday (train to Slough, then bus) that NR were in the process of demolishing the train shed at Maidenhead station. "That really ought to have been donated to a preserved railway, " I thought. Obviously someone else thought the same thing, because when I arrived at Wallingford station at lunchtime to do a stint in the ticket office,and what did I find in the car park (with more parts being delivered later in the day)? :-) Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.... :-(

In much the same way of course that almost all the Aston Martins, E-Types etc built are still in existence, but when was the last time you saw a Mark 1 Fiesta?

What's wrong with that cow? (Sorry, wrong thread!)

Signals would not normally go between tracks unless there were very good sighting reasons to do so - although I believe the GWR may have put signals between tracks on ex-Broad Gauge lines. Likewise relay cabinets, gantry supports etc would not normally be placed between tracks (irrespective of clearance, it's a lot easier for a S&T technician to access a relay cabinet if he hasn't got to cross the line to get to it!). Of course all this assumes we're talking about double track, quadruple track has a wider gap between the centre two lines to allow room for bridge piers , signals etc. Assuming the point motors you're referring to are actual working point motors - PL10s etc - (and therefore considerably over-scale), rather than dummy models of prototype point motors, then sorry but you have to work out how to fit these round the track plan,not the other way round! Some 00 accessories (like the Airfix/Dapol signal gantry) pre-date Streamline track whilst the Hornby loco sheds are built to Setrack spacing to suit Hornby track. Incidentally both the Airfix gantry and the Hornby diesel depot will take three Streamline tracks, which can be quite useful!

The Streamline spacing I believe should be the correct spacing (with the possible exception of some ex-GWR lines). Setrack spacing is wider to allow for the overhang of rolling stock on the sharp curves. I'm not quite sure which accessories you have in mind - I suppose the obvious ones will be level crossings and bridges/tunnel mouths. Items in the Hornby range in particular will be for Setrack spacing as their track is to Setrack geometry (or is it the other way round?). I can't speak for products from other manufacturers owing to less familiarity. The layout in my father's loft does include a section of Setrack spacing on a double track reversing loop (R1 and R2). There is a crossover between the loops which uses Streamline points with a short section of straight track between them. I've heard it said that the original spacing between the up and down lines on the Liverpool and Manchester was even narrower at 4' 8 1/2" so that out of gauge loads could be run up the centre but that seems rather far-fetched to me!

Allan - just wondering, what period was "Civic Splendour" set in? I'd always assumed from the horse-drawn vehicles, Old Bill buses and charabancs that it was some time around the 1920s - possibly earlier - but that photo shows at least three post-War Jags and is that a Routemaster in the bottom left corner?

Don't forget that even back then even ordinary passenger carriages could be "worked through" from one railway to another - for example the WCML was run by different companies north and south of Carlisle.

There's a good picture in the "Scenes from the Past" book on "Manchester & District" of a Director awaiting cutting-up at Gorton which may be of interest.