BMacdermott

Hello Mike Looking at the Oxford Station Platform Workings books, the fish trains have varied over the years. In Summer 1959, the loco off the 6.45pm from Hull - the only noted fish train - went back to Leicester Light Engine (LE), booked passing north at 6.35am. I gather that a regular turn for empties was for an ex-Swindon Works loco on the 3.35pm Fish Empties for Woodford and Hull/Grimsby. That was booked to pick up a Shunter in the station then pick up further empties at the North Junction. How far the loco went north is not stated. I'd love to see a model of Oxford Station in steam days - plenty of action! Brian

Hello Andy By way of a 'test posting', many thanks for the hard work on the update. Brian

Hello Nimbus We don't have a 'hard rule' because there are many factors to take into consideration. It's more a matter of horses for courses. We had a similar situation with a much-requested Railbus, and we dealt with that one as below. The Class 74 - as noted - is 'pinging on our radar' and will be considered for re-listing when we carry out our full annual review between June and September. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team) Extract from 2018 Poll Poll Team Note: We were under the impression that the Wickham Railbus below had been announced by Heljan. A reply to an email sent to the company in 2015 said that it would be available in 2016. That appears to be not the case, so – having had numerous requests – we have listed it as a ‘new’ item this year.

Hello Paul Not when I checked it with Dave Jones in the latter part of 2018. We will be keeping the matter 'on our radar' though. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Thanks Chard...looks like you are right. You cannot believe how many proof-reads we put this through as well! Brian

Thanks Paul I have corrected that now for future publication. Brian

Hello everyone Congratulations to all the contenders! We are getting some superb models nowadays! Brian

Hello everyone The promised 5-year Report has now been posted - you can find it on the RMweb link below. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team) https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/141702-the-00-wishlist-polls-2013-2018-items-announced-andor-made/

Hello everyone We thought you might like to see what has been announced and/or made from the listings of The Wishlist Polls 2013-2018. PDF attached. The 00 Poll Team never publicly 'analyses' the results but we will go so far as to mention just a couple of observations... 1. The greater majority of items announced are coming from the upper echelons of the listings. 2. There does seem to be a lack of Big Four passenger-carrying coaching stock being announced. In 2018, we listed 125 items - so, there is plenty of scope! Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team) 4. Results - The 00 Wishlist Poll 2013-2018 - Items Announced and or Made.pdf

Hello Clive We listed both those shunters in 2018. The LMS one has been listed since 2013 and has been consistently Middle Polling but dropped to the upper echelons of Low Polling in 2018. The GWR examples were listed 'new' for 2018 along with five other shunters. All those six new entries found themselves Low Polling and the GWR ones ended up fifth from bottom of the overall results. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello Clive In answer to (abridged) point one above...I'm not running out of 'want it now' locos, nor are many of my 00 Poll Team colleagues. The 00 Poll lists two 100+ LMS loco classes that haven't yet made RTR. They are: Stanier 3P 2-6-2T (40071-40209) - consistently High Polling since 2012. Fowler 'Austin Seven' 7F 0-8-0 (49500-49674) - hovers around the lower echelons of Middle Polling. As you will see when we publish the 5-year report of what has been announced and/or made from Poll listings (and others), just five LMS & Constituents locos are either delivered or on their way: CR 812 MR Johnson 1P LNWR Webb Coal Tank LMS Ivatt Duchess LMS Princess LMS Ivatt Duchess Plenty of scope left within this category! Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello everyone Oxford Rail Announcement Congratulations to Oxford Rail on the long-awaited announcement of the J27 - which should go a long way to 'balancing' motive power across the regions, and please David (above)! The loco has been High Polling since 2013; was in The Top 50 in 2016; and missed being in The Top 50 in 2018 by just five votes. I hope to let you have the delayed 5-year Report Chart within the next few days. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello everyone Congratulations to Oxford on this choice of loco which should go a long way to 'balancing' motive power from different areas. In The 00 Wishlist Poll, the J27 has been High Polling since 2013; was in The Top 50 in 2016; and missed being in The Top 50 in 2018 by just five votes. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello everyone I was also an MK-Euston 'Cobbler' commuter in the 80s (and 90s). At the time, I had very good connections with management and staff of the line. For the purpose of writing an article, I had permission to travel up in the morning (Class 310) and back in the afternoon on my usual trains but accompanied by an Inspector on both runs. The article subsequently appeared in Modern Railways (can't find the issue at the mo!) entitled Footplate Commuter. My Inspector was Richard Gresley; yes...a distant relation of the man himself. Richard and I lived not far from each other in MK and were mutual members of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust. Looking back at the draft of the article, I see my trips were on Tuesday 23 July 1985. I was on Platform 15 by 16.30 that day ready to catch the 17.18 (Leighton Buzzard, Milton Keynes, Northampton). This was just four minutes behind Nearholmer's 17.14. The stock was already in the platform having been backed in by 85 022. My notes say the loco was pretty clean but could have done with a lick of paint - unlike 86 227 Sir Henry Johnson, which was on 13 at the head of the 17.14. She was gleaming in the then new livery. When we were up in the cab with the Driver, the Guard called out "11 for 395". The stock was: BSK, 3xTSOs, one FK, 5xTSOs, BSK. That journey was relatively uneventful. Not like the one referred to by Nearholmer above. I'm not sure if it's the same one but there are some remarkable similarities with my experience (and I wonder if he was on the 17.18 on this day?). It was a dark winter's evening with plenty of wind blowing. Somewhere near Ledburn Junction, I heard the sound of what I could only imagine was some form of giant pounding his footsteps along the roof of the train! A split second later, I found the true source of the noise - the loco's pantograph flew past my window! The brakes went on hard and fast. Knowing a number of Drivers, my first thought was for his safety, so I quickly made my way to the first coach - we had by now come to a stand. As I looked out of the window, I was relieved to see the Driver emerge from the cab. He wasn't aware what had happened until I told him what I had seen. By chance, we stopped very near a signal post. The Driver got on the phone and I volunteered to go back along the train and make sure the Guard was aware. My memory may be playing tricks here (perhaps a different day?) but I'm sure a wire was flailing around on the ground spitting sparks. Eventually, another train was placed alongside us. I'm sure we walked across the ladders in the form of a bridge. I do also recall the wires down at Harrow one evening. Richard was in the cab 'on the cushions' that day (in a 310 I think). When I was able to ask him what had happened, his reply was: "Someone's done a knit one, pearl one with the wires!" Brian

Hello David (and Phil) The Poll Team does its utmost to remain impartial and provide a comprehensive list that the majority can vote upon. We always take voter comments into account and review them but - at present - there are no plans to 'combine' or 'uncombine' any SR or LNER loco listings. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Bachmann Announcements Hello everyone Just one item from Bachmann in relation to The Poll this year... Hopper Wagon - Coal - National Power/EWS/DB Schenker HKA: We had this listed as the earlier JMA but referenced the HKA version within The Guide text. It was Middle Polling. We are - once again - slightly delaying publication of our table of items announced/made since 2013 as it seems that Oxford may well announce at the Toy Fair shortly. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Mike and everyone Slightly off topic but somewhat concurs with your post above... I was once in a reputable model shop where a customer was discussing with the owner that he had a 14xx and would like some suitable passenger stock to run with it. The shop owner brought out an Autocoach and a B-set and explained at some length the uses, differences and virtues of each. Guess what...the customer went for half a B-set! Brian

Hello Johnster The 94xx was announced in March 2015. Brian

Hello Mike Understood - but I was replying to those who were wondering why Hornby hadn't made a 'matching' Third. Brian

Thanks Chris Indeed, the subject of GW non-gangwayed stock is a complex one and guaranteed to get anyone stuck between a rock and a hard place! Hornby's selection is pragmatic. For those wanting a 'Third', Michael Harris in his book, Great Western Coaches from 1980, says that some of the Composites were downgraded to Third from late 1953. Brian

Hello everyone To the best of my knowledge, there is no Third on the same underframe, otherwise I'm sure Hornby would have made it. The 00 Poll Team listed the 1930-1933 stock in The Wishlist Poll 2018 and not these 1927 types. But we can understand why Hornby wish to make full use of their existing materials and it does give a good GWR livery to add to the BR ones. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hornby Announcements Hello everyone Hornby has set the year off to a flying start with some welcome announcements - we wish them all the best for 2019. Below is how the 'new toolings' fared in the results of The Wishlist Poll 2018. (As noted in an earlier post, we will be presenting a chart showing all that has been announced since 2013 after we have Bachmann's news next week.) We have not reported on the Terrier or the GWR Prairie as these had already been deleted having been announced by others. We didn't specifically list the GWR Non-gangwayed coaches although we were very close with the 1930 Non-gangwayed stock! We can see that it makes sense for Hornby to use the Collett underframes. Princess: High Polling. This loco has been steadily climbing the ranks since 2013 and was the second most wanted LMS loco this year (behind 'Big Bertha'). Industrial 0-6-0ST Outside Cylinders: In the Top 50. Industrial 0-4-0DS: High Polling. Bulleid 59ft Multi-door Stock: High Polling since 2013. This is very good news and make a good balance with the forthcoming Bachmann stock. LSWR Brake Van: We listed this item individually for the first time in 2015 and it came in at Middle Polling. In 2016 and 2018, we combined all LSWR freight stock under one generic heading but specifically mentioned this diagram within the Guide text. In 2018, the stock was in the Top 50. LMS Brake Van: We specifically listed the Diag.2068 vehicle but referenced the unfitted version within The Guide. The former was Middle Polling but came in just above the overall halfway point of all the results. The current running totals of the 2018 Results are: 2 - The Top 50 3 - High Polling 1 - Middle Polling 0 - Low Polling Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello again Attached is from the Passenger WTT (the Freight WTT detailed the freight headlamp code). Brian

Hello MIke I took this query up with S&D Fireman/Driver Peter Smith some years ago - he confirmed that he always lamped up according to the forward direction (as per what you say - when viewed from the cab towards the chimney in the forward direction). He had never considered it 'a problem' as everyone knew what to do. There was also the 'light engine' lamp code. And 'standard' express code - lamp or disc over each buffer - was used if the chimney bracket was in use for a train headboard (such as the Pines Express). Brian

Hello farren Thanks. Looks similar - but the photo in the book is small and not printed very well. Brian