great central

While stood at Peterborough earlier, actually just using the loo, I heard a train passing and stuck my head out of the door (I was washing my hands by this time ) just in time to see a GWR liveried IEP set pass through attached to a plain white set.

Rumour has it that the 455, 456 and 458 fleets will be going in entirety and that the 707s may end up with either Southeastern or GTR, with WorstSWT replacing them with a single fleet of new off-the-shelf units, which could be based on the 345 stock with an eye to future compatibility with Crossrail 2 (although if that takes as long to happen as Crossrail 1, they'll be well on the way to worn out by the time it opens).

 

Jim

Hmm, haven't the Chinese been trying to get into the British rolling stock market anyway? Perfect chance seeing as many think that MTR are putting much of the money into this franchise

What's a block train?

A train carrying only one type of goods, like your 'modern' MGR for instance

OHLE:

 

 

Next then, a steam era block freight train.

 Another picture that needs delving into the archives I think.

What's the betting it comes from the Western Region

SWT 159s have a total of 196 seats per 3-car set, 24 First and 172 Standard. If First were abolished, seated capacity could probably be increased by 16 or 20 overall.

 

However, given that First Class occupancy (at least when I'm travelling) seldom nears 50%, the increase in available standard accommodation would be very noticeable.

 

John

EMT 158s have I think 158 seats per two car set, all standard admittedly, the newly refurbished ones with the extra wheelchair space have had, I think, two bays of seats removed so reckon on about 154 going forward.

The SWT unit on hire has less than 40 seats in one car and not that many more in the other

Refitting the DMU fleet in the same way as the EMT 158s would not far off double the number of seats I think. Current SWT 158s (don't know about the 159s) have around 40 seats per car on average. The EMT ones have near on 70 seats per car on average

Somebody must be modelling part of the west (or east or -- ) coast main line. Where are you? LOL

I've got several but thought it would be cheating, I'll check again later and if still nothing go to wildcard

If it ends up on Pay TV, that'll be 5 million and one if what I saw in qualifying is anything to go by.

 

F1 should be a free formula to stimulate real innovation, with only safety standards, the physical dimensions of the cars and minimum/maximum weights specified.

 

Qualifying should only take place before the first race of the season. After that, the start grid should be the reverse of the previous race finish. First retiree on Pole, winner at the back!

 

All that should make it much better value.

 

 

John

 

Sounds rather like this:

 

 

Not been to one of these in many years, when I went regularly there was rather more variety in cars and engines but still sound pretty good, and the best drivers always start at the back of the grid

I've got a tram under a bridge but not at home to post it at the moment

 

Edit: Tried from my phone but now home so if a tram counts here you go. The wires haven't been done yet it was just set up as a nice cameo.

 

 

 

 

If that's considered valid the next photo will have OHLE seeing as it's missing from this one

Loco, girls name;

 

 

 

Next photo will have a station with a boys name

Hope Graham (4479) doesn't mind me using this

 

 

The next photo will have a second generation DMU

well he said British Built

 

 

The next photo will have a foreign built loco in Britain

That's very thin looking route indicator on that colourlight! Super moment in time photo with both old and new signals standing together.

Not a route indicator I don't think. There's no junction between Bingham and Aslockton that I can think of. I wonder if it's an oversize metal cross fitted to the colour light head rather than the bags we get nowadays?

 

Edit beaten to it!

I still remember being very surprised to see the jointed track there.  Those photos were taken on my first visit to Buston Barns, a few weeks after I moved into Northumberland.  Until then I had assumed that all the ECML had welded rails.

 

David

 

If you count the slow lines as part of the ECML, the speed on the slow between Grantham and Peterborough is 80mph so slow is a bit relative I think, the last jointed track has only been replaced in the last couple of years. I think there may still be a short section between crossovers at Tallington on  the down slow, still 80mph though.

Hi Dave,

 

The switched diamond in image C4883 does not inspire confidence in track design, they always looked a bit dodgy to me and 'think' Network Rail have either banished or going to banish them in time. On the modelling front I have no recollection of seeing these featured in any handbuilt trackwork.

Liked the pic' of the stores unit, a really rare beast.

There's a switched diamond at Sheet Stores junction near Long Eaton, replaced fairly recently in railway terms I think.

One of our former layouts called Skipley, which was on display at the HMRS building at Swanwick and is now privately owned had a curved switched diamond.

Not really a balanced account is it?  But then I thought Politics was a no go on here?

 

Sorry but I was merely providing a reference to the place, no politics intended, and as such I made no further comment. It is infamous whichever side of the political divide you stand on and most likely the best (unfortunately), maybe the only thing that the site will be remembered for.

If it's deemed inappropriate can the mods please remove it.

There was indeed a coke works, the ovens closed in 1990.

 

Wikipedia page:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgreave_Colliery

 

I've no idea how accurate that information is.

 

I can't find anything else really useful on the web about it.

 

David

 

Infamous place:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave

 

Around this time we were doing site visits in connection with our planned Woodhead layout and saw several lorry convoys

Daihatsu Charade and Suzuki Alto (and now the Celerio) have/had 3-pot engines which, by all accounts, are fun, revvy little units. The Daewoo Matiz was also a 3-pot and, I'm given to understand, is not.

 

 

At one of the late season banger meetings at Great Yarmouth last year a Daewoo Matiz was paired with the biggest caravan (by quite a margin) on the circuit for the destruction derby! The result was a dead heat as the two remaining cars both took each other out, I think the other was a Vauxhall Zafira.

Well, for a model railway video that is about as real as it can possibly be. Brilliant.

 

Brit15

Indeed it is, I especially like the decent speed the trains move at somewhat more reminiscent of contemporary film, like they have a purpose and urgency about them

Have to be 37429, I'll admit I was late on the scene at this bashing lark. My interest in real railways only really rekindled during a holiday near Bangor when the 37/4s were on the North Wales coast. A still summer evening and the cottage we were staying in was on a hillside just to the east of Bangor. To hear them opened up after coming out of the tunnel was almost as good as the steam I'd heard from my bedroom window as a child half a mile away on the GC line north of Nottingham.

Had a ride out with them and I was hooked.

429 never went to Scotland as far as I know until very late in it's life after doing both the last scheduled Holyhead Birmingham and also the last loco hauled Holyhead Crewe 3 weeks later when the 175s were still flaky.

Another good bit of thrash I remember was while out on call as an alarm engineer if I was in the area I would take a break at Grantham. There used to be a freightliner with a pair of 37s on in the late evening. On a still night you became aware of a rumbling sound other than the noise from the A1. Gradually getting louder until the train roared through the station and continued until stopping suddenly as they entered Stoke tunnel.

The 47 hauled liners were tame by comparison:-)

Six days later I am in the Nottingham area. I have this as Kirkby-in-Ashfield Station on 20 August 1964. The negatives before are at Annesley shed and after Langwith shed.

 

RRB6_29_20151208_0022_800.jpg

 

I'm pretty sure that's Newstead MR which was more or less ooposite Annesley shed, the big building is the Station Hotel, relatively (last couple of years) closed. Now boarded up and for sale. Looking again I'm almost certain, I should be really as I stop at the new Newstead station often enough, now just a single line more or less on the alignment of the platform road. The photographer would now likely be standing in a fairly dense group of bushes

All those complaints about rucksacks, someone just got on my train wearing a rucksack, wearing a rucksack! Yes you read that right double headed rucksacks:)

A smashing set of photos, Dave.

 

J 2660 & J 2665.

 

Are these the only two parcels trains ever photographed WITHOUT a Southern PMV in them, or is it just my eyesight?

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

Not only that they seem to be almost the same vans in the same order, can I make out a blue/grey MK1 BG as the sixth or seventh (counting might be suspect not had much sleep the last couple of days) vehicle of each train following an ex LMS one and several BR GUVs?

 

 

 

So, where might the LNER or its predecessor have sourced the material for the cottages? If they were built of a rose coloured sandstone where might that have come from?

 

Paul

 

PS I do mean the materials used in the original buildings, not the model!

 

Nottingham perhaps? As understand it the bricks for St Pancras were from the Nottingham brick company's Mapperley works which was just the other side of the hill from our current clubrooms, maybe the GN was an early user as well?