adanapress

Norwich Thorpe's breakdown crew in  the 1950s were mostly quite elderly  very senior drivers, with several bars on their sleeves.   Mr Ford, the D.M.P. there fixed it that they got an annual  retainer  plus quite generous call out hourly rate.   I saw them in action  with I think it was  a class 47  derailed right across the Thorpe throat one night,

They had a remarkable device called a Kolbus winch, ( no use of a crane)  and using loads of packing and a pair of shaped steel ramps  had it back on its feet in about 3 hours.   Mind you at one stage one ramp got sort of pinched and flew out,  with a number of folk including me laying down pretty quick as is went past!!   No hard hats in those days!

Re: the Ministry's endless fiddling with situations,    I recall a quite from Geoffrey Ford ( then District Motive Power at Norwich Thorpe ) back in the mid-1950s  saying '' that every time we re-organise the railway dies a little''  .  .  .   or maybe he was re-quoting someone else.     It was certainly true then,  now?  ,,  ,,  ,, 

I wonder who now remembers the WW2 Irish solution (lack of coal) to this kind of requirement. With

installed ''Drumm'' batteries being recharged via OHLE, which didnt extend beyond station limits.

The 'Drumm' trains were very sucessful and ran for years.

As yes, but how do they manage the transition from normal catenary, to the rigid, presumably just before the tunnel entrances.??

Adjacent to that level crossing are the buffers of the EMU sidings.   Long ago I saw a driver eating his sandwiches there  in a  mid-day break and sharing them with a fox, yes really.  Lovely to see.   Some years more recently someone got an aerial shot of the Night Stock for the proposed but never happened Eurostar service hidden away on the MOD sidings beyond sent there  to save Governmental embarassment.   As soon as those sneaked photos appeared in the mags,  hey presto the stock was almost immediately sold for a song to Canada.  All at a vast loss to you and me.

Is there a list anywhere of the many links between various lines hastily installed 1939-1940.  Eg  at Calvert, G.C. to  N.E.  or ?  the second entrance to Longtown Army Depot near Carlisle.??  Any info welcome

Some years ago I was a regular staying at the station building at Stanley Junction, then operating as a B & B (Lovely lady in charge) with   the modern s/box immediately opposite.  A few hundred yards south  both the up and down lines had semaphore starters  both seemingly for trains  proceeding towards Inverness from either line.  By the time the line curved away northwards  from the remains of the platform,  it had become single track.

I wonder if that double set of starters has a clue to the query.

A while back someone advertised that they could repair the old H & M's  does anyone remember this and have the contact details?

Way back,  was it the 60s?   it was a commonplace to see a Met-Cam unit almost anywhere in the more rural bits of East Anglia with a van at the rear, and very occassionally two!. 

I seem to recall that the viaduct inspection unit was called a goesunder!

Hi, Joseph,  What a very interesting thread,  I learn all the time. I'm into soldering up my own 00 DOGA fine pointwork, using SMP components. and enjoy it.     In passing,  I saw that they had just delivered by SEA (!!!)  to Scrabster harbour  a large quantity of new rail in SIXTY FOOT  lengths  for track re-laying on the Far North Lines.  Do you happen to know if that  was BH?     And also if the PW chaps thereabouts are with it  on thermit rail welding??  or is it really being laid as 60s?   

Ah yes, but who now remembers the original first stations at  Sudbury Suffolk or  Braintree Essex.  The former still had its signing on point ( though no tracks to either platform) despite much of the building being used by a small fish merchant in the late 1960s. Now of course a 'Roys' department store.  The Braintree one was really old style, later a coal merchants offices, now housing   Signs then aplenty.

Regarding 'GWR Help' not getting things quite right,  Is that chap Alistair Campbell still involved with GW  PR work?

Came from Haverfordwest to Paddington yesterday.  Saw one location with extensive mast installation, with some hangers, and I think I saw at least some earth return wire, then a very long gap, miles and miles, before seeing any more.  I reckon it must have been SWANSEA, tho' I was half asleep at the time.. .

I'm building a three car Class 101 set, sort of.  By chopping Hornby's R157 bodies to get to scale length. . ( My family motto is bodge-Ho!)  Purists look away now!  Now getting near to painting time.  Does any supplier  do  an early DMU Green  as a spray can??

as i cannot afford proper kit.

Thank you for any info.

I'm reminded of the Portobello Market story  about 'The Dog has died'

Did the RAE line reach as far as the rather noisy Pyestock complex, does anyone know?    And did this line date back to WW1? 

Is it possible that I have a memory of a coal truck parked against the buffers at Baker Street?   or am I remembering the same thing at Liverpool Street Main line buffers, deep under the hotel?  I must be getting old . . . .

To Mike Storey's ''a to k list'', one might also ask if there any very rare bats  or incredibly rare newts thereabouts?

PS is it true that there are baskets of newts that can be hired by nimby organisations??

I still have a nasty taste in my mouth from the sequel to the Potters Bar accident, a  British Transport police Inspector was raging on  that some lawyers for a  ..  um .. well  ..  lets say an interested party  ..  had instructed staff not to speak to the Police, and my impression still is that they never in fact did so. .   All to protect that same interested party.  Ugly that.

And in passing quite a few proper railwaymen from the BR era  took early retirement during the Privatisation event, rightly thinking that their experience would not be wanted by the new regime. The railway was much the poorer and still remains so, despite feeble efforts at remedy.    You will never get loyalty and high morale with such short periods of certainty.   And without that  .....

Glanced at Islip station last Sunday, seems to be fully operating, tho some detail and tidying up still to be finished. Only part of car park open so far  Lots of mud about, but definitely in service.  Looks tidy but .  um   economical in design.  This is after all not a major station on the line.   Congrats to Chiltern, keep up the good work folks,  '' neme illegitimo carborundum!''.    And for heavens sake are g.c. newts really all that rare?   they seem to be all over  the place.   Perhaps the nimbys have a tame set they move around??. . 

And in East Anglia they towed a van or two from time to time

In passing,  in the earlier days of the 101s in east Anglia,   in quieter corners of the area one often saw a 12 ton van as a tail load, I believe two such were the permitted maximum, but one was usual.   Norwich depot had them early, and had great success with them, except once when a very late night return trip  from Yarmouth to Norwich failed to complete the sequence of manual reversal of the final drive at Yarmouth before starting the trip.  One had to get down on the track and pull a handle, and  the power unit nearest the buffers was somehow  missed.   It started out towards Norwich  wtih one unit running the wrong way! and unsuprisingly the hydraulics of that unit blew up,  in a very remote marshland area at about midnight.   Pink stuff all over the track.

Norwich breakdown gang had it sorted in no time, and by the time the District Motive Power boss arrived (having waded across several ditches), it was ready to go with all passengers moved to  the front section, and the guard guarding the open corridor connection. And off they went tho' somewhat late.  

Sadly, Tullis Russell went into administration a few days back.    As always  its the best that goes and rubbsh replaces it.   Their book

papers were superb,  and i bought many tons down the years.     So your models are now history.  

Maybe we should be making  models of Indonesian or Brazilian wagons ....sigh ....

A postal inquiry in the last few days to Mr Brice at Skinley Drawings, says that the service is suspended since April  and that the masters are presently in store pending arrangements for their future.   I certainly

hope that is to be a good future.