Engineer

Small footnote related to Farringdon. There has been some confusion with exits, particularly for travellers heading for Thameslink yet making their way towards the Barbican exit, and there have been successively clearer - and more direct - temporary notices in the routeway towards Barbican and perhaps there will be adjusted permanent signs, too. However, there is also a handy interchange at the Barbican exit end of Farringdon. Travelling inbound Crossrail from the east, the interchange provides a level access connection from Crossrail to Inner Rail Circle/H&C and Metropolitan trains heading to Baker Street and beyond - but not to the Outer Rail/Eastbound. From the rear of the Crossrail train (usually lighter-loaded) and take the Barbican exit at Farringdon, escalator to the intermediate level gives access to a small lobby and lift direct to Barbican platform 2. This is a low-stress, quieter route and handy for Metropolitan and some north side of Circle destinations. The lift is occasionally out-of-use - meaning a fairly short street connection to Barbican LT.

When the prospect of LTSR coach 3D prints came up some while ago, I began some research, don't think I've found everything, still more to do. The stock had a couple of features that require care in modelling and interpretation. I can't claim to have looked up any of the Shropshire/Montgomeryshire books however there are more images to mention from the online railway photograph archives showing the remaining (re-panelled, gangways removed) ex-LTSR coaches on the Shropshire/Montgomeryshire line. Have now managed to find my notes, including: https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p30530247/hc5f1a7d9#hc5f1a7d9 https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p30530247/hc5f1a82b#hc5f1a82b https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Private-and-light-railways/i-RXbfH8m/A https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Private-and-light-railways/i-dcbDwt8/A https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/Miscellaneous/Private-and-light-railways/i-WDjFmBD/A https://flic.kr/p/Ag7yfc https://flic.kr/p/zoUCL8 https://flic.kr/p/AkNsCX https://flic.kr/p/A5ofQF https://flic.kr/p/F6JEEo https://colourrail.co.uk/api/image/medium/7505d57b-e2aa-4831-a4a3-d1ee58da001a https://colourrail.co.uk/api/image/medium/0646b7f0-9164-4275-be6a-083284589a90 https://colourrail.co.uk/api/image/medium/5f9a5bc6-5276-4a1f-b0de-8a7983f16200 There is a film sequence showing one coach used in a closing special trip, within first minute. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-camwell-personal-film-no-129-shropshire-and-montgomeryshire-railway-1962-online For completeness, special trip notes: https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/50s/580921sl.html https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/50s/510423ic.html https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/600320sl.html Interesting article on the original stock: The Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review, January 18th 1912 Added reference from Colonel Stephens web pages, mentioning use of ex-LTSR stock on the military railway (page 5) https://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/shropshire ww1/shropshire and montgomeryshire topics.html

Distant possibility of finding photographs in both the London Transport Museum collection and in the 'London Metropolitan Archives' collection. Most likely that the images are wartime, or post-war. The station layout changed, and buildings were reworked over time in the Metropolitan era, with LT modifications too, and there was a substantial wing of the building for a restaurant/buffet.

I look for opportunities for boots-on-the-ground visits to former tramway territory, so while in the Leeds area it was efficient to walk the Middleton Light Railway, as far as practicable. The tramway originated as a construction line for the Middleton Estate in the early 1920s and became a Leeds tram service in 1925, closing in 1959. The double-track route ran parallel to the Middleton Railway at the city end then diverted towards and through Middleton Woods, with a rising gradient all the way to the Estate and the Ring Road level. Large sections of the route have been swept away by coal extraction, development of city sports facilities and creation of an urban bike park. From where the formation of the tramway through the Woods begins, it is signposted and very clear. I didn't expect any surviving features at all but there were a few sleepers buried deep in the path. From their position in the formation is is clear that these were from the inbound [towards City] line. The outbound line tends to be covered with undergrowth so any more survivals from the other track may not be visible. While I photographed a sleeper, a passing dog walker took an interest. He'd walked the path for many years, thought it had been a steam railway and hadn't realised about the electric tramway. He then said that there was something metal in the path that he'd always wondered about so we continued on. The buried object was circular, about six inches diameter, irregularly cut and deformed at ground level. This section of tramway had overhead support poles in the space between the two tracks. From the sleeper clues, this object is in the correct position to be the remains of an overhead support pole that had resisted extraction. Photographs while in operation: http://www.circlecity.co.uk/oldpics/tram2.php https://southleedslife.com/tracing-the-tramway-through-miggy-woods/ http://ntm.adlibhosting.com/wwwopacx/wwwopac.ashx?command=getcontent&server=images&value=p_00026_2013-7696.jpg&imageformat=jpg

A recent visit to the Leeds area enabled me to pass by the Middleton Railway. This railway has already been featured here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/163553-abandoned-rails-in-the-roador-elsewhere/?do=findComment&comment=4387268 https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/163553-abandoned-rails-in-the-roador-elsewhere/?do=findComment&comment=4528053 A single line connection remains across Moor Road: Following the lineside footpath, in the vicinity of the former 'Dartmouth' branch, there is a truncated rail connection from the Middleton's line that served a former terminus and yard, in the foreground of the image: The branch track leading to the footpat crossing has been physically severed and the line ends at a fence and earth barrier.

I apologise for stepping in straight away, to be very clear. Yes, my hypothesis is that the white paint is an indicator to crew and to vehicle inspectors, saying: this is a wheelset and bearing combination that might be worth watching, given a risk of early life failure. I don't envisage the paint - in this context - to have a role either in temperature-sensitive indication, or as base coat for dye-penetrant testing.

I only recently noticed this thread. Not here to comment or change anything - I accept all that's been said and suggested so far on the reasons for painting, the practicalities and likely life of the paint and how often white rims would have been seen. However, an image from my own interests came to mind and it took a while to find it. Though it is not relevant to the wagons topic, it involves wheels and white painting. This is only an aside reflection and speculation - as an outsider and non-specialist. There's clearly an aesthetic purpose to white-painting of rims when a vehicle is new or on show. For some companies that felt the extra need, there could be a routine information purpose and meaning for the painting, too: 'This is a newly-fitted wheelset and bearing combination". In the context of plain bearings, there could be a risk of early life bearing failures so it might be helpful to indicate where to look - and feel - for potential trouble. The need for a specific check would be less as the paint disappeared. https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/1998-88974 The photograph is from the LT Museum, showing a 1906 Third Motor Car with BTH equipment and 200Hp motors. The image, of good quality, dates from March 1934 with Metropolitan livery and details still present, and the car is in Neasden Depot, clearly coupled and connected by jumpers and inter-car barriers into a train formation. The third axle from the Driver end has a white-painted wheel rim with signs of dirt. My hypothesis is that the car has had a recent casualty lift, and there could have been many reasons for this. The single wheelset is a replacement. The dark streaks suggest to me that a small amount of (bearing) lubricant has escaped and been thrown to the wheel rim in running, and has picked up some road dirt.

Not long ago I had spare time in Sheffield to explore, and found my way to a suburb named Firth Park. This is of particular interest because a traffic 'circus' at the heart of the shopping centre houses an important tramway survival. The tram lines were already in place through the road junction when the 'circus' added, probably post-war. Though the Sheffield tramways closed in 1960 the double track has been retained and developed as a feature of the area. http://tramways.blogspot.com/2011/04/sheffield-tram-route-from-meadowhead-to.html https://mapio.net/pic/p-60420223/ https://picclick.co.uk/Sheffield-Corporation-Tram-Photo-1950-Roberts-Car-275597903882.html https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Firth_Park_Roundabout_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1176521.jpg There were other examples in this country of tram lines through traffic islands or roundabouts, including a couple in Leeds.

I apologise for only intermittent visits to RMWeb so missed this at the date of origin. Top marks for all the Metropolitan creativity on show in this and the related threads. I can only add some side notes which may help others for the future, based on publications and on some limited research. Long ago a former Metropolitan employee told me that the Metropolitan lamp codes included purple lights, particularly for Hammersmith and City services. This nugget stuck in my mind and much later, I was further intrigued to notice evidence that the Metropolitan's electric stock built from the 1920s had three head lights each with an internal disc that allowed clear 'White', blank, then 'Purple' and 'Red' glasses in front of the lamp. More relevant to topic, the 1922 Metropolitan and GC Appendix to the Working Timetable shows engine head lamp and light codes, together with two special codes for Metropolitan trains. The 1921 Metropolitan Appendix to the Working Timetable (reprint was ISBN 1 905014 65 1, Dragonwheel Books) has a much fuller list of codes, including the District and a few of these include use of the five lower positions. I recall, but can't locate, a longer and older list with even more head lamp codes that made use of the lower positions. The various sections of the 1921 Appendix cover the basic patterns as in the M&GC Appendix but extended for more of the destinations and routes on the Metropolitan 'patch' (showing both steam and electric formats), plus a section for lamp and disc codes for Midland, Great Northern and South Eastern and Chatham Companies' trains (with their many various destinations around London) and a section for the District Company's (electric) trains. The White above Purple code is for trains to 'GW Main Line', with a likely Purple above White code for complementary inbound trains, and this information may be useful for those investing and running the Dapol GW City Stock models. It seems there were requirements for some trains on the Metropolitan 'Main Line' to change codes en route at either Baker Street or Harrow, consistent with the need to present appropriate information for destination and route in different sections.

I extended a recent trip for a long walk around the Lancing area, starting from Shoreham-by-Sea. Below is the view across the River Adur towards Old Shoreham, with the refurbished Toll Bridge in the foreground. To make it slightly relevant here, first the sleeper reinforcements for the bridge approach, in the shadows, are retained by bullhead rail. The main interest is the fiercely bent rusty steel section adjacent to the nearest footing of the bridge. The local history Facebook page says "some railway lines were bent like a hairpin, these were pushed into a hole in the roadway to stop enemy transport from using the bridge". https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2390891311181737&set=gm.3289166927767979 The single remaining relic appears to be a flat-bottom section.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2393109014107028&set=gm.2132660240166356 For interest, image of electric loco heading westward through Lancing, found in Lancing history FB.

See: https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/ 1 October, 1961 https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/611001lt.html Also, could have been occasional trips with an Engineers train over the years, but evidence needed.

Sources of information - Working timetables and drawings - all held by LT Museum.

Just a side note to add to the information already given. There are book/internet photographs of E Class engines on the Chesham branch train, certainly in the 1920s and 1930s. From working timetables and a steam stock formation drawing, the typical Chesham branch train of that era seems to have been two coaches ('Main Line Stock'/Dreadnought). Formation was shown as a Third Brake and a Composite (one of three, surviving coach 509 in the VCT museum at Ingrow).

I walked through the area of the Colne Waterworks Railway in March 2021. In the distance, a plate girder bridge broadly on the line of route that I think may have carried the railway. View along former track alignment towards waterworks. At this location, the railway and a footpath intersected, and there had been a metal footbridge, second-hand from the Wembley Exhibition NeverStop Railway. Links that give good images and clues to the railway and route: https://www.flickr.com/photos/boxbrownie3/albums/72157719141267363 http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/rickmansworth_church_street/index99.shtml https://www.westwatfordhistorygroup.org/2019/06/colne-valley-narrow-gauge-railway.html https://www.flickr.com/photos/trains-travel/31111247605 http://www.industrialgwent.co.uk/wuk21-se/index.htm#hampshire

Just a small item from warmer times. Close to the main highway on an access road to a former Cement site in Kent, a remnant of the narrow gauge railways that crossed the area to the quarries. It's the remains of a Pooley weighbridge in the roadway, with evidence of narrow gauge [maybe 2'] rails and flangeways in its cast deck and approach.

"... anonymous ..." On this occasion, the temptation to report an exception is too great ... Several interesting images in circulation of Metropolitan Railway staff from the Great War, such as: https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/2004-1540 https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/1998-85237 https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/1998-84356 but there's one named person, preserved for posterity in a posed (at Hammersmith H&C) publicity or recruitment feature probably connected with womens' roles and opportunities, not sure of the original storyline or where the feature was published: https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/2004-2926 https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/2004-2929 https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/2004-2912

Very impressed by this concept, congratulations. It gives me new ideas and is not far from an unrealised modelling scheme close to home that never became operable. My father, late to model railways and perhaps inspired a little by Minories began a set-track 00 'layout' in the mid-1960s that represented Baker Street and could have included all six platforms at sub-surface level. This offered a basic equivalent of the prototype moves but with middle terminating roads and outer through roads/burrowing connection from the Inner Rail Circle (an aspiration that the Metropolitan provided for in its early 20th century station rebuild, and was retained as a never-used scheme in early LT years). A Met electric loco body was built on Tri-ang 2-Bil bogies, as there wouldn't ever be an RTR version ... I've remained aware of the ethical reality that family matters (10+ years as carer), work and study should, and did, have first call on my time. Nevertheless, I retain concepts of my own to create several modular dioramas for 00 and H0 trams (my topmost interest). There's also some acquired N-gauge stock and track that could become a GWR terminus in its final years, to be run as faithfully as practicable to the published service timetable. Maybe a 'diorama' to display Metropolitan trains in all their fascinating variety would be nice, too. All these subject to life's responsibilities getting due priority. My ethical compromise in recent years, to mitigate the long-term itching, has been to use the marginal spare time around commitments for archive research on trams, the Metropolitan and other heritage topics, some of which is bearing good fruit and leaving the way open for an interesting future.

I have a side interest in tramways of Western and Eastern Europe and while browsing noticed a scene where the major attention of the image is a railway. Ust-Ilimsk Northern Pulp Mill and Combined Heat/Power Plant on June 26 2011 This is Siberia, vast landscapes juxtaposed with raw industry and bleak cities, and particularly I find the latter two elements quite inspiring for modelled scenes. The locality is Ust-Ilimsk and I found the image while looking up the city's 'tramway', closing down this month after about 35 years of operation. The closure has stimulated activity among photographers in recent months: Ust-Ilimsk near Lesnaya village on 11 November 2022 Ust-Ilimsk near the Angara Pulp Mill on 15 December 2022 Ust-Ilimsk type 71-605 cars 055, 056 on December 21, 2022 A video snippet of the vehicles, too [the most numerous type of tram ever built, though now disappearing]: https://transphoto.org/video/7881/

Back in the summer, I walked from Snodland in Kent back to Strood and made a detour to pass through the hamlet of Upper Halling. The footpath to get there rose steeply alongside an abandoned quarrying area. The satellite map link below shows part of the present-day footpath rising roughly East to West from lower right to upper left in the image. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Halling,+Rochester/@51.3450416,0.4324492,920m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47d8cb49e70e315d:0xbc09c8d6ca824f9a!8m2!3d51.352063!4d0.441702!5m1!1e2?hl=en-GB The 25-inch OS map 1939 revision shows roughly the same area, again with footpath but also a parallel tramway to the top of the quarry, rising from a Lime works in the river valley. https://maps.nls.uk/view/103678508#zoom=4&lat=8692&lon=2932&layers=BT Given the steep gradient, and the presence of a top and a bottom 'Engine House' on the OS map, there might have been cable haulage on this section of the quarry tramways. The footpath has remnants of rails along its straight section, mostly well hidden in thick undergrowth and shadows. At one place it was possible, just, to find both rails, the spacing of which suggested this might have been standard gauge line.

Snatched picture this morning. Progress at West Ruislip.

My plans for today went awry and left me with spare time on the south coast so I chose to do some unplanned touring by bus. Hopping off at a stop named Seven Sisters Country Park seemed a good place to begin a walk of the inland footpaths. However, the nearby information boards mentioned Cuckmere Haven and I remembered an RMWeb thread had discussed an industrial NG railway. So, I chose instead to walk the footpath towards the sea. The area information boards had a map with an 'old tramway' 'Heritage Feature' along the route but it wasn't easy to spot first time. I confirmed it for sure only on the way back as I tried to follow what might have been a tramway track-bed rather than the footpath. The feature, partly hidden from the footpath by tree branches, doesn't include abandoned rails, strictly, but it is abandoned infrastucture with evidence that rails may have been present. It is a small concrete bridge or culvert over a land drain. Embedded in the top surface, not rails but two parallel, rusty I-beams, axis-to-axis about 20-24" apart. As this feature was on the apparent track-bed alignment it's reasonable to speculate that the beams were supports for decking or simply for the sleepers of a narrow-gauge line. Now, having made a swift check by computer, there's RMWeb mention of the tramway and other general mentions of the area: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/162267-seaside-holiday-island-narrow-gauge/page/9/#comment-4330328 https://www.sevensisters.org.uk/ https://www.cuckmerehavensos.org/history Best clue on the 'heritage feature' is the NLS OS 25" map of the area, 1939 revision. The small bridge is bottom centre of the linked map image: https://maps.nls.uk/view/103675294#zoom=4&lat=8842&lon=7524&layers=BT

Pleased to see the RSC advert as it shows the address in York Way, address also for Westinghouse signalling. Just an aside - my great-uncle retired from the military and eventually became caretaker for the Westinghouse site, and the job gave him a flat in Crinan Street. The whole site faced onto Battlebridge canal basin, now home to the London Canal Museum. My great-uncle apparently had use of a small row-boat and took my father (who lived nearby in Stanley Buildings St Pancras) for trips, maybe to see if fish could be hooked. During the blitz nights when not fire-watching in the area, they made a few outings on water to get a different view of what was happening.

This follows slightly on a recent theme of sea defences. The subject has come up already in this and other threads: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/163553-abandoned-rails-in-the-roador-elsewhere/#comment-4385449 It also features in the excellent and very useful Cornwall Railway Society web pages: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/military-and-industrial-tramways--light-railways.html Not too long ago I extended one of my long walking days to include Pentewan, to see for myself what remained. The weighbridge and building shown in the web pages remain but very overgrown. The raiway remains are said to be from the sand railway of modern times and not related to the Pentewan Railway of history. A turnout and shed are still there. There were more rails to be found, however. Approaching the turnout and shed, in road and parking areas, there were short lengths of single rail. These could be remains from the original railway or from the sand railway - not possible to tell though I feel the latter is more likely: Following the path beside the shed towards the sea, there were more rails just visible. Closer to the water, there were remains of quays as well as sea defences, and there is corroded rail to be seen, mostly exposed as time and weather erodes concrete and structures.

Just an example of a 2mm scale/7mm gauge model tramway with live overhead and common rail return, with sectioning for automatic stops. Overhead poles from springy wire and a tiny, grooved brass shoe. Very simple, worked well. http://www.2mm.org.uk/layouts/the_broadway/index.html