JeffP

I think this is due mostly to our political system that ensures that no politician can be certain of having a job five years down the road. And I certainly wouldn't want to change that!

Two examples spring to mind. In the mid 70's Railway Modeller published an article about a southern based layout called Weybourne. A few years later, a second article followed about the closure of Weybourne, detailing what stock went where, what went for scrap etc. The second eas another layout plan for a large room entitled "Cranby Junction". It had a double track mainline, a branchline, dock branch and a large engine shed. The accompanying article described how the branchline closed and the station layout got rationalised, then the dock branch closed and finally the shed area was lifted and left derelict, with most now diesel hauled expresses now passing through a semi derelict station.

Typical Co-Bo then? The real ones had a pretty high failure rate. 😁

Yes it does. The only one I ever visited was Horton Road in 1974 diesel days. Thanks.

Spent a couple of days in La Rochelle for the wife's birthday. She enjoyed herself apart from having to come down two flights of circular stairs on her bum on the last morning because the lift was broken. I thought I'd add these on here rather than having a new thread for two photos. Hope you don't mind Jamie. The first is the very grand frontage of La Rochelle station. A "stolen" photo of two of the original Atlantique TGV sets waiting to depart south. I say "stolen" as it was taken through a grille, as I'd been summarily denied permission to take ANY photos in a public space by two very officious guys in the information booth. They insisted that ANY photography in a public space is illegal in France! When I pointed out that La Rochelle is full of tourists with cameras, the one in SNCF uniform went as far as to say that if he saw any and thought he might be on their photo, he would take their camera and demand they deleted the photo, or he'd destroy the camera as that was his right! I've never come across this attitude before.🤔

Maybe, just maybe, we could start moving RAILWAY rolling stock using the RAILWAY? As far as possible anyway. Instead of huge lorries on our congested, narrow, badly maintained roads?

Enjoyed that film. Can anyone identify the two sheds passed after Cheltenham? Last five minutes or so.

Been waiting to get 68 haulage, I'd better do York Scarborough before its too late.🙂

I can't comment about other routes, but the Cleethorpes to Liverpool route via Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester, has been appallingly served for some time. Cancellations at times outnumbered services that ran. And for some reason they've been "driver training" with both light engine 68's and then with a 68 and a Mk5 set, for more than 18 months. No wonder locals think TPE are extracting the urine.

Sad news indeed. Haymarket has been one of my "must read" topics on here since I first found it. Best wishes to you.

Just goes to show that the French can do construction at. British pace too.🤭 I'm still waiting for the start of the construction of the A154 from Nonancourt to south of Chartres, bypassing St Remy sur Avre, Dreux and Chartres itself. As long as I've been doing this drive there have been placards at St Remy saying, "Devier St Remy, vite!" There is an agreed route, agreement on who pays, but still no start date. St Remy is awful, with two roundabouts and three sets of lights, and the road through has the combined traffic of the N12 and the N154. The rocades around both Dreux and Chartres are dreadful, the French having fallen into the trap of building commercial outlets at every roundabout, thus generating extra traffic and holdups, the exact things the rocades were meant to avoid.

I'm intrigued as to your ironmongery. Over here I can't remember ever having to order anything, it's all there on the racks, unlike the UK. Only downside is that it's often bagged in amounts just less than the number you need, necessitating buying too many. Stainless is pretty well served too, and a good job, because our area is so acidic that even "gold screws" driven into a nylon plug in a hole in our stone walls, turn to rust in about two years! Even solid brass fittings can be had off the rack.

Austerities everywhere! And to think we used to say they were boring. What I'd give to see and hear one struggling up the Gunhouse bank into Scunthorpe with either a J11 or an O4 banking.

That pic of 82006 has so much detail. Thanks for posting.

I liked the idea of a rabbit super highway. If one had existed earlier the story of Watership Down wouldn't have happened.🙂

Housing in and around York is about 50% dearer than in or around Doncaster. You want cheap housing? Move 23 miles east to Scunthorpe where a new build 3 bed detached with garage still comes in at under £200k, and an older semi detached without garage at £120k or less. Donny's not so bad. Learn the lingo, tha'll be reet. "Azigeniter?" Has he given it to her? "Aztha gorratenner?" Do you have ten pounds you could lend me? "Astle clowtthi if thidunt geower". If you don't stop what you are doing I shall have to administer corporal punishment. And many others.😁

I used to love the B-B 12/13/14000's, referring to them as "crocodiles". Only later did I find out that French railwaymen (cheminots) called them "Fers a repasser", (flat, or smoothing irons).

Sent you a PM Jazz

I liked your optimism about them running anything other than two or three car trains. Up here, that's the norm. Passengers? Well they can stand, can't they?

45110, my second to last Peak, copped at Healey Mills 1977.

When anyone asks, " Why is it taking so long?", I'm minded to point out that twelve miles of A1M from Peterborough to Alconbury, on an existing alignment, took UK roadbuilders four years to complete, while over in France, they built over sixty miles of brand new motorway through the Cevennes from Clermont-Ferrand southwards, at heights up to 1100m.

Before you do anything with the camera: I had a Panasonic Lumix do the exact same thing. Reading online, I was advised to hold the camera about 30cm above a hard surface with something like a cutting mat on the surface. Hold the camera lens uppermost and drop it so it falls back first! It worked. Nothing ventured etc.

Your French must be pretty fluent, then? How did you learn?

Would the B17's have gone all the way to York, or come off at Doncaster?

Of course I don't mind. The original post was to find out if he's still trading. Reports of his presence at a couple of shows confirm that he is.🙂 But I've still received no answer to my query 🤔