JeffP

What an UTTER waste of money, again.

On the first of the Misterton photos, the little pub with incorporated garage and "Hewitt's Ales" sign is so evocative of that time.

I've always found either eBay or just plain old Google to be excellent for all kinds of hardware, from springs to odd screws and bolts. Even magnets and bearings.

11 hours ago, Peter749 said:

A brilliant suggestion with just a few problems

 

[1] The London Transport Battery Loco might not be passed to run on Network Rail track

[2] if it was it might not go more than 30mph - that would keep the railway running smoothly

[3] where would you recharge the batteries?

I'd not thought of 1), 2) is supposition, and for 3) I'd assumed it towed.

But I accept the point.

The Radcliffe photos are interesting for modellers of bridges.

Just look at the different types all in one place.

Meanwhile, here in the North midlands/Humberside, we are promised 25 and got 20 and mostly cloudy 

Rain forecast again for tomorrow🙄 Not been in France for two summers now due to them strictly enforcing the 90/180 rule, and, due to my age and my poor wife's disability, medical insurance is eye-wateringly expensive, so a 6 month visa isn't really an option🙁. Maybe next year.

Fancy a cold, wet summer?

Reminds me of when we bought ours.

Our home in sunny Scunny lies 2.5m above sea level. So pretty flat.

Indeed, the very near River Trent and quite near River humber are constrained within their banks by large embankments, up to 6m above ground level.

When we bought in France I mentioned to someone I knew, that his place, 70km to the WNW, always seemed warmer and that bit drier.

He responded, "Well, you are quite high up, aren't you?"

When I checked, our place was at 454m.

Now that's not high, but in the UK, Saddleworth on the M62 is around the same, and often sees fierce weather.

We, at our place in France, have lots of hills winding down to the many streams and Rivers that drain the area.

We have a choice of two local supermarkets, 4km and 6km...and I would NOT want to cycle to either.🤫

6 hours ago, John M Upton said:

With two or three already in preservation, I really cannot see how this will happen.

 

It requires a ton of money just to move whatever is left of it, money better spent on better condition surviving examples in the UK.

 

There are simply too many enthusiast led pipe dreams being banded about with no realistic consideration or plan whatsoever as to where the enormous amount of cash required will come from, this is another.

 

Time to let it go.

Well, yes and no.

Yes, my head says you're right.

No, my heart says, "never mind the mundane, save the iconic."

We've already lost the likes of 60014, 46220, 45552, 1000, D1000, D1, D800, D600, while preserving those that either happened to be in a better condition, or were in the right place at the right time.

58050 represents the last loco built at Doncaster Works, the last diesel built at that works, and the last of it's class.

Evening Star, anybody?

Would we have let that go because there were others in better condition?

Currently languishing unloved and out of use in Spain, supposedly awaiting the cutter's torch.🫣

Doncaster Free Press carrying an article urging the Doncaster Museum to bring it home as the last ever loco built by the Works.

Sorry, it won't let me post a link.

The above is another candidate for "when the real thing looks like a model".

7 hours ago, Ben B said:

I'm just catching up on this thread, after two weeks in the French Alps. I'd forgotten just how interesting French railways are, after a decade away. I think it's the contrasts, with flashy modern passenger trains and TGV's on high speed lines, and overgrown branch lines through derelict-looking stations that see the odd freight train hauled by a monster of a diesel from the 1960's :)

 

Where we were, near Moutiers, the regular service was being operated by older electric locos on push-pull sets, there were lots of semi-abandoned goods yards and the like, isolated factory systems with their own shunters, that sort of thing. Fascinating!

But sadly, a pale imitation of itself 25 years ago, when every small town with a station had a yard, often with a small shunter present, and always with wagons.

Every place near a railway was rail connected, again, often with ex-SNCF small shunters present.

Large towns had bustling yards with shunters and often half a dozen main line locos stabled.

And most sheds were welcoming to enthusiasts.

And freight wasn't all on the roads.

All gone now, mostly due to EU meddling.🤔

Thanks for taking the time to do that.

If I remember correctly, CFdP had two.

They also had a D (0-8-0), locomotive, unnumbered, 1200, an attractive loco built by Henschel, and two very boxy locos from Brissoneau et Lotz.

On my first visit to their works at Lingostiere, (just outside Nice), I was able to wander round in the blazing sunshine at will, and found the un-numbered D out of use up a weed choked siding.

Both BB's were present, one cannibalised.

The new Platform 5 stock book has 1200 withdrawn and for sale, three of the boxy locos, and no sign of either of the BB's or the D.

Meanwhile, CFC seem to have acquired another BB.

20 hours ago, GWR57xx said:

 

On the other bits I've printed off I've used CA which seems to work fine, but I haven't tried glueing the wagon bits as yet.

Thanks, but I meant on the laser cut stuff.

In my Platform 5 book of 1996 vintage there was a photo of one of their BB 400 locos on a short freight at Ponte Vecchia.

I'm unsure if anything still runs, but both the CdF Corse and CdF Provence have diesel locos listed on stock in the latest book, mainly for trackwork?

I thought Slaters did the GWR loco coal?

Sorry if I've missed this in an earlier post, but what glue(s) do you use?

Been caught out TWICE by internet sites selling tickets.

Both P&O and DFDS  sites, unknown to me defaulted back to the month you were booking IN instead of the month you wanted to travel.

Booking crossings for Easter during the month of February caused the problem. February that year having the usual 28 days, the day of the week of the booked sailing remained the same, so no red flag. Result: turned up at Dover with a booking for the previous month.

P&O sorted it, just had to pay a bit more at the port.

DFDS refused point blank, and I had to pay again.😒 Goodness knows what'll happen if they do close all ticket offices.

13 hours ago, RAILWAY COTTAGES said:

The bridge/underpass on the remaining Willerby section of railway embankment at King George playing fields  has slowly been vandalised by youths now for many years.  In particular, several of the unique curved blue flag heavy engineering bricks that top one of the retaining walls have been stolen from this structure, about seven years ago now.  Does anybody know of any source  of exact replacements?.  I reported this to Willerby parish council who in turn passed it on the the owners ERYC.  ERYC don't care.

They LOOK like some I used around 20 years ago, they were just referred to as blue engineering bricks, and were available in loads of different shapes.

A visit to a decent builder's merchant might be a start.

9 hours ago, Stoke West said:

J819 4E22 Rowley Regis to Thames Haven one of many trains rerouted to put traffic under the wires , with loco changes at Coventry ? and Willesden . Before was Ripple Lane loco to Southall and WR loco forward , Hall in steam days , via Oxford and Worcester . The St Blazey to Stoke-on -Trent  was another working , routed via Westbury and Oxford to Bletchley  and electric forward

And now we use diesels under the wires, there's progress for you.

Regarding passport control, we regularly use the chunnel with our car, as my wife doesn't need to get out of the car into her wheelchair and vice-versa.

We can't say we've noticed passport checks taking longer since Brexit, but we have observed the following:

     It sometimes seems to take an age to scan passport chips. Are they still using ZX or Commodore computers?

    Sometimes, even in holiday season, only two cubicles will be manned out of nine. Why?

     Why can one passport officer process nine full cars ehile another processes four?

      Pre-Brexit we used to sail into Hull. The Rotterdam ferry arrived at 0800, and passport staff processed the entire ship, before driving across the port to process those arriving from Zeebrugge. This often led to us driving off the ship, and sitting on the dock for around an hour before our queue moved.

So I reckon UK passport control needs to up it's game.

The

In JVol 3271 the A4 looks like 60014 Silver Link.

Handrail doesn't curve down at the rear until after the penultimate handrail knob.

Nameplate appears to have rounded corners.

So they bring it from Lowestoft to Whitemoor, then tip it at Whitemoor, to reload it, now a bit dirty, when it's needed?

Also, I wonder why Lowestoft when there's much nearer docks at Boston and Kings Lynn?

Where does it go from Whitemoor?

Not an easy shed to get round, being in the middle of dockland, so docks police were about.

The relevant RCTS green book would be your bible.