nigb55009

Back in control, Sabaton.

Electric circus, WASP.

If you have ghosts, Ghost.

The photo I found was on Railcar.co.uk, it was taken in the 60s and there is housing on the right, but the trees are much smaller.

Kraftwerk= making things from recycled stuff.

Coryton?

Light in the black, Rainbow.

New York groove, Ace Frehley.

Gibbo, no I didn`t ,that traffic had finished by the time I started. But you reminded me, I have a Liverpool area trip notice dated May 1975 which shows 9T87 serving Douglas Bank (GKN), Burscough Bridge ROF as required and Gathurst. The coal traffic to Southport ran as 9T93 0815 Walton Old Junction to Southport arriving 0939 and departing as 9T93 1200 Southport to Springs Branch Engine Shed Sidings arriving at 1249. In 1983, when I started as a Guard T90 covered Gathurst, I don`t think there was much coal traffic left, but if there was the coal wagons were used as barrier wagons. There would have been barrier wagons between the ROF and Gathurst traffic, because of the different types of explosives from each location. By the time the Gathurst traffic ended, 6T72 covered what was left of the Wigan area trip freight.

Gathurst was one of the locations which I worked to when I was a Guard at Springs Branch, the other was Chorley ROF, served by sidings near. Euxton Junction. At Gathurst the wagon nearest the buffers was loaded first. That meant dragging the whole lot out before leaving the loads on the main line, with the barrier wagons and then putting the empties back. The empty coal wagons were from Southport and were used as barriers. When the narrow gauge line closed the explosives were moved in lorries like the one seen at the far end of the sidings. IIRC they were short wheelbase Ford Ds. It was only a few hundred yards from the factory gate, over the canal bridge and through the station car park to reach the sidings. The explosives were for commercial use, though I`m not sure where. At Chorley ROF, obviously the explosives were for military use. The empty wagons were taken into depot by an MOD loco and loaded wagons pushed back out, BR staff were not allowed beyond the gates. Security staff were present at all times during shunting. Reporting numbers were 6F83 Walton Old Junction to Chorley ROF, which also conveyed traffic for GKN at Douglas Bank, near Wigan Wallgate and Metal Box at Westhoughton. The return working was 6F82 Chorley ROF to Arpley Sidings, via Preston. The Gathurst train was a trip working from Springs Branch, which ran round at Burscough Bridge, if there was no traffic for Southport. Target 72, 85 and 90 were used at different times.

Victim of changes, Judas Priest.

When I was a guard during the 1980s, the weight of explosive was dependant on the type. Military and commercial were treated differently. Explosives were classified 1:1, 1:4 etc. If you have a copy of the "Pink Pages" it should, IIRC, show how much could be carried in each vehicle, I don`t think wagons were ever fully loaded, certainly not to the maximum load permissible if the wagon were carrying a different, less dangerous cargo.

Bad times, Mammoth.

Free man, Angelwitch.

In the book "BR Electric Memories- E for Electrics" there are some photos of E3115 and E3088 at Darlington shed, taken on 26th June 1965. Apparently they were there in connection with " Torsion Tests"., these involved placing one bogie on the turntable , the other on fixed line and then turning the table slightly to test the strength of the bogie pins, which were attached to various measuring devices. Some diesel locomotives were also tested. E3068 and E3174 were also reported to have been sent to Darlington. The tests took place on the turntable behind the signal box at the south end of Bank Top station. Perhaps this could also be included in the "Prototype for everything" thread as well.

Down the dustpipe, Status Quo.

Wild swan, Magnum.

Green manalishi, Judas Priest.

Greegieboy, for some reason it has posted again. I originally posted that 4 hours ago, see further up.

Night crawler, Judas Priest.

Little paradise, Pat Benatar.

Lonely is the word, Black Sabbath.

Can the can, Suzi Quatro.

Silly thing, Sex Pistols.

Still I`m sad, Rainbow.