Bernard Lamb

I have no idea as to the current situation locally. However my old school, Berkhansted, actually had a seperate house and category for what they called 'train boys'. Bernard

Unusual, but quite regular, was a private train that carried the Earl of Roseberry's household between Mentmore, near the station at Cheddington, and the summer residence of the family at Dalmeny. I understand this was quite an expedition and involved a fair amount of livestock, as well as household items and staff. Bernard

A, very glossy, bus on a bridge, with no driver or passengers. Bernard

Straying far from the regular topics in this thread. One of my activities is to lead walks, both near where I live and in London. The London walks are actually called exploring walks and take in lesser known places, as well as presenting a different view of some well known locations. Looking for new ideas I discovered that Kensal Green Cemetry has a large number of people buried there who have a railway background. Hardly surprising given the location and that it was opened in 1833. The Friends have produced various books on the cemetery and one actually dedicated to people, about 50, with a railway background. I have just received it and find it fascinating. Barlow, Brunel, Crampton, Hardwick and John Thomas catch my eye. John Thomas you ask. He designed the lions on the Britannia Bridge. Bernard

I came across a similar situation a few years ago when looking into visiting the I o W. There was one ticket available where the Clapham to Portsmouth section was less than £1. The other direction was much more expensive as were most through tickets. I think that the cheap version was using the Southern service between Watford and Clapham. There were several combinations for the journey that varied by a great amount depending on time, route and order. Bernard

The NER tended to use their own wagons, often of a hopper type, for the transport of coal, rather than using PO wagons. Hence the high number on their books. Bernard

One foot in the wheelbae and a couple of planks difference in height. Mineral 16' 6" WB. Normal open goods 17' 6". Mineral 7 plank and open goods 5, but variations did occur. A lot of the mineral traffic would be coal and coke. This would normally be carried in private owner wagons belonging to either a colliery or a merchant. PO 5 plank opens were no were near as common. Bernard A senior moment. I mean length rather than wheel base. Doh.

At our local station there seem to be more agency security staff than railway people in the ticket office most of the time. Yesterday SWMBO had to alight at a certain North London tube station. She was the only person to get off the train and was surprised to find ten policemen on duty. We realize that it is a sensitive time for some of the local poulattion, but we think that this is a bit over the top and not quite the right balance. It is certainly not sustainable for either location. Bernard

I would think it is quite common to do only an out and back trip. I belong to a group that has monthly visits to locations in London. Probably attended by 25 people on average, with two different groups going to the same place. Most of them will go on the trip and either go straight home, or divert to visit one other place such as a museum or other exhibition, or a particular place to eat. There are many family groups on the first off peak train who are going to one specific place, but might stop at another. I would reckon that a large percentage of customers fit into this category rather than being people who travel for much of the day. Bernard

An off peak day return, plus zones 1-6 travel card, is currently £3.75 more than an off peak return to Euston Even if you are only going to one place from Euston, it saves having to faff around with a different card. Take a third journey and you are well in pocket. It will be interesting to see just what the relative costs will be after the next fare increase. Bernard

However it comes at a price. Bernard

That is how it was when I were a lad. Saloon bar for the toffs and public bar for the plebs. With a hefty price difference. A lot of pubs were beer houses and did not have a license for spirits. London was quite civilised, but on my first visit to Wolverhampton I happened to be with a young lady. On entering the public door we were instructed very firmly to move to the saloon. Bernard

Thanks for that John. I use Roco, or the Hornby version on my mainline stock. A suitable combination usually does the job. I then use a home made version of the paper concertina Modellers Mecca type to fill any gaps. As the amount of stock on the branch will be very small I will probably revert to scale couplings. I do have a few wagons with scale couplings on one end and tension locks on the other, so I can use most of my other stock if I feel the urge. Bernard

I had to get a pair for my Tollesbury based layout. I have a six wheel brake as a place holder to run with them. Very nice models. But, oh dear. Why is there a 5mm plus gap between buffers on the two cars when coupled together? They are fitted with cams, so no reason at all why they need this huge gap, even on tight curves. It makes the fitting of the scale length intercar drop down walkways look rather silly. Having given up scale couplings a few years ago on much of my stock, due to poor eyesight, I think that I need to fit screw couplings to these and run them as a fixed rake. Excellent as the detail is, as a rake they look horrible. Funnily enough I was involved recently in a discussion on another thread about close coupling on a Kato German DMU. They seemed to have got it right the best part of 20 years ago. Bernard

A very different approach, but I found it equally enjoyable. The on site research was set at the right level for a novice. The precautions when starting modelling to prevent falling foul of either the wife or the carpet monster was well illustrated. The visit to the local club came across well. The use of state of the art computer technical stuff would have interested younger people. A pity I am not still at work, as I could have got some of the undergraduates or apprentices doing laser cutting or 3D printing for me.😃 As part of a series I thought it fitted in ratther well. Bernard

Please could you go back and read what I wrote about the Borders line on the track bed of the former Waverley route, Sorry, but Northmoor is correct. This thread went downhill after I posted that statement, so please don't let it kick off again. Bernard

I thought that it was only kept 'open' east of Claydon as part of the cruise missle programme. When the cold war was over the Pikeys soon came along and cut out various sections of the rails in the Winslow area. Bernard

Not directly on topic, but as usual we seem to have wandered. While doing some family research I came across a relative listed in the census as a coprolite digger and he lived in Shepreth. The Nickey Line, the railway between Harpenden and Hemel Hempstead, passed through land owned by Shadrach Godwin. He had a private halt with a siding built as part of the deal. He negotiated to collect the street sweepings in London, containing a large percentage of horse droppings, and take them to his siding for distribution to local farms. Which explains why fragments of old pottery and china can be found in gardens all over the Hemel area. Did this traffic use the Midland manure wagons mentioned a few post ago? Bernard

I love the shot of the 'Bagger'. I knew them from the Brown Coal open cast mines nearLeipzig. I never took any photos back in those days. There was one hugh pit where you could look down from a great height. You only realized just how big they were when one was standing next to a train. It would make a good model. Bernard

This seems to be going the same way as the other two threads on the current situation on the railway. Bernard

Coprolite to give it its proper name. At one time dug in vast quantities in the area between Cambridge and Royston. Presumably send to London by train. Bernard

??? What is that all about? I never mentioned single or double track, or indeed any proposals. I simply made a statement about how much more land is required by a modern railway than was required by the original. Bernard

From my very limited experience of the full size version they do seem to rock about quite violently. An old friend of mine drove WD locomotives and at 50 mph he said that they were rather frightening. Can you quantify the amount of movement? Bernard