Bernard Lamb

52 minutes ago, VarsityJim said:

I wonder how much the reinstatement (and brand new alignment) cost of the whole Oxford to Cambridge line will be, compared to how much it would have cost to ‘properly’ mothball it all and reopen everything on the same alignment? (New high level station at Bletchley excluded) 🤔

Unfortunately it is not possible to build a single track line on the footprint of an old doube track line, that meets modern standards. A problem that came to light in Scotland with the Borders line.

Once you accept that, then a wider deviation from the original route becomes more attractive.

East of Bedford not much exists, so anything goes.

It does seem much easier to update roads that follow the same route. Black Cat to Caxton being the current example. But that takes us into political territory.😀

Bernard

27 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

A garret is the top of a building aka an attic. I guess the herbs stored (maybe grown) there would have been medicinal ones (such as opioids) used in the operations rather like an apothecary.

 

 

27 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

A garret is the top of a building aka an attic. I guess the herbs stored (maybe grown) there would have been medicinal ones (such as opioids) used in the operations rather like an apothecary.

 

 

It goes back to a chap called Nicholas Cullpepper.

He was a botanist and promoted the use of various herbs in medical treatment. They were grown locally, as in the example that you mention.

Some of the plants that he introduced can still be seen on waste ground and growing out of cracks in the brick or stone work of buildings in many parts of London.

Bernard

I just have two identical watches and swap them over every spring and autumn. Been going for at least ten years. The same procedure when I travel to other countries in Europe. Any further afield I have  third watch and this one does get adjusted.

Bernard

Never mind the trains. What about the poor drivers and other staff who had to put in an extra hour on their shift last night. On the very odd time that it happened to me at work I did get paid extra for it. The same procedure the other way round, where you went home an hour early.

Bernard

Just caught up with the second episode.

Fascinating and far more of a personal interest than I new before watching it.

A great uncle worked for Trinity House from around 1901 and was employed working on the sluice at Bexhill.

Long ago, when looking into family history, my mother and her sister told me about a visit to see him and his family at the coastguard cottage where he lived. This account included a section about being locked in the train for the journey back to London. Talking with my sister we worked out that this must have been around 1916 or 17 and of course during the previous war to the one in which the layout is set.  

Bernard

I tend to remember his comments on places like Watford and Slough rather than the praise of the chocolate box landscapes. 

Bernard

I used to live about 200 yards to the right of this place in Hemel. The pub is still there, but the station is long gone. As for passenger services, a very distant memory. It tries to go up market now and again by calling itself a hotel but after a while goes back to what local people call it:- The Midland.

Bernard

33 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

Good evening Bernard,

 

I'm delighted the 2P is giving good service, though it's not likely to get much further with the leading tender wheelset off the road!

 

I assume (at least I hope) that it was just placed for photography. I'd hate to be the one who sold you a loco where its tender derailed!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Well spotted Tony.

I only had a few minutes tio spare this morning as I had a hospital appoitment. To get a similar view point to roughly simulate your photograph I reversed it through a point that was set the wrong way.  Of course the other shots in the batch show all wheels on the track but not the angle of view that I was trying to copy. It actually runs rather well.

Bernard

Tony recently mentioned Hornby locomotives that had passed through his hands. This one looks familiar. Still giving good service.

Bernard

9 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

It could certainly do with one, extending into the MV as that is redeveloped, but I’ve never been sure how seriously light rail or monorail was considered when MK was designed. For sure there are contemporary artists impressions, and there are ‘urban legends’ that some of the space beside grid roads was meant for it, but whether anyone every really meant it, who knows? What is for sure is that MK was designed at the very point when the private car was seen as the salvation of mankind, so as well as having good cycling and walking provision, it is sure as heck car-centric in some respects.

 

 

At that time the idea of providing walking and cycling facilities was to get these people off the road........ so that motor traffic could drive at 40mph plus in an urban environment. A similar situation was started around the Barbican in London, with high level walkways and wide roads such as London Wall. That did not last long.

Bernard

23 minutes ago, Pannier Tank said:

 

Wasn't one of them (fantasy)  "10 trains per hour and 100MPH running" !  !

That will require fantastic acceleration and good brakes and seat belts for the passengers, given the short distance between stations.

Bernard

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

You compared a young persons railcard to an aged persons bus pass First not accepted, second accepted

I give you an over 60 railcard and a young persons identity pass (easily obtained.) first not accepted, second accepted.

 

There were plenty of ways young prople could get ID. it was well publicised, yet they were one of the least aware of the voting requirement.

BTW my B-in-L does not drive, does not have a passport and isn't 60, so he needed to get ID if he wanted to vote, why couldn't the younger ones?

Why? IMHO Because they are not interested in voting.

What we need is not bickering about young people purposely being disenfranchised (which I don't think they are) but finding out why they are not interested in voting, which is the main core of the problem.

 

Currently I am also in this camp, the one side are a total disaster and don't deserve to be in power, the other side do not appeal to me at all.

For the first time in a long time I didn't vote in the council elections earlier this year because there was nobody I would vote for.

I feel disenfranchised as well.

I felt like that. However at the last local council election there was a very active Lib Dem candidate in our ward.

SWMBO, who takes little interest in politics thought he talked a good talk and several people in the road thought the same. There was no chance of winning the council, but there might be  chance of getting one local councillor if we joined in the campaign. We got him elected and theidea spread and we won a majority on the district council. The local Conservative MP is standing down and the new candidate must be very worried. It only takes a few people to change things if they concentrate there efforts. It might not work in all cases, but it might just be enough to moderate the extremists on either side.  On the other hand it might not. I live in a 20mph area that was et up by a Conservative councillor with a vast majority of local people in favour. Almost all traffic keeps to the limit. Until recently when such schemes became maintstream news. To be politically neutral there are areas where a vote for Reform might have a similar effect.

Benard

Bernard

19 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

 

Springs Branch with a bit of luck, send em all 'up ere !!  We'll need some to run the work in progress (3 men with one spade, and a part time sparkie) Bolton to Wigan NW electrification !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

319's also accepted, (In original or tatty boxes, no bother so long as the pantographs, couplings and bogies are still there, even loose in box as in Hattons speak !!).

 

The refurbed 319's we have are quite OK. Not sure of the bi modes though, they seem to struggle a bit when going up the (soon to be electrified whoopee !!) Miles Platting bank out of Manchester Victoria. But they get there, eventually, screaming, coughing and spluttering out obnoxious, planet warming gasses into the wet, miserable Manchester air !!!!

 

Just a thought. Some very expensive property was compulsory purchased for the Manchester leg in Cheshire etc. If these were not demolished & are to be resold at market value then it does not seem fair to the original owners who have lost out. Eminent Domain at work (You will own nothing and be happy)   !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Such is the world.

 

Brit15

That's where the fun starts.

Let us take a nice detached house at around £1m 2020 market value. HS2 buy it for £1.25m. The going rate of compensation according to informed sources. The house is still there but the land is no longer required. HS2 sell it in late 2023 as ordered by Rishi. What is it worth? £700k ? It is subject to planning blight. If the original owners have the cash they can buy it back. But it would be very difficult to get a mortgage. If you have the cash and want to speculate then there are potentially bargains to be had. Providing that legislation is brought in to remove the threat of the railway being reborn, the house becomes worth around £950k. Figures will vary in different parts of the country and at different times. However it is the same old story, money makes money, while the ret of us get shafted.

Bernard

Bernard 

Sorry can't help. I do find the area interesting. so thanks for bringing up the subject.

Just realized that ' 44 Scotland Street ' is almost 20 years old. I was in Edinburgh around that time and looked forward to reading each episode as it was published.

Bernard

10 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

The PM said in his announcement, that the land would be sold off.

We’ll have to see what happens next.

 

 

.

But  at what price?

With the enabling legislation still in place the land, or more particularly the buildings, are worth far less than they would be, if the planning blight on them had been removed by primary legisation. Far more attractive at the moment to local authorities, other government agencies or hedge funds, rather than to individuals.

Bernard

12 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Our Friends in the North may think it's London-centric to solve congestion nearer the capital, when trains round Manchester and Leeds are overcrowded, but compare the congestion......

 

The Southern end of the WCML is full of 11-car Pendolinos, 12-car 350s and 36-wagon Intermodals.  Those trains aren't getting any longer, you need new lines.

 

The approaches to Manchester and Leeds are full of 3-car DMUs.  There would be masses of extra capacity if only someone had leased some more trains.  Of course if we'd had a rolling electrification programme in this country (and hence not forgotten how to do it at reasonable cost), much of these suburban network could be making use of all the EMUs which have headed for the scrapyard in the last decade, with years of life left in them.

If you are lucky. Quie often 4 car 319s recently.

I had a note yesterday that 6 car 730s are on the way.

Things can only get better. But some 319s are to be withdrawn before the 730s arrive, so it will get worse for a short time.

Were will the surplus 350s go?

Bernard

Couplings.

The corridor connectors are not attached to the ends of the cars. They sit on a cam which has quite a large degree of movement. On the power car there is a plug, see the white bit at the bottom of the connector. On the trailer car there are lugs at top and bottom of the connector. These engage inside the connector on the power car. There is also a socket and the plug on the power car fits into this socket when the two cars are pushed together. Do this and continue down the train to complete.

I think it is rather clever.

Oh, that Hornby had done this between locomotives and tenders instead of the arrangement they made with their plug and socket. A short straight connector could have been supplied to cater for trainset curves, to avoid the need for a cam mechanism.

Bernard.

Power car

Trailer car 

On 20/10/2023 at 10:47, Calnefoxile said:

 

I'm sure I spied one on Jools Hollands layout on Pete Watermans new programme last night??

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

I thought that was the DB equivalent, can't remember the class number. Roco made a model at one time.

Bernard

Just caught up with it.

I found it excellent, with the enthusiasm coming across rather well. The social history was unobtrusive to me, but I like that sort of thing, it might have come across as excessive to others.

It used train set type curves, but the running was faultless, far better than certain finescale layouts that I have seen.

The research into the buildings fascinated me, especially parts of London and Berlin that appeared to look real, even though mixed up as to actual location. The Pendonesque idea of plug in complete buildings, shown by removing a scene, gave an insight as to how the layout was built. The Euston arch, depicted very near the end, rather than in it's glory days. Looking forward to the next programme.

Bernard

There is no 'best'.

It depends what you want to make.

Slaters is good, but needs to be applied to a structure as it is quite thin.

Wills, Peco or whatever can be used as a building material as it is thicker.

Then, if you want to model my garden wall built circa 1720, with hand made non standard bricks, laid on edge, you will need to scibe them.

Bernard

Best not to go on holiday.

If you do you might find that they have moved in when you get back.

Bernard

6 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Gadzooks! A VT18/16 again! The second RMweb reference in a fortnight, the previous one being in Johann Marsbar's photos, of a prototype. I hanker after an HO version, but haven't been aware of one - N and TT seem to be the only offers. 

This is H0 Ian.

Confusing when Kato are usually associated with N. They have done several models in tie ups with German firms.

I will take a close up of the inter coach coupling. It is an idea that I have not seen before and gives very neat close coupling and electrical connections.

Bernard  

44 minutes ago, micklner said:

More like the whole "thing" 🤪🙃🤑

Just in time for Halloween.

Is there an emoji for wanting to hide under the duvet?

I would not like to come across that at any time. Let alone on a dark and stormy night.

Bernard

I have cleared a space in the garage to make room for the new locomotive depot. I will build this off site. I have for the short term put in place a narrow plank with a run of track, just to allow some of my main line stock to have a run. Quite a few locos need some serious wheel cleaning. To provide some relief from this work I dug this out of storage and with a 6m plus length of straight track let her have a gallop. Kato made these a long time ago and they seem to have recently made another run, at a heck of an increased price. Originally VT 18 16 but known by various other designations at later dates. Mine is in the VT 175 series.

The prototype emerged from Gorlitz in 1963, with a production run of, I think, 8 four car sets between 1965 and 1968. There were extra coches for some services and a reduced number of coaches on the service that used the train ferry to Scandinavia. They could be seen, on selected routes, anywhere between Copenhagen and Vienna. I never rode on one but saw them in Leipzig during the fair, where they were used on a service from Berlin, back in the early 1980s from memory. I also saw the preserved example at Rummelsberg much later, where it was stored for several years. I still have friends who live in Kopenick. After various moves the last I heard, was that it was at Halberstadt for a refurbishment. There is also a set at Lichtenberg but I have not seen that one.

Bernard