roythebus

Unlikely as there's no fuelling point at Rugby, the next would have been Bletchley TMD or Willesden.

No-one seems to have noted the history of this famous shop which used to be at 14 York Way, opposite the station. From what I remember, it was opened by Keith Dann and others in about 1966 when Keith moved his OOScale models business from Biggleswade to there. Keith used to work in the shop, along with an ebullient ex naval man, A.G.Thomas, who used to tell tales about his days in Iceland in the war. AGThomas, known as Tommy, used to run a the Model Arcade in Exeter at some time, and for a while worked in City models in Bishopsgate. Keith Dann was tragically killed in a car crash and after that the business was taken over by the model Railway Supply Co. Lt., known as MRAS. The shareholders of that were Peter Beeston, AMS Pickering, AG Thomas and Viscount Garnock. I started work in the shop in early 1968. Upstairs was the workshop, where simon Kelly would build coaches; Mike Sheppard and Geoff Packham built locos to order. In the basement was the "production line" where whoever was available would make track components using a huge fly press which would make the Kings Cross track components from brass strip. This would punch out the chairs in the first and second stages, while the resulting ladder strip would be used as either signal ladder or further punches as fishplates. On the middle floor was a room where Simon would pack their pre-glued ballast. The famous wooden coach kits were produced on the same flypress as the track, and were stamped out of wood, which was then laminated and formed to shape on a band sander. It was all very labour intensive. There was also the etched brass nameplate range; these were etched by a firm in Biggleswade and sent to the shop for spraying. Mr Pickering would then take them home to inspect them, all a bit daft really as they would de-form as the modeller cut them to shape and the paint would fall off! The shop was under-funded and had difficulty getting sufficient stock. I left their employ in about September 1968 and went elsewhere. the shop was eventually taken over by EAMES of Reading. The models made by Mike and Geoff were superb; Mike made a very nice Austin Seven from brass in about 1:25 scale for a client. He later went on to produce the first patterns for my range of GS Models Bus kits and Sutherland Models buses. Painting of locos was usually contracted to Alan Brackenborough who lived somewhere in the Cotswolds, and he done a superb job. Of course he used the kings Cross dry print transfers; he also done the artwork for those transfers. I don't know what happened to the staff from there. I know AG Thomas died many years ago, but not before he'd written several books on private owner wagons. I last saw Geoff Packham at a wedding in about 1975, and I believe Mike sheppard went to carry on model building in Scotland. Viscount Garnock, whom I never met, went on to buy the Gret Marquess. A couple of fascinating facts was that the York Way curve passed under the back of the shop. The shop next door was used by "ladies of ill repute"!!

Thumpers couldn't haul Siphons or any other vac braked stock as they only have air brakes! I once worked a class 33 from Clapham Junction to West Ruislip, then to Marylebone and return, with a train of exhibition stock which had come up from Salisbury, circa 1986.

The second photo down, the lad with the water pipe on his head looks like Stuart Duddy, now of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

A good friend of mine was 2nd Leiutenant there in the mid to late 60s until the place closed. No doubt he'd have some tales to tell...

I was lucky enough to have worked on the Deltics in service as a secondman at KX from 1976 till 78. Look on the protoype discussions forum for the thread marked "fastest Deltics" to see one of my record-breaking runs actually timed by someone I thought I would never hear from again! 114mph for some considerable distance! Not bad eh?

I don't think the KESR's District Railwa y 4-wheel coach will be back in service for that event as it seems to have reverted to "chicken shed" status in the carriage works!

Some good shots there showing just how $h city the wagon fleet was! A challenge for the weathering brigade?

Note you said he tucked into YOUR cornish pasties....

Note the abundance of hi-viz in those days...

I remember talking to Cyril Freezer many years ago about the original Minories plan and asked him why the loco spur requires an additional shunt move. At Moorgate widened lines the arriving loco, when released by the train departing, had a simple move along the platform into the loco spur, then back out onto the train. On Minories, the released loco had to go beyond the point, set back into the loco spur, then when the next train had arrive, out onto the running line and set back into the station. Cyril's reply was to make the operation of the model more interesting! Digressing a bit, Cyril was most impressed with my Tidmouth Junction plan, 10' x4', with double track main line, double track terminus, independent branch line, goods yard, loco yard with turntable, and a hidden loops to.. OK, it was one of the first Thomas layouts, but to work it properly, especially the terminus, took some careful thought. Tom Cunnington of the MRC has built Minories in EM which has been at Ally Pally at least once.

Like the secondman at Kings Cross who applied for a driving vacancy, his fourth preference was surprising as he lived on the Seven Sisters Road, a couple of miles from KX. He thought he'd got a job round the corner, but then found himself travelling saarf o' the river to somewhere near Epsom Downs .... He got made up to driver at Tottenham Corner so he thought. :scratchhead: Tattenham Corner. :locomotive:

Maybe Roger went to Cricklewood after Waterloo? ISTR he had a preference move back to Rugby having moved there for his driving job in the 1960's. Promotion was slow in those days. He travelled from rugby every day for years like so many footplatemen of that era. As you say, he was a smashing bloke, always the butt of railway humour, always coming back with it as well. thanks for the laughs Rog.

I worked with Stan Braybrook at Rugby in 1974! Sad to hear Roger Gilbert's no longer here. He was nicknamed "Benny" at Waterloo after the Crossroads character!. I got in the cab of a 4SUB with him one day going to Waterloo. He spoke with a very Midlands accent and said he was going to Covent Garden Market to get some potatoes when he finished, the exchange rate was better there, for the lorry drivers. He was off to Spain next week on holidays. So, I enquired, why do you want to take potatoes to Spain? "No, not potatoes you twit, Pesetas!!" Roger was always good for a laugh and a joke. Another old mucker from those days was Clive Everett who was a fireman at Rugby and a driver at Waterloo, lived at Northampton. Is he still around I wonder?

Yes, I think so, tall bloke, dark hair, glasses, management trainee at the time!

A bit like the TCS management trainee we had at Rugby for a while, Mr.Pipes. One day a Garston crew came in with a southbound fright, asked where's our back working? Four hours late, take train xxxx back instead. No, we're booked to take train yyyy back and we'll wait for it (overtime clocking up there..).So says Pipes, you'l take xxxx or book off. OK, we'll book off, where's the lodge? Lodge, what lodge? Well, you've booked us off away from home depot so we need hotel for the night... At which poit Pipes said ok, wait for your own train. No, says Garston men, we'll go back on the cushions. And train xxxx stayed there for a couple of days until another Garston crew could be found to work it!

Top picture, thread 35, I don't think tea cups would make very effective detonators....

Another one taken in the cab. Picture by Carl Strom.

Me on the Waterloo & City Line circa 1983,the end of the line, a rare shot taken in the depot. picture by Pekka Sisskonen There used to be a Euston driver known as "Slow Line" Jones as his initials were S.L.!! Lived at Northampton. There were some witty nicknames around!

Nice to see the pics of some of the blokes I worked with at Rugby. Eric the shunter was always known as "Noddy" for some reason...Driver Mawbey was with me at Waterloo for a while... I was the first person to be recruited on the footplate at Rugby since before the end of steam in 1974!

To answer Godders, I think the first answer is political, they have to be seen to be doing something! As for operating figures, no doubt some will be along soon. Journey times may not improve much with wires alone, as you rightly say some track improvement will surely be built into the project. At one time, London-Rugby speeds were about 90 mph start to stop. As for SR improvements, nothing will ever improve the journey times there much beyond what the are now due to the layout and sheer volume of traffic, except maybe HS3! The politics is to be seen to be creating "capital projects", "infrastructure investment", "investment in jobs(probably in Japan) and the like. Remember, there's an election in 2 years... Me, a cynic?

With a view to it being used by channel tunnel trains I was told at the time.

Regarding future thinking on bridge rebuilding, the bridge on the WLL at West Brompton was rebuilt in about 1970 to 25kv clearances. It still awaits the wires...

Thanks Edwin for putting my slightly tongue-in-cheek comment into more technical terms! I speak with Dungeness power station engineers quite a lot, so pick up an awful lot of info about power supply problems and the phase differences. I KNOW what happens when you connect 2 phases together, having done so when trying to get a set of vehicle lifts to work by holding in a contactor. There was a big flash and a bang, and a couple of burnt out circuit breakers, and that was on 440v! I hate to think what it would do to the grid... Re dual-voltage Basing-Soton, this would make sense to retain the operating flexibility the Southern has always had. What would happen beyond Soton to Weymouth?

That'll be novel, Wales getting electricity! But, back to post 180, according to son, they could use Turbostars on the Uckfield line, but the standard length Turbostar is 11cars not 10...harumph. Power imported from France is DC and has to be converted back to AC when it gets here, something to do with Europe being out of phase with us.