mcowgill

Unfitted trains are still a regular occurrence on the Festiniog, all the heritage freight stock is unfitted and until recently most of the stock used for infrastructure work. The PW dept's main loco (Harlech Castle, the loco involved in the incident) was not vac fitted until an overhaul this winter and as the PW train is out on the line for inspections and maintenance almost every day that would give an indication of how familiar crews would be at working unfitted trains. There are some unfitted trains that you don't want to come to a halt above the crossing except in the case of the gates being closed, so a controlled approach and the ability to either stop or continue rolling past the sign is appropriate - the Festiniog is unique in running demonstration gravity slate trains and these are run alongside the rest of the normal services on the line particularly at special events. There are specific local instructions for running these trains, so the issue with the incident is more a matter of non-compliance with operating procedures than an issue with the signs themselves. Martin

Not forgetting Craig Blundell on the drums

The three original locos were painted SR green at Pilton rather than Eastleigh, the chances are that the paint was mixed on site and may well have shown variations over the 'standard' brew. Martin

Nice buildings, recognised them immediately, I cycle past the remains of those on my way to work. Martin

But wouldn't it be fun to run a Class 91 into Paddington and show GWR what a proper electric train looks like!

There's a photo of a 45xx tank on an Ilfracombe train in the platform at Barnstaple Town alongside a Lynton & Barnstaple train

Depends what 'next day' meant in this case. If it was sent Special Delivery then it needs to be at the post office by 4:30pm at the latest otherwise it will be 'day after tomorrow'. If it was sent first class there's no guarantee of next day delivery and no comeback for missing the target. Whatever the reason the seller is the only person who can raise a claim about this.

It was an F VVC, it's since been followed by a 160 VVC TF and now a Chinese 135 TF LE500 - a glutton for punishment!

I was once asked by a local garage if I'd mind finding another garage for next year's MOT for my VVC K series engined MG. Apparently a long time was spent checking their emission testing kit as it only registered CO2 output, NOX & CO were zero which wasn't possible... They finally stuck another car on it and it worked fine. Perhaps the fact I left it with them with the engine almost glowing might have contributed, always taught to warm up the car properly before taking it for a test! Martin

The Climatic Research Centre was cleared of manipulating the data, all that it was guilty of was restricting access to the raw data for fear it would be misused by those with opposing views, and a terrible public relations mess that blew this up out of all proportion. The manipulation was confirmed to be limited to necessary adjustments to different sets of data to allow them to be compared or used as larger series of data, a normal scientific process when dealing with old historical data.

There are several liveries that were worn with the SR number plates, I wouldn't be surprised if we see some of these. Pilton was slow to repaint the locos so they ran for quite a while in L&B holly green with the Manning Wardle works plates being replaced on the bunker sides with the SR number plates. Lew was the first loco in the full SR Maunsell green livery with SOUTHERN on the tanks and 188 on the bunker sides when delivered new in 1925, a single numberplate was fitted to the cab backsheet. Somewhere around 1927/28 (can't remember the dates here at work) Yeo & Exe were repainted in Maunsell green with the usual black/white lining but without the large SOUTHERN lettering or bunker side numbers, the only indication of ownership being the cast numberplates still on the bunker sides. All three locos eventually gained the full SR livery by the end of the 1920s, the nameplates being moved down the tanks a little to make room for the large SOUTHERN lettering, the numberplates being replaced with large painted loco numbers on the bunker side sheets, one of the plates being moved to the car backsheet. Interestingly Taw went straight from L&B livery into full SR around 1929 and never carried the intermediate livery. Martin Martin

Sadly Dick passed away early this year. aged 94. 70013 worked a charter down the GEML a week or so later carrying a wreath on the smokebox door. Martin

I'll admit to cycling on a pavement every day on my 12 mile commute home. I approach our village along a truncated road which becomes a footpath/cycle-path at the end, it runs parallel to and above the slip roads and underbridge that form a junction with the A12. Where the path emerges I want to turn right, followed by another right turn at the first turning 200 yards further along, On my left is the slip road from the A12, curving sharply to the left and descending steeply with the view also obscured by bushes, I can't see the vehicles approaching from the left. To the right the road continues to curve round at about Hornby 2nd radius, high bushes and fences mean I have no visibility of traffic from that direction. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0032945,1.0567737,3a,75y,4.16h,75.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sK4P9GuyxHtBs4yNGzeACBw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 What would you do? I continue along the pavement, due to the shape of the road I can't see what's coming up behind me as I'd need the skills of a track sprinter, able to cycle in the perfect direction for a lap while looking backwards over the shoulder. This seems preferable to playing russian roulette with cars I can't see only to turn right again in a few yards. I carry slowly on along the pavement, turn right and drop back onto the now quiet road, keeping an eye out for pedestrians who aren't expecting me. That's often the reason why people cycle on pavements, the alternatives are not safe. The best solution to this problem would have been to continue the shared use path further along using some of the excessive road width for a wider pavement. Martin

The locos involved were the Cotswold Rail ETH 47 fleet, from memory these were 47714 (Anglia turquoise), 47810 (debranded Virgin red), 47813 (debranded FGW green) & 47818 (ONE livery) 47818 https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-class-47-locomotive-working-a-diverted-one-anglia-service-at-shepreth-134939151.html Martin

Gareth, The 7mm Association produce both the 2 & 3 ton Ffestiniog variants http://7mmnga.org.uk/Slate-wagons-and-chopper-couplings.php Martin

Ooh - a Highland Railway pannier

Might also make a few ScR modelllers happy... Martin

I believe it is being moved to Locomotion from the EARM at Chappel who have asked for the loan of the E4 2-4-0 as a replacement Martin

Photo bombing the Tour de Yorkshire gets your railway in front of a huge TV audience of cycling fans around the world. There are plenty of people out there wanting to ride the same routes that races follow and any serious tourist attraction will want to get themselves known to such people. If you haven't watched live cycle racing on the TV you may not be aware that during the (many) periods of nothing exciting happening the places the race goes through get plenty of coverage from the commentators and the helicopter video feed. It's only a few days ago that the Worth Valley were sending out images on their social media feeds for this year's race when the trophy went on a tour of the route, keep a look out for both the Worth Valley and the Embsay & Bolton Abbey railways on Sunday May 4th. The NYMR might get a mention the day before as the course runs west to east through Pickering but not right past the railway this year. Martin C

Looks like someone's let the magic smoke (and steam) out of the decoder - it'll never work again

The closure is partly due to Unilever (Colmans) sharing the site with another manufacturer. Earlier in the year Britivic announced they were closing their Norwich operation and moving Robinsons & Fruit Shoot production to other sites. The Britvic decision caused Unilever to review their operations at the same site in Norwich resulting in the Colmans announcement. Martin

Triang Jinty....

I believe the platforms are a relatively recent change, extended to that length sometime around ten years ago, the station building was demolished and the connections to the yard taken out at the same time. Martin

Martin Fuller's thoughts on this in his history of the Talyllyn locomotives is that the weatherboard was fitted from new, the belief is that the photograph dates from 1867. What is not obvious from the image above but is clear from the cruel enlargement in his book is that the weatherboard is heavily waisted in the same style as Kettering Furnaces No 3.

35018 made it's debut on a passenger train on Saturday morning, a charter from Carnforth to York and return, it appears to have been on the receiving end of a green paint brush. The return working was supposed to be being double-headed by Galatea & British India Line but I understand that 35018 was failed at York with mechanical issues and 45699 worked the return alone. Hopefully it's nothing more than teething troubles and it's back in service shortly. 35018 passing through Shipley, 30th September 2017. Martin