Wheatley

Gresleys especially were very popular in breakdown trains, both as tool vans and riding (staff) vans.

Peco N gauge bridge girders do just fine for a small bridge (20' or so span) in OO. As well as something in N which also works for a smaller version of whatever it is in OO, another deliberate use is to create a forced persective with smaller models towards the back to make them look further away. That's very easy to get wrong though.

As a TOC employee I've kept out of these threads on this and other forums, and Facebook, because it's often difficult to determine just which side - government or bemused observers - has less of a clue how this is actually going to work. I shall see what happens, as an ex-BR employee who has never switched horses and always waited to be TUPEd I'm very expensive to get rid of and just inside the early retirement bracket, which is some comfort. I will just make three points though: 1. Drivers' salaries are always quoted. I'm very happy with what I'm paid but very few people, incuding most managers, are on as much as drivers. I'm an MS2 in old money and currently about £20k behind the top of our driver's pay scale. I wish I was in ASLEF. Manuel doesn't even send me a diary any more. 2. The 400 people quoted as being paid to argue with each other about delays are actually the main drivers in reducing delays, congestion and overcrowding. As well as arguing they are also paid to get the the bottom of why the delays are occurring and fix it. Which is why they get paid more than me and the Station Manager (but probably not as much as drivers). 3. It will be interesting to see what happens when an attempt is made to level up salaries (it's not in the plan but do you really thing they'll leave it alone ?). ASLEF have spent 25 years playing both sides off against the middle and they're very good at it, much better than TOC HR managers. Hence (1) above.

And neither of them are trying to be all things to all people, both are picking off untapped bits of existing markets. Accurascale in particular seem to have hit gold with the 'iconic but really fiddly to kit/scratch build' end of the wagon market. If I had a couple of million quid to start a new business I'd be looking towards electric cars or whatever we're going to replace gas boilers with. I wouldn't be trying to break into an already saturated toy market.

Not to mention ordnance ! Or at least drop tanks.

There is a large bungalow near Wakefield built around an old carriage. The local authority tried several times to have it demolished as it had no planning permission but failed every time. Apparently, because the carriage was in use as a dwelling before the relevant laws came into force it doesn't need permission and neither does any 'extention' to it.

Still available to pre-order from Hornby, Antics, Kernow and Frizinghall.

Five and a bit pages of discussion about standardisation later, the fact remains that UK railways have never had a single standardised system of braking, coupling or MU control on every train. That would suggest that the end user has never considered it necessary or even desireable.

From an operating perspective, when derailments, usually of short wheelbase wagons, ceased to be a daily occurrence and it was no longer necessary to have tool vans and cranes available at almost every depot 24/7. Why it ceased to be a daily occurrence is a combination of less traffic and better suspension and wagon design. From a rules perspective, when priorities gradually changed from keeping a stiff upper lip, sweeping up and carrying on as soon as possible, to finding out exactly what had happened and why, and ensuring that all the lessons which could be learned were learned. That was a much more gradual change and it started before privatisation. Harrow was only seven years after a war which had seen widespread bombing of civillians and some heroic rescues carried out against a background of ongoing danger from further raids, UXBs, and a need to keep things moving wherever possible. It had to be done quickly and people were used to that and geared up to it. Gradually that sort of efficiency came to be seen as undue haste, at least for fatal accidents, especially by the police and HMRI as clearing up quickly destroys evidence. Road accidents take a lot longer to clear up now as well, for exactly the same reasons. For non-fatal accidents delays in clearing up are more often down to lack of resource, again due the infrequency of these events these days. Northern had a disabled 150 left on a running line for two days a while ago because both teams qualified to fit wheelskates (nationally !) were already committed elsewhere. Privatisation and the inevitable contractual complications which come with that haven't helped, but it wasn't the primary cause.

HT only ordered 5 to start with, and if they're still accumulating mileage that suggests they don't actually have all 5 yet. Some of the 195/331 mileage and training runs were done with passenger footboards and other non-essential bits missing. A unit which has not yet run enough miles to be accepted into traffic by its leasee cannot be sub-leased by the TOC which has not yet accepted it to a third party to run in traffic. When the 91s were withdrawn after Eschede, Northern Spirit lent its 3 Class 321s to help run a skeleton service as I think did WAGN ? but both TOCs had plenty of other units to cover the shortfall. No TOC would be expected to compromise its own services by giving up a sizeable chunk of its fleet, regardless of the ins and outs if whether it was technically, contractually or legally possible.

Positive comment - like I said, it's a concept. If it's modular it can be chopped/changed/extended to provide accommodation for staff and their noticeboards / Ipad chargers. Less positive comment - It's not just TfW who think that actual staffed ticket offices are so last century/century before though. A chatbot on your phone can sell you national tickets and doesn't hide in the bit with the heater when it's cold. Likewise heaters and doors on waiting room just encourage people (not necessarily passengers) to hang about in them. You managed to get to the station in the cold without freezing to death, keep your coat on til the train arrives. Much less positive comment - has anyone else noticed the D-train on one of NWR's 'visualisations' ? Self-combusting trains under a wooden canopy should be fun !

Or the collective Hitachi/ORR/TOC engineering teams now have a full and accurate picture of the problem, which we (and the press) don't. Edit - i.e. what Coryton said at the same time !

WeIl this was Network Rail"s 'concept' for Kirkstall Forge, lots of sleek modern glass screening and a funky covered atrium thing. https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/planning-permission-sought-for-new-station-at-kirkstall-forge ... and this is what we got: content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1620854192738264936046.jpg Bision beams, tin cladding and a bit of B&Q powder coated fencing. And a few block pavers, there's posh.

What Gordon said. In normal circumstances you would offer the train to C as soon as you had 'Train entering Section' from A. (i.e. unless the train was terminating at B or there was a reason why you couldn't, eg another train still in the section ahead or a local instruction). You would also (normally) group bell signals if you could to avoid your mate next door having to get up too often. For example, if you were offered a train on the down at the same time as one was almost but not quite passing you on the up, you would normally send 'TES' for your up train back at the same time as accepting the down train. Less normal ut still widespread was the practice of giving 'One and unpeg' for 'Train out of Section', thus allowing your mate to merely look up from his Racing Post and make a mental note of the time instead of having to get up to answer the bell. If you got 1 back straight away then you sent the 2-1 as per the regs because that meant he had company and was standing by the bell for that reason. Bell signals from B might be audible on the platform as a 'thunk' depending on how hard the signalman at B was hitting the sender. There was a documentary on one of the TV channels some time ago about the boxes at Stockport which were, at the time, an Absolute Block oasis in a sea of TCB/MAS signalling - at one point the signalman being interviewed comments that his mate next door was obviously upset about something because he was getting 'sarcastic bell ringing', which completely stumped the interviewer but would have rung a bell (pun intended) with every signalman watching ! Then there was the "Barnsley Branch between 10 and 11 am on a weekday" soundtrack while six boxes were simultaneously working by omnibus telephone whilst listening to the 'Golden Hour': "Be read on't up. 1977" "Too early. On line." "Must be after 1977, I'd left school when this came out. You can have 'Out' for than down man" "Giz a slot Waddy" "1978 ?" "Sounds about right. Passing me on't up" "WADD ! SLOT!!!" "Got it. 'Be Ready' Don" "Got him. You can have a 2-3 back when you're ready. Horse and cart for Leeds PCD" "Shall I just come down there and get my own slot ?" "When he retires I'm going to nail that ***** slot indicator to his mantlepiece as his leaving present..." "Can't be 1978, she were still in that other group with him out of whatsname in 1978. 1980 ?" "At last, thank you" "Sorry. What would I want with a slot on me mantlepiece ?" "You can forget to tell your lass it needs dusting" "Company..." "Righto"

Good question. As per mine of 2nd March (before the discussion turned into a pasty-fest), the DfT appear to think the Trust already held the TWO https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2010/2136/contents/made

The idea on motorways is to use them in queuing traffic, ie when the vehicle cannot do more than 37mph even if you wanted to. Once the queue clears it's back to manual control. There is some logic to that, tailbacks tend to cause accidents in the tailback as people get bored of trundling along in first and start fiddling with the radio etc. Presumably, given the number of morons who already think it's ok to text at 70mph the only way that's going to work is if the car hands back control at 37mph automatically.

"The Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway" by Martin Bairstow (1993) contains two photos of signalling interest. 1. "Huddersfield - Meltham local entering Netherton", there is a lower quadrant signal at the entrance to the tunnel (reading towards Huddersfield. Undated but another photo credited to the same photographer (D Ibbotsen) has a 1931 date on it. 2. "Last regular passenger train from Meltham takes the single line token to Lockwood, 21st May 1949". Timber signal box (with bobby and token hoop), LMS tubular post signal facing the other way with what looks like a UQ miniature arm bracketted off it. Regarding industry, the next photo dated 1954 shows brand new David Brown tractors occupying almost every part of Meltham station, I count at least 131 including some loaded onto Medfits. The line was only 3 1/2 miles long so they wouldn't have had to wait long for the previous train to get out of the way.

No idea about tampers but the fire supression kit on a DMU is designed to put out engine fires. If you set light to something away from the engine it doesn't work.

It goes through the middle of the platform though.

Thanks K. Corrected my original text slightly as i'd got my dates cross-hobbled.

Good question. There are NCC minutes from 2012 on line agreeing to the disposal of the 80m directly under the bridge as at that time GCR owned the bits either side. The new brickwork predates that though. Presumably it's hiding replacement steel or concrete girders but whilst I could understand a heritage railway wanting a cosmetic brick screen it seems a bit extravagant for a local authority, they're usually just concerned that it doesn't fall down or cost a fortune. If they are planning to reopen that far it that could by interesting, NCC were supposed to starting work on a cycle path across the site in 2019, including demolishing the part of the platform nearest the bridge. I can't find any reports of it actually opening though. Anyone from GCR actually know ?

Not even that realistic. What breed of cow has 4 spots and a diagonal stripe ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hornby-R7121-Cows-Accessory-Multi/dp/B07N89D63J

Your map is wrong. I know the line went through Borchester because some bloke built a model of it. Hornby black and white cows, despite having been painted by someone who's never seen a cow, don't look too bad if de-horned and painted black.

I'm amazed they lasted this long.

Some time ago, during an archaeological survey of a Roman field system in the Peak District by mature students, attention turned to an 18th century field wall on Roman foundations. It zig-zagged down a slope at quite a regular 'wavelength' whilst its partner on the other side of the lane was ruler straight. After much discussion of theories including building it round now-gone trees, Kev the Postman came up with Rouane's Theory of Distracted Artisans. This roughly stated that one should never try to find too much logic in anything done by a gang of blokes, especially bored ones.