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A possible book for you would be Midland Main Lines which covers the Midland main lines from 1957 to 1963. It also includes a lot of what the author observed at the time (although these are mostly around Derby). Rob

This doesn't answer your exact question (as it doesn't show type) but in the back of Keith Parkin's supplement to his book about MK1 coaches he has a table about liveries seen at Paddington on 12/8/61. Out of the 534 coaches seen 418 were Maroon, 94 Chocolate/Cream and 32 Crimson/Cream. Spilt by origin 286 were BR, 179 GW, 38 LMS and 31 LNER. Rob

95 was Waterloo or Nine Elms and Bournemouth. This code was introduced 6 March 67. Rob

And here is the first one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIDXi-cbOWU. I do like the color (well it is a US train) of this - reminds me of another "High Speed Train" set! Rob

The view from the US - https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/pacer-trains-uk/index.html Rob

Are you saying I should read ALL the posts before I post anything...….. But to go back to the question now I have seen all of it one possibility that if it is 1960 then it might have been a special to test the new MK1 Pullmans as they were delivered 60-61. Rob

Best bet would be the Bradford portion of the Yorkshire Pullman in the 60's. This portion ran between Leeds and Bradford with 2 or 3 MK 1 Pullmans and a MK1 BCK. The BCK was added between Leeds and Bradford as there was no Pullman brake in this portion. At the start of the 60's the MK1 would be maroon and the Pullmans in traditional colours but by 1967 both the Pullmans and the BCK could be blue and grey. This portion of the Pullman was also famous for still being steam hauled until September 1967. Rob

The book "Train Formations & Carriage Workings of the Great Western Railways" says that SR steam could be seen on relief trains up to Birmingham before WWII. It includes 4 pictures of such trains - 3 with D15's (one of them being one of the linked ones above) and one T9. All were taken 1925/26. Rob

The one bit of good news here in the US is that they are changing the laws to allow the phone companies to stop these calls. At the moment even though the phone company can easily see these are spam calls they are not allowed to stop them. It would be nice to believe that this change is being done because these calls are, at the least, annoying but I believe it is due to another reason. From what I have read about a 1/3 of all calls in the US are now spam calls and the phone system is having difficulty coping - and as the phone companies don't get any money for these calls they want then stopped. But whatever the reason I will be glad when they are gone. Just have to be concerned about what is the next way we will get spammed! Rob

Still OT but... The GN were part owner of the Cheshire Lines Committee so Deansgate wasn't far from anything for them. The GN had use of Trafford Park Engine shed to service their engines. Some of the trains were worked by GN engines all the way and some of them changed for GC between Retford and Guide Bridge. The other way GN trains got to Deansgate was via Colwick, the Pinxton branch then over to the Midland via Pye Bridge and Matlock. These trains weren't diverted to run via Woodhead until the early 50's. What is interesting is that until this time wagons were being sent from Grimsby to Manchester via Colwick/Matlock because that gave maximum mileage to the GN - even though the GN had long gone by this time. Rob

There are a few pages about Milford (both as a Passenger Station and as a goods yard) in the book Mainline to the West (Basingstoke to Salisbury) by John Nicholas and George Reeve. It includes two pictures of the goods yard, two pictures of the signal box, two freight timetables (1909 and 1958) and the signal box diagrams (1885 and 1905). There is a bit of text - mostly copied from a 1934 article (Southern Railway Magazine) and a 1960 article (Salisbury and Winchester Journal). Rob

Hi Simon, Glad to here that it will be put to good use! As I intend to buy your upcoming book I will list the other codes mentioned over the weekend in case they are of use. Rob

The truly excellent book Southern Steam Operations 1966 - 1967 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Southern-Steam-Operation-1966-67-Simpson/dp/0711038678/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=Southern+Steam+Operations+1966+-+1967&qid=1559086960&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr0 contains a selection of the codes used on the Bournemouth line. The C2, 2C, 9G, 3A, G2 are the pre 1967 codes and directly correspond to the head codes used on Steam engines. If it started with a number then it was a class 1 to 3 train - if it started with a letter then it was class 4 to 9 train. 2C was Waterloo or Nine Elms and Bournemouth (class 1 to 3 trains) C2 was Waterloo or Nine Elms and Bournemouth (class 4 to 9 trains) 9G was Waterloo and Lymington Pier. 3A was Clapham and Chessington South or Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier or Wareham and Swanage. G2 isn't listed (but if you care G1 was Waterloo to Portsmouth via Eastleigh). The new codes came into use 6 Mar 1967 (although some documents mentioned them from 5 Dec 1966). 15 was one of the new codes - it was Bournemouth - Weymouth. Rob

From looking at the diagrams the top one could be Carlton North Sidings looking North. The train would be on Up Slow. The companion picture matches the next box to the north - Royston Station looking south. Both on the Cudworth route. Cannot find any pictures of the box to confirm - maybe someone else will have more luck! Rob

The book "British Rail at Work: East Midlands" has a photo of a set with the same formation - it says it was for crew-training. Dated 24th September 1982 and said to consist of 43195, 43196, 40516, 40514, 40512 and 44093. Rob

Damn - even after BREXIT we still have to put up with Russel Brand! Rob

Actually it is much more complicated than different states. There will be differences in the tax rates at local levels as well - for example the local school district could add some extra sales tax onto your cup of coffee if you drink it in that area. So the tax rate will change every few miles. These extra taxes get voted for on election days (it isn't just for selecting politicians) - the build up to days like yesterday are such 'fun' over here as folks argue their case of why they want your money. One exception about different tax rates is if you buy a car - then it doesn't matter where you buy it, you will always pay the tax rate of where you live (nope - I have no clue how that works if you live outside the US). Rob

I believe the name comes from the TV show "Tales of Wells Fargo" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Wells_Fargo which was imported by the BBC and shown from 1957. The show featured Stagecoaches a lot - something Wells Fargo (the bank) were famous for. Rob

According to the LMW track plan book I mentioned there was a signal box on the up platform at Elton controlling the Level Crossing and siding. It says it was reduced to ground frame status by 1956. Rob

The booklet Track Diagrams of the London North Western - Section 5 Northamptonshire by R. Forster and M, Instone has the diagrams for this line including Elton. The Elton diagram is dated 1884 with annotated changes for 'before 1912' and between 1944 to 1949). As far as I know there is only volume 5 of this series - I have never come across any other volume. Rob

I had the same question about a fork that said it was compostable and tried the same experiment - the answer was that this stuff wasn't compostable in my pile. On research I found out that you need some industrial composting processing to grind the stuff, turn it over continually and to heat it to a higher temp than your pile will ever get to. However I see that they are working on that and here http://www.greendotpure.com/materials/elastomer/ is a new plastic replacement that will compost in your bin (although it may take a while). Rob

I have ordered from them many times and never had a problem. On the topic of emails on my last order (a week or so ago) I just got one email saying they had received the order then I received the package - there were no emails saying my package had been shipped etc, However if I logged into their site then I could find a link to track the shipping. Rob

Jinty 47203 was used as the shunter at Leicester Goods - there is a picture of it in "The Great Central From the Footplate" at Leicester South Goods. It replaced J52 68839 and was itself replaced by D3785. Rob

Not true down here in California - the Christmas stuff was out in full force the day after Halloween. It wasn't like that when I first came here - the day after Thanksgiving was when it started but over the last few years it has moved forward. Black Friday seems to have turned into something else - I saw 'Black Friday' deals in the shops last Saturday. Rob

Well I should have said it was originally a 3-SUB converted to a 4-SUB at some point. This is what 8143 looks like now http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=538 Rob