t8hants

Today's quoted price for delivered to the scrapman is between £100 - £115 depending on the type of steel or casting, so BR were asking 400% more than the things were worth.

They would also be getting a lot less because the breakers would have to take cutting costs into their offered price.

Has all the hallmarks of a deliberate preservation prevention policy.

I have often wondered, what was the value of scrap in the late 1960,s.  We were only getting £120 per ton for steel at the height of the Chinese buy up prior to their Olympics.

So going back, putting in the costs of gas axing etc, plus there were still mountains of WW2 armour and shipping there was no shortage so prices must have been low.

I have long suspected that BR charged well over the actual rate they got per loco ton, because they didn't want all these locos preserved, or lots of little light railways making their modernisation plans and the Beeching cuts look foolish.

The acoustics of gunfire are quite strange, what is audible twenty miles away, may be completely silent only two miles away, depending on the geography and atmospheric conditions. 

Lots of witness testimony to this in accounts of American Civil War battles.

Living on the I.W. I often hear gunfire, which can only be the Navy somewhere down Channel or the tank gunnery range at Bovington.  The Bofors guns on Whale Island used to be a splendid background to a Saturday years ago.

My dad was in the Artillery during the move on Italy, he told a similar tale. When the Germans fired, the Brits ducked; when the Brits fired, the Germans ducked; if the Italians fired, nobody ducked but when the yanks fired, everybody ducked!

My German mates Uncle told me almost the same thing, he was captured and became a POW at Leamington Spa.  Forty years later he was still carrying the photo of the English girl he met and fell in love with, but his mother wouldn't let him marry.

Has a Ford look about it, might be an early version of an AA type

Groups of New York

The Battle of Halfway

Pattern

Battle of the Flab

the Great Recapture

B-Day

The Buns of Navarone

Lulu & Lulu Dawn

Each week the loosing layout will be smashed in front of its creators eyes, their treasured locos and rolling stock hurled by giant catapult into the canal of despair, until finally standing proud in its isolation, the winning layout, to be given amid much simpering humility to a tear stained orphan.  Which it is later reveled in a red top exspose was the producers son in disguise.

I bailed out halfway through last nights episode and won't return to it.

It would have made an interesting one hour programme, but I have no interest in the ensemble cast of 'characters', thats not what I watch for, but sadly that is what modern 'reality TV' is all about.

The one good thing about modern programming is it is doing an excellent job in weaning me off it.

It would appear that full credit must be given to the security staff who stopped anyone going in the building from the moment the fire was discovered.  I am sure this prevented loss of life, if people were milling about or trying to rescue their car chaos would have soon followed.

The last few months have certainly made our much vaunted fire safety measures look rather thin.

Hi

 

I am intrigued by the Bedford, it looks great. Is it a ML or MSC or am I wrong?  The body is one I have not seen on a ML or MSC before and it has WD type wheels which again to me is unusual. You have seen my drawing of the Bofors SP Morris. I have done drawings of many of the Bedford 30cwt trucks, I would like to add yours to my collection.

bedford 30 cwt pt1.png

bedford 30 cwt pt2.png

 

Thanks

Hi Clive

My little Bedford started off life as a K type furniture van, however by the time I got hold of her the the disc wheels were beyond dangerous and the van body had died as a chicken coop.

In order to save the poor thing the rear axle and military wheels were recovered from a very scrap Bedford OX, the rear body, tilt and frame I made myself along with the pseudo military style lockers.

The cab need some seventy five pieces put back into it, to replace parts devoured by rust worm, and the cab back is now solid rather than two pieces spot welded together, (always a weak point for Bedford longevity).

Just to complete the amalgam the mud flaps and parts of the spare wheel carrier and frame came from the Bedford QL tanker blown up in the film Battle of Britain.

She is now closer to Military M type, it was either all of the above or scrap and although I am totally biased I do think she looks pretty.

Gareth

If you still want to add her to your 'collection' please feel free I have more photos if you like

Here is a photo of my Morris-Commercial C9/B attending its first show in 25 years, after just completing a full re-restoration, all I got from the scrap yard was the chassis the rest was modeling at 12" to the foot.

A platoon of truck bombs would be an interesting thing to try and stop, likewise these autonomous cars they talk of, quietly delivering a quarter of ton of explosive to your door.

Well I cannot let mention of HMS Vanguard pass without a gratuitous photo

 

 

IMG_0576.JPG

 

Magnificent.

 

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Temporarily hosted by the Still and West pub on its last trip out of Donkey Popyard, at least the new carrier didn't drop in on its way past.

I took these on Sunday after we had been playing leapfrog with the floating flats aka Celebrity Eclipse  all down Southampton Water.

Nice contrast in sizes

I have always liked this photo my father took on the Ryde to Donkey Popyard ferry, when we were leaving the harbour.

I think in the date is the early 60's.

Two of my Great Uncles (standing left and sitting right) on the appliance they won a major National competition with in the mid 1920's.

Anybody remember that BBC documentary from the early 70's that said by the year 2000 we would only be working for ten hours a week, but didn't mention we would need to work sixty to make end meet.

I suspect this is a similar prediction, slightly right, but the reality will be with a whole raft of things we never saw coming.

I can only afford to buy last owner vehicles, and I drive them into the ground, a scrappage scheme robs me of my choice of a replacement vehicle, so the old one (Pug diesel estate)  has to keep going.

Nobody's mentioned that the rise in diesel pollutants coincides with the change to a cheaper formulation, as well as the introduction of the highly toxic unleaded fuel, that the petrol companies so desperately wanted us to adopt world wide.

I am most encouraged that the national grid will be able to cope with this massive increase in demand, though I would also like to know who is going to pay for the laying of the new charging grid and how the Government intends to recoup the lost fuel tax

My Grandfathers Sentinel steam wagon belonging to the Sandown, Gas and Coke Company.  He did regular runs from Sandown railway station to the gas works.

I am slightly confused by this,Tornado has been granted the clearance to run at 90mph because it has been made to modern standards of inspection and improved metallurgy, etc.

The train its dragging as I understand it consists of period rolling stock, which I would assume was not made to modern standards, but does not appear to be a governing factor, or am I being too simplistic here?

My fsnet went at 7:45 this morning and poor old OE is still trying to send the last email I forwarded to myself, I wonder if it is locked into a loop forever.

Chatting to an ex railwayman the other day he was he was very pleased to inform me that my terminology was wrong and there are no frogs on a railway.

He went on to explain that the item I call a frog is actually known as a crossing, he then named its parts, which to my shame I have forgotten.

Indeed when I happened to look something up in the Peco book of railway modelling they also briefly mention the crossing and then go on to talk of live and dead frogs, which as my mate said should either be living at the side of the P'way or squashed dead upon it.

So why did the word frog come into use when there is usually such a determination to be correct in all details in the hobby?

Why do we not refer to live or dead (insulated) crossings on our point work?

Just thought I'd ask.

A WW1 Railway Operating Department loco Type unknown to me though.

 The next picture will be a scruffy but still working loco