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Declaring a failure is (or at least was) correct railway language. If you had problems, if there was a phone handy (much easier with today's cab to shore) you spoke to the signalman - no signal persons then! - and let them know what was happening, they would ask if you were a failure, but you would usually say give me a few minutes to try to sort it out. If there was no joy you would go back to the signalman and "declare" that it was a failure, that was the words the signalman needed and he then knew that you weren't going to move and could start arranging assistance.

In my time I never heard anyone use "turnout" for a point, the pway more commonly called them crossings, which confused me when I first started, but I also heard them use switches as well. But I don't ever remember traincrew/ops staff calling them anything other than points.

Which was a right pain in the bum if you were running L/E with a pair of locos as you had to climb into all four cabs when changing ends. In later years a few 37s were modified to switch them on/off at the same end - causing the wrong lights to be displayed at times!

It's not very old - but this is from a signalling notice (yellow peril)

I signed the road for many years and only ever knew them as Twerton long and short tunnels

Very strange looking without markers and no numbers either?

Stoke Gifford (Bristol Parkway) was another of the many yards where this was done - the hand crane stayed there into the late eighties.

I was sent to rescue a HST once after it had hit some cows - 47 on the rear and drag it back - I think it had hit 3 cows, we went over the remains of at least two. After coupling up I walked forward to have a look how things were progressing - I had brought fitters (and P way) out with me - and remember vividly the damage to the front of the HST basically everything below the buffers/headlights was missing or destroyed. However the thing I remember most was not blood or guts but that everything was covered in part digested grass and it stank!

Not sure in which direction the train is going, though I would presume its propelling. The wagon would have its brake pinned down to keep the wagons buffered up (or couplings taut if it is going the other way) the last thing you would want on a train like that is everything bouncing backwards and forwards - the driver wouldn't want to touch the train brake on a move like that - especially when someone is standing on the side of the wagon!

I'm pretty sure no ODA's had any vacuum equipment/pipe , however quite a few pipe wagons had a through air pipe fitted (ZDW). ODA's also had clasp brakes, different suspension and roller bearings, I looked at doing this conversion too but couldn't find anyone selling the correct axleguards/suspension, though I have been thinking lately that it may be possible to do something by butchering one of the forthcoming Dapol VEA's

There aren't many places where you will find points at the end of sidings to form run rounds - the only place I can think of one is on the down side at Westbury (11&12 rds iirc) There was a headhunt at Stoke Gifford until recently but it wasn't very long and trains were indeed shunted via the main line - normally towards Filton. Trains to head in the Up direction were shunted out of the yard usually onto the Down reception or down loop where they then ran round, they could also be shunted across onto to the up loop to run round though not normally onto the up reception (pre Royal Mail depot) as that required opening a GF at the east end to run round/depart the train. *this was before the two loops became platform roads

Well it's no surprise that the mayoral election is a few weeks away! Can't see it ever happening myself - at least not in my lifetime! - its been 40 years since the first proposal already

Agreed on that I don't know why they didn't just fit them upside down - admittedly that may have put the reverser above the power handle but I don't see that that would have been a problem. Even after the best part of twenty years driving them I still moved it the wrong way sometimes!

I went on a fire training course at Old Oak like that once, may have been the same chap, I remember him lighting an aerosol can and spraying it like a flamethrower over our heads while we were sat in the classroom- certainly got our attention! I also remember him lighting a large fire with wood and diesel in a cage outside which unfortunately he picked me to put out - but it was a good lesson because if I had seen a fire that large in real life I'd have run a mile but I actually put it out quite easily with the correct extinguisher.

Pretty sure the ear protection stickers were on others as well as 50's ? I've never seen the AWS sticker before either - wonder when they stopped using those? - I guess when the rules changed to say you couldn't leave shed without it? As you well know AWS only ever failed "just as we were coming onto the depot"

At Powderham there's a boatyard/yacht club with yachts parked up on a narrow strip of land between the estuary and the railway, it's the only place where I was ever cautioned by a signalman "as there may be a boat in the four foot !"

08's were never a problem to start, And yes the manual pump is / was (a lot of locos were retro fitted with an electric pump) for fuel and didn't need to be pumped before starting- unless of course the header tank had been allowed to run dry!

I wouldn't waste your time with him Mike - he's clearly just a troll

I'd be interested to know when and where you were a guard and who taught you all this. I retired three years ago but it was still a requirement then to check the brakes were working on the last vehicle of a freight and I'd be surprised if it's changed since, and in fact when I started it was a requirement that you checked the last three were applying. Just because there is air coming out of the rear of the train pipe and there are no cards on the vehicle does not mean you can rely on the brakes to be working, and the fact there are no cards on the vehicle does not ensure that it has not been isolated.

Well sorry but you weren't doing your job correctly, it has never been in the Rule book that a lack of a brake application ensures that a train is complete. There have been numerous incidents over the years where a fully fitted train has continued forward after parting. There are still locations where if the tail lamp camera is not working the signaller will request you , even on a DOO train, to physically check the train is complete with tail lamp.