Jim Martin

 

I am disappointed they chose a named S/L 350. Units are fairly anonymous so you can run the same one up & down a layout all day & nobody will notice. You can't do it with a namer. This has stopped me buying one of these.

 

I'm disappointed about that too. I'm waiting for the Farish version of the 350 to appear and while the Silverlink unit being a namer wouldn't stop me buying, it would make me prioritise other purchases for a bit, until it became clear whether an unnamed S/L unit was on the way.

Jim

Yes, didn't B29 crews had a saying, "Two a-turnin'... two a-burnin'..." ...??

I've never heard that, but B-36 crews had the saying "six turning and four burning" to describe their six pusher props and four jet booster engines.

Jim

John

Try here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/34454-wagon-tarpaulins/

Jim

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It's not really my period, but it looked like an interesting carriage. The Modern Railways article that I was reading is actually referenced in one of the replies to the thread that Mark linked to: what's very striking is just how broad in the beam it looks compared to the next coach: number M3038, which I take to be a Mk.1.

Jim

I was reading a 1963 copy of Modern Railways recently and found a brief article on "Silver Princess", a 1947-built coach manufactured by Budd as a demonstrator for UK service. According to the article, it was later named "Ulster Lounge" (for use in the Ulster Express) and by 1963 was running in the Shamrock.

Can anyone tell me more about the career of this coach? In particular, there's a photo of it in US-style stainless steel finish, complete with what look like fluted lower body sides and roof. The name is painted on large letter boards on the fluted sides. Did it ever run in this form in the UK?

Thanks

Jim

Mark

Firstly: top layout! I've always liked the idea of a "suburban deco" model, and this is very much the sort of thing that I'd have fancied. It's beautifully realised too. I especially like the houses set on the hill - just right.

Secondly: last October you were asking about very small sizes of styrene strip. I think that someone mentioned that Evergreen do 10x20 thou strip, which you can generally get from any retailer that has one of the Evergreen display stands (the product code is "100"). You CAN get smaller though: Plastruct do square rod which they describe as 0.3mm (about 13 thou) square. The product code is MS10P. This isn't part of the well-known Plastruct black / orange display unit, but any retailer that stocks the range should be able to get it as a special order from the wholesalers. Failing that, you can try the UK distributors, who seem to sell direct. The current price is £2.44 for a pack of 10x10-inch lengths, plus postage. It's very small and fragile, and visually almost indistinguishable from round rod; but it "sits" differently when you lay it onto a surface.

Hope this helps

Keep it up

Jim

There are three shots of DB981000 (3/4 roster shot, interior shot, door springs/bogie detail shot) and a 3/4 shot of DB981001 in British Railway Air Braked Stock, vol 2 by Tom Smith. Both were photographed at Mossend on different dates in 2001.

Jim

the picture was taken in 2009 and i seem to remember it was a warrington to allerton wagon move according to beast66606

Thanks. Latterly, the sidings at Allerton were full of container wagons - including several wheel-less KFAs loaded onto other KFAs.

Regards

Jim

 

olive mount cutting

 

 

Do you know what the DBS train is? I wasn't aware of them running intermodal trains to Liverpool and the Allerton wagons for repair (which often did bring container flats to Liverpool) doesn't run any more.

Jim

As an exhibition space it was poor - I have a vague memory of a tiny strip alongside Hursley which was nigh on impossible to move through - but my memory could well be at fault. From memory there was a lot of comment at the time that nostalgia wasn't what it was!

I didn't go to the MRJ exhibition (I can't remember why: I was only living in Watford at the time and I was a religious reader of the magazine / adherent to the finescale creed), but as I remember the choice of venue was a deliberately sentimental one, designed to recall the spirit of the Easter shows of earlier years. I remember a lot of complaints about its inadequacy in the letters to the magazine afterwards (although I think it's to the credit of whoever was editing MRJ at the time that he published them alongside the ones hymning him with praise).

Jim

... depending on liveries released.

 

My money's on London Midland grey/green and Silverlink/Central grey/blue

Jim

Have you thought of PM-ing Paul Bartlett (hmrspaul on RMWeb) and asking him? I posted a similar request concerning some Associated Octel tanks some time ago and he was very helpful.

Jim

Not wishing to reignite the argument but I'll take issue with the idea that burkhardt liked any of the ex BR Traction as in the REX interview he had nothing at all good to say about any of them whatsoever.

Didn't he say that he liked the idea of the 57, although ironically EWS never had any?

Jim

while its upsetting for us enthuasiasts to see class 60's being run down I actually think that they have become more appreciated...if i rememember correctly back to circa 2002 when i used to visit Godfrey road SP down at Newport i didn't bother photographing 60's because they were modern and as common as seeing a 66 today!

 

Im sure back in the transition era people regarded 37's as a menace as they replaced steam yet look at how appreciated tractors are today!

 

as they say you don't realise what you've got until you lose it!

That's just human nature though, isn't it? These days the IC125s are treasured as a magnificent triumph of industrial design and engineering, but I'm sure many people recall the kicking they took when they displaced the Deltics on the ECML. "Turbocharged bacon slicer" is a direct quote from an article in what was then Rail Enthusiast describing the interlopers, as opposed to "a REAL locomotive". Funny thing is, I'd bet my house that the Deltics were treated with the same contempt when they ousted the Gresley pacifics. Twenty years from now, a new generation (and possibly old ###### like I'll be, too) will be casting contemptuous looks at the Class 75, or whatever, and sneering "yes, but it's not a Shed, is it? Now there's a proper locomotive"...

Jim

Definately!

 

Here is a peace offering in the form of 60044 at Elford on a very small car train:

That is, indeed, a pretty small train. Not too hard to model, either. Hornby 60, Bachmann double-deck IPA, not sure about the single decker, though. There was an article on building one in Model Rail a while back, I think.

Jim

Then why ask a totally irrelivant and pointless question then?

 

Why bring the erstwhile removed Ed Burkhardt into it? He has been long gone, and even though he was instigative into bringing 66's onboard with EWS, he was well known for having liked certain existing loco class types, and life extension programmes were intimated when he took over.

 

I don't assume anything - it only makes an ass out of u and me............!

You wrote:

"The last couple of years have been a complete sham with the run down of 56's, 58's and 60's."

and

"This is what happens when accountants run businesses.

FARCICAL"

If you mean that those changes make the railway a bit less interesting to look at, then fine. I agree with you. But I don't think that is what you mean (or at least, that's not all that you mean, or why describe it as "farcical"?) and they're happening, I would suggest, because people at DBS who actually know how much it costs to maintain a 60 as opposed to a 66; and actually know how much the cost of double-heading 66s stacks up against their superior availability and the cost of maintaining a small and geographically-dispersed fleet of 60s for a limited number of trains; and have access to historical information that will tell them exactly how reliable you could make a fleet of 60s and how much it would cost to do so, have concluded that they're going to be better off without the tugs.

So the question isn't irrelevant, because my argument is that while I haven't done those costings, I believe that somebody at DBS has and this is the result; and your argument is that while you haven't done the costings either, you don't like the outcome so they can't possibly be true.

Jim

 

 

And neither have I carried out fiscal comparisons between class types, failures and MPC figures etc (have you?! )

No I haven't, but I'm assuming that DBS (and to a large extent Burkhardt, who was the person most responsible for the 66 takeover) know how to run their business and you're assuming that they don't.

Jim

 

The last couple of years have been a complete sham with the run down of 56's, 58's and 60's. ...

 

 

 

This is what happens when accountants run businesses.

 

FARCICAL.

EWS weren't / DBS aren't running a spotter's benefit. Is there any evidence that not having the 56s or 58s in their fleet has interfered with their ability to run the trains that they wanted to run? Have you done the costings that demonstrate that retaining and maintaining a fleet of 60s would be cheaper, overall, than using a fleet of 66s (and some 59s, I suppose)?

I like the 60s as much as the next person; I'm sorry to see their gradual demise; but that demise is neither farcical nor a sham. It's the way of things, just like the demise of the Deltics, the Westerns, the 9Fs and pre-grouping steam was. And I'm sorry to say it - and I know that it's hopelessly unsexy to say this - but what happens when accountants don't run businesses is that they go bust, usually in pretty short order.

Jim

Another curious crossing is the one between Cerbere (France) and Port Bou (Spain). Here, there are the following complications:-

Different track gauge on the two sides.

Different voltages on the OCS.

The legacy of Franco's Draconian regime.

To deal with the first- trains may have their gauge changed whilst still moving (the Talgo); they may have the axles/bogies changed at one of several points within the border complex; or they may have their loads transhipped- something which is relatively easy with containers, but which had to be done box-by-box in the days of the citrus fruit traffic. At one time, several thousand local women would be engaged on the transhipment of the seasonal fruit traffic.

The situation of the different voltages is relatively easily dealt with, in that the Spanish locos run on reduced power on 1500v catenary.

Franco's emphasis on strict border controls leaves a legacy to this day. The southbound local passenger trains are run by SNCF, the northbound ones by RENFE. Both return empty, so that the Gardia Civile could control access and egress, and this situation continued well into the 1990s (and probably still does). The SNCF trains shuttle back and fore on the eastern tunnel, and the RENFE ones on the western one.

All this activity takes place on a relatively narrow ledge hewn out of the rock- the various freight transhipment activities take place in constricted yards in side valleys, which mean that trains like the Stobart one have to be split to fit the sidings.

I haven't had a chance to visit Hendaye on the western coast, or the (currently moribund) site at La Tour-de-Carol, so can't comment on them. The latter had absolutely huge station buildings to accomodate the queues of people filing through frontier controls in the Pyrennean winters.

I'm going to Algeres, which is just north of Cerbere, next week. My family have been primed with the idea that they might be without me for a day while I travel down to look at the border. Presumably it's all this faffing about that makes a day trip by train to Barcelona not really practical, despite the moderate distance.

That "border stations" link (above) has an interesting page on Cerbere and Port Bou, too.

Jim

After saying that more research might be needed, I did a (tiny) bit. I couldn't find a list of recipients of the AM online, but I searched the Times website archive for references to the Albert Medal in 1937. There are five instances of the AM appearing in the Court section (which is, I assume, where awards would have been noted). One of these was 21 May, which is obviously too soon after the event. The others were in the editions of 11 June, 14 October, 19 November and 24 December. You have to pay for the Times archive, so I'm going to have a look next time I'm in Liverpool Central Library.

Jim

Thanks to everyone who replied. It seems surprising that the engine crew didn't receive some sort of official recognition. More research needed, perhaps.

Jim

On Platform 1 of Liverpool Lime Street station is a commemorative plaque reading:

Erected

by their workmates at this depot

to Commemorate

Driver J Ball & Fireman C Higgins

who sacrificed their lives

in their devotion to duty

20th May 1937

Immediately below that, there’s another plaque which reads “This memorial, removed at the closure of Edge Hill MPD, was rededicated by BR management and staff, 1986â€

Does anyone know what the story behind this memorial is? I’ve tried googling various combinations of “railwayâ€, “accidentâ€, “driverâ€, “ballâ€, “higgins†and various years in the mid 30s, but not had any success.

Jim

This gives me rage. I need to read about Phil Collins' train set in today's Mail to calm myself down.

You read the Daily Mail to calm yourself down?????

Sweet Jesus, anyone with that much rage should be surrounded by some sort of exclusion zone until the storm has passed.

Jim

Was it a case of an American wanting American products? or that he genuinely thought they were inferior? Having traveled the world quite alot in my time, I find that people from most countries tend to be more patriotic than we are.

Burkhardt certainly didn't rate BR's motive power very highly. He seems to have practically despised the Class 47, for a start. It has to be said that the first GMs arrived because of Foster Yeoman's dissatisfaction with British locomotives. The 60s were presented as being the UK's answer to the 59s, but their introduction was marred by numerous faults whereas the 59s (and later the 66s) seem to have worked more-or-less straight off the boat

Jim

Can anybody kindly explain please......this is seen as relevant to the O.P, my apologies if others disagree..........

 

I've heard complaints from various industry individuals, some who run rival freight firms, about the fact that EWS/DBS wont sell their 60's.

 

In previous years there have been issues with the way EWS disposes of it's hardware such as Loco's that THEY OWN, and competitors have gone running off crying to the rail regulator to complain about this, the result being that EWS got slapped wrists and were told they HAD to make Loco's available for sale to competitors etc and were not allowed to just scrap them.

 

Well, how the hell does that work ?

 

I buy my car and I now own it.........it's up to me if I want to scrap it on the day of first registration if I so choose, it's MY car, so, as long as it's paid for, maintained and then disposed of in a non-hazardous manner, I can do what I like with it.

 

Well, the same with EWS/DBS. They OWN the Class 60, as they did with previous classes, why is it an issue what they do with vehicles that EWS/DBS actually OWN and then decide they don't need ?

 

I don't wanna see them sitting around rotting but then if they wanted to melt them all down and sell the metal, why not...........THEY OWN THEM.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

Ed Burkhardt gave an interview to Rail Express back in 2007 and he made this exact point. This was after he'd left EWS, so he didn't

have an axe to grind (or if he did, he'd probably have been looking to stick it to EWS's then-management).

In the early post-privatisation period, I think that there was a reasonable argument to be made in favour of forcing EWS to put redundant

power up for sale. At that time the only UK source of off-the-shelf main-line locomotives was second hand sales of ex-BR power, EWS had sole

control of that supply and they could use it to exclude possible competitors. That isn't the case today and I'd have thought that anyone

who wanted to acquire a fleet of locomotives could do so relatively easily without going cap-in-hand to DBS.

In the same interview, he also said "EWS should replace the Class 60s as soon as it possibly can, unless it has plans to shrink its participation in the UK market even more". Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Personally, I'm a lover of the 60s and consider myself lucky to be living in an area that was one of their last strongholds, but the practical arguments in favour of the Class 66 seem overwhelming to me.

Jim