Wickham Green

Indeed ........... backgrounds are a valuable source for all sorts of information.

Hiding in shame !

Yes, I stand corrected - !/240 & 1/241 DO seem to have retained 9' wheelbase ( http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/BRFreight1Issue.pdf )  ...... no wonder early BR bananas got bruised !

Take a gander at this thread : 

Filthy silver tanks with less filthy ends p'raps ...... ? ..............................

Looks like Rowfant handled both classes of liquids : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowfant_railway_station

My 'earlier' one has solid steam pipes, no boiler bottom, chassis screw down the chimney and a dirty great motor* in the cab ......................... seriously worn out but will still just about haul itself on a good day : must build that Comet chassis for it one day.

* pre-Ringfield

"Oil on the Rails" will have all the answers.

If the Rowfant train has two barrier wagons at each end it's probably carrying 'Class A' liquids ( silver tanks in '59 ) rather than 'Class B' ( black ). 

14 hours ago, mikesndbs said:

 

That is interesting indeed, did all USA tanks have steam heat?

They were principally used around Southampton Docks - so steam heat may have been of use for Ocean Liner Expresses too !

On 12/02/2020 at 09:46, Titan said:

 

I would think that it would be a nice publicity exercise for the current LNER !

Reminds me of this - which I photted at Anerley Station back in '88 .......... wasn't visible last time I passed that way.

................ not visible because the building's gone !

15 hours ago, ikcdab said:

Well the conversion would include the stock....

Re-gauging MkII coaches ( or un-re-gauging in some cases ) no problem ..... re-gauging a three-cylinder compound ( among other locos ) not so easy.

Maybe re-gauging Scotrail would be simpler ? - and may involve less mileage ( I guess here are figures SOMEWHERE on the interweb.).

13 hours ago, duncan said:

Regarding the possibility of a tunnel under Beaufort's Dyke which is 700 to 1000 feet deep, how deep can a tunnel go ?  How much deeper would you have to go to avoid vibrating the old decomposing explosives ?  I understand there is a rather large exclusion zone round the munitions ship wreck in the Themes.

it's been said that the Richard Montgomery would wipe Sheerness off the map if she ( he ? ) blew up - clearly Sheerness is not inside any exclusion zone .... and I've been within, perhaps, a hundred yard on board the Waverley'

1 hour ago, ikcdab said:

Bearing in mind the limited amount of track in Ireland, might as well convert it all to standard gauge.

WOT ? - an' leave the RPSI nowhere to run its May Tour ( etc.) ??!?

Do you mean you actually managed to take a photograph at East Croydon without getting pounced upon by the Security Ogres ??!? ( or is it just taking photos of trains they object to ? )

On 10/02/2020 at 11:34, doilum said:

One Thursday in 1976 it managed to bring down the overhead wires at the south end of the station! ..................

it's normally electrics that bring down the wires 'cos they have funny pantomime things on top ............ how'd a diesel manage it ?

Amazing that the LMS were still building anything on a 9' wheelbase after the war - must've been in a hurry an' just dusted off old drawings. ( The BR vans were on 10' WB )

7 minutes ago, Jack P said:

Hi guys,

 

Question for those more in the know, i'm after some information on the LNER O6's built at Brighton in 1944. What were some of the main differences to the standard 8f's? I've seen some information on tender types; riveted/un-riveted, but is there anything else I should be aware of?

 

Thanks in advance!

Nothing that didn't appear on 8Fs built elsewhere ......... I think the tenders were part welded - but would have got swapped around later in life.

24 minutes ago, pH said:

 

............. Very low tech, much cheaper than a fixed link, and earlier versions have been used satisfactorily for many years.

Never had rail tracks on them tho' ..............

Indeed - we have the lowest unemployment figures for many a year .............................. but zillions of people who are 'working' are only doing so part time - lots of them on zero-hours contracts.

Warning - this thread's getting political.

16 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Problems solved thanks to storm Ciera

 

https://theulsterfry.com/featured/storm-doris-blows-isle-of-man-north-to-form-land-bridge-to-scotland/

That, of course, poses a few problems for through rail communication  - necessitating stock capable of running on standard gauge over here, 5'3'' over there an' 3' in between ! - not to mention motive power, generally diesel over here, generally diesel over there and electric, horse an' steam in between ......................... but I'm sure the Irish Department of International Overland Transport can sort things out.

Anything finished in teak - or 'teak' - in '47 or early '48, say, wouldn't have received carmine & cream 'til a number of years beyond 1950. 

Yes, very nerve wracking as there's precious little that's solid enough to hold onto while persuading levers into the gap ............ but I've got one open and know what's involved for the others now ..............

But then LSWR-contemporary colour film was notoriously unreliable ....................................

45 minutes ago, LMS2968 said:

All the Fives' boilers, which were Class 3B, which had vertical throatplates but not retrospectively fitted with domes went to 21 element superheaters, up from 14 elements. The vertical throatplate boilers which were fitted with domes had 24 elements; sloping throatplate boilers had either 21, 24 or 28 elements depending on the build date. 5025 and 5110 (and 5000) are domeless, so 21 elements.

 

Information from Raising Steam on the LMS A.F. Cook (1999) RCTS, Huntington ISBN 0 901115 85 1.

 

As I said, fun engines to research!

Indeed - but I bet no amount of research would track-down this little incident at Lostock Hall - near the end in '68 .............. sorry, nothing whatsoever to do with Long Wheelbase Fives - but it's a nice photo an' it is a Five.

The Great Western were still building - what might be considered - antiquated 0-4-2Ts for their branches long after the other Companies. Swindon's accountants obviously thought it more cost-efficient to scrap and start again while the larger Companies preferred to close any branches that couldn't be operated with time-served motive power.

15 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Didn't the late Cyril Fry have a model of an Irish International Railway?

Yes - it should be reopening this spring ( http://www.enjoymalahide.com/home/all-about-malahide/casino-model-railway-museum/ ) ......... hopefully before I'm over for the 'International' Railtour in May.

22 hours ago, petrox said:

Another book which might be useful is South West Railwayman by Donald King (published by Allen & Unwin)  - King was a class 4 signalman at Lyme from 1957.  The book contains photos of Radial tanks, Ivatt 2MT tanks, 14xx on trial, and class 122 single railcar.  Also shown from early 1900's are Terrier and O2 tanks.

 

I'm pretty sure the South Western's two Terriers were bought specifically for this branch - but found to be under powered .... so the Southern tried the 'next size up' - a Brighton 'D1' but this was overweight and had to have the coal & water capacity severely restricted ( I don't think it was any more successful than the later 0-4-2Ts ).