Tom Burnham

Happy birthday!

I'd have thought the sides of the original wagons would accumulate a few dents and scratches after having ten tons of coal dumped in them time after time! Certainly if BR 16 ton mineral wagons were any guide...

And one of the roads under London Bridge station, which had an atmosphere consisting chiefly of diesel fumes, had a stone set in the brickwork marking the boundary between South Eastern Railway and LB&SCR territory. Also iron doors leading to former bonded stores - haven't ventured under there for a few years so don't know whether these features survived the drastic reconstruction of the station.

As I recall, the idea - which was only expressed in very broad outline - was to have the network used only for autonomous self-propelled freight wagons for a period in the early hours.

The last time I remember seeing cattle trucks in use was around 1969-70 when I saw a complete train of them on the Ipswich line at Ely Dock Junction. Didn't see if they were loaded or empty.

Snowdown colliery was right next to the Faversham to Dover main line. Tilmanstone and Betteshanger collieries were a bit off the main line - Tilmanstone was up the East Kent Railway as you say.

Presumably complied with the latest and most approved Board of Trade requirements, unlike practically every other platform in the country. There are still platforms at very much busier stations with grandfather rights from their mid-Victorian origins.

That looks like the building that's still there by the entrance to what's now the Amberley museum. I seem to recall the tiles are an early type of concrete tile but I'm happy to be corrected.

Thanks - as I understand it, the side rods are to do with equalising the suspension, rather than coupling the wheels together.

Interesting narrow cab on the traction engine type loco on the right. I guess so that the driver can keep warm and dry while the shunter stands next to him in the rain!

In the 1960s and 1970s (so a bit earlier than the OP), EPBs were almost universal on the Dartford lines. The main exception was the xx.36 from CX and the corresponding up train which were semi-fast to Ramsgate (from memory) and used 2-HAP units, often in 10-car formations. Non-stop from London Bridge to Woolwich Arsenal and I think usually ran via Greenwich, although Lewisham and Blackheath was a possibility. There was an up train of HAP units that called at Sidcup in the mid afternoon which was a rare appearance of first class there.

Reminiscent of Edward Beale!

Difficult to get a really good photo of it, but the Manston Airfield Museum has a very extensive 4mm scale model of the railway sidings at the aerodrome, which formed the terminus of the Manston Camp Light Railway from Birchington. Opened in 1918 and traffic ceased about 1925, although the track wasn't lifted for a few years longer. The museum could do with paying some attention to the rolling stock used, but the size is impressive.

Circa 1963-4 a couple of friends and I used to spot at St Mary Cray or Sevenoaks, where we saw plenty of Kent Coast electrics and the occasional diesel. For a change we'd once in a while go to Bethnal Green - also mainly electric but with overhead wires. Some of the units were very similar, but exotics included the sliding door Shenfield units and most remarkable of all the Clacton corridor units painted lined maroon. And even some of the Eastleigh designed units had Gresley bogies.

In keeping with the Gothic Revival architectural style, the booking office had linenfold panelling, probably in oak. It's included in the station and hotel's Grade 1 listing by Historic England, so I hope it survives. I believe the booking office is now a restaurant.