Davexoc

The old railhead at Calvert served two purposes really, landfill and waste for the Greatmoor EFW facility. Somebody on here can probably post the date of the last trains, but IIRC the waste contract ended before the landfill which was spoil from Crossrail, which was still running late in 2019. When you look at this photo of a spoil train being unloaded, one of the landfill dump trucks leaving in the cloud of dust as the next takes up the loading position, you can understand why they would move it all further south a little to be nearer the Greatmoor building in the background. I know it is not far, but if the container handling is just in the hands of a couple of reach stackers, it would save a lot of time and shuffling of boxes....

The first two pictures look to have been taken from the new bridge in the background of the third, which is just west of the old Claydon station/level crossing, so nearly joined up. There will be some pointwork to go in soon for the junction to Aylesbury and access to the HS2 infrastructure yard I guess.

Question. Can or will they just demolish the road bridge and incorporate it into the embankment to go over HS2? The green answer is yes, but is that acceptable in the structural specification of things these days?

No commemorative booklet this time then? I inherited this from the wife's late Uncle. Would probably cost nearer £20 now though.... 1973 The Association borrowed Burton Agnes Hall, 6106 and a couple of Auto Coaches from the GWS and 1420 from the Dart Valley Light Railway. Must have been quite an event.

Some views of Dinmore Manor you don't get to see, including raking the ashpan.... As for running in the dark, the overnighter on the SVR provided sister loco Bradley Manor, and the timetable had gone to pot by the afternoon. Some spirited running through the night though soon had the timetable back on track for the following day. The sound of hammering up and down the valley was awesome at night, and talk in the cafe at breakfast was who clocked what speed, because it wasn't 25mph....

T'was foggy at Toddington on the evening of 30th December 2016 as Dinmore Manor gets ready for bed.....

I see what you've done there, substitute bus for lorry, but it's about time you plonked some little people on the platform.... A couple of my photos, one in Greet tunnel travelling tender first taken from the brake van, the other at the end of a Mince Pie special day when the fog descended. We travelled back from Winchcombe in the DMU that evening, and seeing or rather not seeing where you are going, showed how important route knowledge is....

This one I believe would be referred to as Cow Roast (yes it is a place!) in railway photography locations, or at least the tail of the train is rounding said curve. Probably taken from the bridge on Newground Road which leads to the Ashridge Estate (NT).

I think this one is nearer Pitstone than Cheddington, probably taken from the canal towpath at what is now Pitstone Wharf Marina https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.8371179,-0.6548946,3a,75y,26.72h,87.79t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMJNh6AgcWAKBIoJHu_IiD2A8LN3ZRNPnU7yGRM!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMJNh6AgcWAKBIoJHu_IiD2A8LN3ZRNPnU7yGRM%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.7808856-ya335.97287-ro-0.03972421-fo100!7i5376!8i2688?entry=ttu

The old way could be impressive, depending on where you were. I did see a notch 5 departure from Paddington once, which must have been loud under the roof, but it had to be cut short due to the speed restrictions across the pointwork towards Westbourne Park. Always thought this was a good gettaway.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ICcOu0NkM Looking back I don't remember the cooling fans competing with the turbo scream, but due to the fans being engine driven, I guess the temperature if at an intermediate stop means the coolant is pretty hot in its heat cycle, and as soon as the revs rose, the coupling engaged and the fan(s) ran flat out too...

Brings back memories, myself and youngest daughter (18 at the time) did a fire and drive on her back in 2016, which included disposal. Great experience, she loved it too, posing for photos at Cheltenham....

Well HSTs were 415 volts 3 phase whereas LHCS was a DC supply, as for the Blue Pullman, before my time I'm afraid. I do know that trying to plug a powercar into the shore supply from the inspection pit bridge on shed is a right PITA....

Appears to be standard fare for snowplough fitment, seemingly still having an operational boiler which was required when pressed into service for snow clearance on pointwork. A manifold would then be added over the buffers with a couple of steam lances used to manually clear the snow away.... The ploughs IIRC would be fitted end of October(ish) and the boiler etc tested ready for winter, so selection was partly down to having a working boiler back then. The shift welder would normally have to get the oxy-acetylene out straighten them out/adjust to fit to whichever loco was selected. Pretty sure there is a photo of a loco fully kitted out somewhere in the class 31 photo thread.

I remember the A34 when it ran through Newbury winding its way across the abandoned railway line on its way towards Sutton Scotney. It all got lost when it bypassed Newbury and joined the M40 at Bicester, changing number the other side of the motorway. The original continued on towards Birmingham, where it still is, then on through Stafford, Newcastle, Congleton and on to Manchester. Working in Portsmouth one day, chatting to another service engineer who was based in Rugby and had been using the route for over 10 years, he commented that although Newbury had been bypassed by then, the journey time had never really improved. The new route was longer and although missed out alot of the towns along the way, the amount of traffic had already increased to fill it. That was probably 15 years ago now....

More rewiring recently, interspersed by a visit to MKMRS show last weekend. Picked up a few bits from P&D Marsh, and 4 more MSV 'Stone' tipplers. I know the underframe is wrong, but they do look the part when in a longish rake, totalling 40 now. Annoyingly after creating four track sections on the up road last week, I find this week there are only 3, all thanks to the heat expanding the rails and reconnecting at a board joint. Down road is now 4 sections after getting the slitting disc out, but the up is right next to the platform and a bit awkward. Might have to split the boards slightly and just dress the end of the rail up with a needle file. Testing now proves I can get 4 trains visible out front on the mains, so, so far so good. Now I need to move onto the yard and shed areas....

Yes Stourton, and it is still there. I installed some machinery that arrived via Southampton and Stourton into the Arla Dairy just up the road. The drivers dropped the trailers and boxes in the yard, and promptly went back to their yard 300 yards down the road because they had a better canteen... To be fair though, Hunslet Cemetery is not far behind the photographer, although that whole area is very different these days....

I'm pretty sure that is Derek Tregidon in the cab of the crane. He was our overhead crane driver and one of the brake block changing crew. Before he got to play with the new toy, he would be looking after the steam crane that it replaced. Bob usually wore brown overalls and a white crash hat, so he is possibly the one nearest the coach and crane in the second photo. The guy in the middle wearing a yellow bump hat is Mr Jinx, one of our fitter's mates in The Factory. And the guy in the wooly hat might be Ken, one of our fitters who had a Moggie Traveller and also a Citroen Safari which just glided over the speed bumps on the road around the turntable to everyone elses annoyance.

I believe so. I worked with Paul quite a bit which was around the time of 50041's mishap with the sleeper from Penzance. The roof of the telephone exchange in Westbourne Terrace IIRC, gave a good view of the crash site. Happened to coincide with the periodical check of the battery room.....

Interesting photo, 20073 ex-tablet catcher fitted loco with the deeper side windows, working with a green 20141, albeit with one blue engine room door, pulling a hopper that is loaded with coal but stencilled with the stylised 'Stone' logo. And you've got to love that dumpy looking signal, obviously that short for sighting through the bridge on the right.....

That looks like John Wiggins and Paul Koch, who in 1976 I think were still apprentices. John, his father running one shift, went onto Brian Scarrot's shift who I later joined in 1984, while Paul went to work at Paddington ODM.

It could just be on an ECS to Old Oak from that photo, and the first class ought to have been at the London end.... Looks a bit grubby to be coming off an exam, but if its had new traction motor or generator brushes, the ECS runs were used to bed everything in before releasing back onto the main line.

I don't know, but they could have used Pullman branded antimaccasars for the seats in place of the plain 1st class ones....

Ropley, easy to spot And I think there is one here just in shot to the right of the loco, well used to be now, Barnetby...

Far from new, they have been part of the Milton Keynes landscape for years, controlling the flow of the River Ouzel into the River Great Ouse at Newport Pagnell thus reducing the flood risk downstrem towards Bedford and beyond is one function. And MK is well over 50 years old now....

Substantial mobile crane on site at Oxford Road - Aylesbury this evening. Presumably to progress the new road bridge...