Davexoc

Fenny Compton is a place I used to stop by if I had time, or if I'm right, the road bridge on the Claydon road. The bridge behind the Class 47 in J2944 used to carry the line to Woodford Halse over the Oxford canal. The closest shot I have is this from 2008, the bridge is hidden now. 168112 up Chiltern service. When there are no leaves on the trees you can still see the parapet where the Woodford line crossed by the pocket wagon in this shot, 66593 southbound Freightliner And for the Class 33 shot J2936, from the other side of the bridge, a pair of 67s top and tail an up W&SR service. I haven't been there for nearly nine years, so it may look different again by now.... Dave

I believe there is another livery, second photo on the news page with class 92 seems to show it. Also a poor shot in the rain at dusk of the paper train through Ruskington, Lincs. The only freight to use the joint line at that time. Also in the train are another variant of the twins with a different body/roof profile. Dave

I believe there was a fatality at Willesden depot in the late 70s that led to their introduction. Dave

Everything used to be shut down after servicing on a Christmas Eve, but then each shift would have a C supervisor, fitter, electrician, mate and labourer to go around and start everything up once per shift until the shutdown was over. Don't know if there was a crew in case anything needed shifting to put batteries on charge or such like. I did do the Christmas Eve night shift once, got away early leaving a couple of local lads to man the fort, the M40 was totally empty at 2am back in the 80s. Dave

1450 is facing Cheltenham, so auto is leading towards Toddington. Arriving into Toddington from Buckland during a Bank Holiday downpour. Dave

That's the one, brand new, name board sheeted over as it is yet to be opened. Shot taken today from the verandah of a passing TOAD. Dave

Here's another one; Anyone know where this one is? Dave

Several vehicles did have a white roof in the 80s. http://www.departmentals.com/photo/975046-3 And Prometheus Lab 6 (which later became Test Car 5) Dave

50s on the Waterloo - Exeter were shut down as the SR didn't like all those fumes. It did sometimes lead to flat batteries in the winter, arrival - shut down, start up when realeased by return service, move to stabling road and shut down, start up to attach to next service then shut down, hopefully starts again for departure of next service. The problem with the older engines was that they had a starter winding within the generator rather than a starter motor, and had engine driven oil pumps. Uses alot more battery power before you get enough oil pressure to open the fuel rack. We did get one 50 towed back from Stewarts Lane that wouldn't start, infact it wouldn't turn over. Found that two cylinders that fired close to one another had hydraulic locked due to leaking liners and bent both con-rods. As the total movement on the crank was less than 30 degrees there was no chance of getting to the big-end bolts, so the con-rods were gas-axed in the crankcase...... Dave

This one is a little contraversial, but could qualify. It has no facilities apart from a couple of shelters, but the old station building still stands, divorced from the platforms. It has two platforms, but four faces and has a frequent service for passengers, and a fair few freights. Barnetby, or Barnetby le Wold by its full name. Where the photographers/spotters outnumber the passengers, or at least they did before resignalling. Showing the full extent of the current facilities. Dave

You could take this view http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-detail-of-bogie-and-driving-wheels-of-british-rail-class-47-diesel-49377225.html and using 3'9" as the diameter, scale it from that. Dave

Not a good photo, but a pair of 158s leaving the Hubbert's Bridge towards Boston. Taken from the car while waiting at the level crossing. Dave

One stop on, Metheringham. 60052 picks up 153366 on a Sunday special working. The unit had a siezed final drive/axle and was being skated from the siding it had limped into some weeks earlier. No service on a Sunday normally at the time. Dave

Station or Halt? The goods shed is fairly substantial and the Station Master's house is a private residence, but Ruskington just north of Sleaford fits the bill these days. RHTT heading for Lincoln 73096 stopping for water from an ex-Hampshire Fire Service water tanker, with far more onlookers than any service, bar Lincoln Christmas Market days when it was 100+ in a single 153! Dave

Kings Sutton, south of Banbury and just north of Aynho Junction. Stopped by on the way to the office some years ago, and this flew by.... A change from the usual intermodal, Chiltern, FGW or Virgin Voyager at that time. I believe it was a trial run with auxilary water tanks on a freightliner flat. Didn't last long as too many photographers complained that it spoilt their shots. Dave

The vessel on the left is a landing craft, the one on the right is also RN, but not sure what. As for that view, it has been totally transformed, by the retail centre Gun Wharf Quays, and the Spinnaker Tower, view from Note the tower block behind the signal box is still there. Dave

IIRC there was an article in Rail Express Modeller a while ago, but which month I couldn't say at the moment. Dave

Note to manufacturers; single tail light illuminated well into the 80s.......

That would probably indicate they were being switched to the down slow at Ledburn junction prior to the Leighton Buzzard stop. Where they 110mph units first stop LB? Dave

Not injection moulding, but my employer has just increased production of a blow moulded container. At over £12,000 per mould (existing design means that doesn't include any development costs), it means just to pay for the mould, we have to sell over 275,000 mouldings. Now that doesn't include the cost of the raw materials or the power required to produce them. Raw material costs are around £1200 per tonne for larger consumers. As a smaller moulder our annual electricity bill is well into 7 figures. People need to realise that tooling up to produce a couple of thousand models is not cheap, and the more components that are required to produce said model, the higher the end price. You can buy cheaper tooling using inferior materials, but that isn't going to save huge amounts of cash. Dave

That is some load for a mere class 31, looks to be approaching twenty vehicles. Just wondered, are C2286 and C3210 taken from the same vantage point, but with different length lenses? Dave

Unfortunately I think this one toasted itself today on a Holyhead to Windsor charter at Northampton. Lots of delays and cancelations to Virgin and LM and was showing as the 5Z66 running SB at Milton Keynes 260+ late. Report @ http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/breaking-hundreds-of-passengers-stuck-on-train-following-fire-near-northampton-station-1-7944012 Doesn't look as bad as 47500, so may make a return. Dave

At some point in the near future it is almost inevitable that standards will change. The current crop of chips will become obsolete, hardware and firmware will change and the latest and greatest won't support the older stuff forever. It is the nature of the beast. Of course, there will be a market for supporting the older products, but the prices will go up and up. Just look at industrial electronics, where a CPU board of twenty year old system can still be bought new, but if you want the latest and greatest, the whole set-up costs a few quid more. Dave

Agreed, but the headline was that no coal was used for power generation. Stop co-firing and how will the resultant shortfall be made up? Probably coal.... Dave

They have wound them down recently as it has got warmer. What happens this week is they fire back up as the overnight temperatures are due to drop. I do believe the headline should read 'No power from coal only stations' because doesn't Drax co-fire biomass with coal, biomass being a low calorific fuel that burns cleaner with the presence of coal? Anyway, the maintenance teams now have plenty of time to get ready for next winter when we get a dull, foggy, windless spell, and renewables can't produce 20% of our power requirements..... Dave