Davexoc

The box and towards the goods shed. Like Cowbit no photos of inside the box, but as the steps have been removed, I guess that would have been a little difficult. Dave

And on to French Drove. Seems quite an imposing building considering where it is. Dave

Focussing on Postland signal box tonight. Whether because it's more remote it has suffered more, but Cowbit SB was in better condition. Maybe Cowbit was locked, because in the collection there are quite a few photos inside various boxes, including working ones he must have blagged his way into, but none inside Cowbit. Dave

Heading towards March now, at Postland on 25th February 1987. Dave

Last from Cowbit, again 26th February 1987, isolated signals with spectacles removed and one missing a section of ladder. I guess being concrete they didn't have much scrap value... Dave

Those Cartic-4s are Motorail branded, but I guess already demoted to freight use. Dave

Oh the Lincoln avoider. When I lived in Ruskington and the ECML was closed to work on the Newark flat crossing, the time that the level crossings were shut compared to open was often debated in the local press. That was before the area was resignalled. After the manual boxes closed, the barriers were down even longer and the outcry was even louder. With the manual boxes the signalman kept the crossing open to traffic far longer than when all he could see on his CCTV was the the actual crossing.... Dave

Cowbit, track now lifted, all dated 26th February 1987. Dave

Winslow station 2nd April 1987 Car parking 6 old pence per day! Dave

A few more from Cowbit. The last three must have been from a later visit when it had warmed up a bit. Are these guys railway employees? Dave

Another aquired image, The Milton Keynes Shopper, 6th December 1986. Did it actually start from Marylebone and call at Quainton Road? Dave

Started as a new thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119239-spalding-to-march-the-end/ Dave

A collection of photos take by my wife's late uncle, who for reasons unknown, saw fit to record the closure and removal of the line between Spalding in Lincolnshire, and March in Cambridgeshire. He didn't seem to have been interested in the trains themselves, we didn't know he had any interest in railways, although he has also recorded some steam preservation images too, who hasn't? Anyway, here is Cowbit, while the track was being lifted, winter of 1986/7 I believe. No idea of the identity of the class 31s, can anyone add further details? Dave

Aquired these from wifeys uncle when he passed away. Don't know what his interest was, but he had a collection around the GCR, Varsity Line, and also the March - Spalding line just after closure. Here is Claydon LNE junction box and panel. Dave

But recent data on car usage shows the younger generations shunning the car, and overall number of car journeys down. The biggest growth market for cars was over 60s women, and by the time the full HS2 is completed they aren't likely to be around. If we do all want to get around by car, then go ahead, lets double the width of all our main roads and see how many people that evicts/upsets. There'll still be nowhere to park, or at least at a reasonble price when you get to your destination. HS2 may not be flexible, you can't run fast and slow trains on the same line, but it opens up more flexibiltiy in the existing lines by abstracting some of the longer distance travel. Dave

Could that just be due to the rot setting in/corrosion as that was the reason for cutting them back which started in the late 70s.... Dave

312 201-4 which IIRC were usually found on the Walsall services via Bescot. 310s were only just being repainted into blue/grey at that time. Dave

Hardly recognisable these days, somewhere near your image now looks more like this. Have been there with our three girls, first time in 2005 as in the photo. Last year took our first grandson and we have always had a good day out. Well worth a visit, not just for boys and not just about trams. Dave

That last picture is interesting because it shows how the streamlining of the undersides of the Mk3s created a new problem. The snow is blown and channeled underneath and around the smooth sided Mk3s but is less apparent around the MK1 BG at the end, flow being more disrupted and turbulant. Snow gets where rain doesn't, Eurostar fairly recently suffered with snow ingress. I remember one winter in the 80s where HST power cars were dropping like flys with power earth faults. By the time they got looked at on depot there was nothing detectable. The traction motor connections were bolted lugs and sleeved in a heat shrunk sleeving. If the sleeving had not been done properly or was deteriorating it allowed snow in which caused the earth faults. The nearest thing we could do to replicate the problem was to have a guy underneath pointing a jet wash at the connections while we tested the cables upstairs. Don't know if the AC electrics had similar problems when the were shoving a push/pull set. Probably not if the connections were in sealed boxes like on most locos.... Dave

I think you'll find LE movements are avoided where possible due to paths or lack of them. Movements DIT are used more these days to get somewhere near. Before The Joint was revamped but used when Newark flat crossing was closed, there was a GBRF movement from Doncaster to Peterborough that tagged onto a southbound Freightliner. I guess Freightliner weren't too fussed because they saved fuel by being dragged by GBRF. Usually a total of 4 or 5 locos. Dave

Shortly after Guiness aquired their two 08s, I got sent over because they couldn't shut one down. Arrived at the security gate to be pointed in the direction of the noise, and found a shut down 08 sounding like a dumper truck running flat out. A swift look under the bonnet revealed just one fuel pump stuck wide open. Just that one cylinder was turning the engine over at significantly above tick-over. A drop of oil fixed the problem, but had to run it on 6 for a while to bring the temperature down. They sound a lot sweeter running on 6 cylinders.... Dave

To show what changing the gearing does, compare 35,000lb for the 08s, to the 25,000lb for the faster 09s. Dave

I am guessing that they are the brackets used when the conductor rail is boarded, like at a crossing point or alongside a designated walkway. Doesn't seem to be either.... Dave

Typo - South Darenth 4CEP 7867April 75 C1968 Should be a VEP rather than CEP And the 33 is a 'Slim Jim' 33/2 which limits it to 1 of 12. Dave

Typically wind is up to 15%, biomass about 5% and nuclear 20%. If the sun is out that could be about 5% or more for a few hours. But as they are looking at the lowest daily demand of the year it is all pretty irrelevant because the coal and gas stations have been wound down. If the demand was only around 30GW as compared to a maximum of 60GW, then the 40% claim is only 20% when it matters. Dave