Davexoc

Must be his cousin at the top of the current last page in the class 47 thread then.....

Didcot by night, well 19.00hrs....

I wonder if that is just about burying those overhead cables. Just up the way a bit next to the station there is a patch of land due for development at some point. Contained in this document https://milton-keynes.cmis.uk.com/milton-keynes/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=kmK0W1OuaMKDzof3UUbQGQCJSRf8z6izoypfsu%2FyWVlgr2Uumloofg%3D%3D&rUzwRPf%2BZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3D%3D=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2FLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D is the plan to remove the level crossing, which is a bridge on the existing road alignment....

Presumably that is Codnor Park, near where the MR Butterley joins the MML, not to be confused with that early container service 'The Condor'. So that must be a bunch of preserved locos either coming or going from the MR, being towed by a 58 which is propelling a failed MGR out of the way.....

Shut down for a fuel point exam, as you can't get an oil level on a running engine. Coolant would be topped to overflowing, oil if required, washers topped and sandboxes if fitted. During colder months the air compressor anti-freeze reservoirs would be topped with methylated spirit (the clear stuff), and importantly the various reservoirs drained of air and water. The engine bed tank should also be drained, which will give an indication of what might be leaking up top.... A quick look around for condition of brake blocks, slack adjusters, obstacle deflectors, shifted tyres and check the driver's fault report book.

Get real, the car analogy just doesn't work, it is one vehicle. What I was trying to point out is that a rake of 10 coaches will not all have been through works at the same time, or the same works for that matter. Paint fades with age, and paint doesn't always match from batch to batch in the first place. It is quite prototypical to have slight variations within a rake, and even 50 shades of grey on the roof. And I don't have low expectations from manufacturers, there have been some very suspect offerings. I just don't buy them and wait for what I want/need.....

Ranelagh Bridge was an outdoor concrete apron variety, whereas Old Oak Common was a three line through shed that could take 6 locos at a time. Southall was a semi-open through shed catering for several DMUs at a time. But if you go more modern, look at the current set-up at Tees Yard (you can't really call it Thornaby any more...), it looks like you could move it somewhere else in a matter of days.... As for how long it takes to fuel, it depends much on whether it is a quick splash, or a fill from almost empty. If you're looking at 900 gallons in the dead of a hard winter, almost an hour, as the fuel starts to freeze....

The ride height isn't that noticable when running around a layout, and as for colour match, the real thing wasn't all fixed sets churned out through the paintshop at the same time. Rail Blue faded, especially when regularly tripped through the washers, so some variation is quite prototypical. Each to their own though....

I thought it had been for years and recently was becoming worse due to OCC trying to adopt the 15 minute community approach. As for the bridge, the level of rainfall doesn't help, but neither does all the building on flood plains. Just around the corner last week Tesco Abingdon was forced to close because the River Ock burst its banks and flooded their car park. The Ock being a tributary of The Thames. All this run off of building and paved areas is just increasing the peak river flows and accelerating the scouring of banks and any foundations in the way....

Not until Tuesday, the WCML is shut south of MK due to major track work around Watford....

Still running in your loco before getting the airbrush out? Go on be brave, you did a pretty good job on the cement tanks....

There's not just the class 40 here, there is a class 31 lurking beyond the furthest brake van, and what I would have thought was a class 03 towards Sleaford West signal box. But the cab roof profile looks more class 04, which I'm sure had all gone by that year.... I always find the High Dyke photos interesting, having used many of the back roads around the area to avoid Grantham and Melton Mowbray in the early 2000s, and they give some raison d'etre to the features and structures of that area. During those years, the somewhat hazardous flat road junction on the A1 just north of Colsterworth was modified and the High Dyke railway bridge over the A1 allowed the dual carriageway crossing point to be removed.

If it had been kept open, then would we assume the junction at Grendon Underwood would also have been retained? If so that could mean WR power running to and from Paddington could have been included. It would also have allowed avoidance of the Met. south of Amersham and still running into Marylebone via High Wycombe without using the single line Aylesbury - Princes Risborough line. The Calvert landfill site certainly bought a mix of stock to the truncated line in the later years, and via Claydon LNE junction allowed the link between GC and WCML/MML into the '80s, and hopefully again in the near future once EWR and HS2 get completed.

I think the diffuser discs are missing, making the dominoes look odd, meaning you can see the lamps behind. The Syphon is an internal frame but still has a full compliment of lower vents and shutters rather than being one of the plated over variety examples.

Found another train parked up this morning, orange 66 on the rear of the NTCT sat just outside Winslow with the front just over the Little Horwood road bridge. That'll be the third of the two in three out again on Thursday RTT plan.....

Unplanned trip past Swanbourne Station this evening as Google wasn't showing the Mursley road closed by 'The Betsy' tonight when it was, but showed it closed yesterday when it wasn't..... Anyway, lots of lineside trunking now in place together with some cabinets. There was a Freightliner 66 parked up just beyond the road bridge towards Bletchley, which looks like the 6Y56 according to RTT, one of three in today, but only two out. Two more in tomorrow and three out are currently showing scheduled.

It appears to have now been scrapped. I remember seeing it in 2007 and it was largely intact if a bit green. Pic here from 2014, somewhat sad looking; https://allanjenks.smugmug.com/Other/Battlefirld-Line-Shackerstone/i-HqKV5fR/A Someone had the flamecut numbers from it for £500, and it has donated parts to 5 other locos according to; https://www.facebook.com/groups/790376557666383/ RIP - D14 (45015) in service for 26 years, but somehow survived for 36 more years......

Something that might be of some interest if you weren't already aware, MKMRS have done Fenny Stratford, but set in the '50s....

I see what you've done there. You often post some excellent images of infrastructure without trains, but this one is the reverse, a train with no sign of infrastructure........

Does the servo need adjusting on your signal?

There's just something about this one that really I like..........

I can't place it at OC, so Southall or Reading perhaps....

45015 at Swindon circa 1979

Dropped the scrap yard board in over the tunnel section to see how it blended in, not too bad really. The overhead crane is a bit freelance, being made from bits of a NGS Borail kit for the crane section, with a cabin fashioned from plasticard and windows reclaimed from modified RTP buildings. The framework is from the RTP power station turbine hall, with added plastrut beams. Investigation of the parcels loop power issue is a bit weird really, the catch point was thrown the wrong way, but the point motor was working but back to front. Now this works in tandem with another point and has done so for some time now. Reversing the catch point motor put everything back to normal, but I can't understand why the motor operation suddenly seems to have reversed..... Anyone else had a Cobalt IP do this?

When you look at the NGN Accurascale poll, long term availability was mid-table. Warehousing is expensive, especially when you would want things kept in a controlled environment that gets neither too hot or too cold and damp. Railway modelling is more marathon than sprint, and requires a degree of patience. Good things will come to those that wait....