Wickham Green too

There's always an exception to a rule ! Ramsgate : 30.8.99

Well yes, sort of - but ANY sort of twelve-car train would have been too long for the platforms on suburban routes and ten cars only permissible once the ten-car-scheme had been implemented. Twelve car sets of CEP/BEP/CEP stock and successors were, of course, buckeyed throughout.

.... and before anyone points it out, they're not confined to BR(S) EMU/DEMUs - all Mk1 & Mk2 multiple units have them.

... and I suspect we're getting close to the point when all Mk1s are deemed to be so compromised and a blanket ban imposed - so the ORR, HSE or whoever don't have to round actually checking them all.

Doors were clearly shown on the E1 GA drawing - which must have pre-dated any thoughts about creating D1s. I think Dapol's thought processes might have gone something like this : - Designer 1 "I like the way you plugged the cab doors into the toolbox on the D class - we'll do the same on the D1. Designer 2 "Er - well, the tool boxes you've designed into the D1 model shouldn't actually be there on the rebuild !. Designers 1&2 in unison "Perhaps if we omit the doors nobody will notice ?"

Join the Southern Railways Group and see what we've got in the Library !

As I said somewhere up-thread 31487 got its BR number in June 1948 BUT it retained 'SOUTHERN' on the tender .............. it DID get 'BRITISH AIRWAYS' in 1949 BUT in Gil Sans NOT Sunshine.

One that annoys me is "The next station will be Xyz" - announced just after we've departed from the previous station and when the next one's twenty minutes or more away .......... yes, there's always some idiot who panics, gets down 'all his personal belongings'* and stands by the doorway 'til we get there. * the girl on my train today announced "don't forget to take all your bits and pieces" ........ obviously realises that most of my belongings are at home - in fact my home's one of them !

Assuming Sodor only had a roundy-roundy layout, that would work fine 🙃

But there are always passengers who don't listen to announcements - or can't hear them for one or more reason - and can't or won't read the information scrolling above their heads .................... ☹️

Probably better to look for other local goods sheds, or goods sheds of the same era on the independent North Sunderland Railway ........... if there were any ?

Clever fox ? ......... thought he was sure to find a rabbit or two there ! 😮

I've no idea how your West Midlands travel card works but my London Over Sixties card allows me to travel out as far as Surbiton, Swanley or West Drayton, for instance, without further expenditure - and then my Seniors Railcard gives discounted rail travel everywhere else ...... the interface between the two can be problematic ! ( Of course if you ask the 'Journey Planner' for a fare from - say - Surbiton to Woking it'll only give you the times of trains that stop at Surbiton ! )

Don't you get a free Lowmac with it nowadays ? ☹️

I've yet to find any sensible electronic way to go beyond 'my' London Oyster area ..... totally impossible on a ticket machine though can be done on line IF you know the boundary station and book from there ................. and I always wonder if I have to choose a train that actually stops at the boundary !

Crop circles are a totally different matter ......................... either they've gone out of fashion or we've not had any visits from aliens of late. 👽

Indeed, the chance of wheels being at exactly the same angle on five wagons is vanishingly small ............................ anyway, the colour's better in the photo !

Whether BS counts as a 'funny smell' or a healthy countryside aroma probably depends ........

Crop marks are very common where the geology has been disturbed and drainage ( + vegetation ) altered.

Much of that information's in Parkin - page 25 ..................... or you could pop down to the Severn Valley and measure one of their Mk1s. 🙄

Has anyone considered the suggestion of a 4SUB tedious recently ?

They don't HAVE to ............... but I think most people delving into the 'Prototype' threads would expect some degree of veracity !

My train from Exeter to Waterloo a few weeks back was delayed three times : - 1) awaiting single line to clear at Pinhoe 2) waiting for the junction to clear at Wilton ( probably the front portion ) 3) blanket 40MPH speed limit from Woking to Raynes Park 'cos of rail temperatures ( hottest June on record ) ...... no, nothing unusual there !

Most 'big engines' weren't full height to each end, though - so comparison's not so simple.

Doesn't have to be too precise in the shadows !