D860 VICTORIOUS

Seagulls,a couple of nautical types,the background houses,and Western Glory-a magnificent photo... Neil

As an add-on to the above,I have D1026 logged on 6 11 71,between Acton Central and Willesden

Hi Dougie, According to "Westerns" Vol. 1 D1000-D1029,by a well-known journalist,if I'm reading right,Centurion was in Swindon Works from 26 7 71 to 29 10 71,undergoing what seems to be a collision damage repair,and various other repairs. HTH Neil

As one of the posts has said,being a rural location would suggest that having rural-type scenery,maybe more of the same as what you have now.is the way forward. Helicopters landing,fire appliances with flashing blues,moving cyclists,stuff like that,I just can't se the point...just an opinion!! Unlikely that any of these will be in your plans..? Neil

Hi Phil, I noticed that "scenery" appears in your "for and against " columns. IMHO,the scenery was just right,no daft "cameos". Less is more... Neil (and a few more 43's wouldn't go amiss..)

Fabulous.... Neil

Bonjour Nidge, A catastrophic day,no disrespect to 33's...Did the rather ponderous 31's "replace" the 43's on the Worcester route? Everyone knows about BR's quest for standardisation,but some of the 43's had not been long overhauled,and could surely have given a bit more service.. Neil

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 3 10 72 (Sorry,one day late) Old Oak Common 824 D1053 D1067 D1069 1539 1599 1638 1650 1653 1657 1658 1660 1663 1679 1941 3953 3954 3961 3966 4166 5528 5535 5686 5688 5689 D7000 D7001 D7019 D7026 D7029 D7030 D7031 D7032 D7037 D7054 D7080 D7085 Willesden 424 1993 3017 3067 3107 3850 4135 5817 8598 12058 E3064 E3070 E3104 E3118 E3123 E3128 E3139 E3142 E3152 E3157 E3158 E3160 E3166 E3197 A lad we knew had been to Willesden earlier that day and claimed he'd seen a "400-er" and a Clayton,as if,we thought,but sure enough... More importantly,824 Highflyer was stabled around the turntable.Although I made several more visits to OOC,Paddington and Ealing over the two months after this date,that was the last time I saw a Warship in BR service.The beginning of the end of my railway interest at that time... Neil

Hi Nidge, Yep,the Hornby 08 is sublime..O Gauge diesels sounds good.. House moves and losing stuff seem to go well together.I've also got a couple of Pullman repair books from when they were dumped at OOC.Woudn't part with the Hymek numbers unless my life depended on it,even then I'd think twice.. As I'm typing this I'm looking at an ancient photo album.Have snaps of Dragon next to Magpie and Cockade at Swindon,June 73.Actually dug the album out after reading your comment on the Hymek Commemorative Special,lo and behold there's my snap of it passing Southall.It's a going-away shot,he says nonchalantly as if I actually meant it to be like that..Fab loco's the Hymeks... Neil

Fascinating stuff Brian.Vanquisher was pretty close to withdrawal when you saw her. Me and my mates went to Swindon Works and Marsh Junction on 12 3 72.An unforgettable day,unfortunately for all the wrong reasons... Neil

Hi Brian, I know Warships were frequent visitors to Severn Tunnel Junction on freights from Hither Green,Norwood etc.,but that must have been a pleasant surprise,twice in a short space of time.Can you remember what Champion was working at Cardiff?? Fascinating stuff... Off topic here,but while I've got my spotting records out,when you were at Cardiff on 6 3 71,I was doing a tour of the London terminii.Me and my mate were just walking up the staircase out of Liverpool Street when I heard a noise,looked round to see D8204 arriving on parcels vans,the only one I saw in service.Thirty seconds later I would have missed it.. Neil

Hi Nidge, Cheers for the correction re the shunter number,any particular reason you modelled that one? I think the data panels I've made up from different transfers look about right. Wow,a flame cut from Dragon,is it yours? Copped her at Esher in September 71..I had a builders plate from Champion but it broke into several pieces,and after a house move bits of it were lost. However,I am the proud owner of a full set of numbers from D7069..Just remembered,at the recent Old Oak Common open day,I mean in September 1972,not Sept. 2017,Class 43 nameplates were on sale for 50 quid...pocket money didn't quite stretch that far... Neil

Sorry,slip of keyboard finger...I found that the loco had a minor repair at Old Oak,then worked Kensington-Penzance milk empties. Spartan was seen on 23 8 71 between Southall and Paddington Last sighting of Tenacious,apart from Swindon scrapyard,was on 29 7 71 at Ealing Broadway. When looking back at these notes I thought "why didn't I have a top-quality cine camera and a decent SLR with several lenses at the time.." then I remembered,I was only 12... Neil

For what it's worth: I have Panther logged on 13 8 71 at both Old Oak Common and Southall.By referring to the fascinating tables of workings in the Book of the Warships Ifound that

I vaguely recall seeing in the "comments" section of this picture a correction by Martin Street,i.d.'ing the loco as Zenith.Couldn't see the comments section when I last looked...

Hi Nidge, I expect me and my mates eyes' watered when Cambrian drifted in with our train...That was at the time when "Merrymakers" cost about £1.50p.. Stand to be corrected here,but was 3808 the usual Reading pilot? Great-looking shunter,have you modelled Reading station to do it justice..? Now I'm wondering if the data panels I've made up from different transfers for my Warships etc. are the right size...! Neil

Looks more like a 42....

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 16 9 72 Ealing Broadway-Plymouth-Ealing Broadway 34 45 50 53 79 92 189 806 818 821 832 D1012 D1024 D1025 D1026 D1034 D1059 D1061 D1067 1594 1598 1599 1655 1682 1863 1913 1935 1982 3808 3955 3961 3963 3965 3989 4022 4130 5554 5823 6542 6568 D7038 D7099 PWM652 4588-Totnes Laira depot 79 87 806 824 825 829 D1001 D1018 D1019 D1027 D1035 D1043 D1046 D1052 D1060 D1069 D1073 1602 2128 2134 4004 D7094 7505 7508 7573 7577 Newton Abbot station and shed 52 117 154 181 D1014 D1028 D1048 D1066 1575 1642 1670 1684 1745 3813 1369 6430 7827 Exeter St Davids station and stabling point 48 117 160 821 D1004 D1027 1575 1587 1602 1745 3509 4022 4129 4158 4160 4185 5202 6507 6515 D7038 7503 7506 7575 Haulage: 806 Ealing B.- Plymouth 45 Plymouth-Newton Abbot D1066 Newton Abbot-Exeter St Davids 1602 Exeter St D.-Ealing B. A grand day out.... Neil

Will give the FB lark a go,I remember some of the photo's on the site pre-FB being terrific.Endless "friend requests"? Fine by me if they're rich good-looking blondes,,,(very shallow..) You must have been choked losing your photo collection,still have my negs and photo efforts from Kodak Instamatic days 71 onwards,most of which are hopeless..Out of interest where in London were you? Didn't know about latest Roger Geach book,same publisher as his previous one? 824 was last Warship I saw in service.. Neil (still hoping for Jaguar Mk 2 or Triumph TR6 barn find..)

Hi Nidge, You may well be right about someone snapping Champion that day.After all,when I posted a question about a "Merrymaker" in September 72,not really hoping for much,the aforementioned Mr. Alden posted a pic of same,amazing.Guess it's possible that photographers of that period who lost interest in railways may have disposed of their collections... I used to regularly look at Hydraulic pics on the net,can't remember which site,before they moved to FB,which I'm not on.Is it easy for a dinosaur like me to get hooked up on that? Just to expand a bit,me and a mate used to attend open days and head straight for the stands selling slides/photo's.We unearthed a few gems over the years,none more so than my mate finding a b/w shot of Hercules at Yeovil Jct. on it's final Exeter-Waterloo working.It was taken by Geoff Lendon,we both have a few of his pictures,absolutely top quality.Does the FB group have access to his work? I know the shot of D1018 you mean,I kept all my BB books thankfully,they could easily have been chucked out as my railway interest disappeared for a long time.I think the four VB Westerns had some of the best names.. Maybe one day that elusive identifiable picture of Warrior in blue,in service, may surface... Neil

Nice sentiment there Nidge,so glad I decided to actually keep my spotting records from 71 on.I saw the Westerns a couple of times over,never really paying attention to individual class members.After all,back then it was all about getting stuff underlined in your book...I've made reference to this day in a previous post,and just to repeat,seeing D809 Champion in it's weatherbeaten mfye livery passing through on vans is a very clear memory,just a few weeks away from withdrawal.Wonder if anyone photographed her that day..? Hope you're raising a glass to your railway service milestone! Neil

Hi Rob, I bought this picture as a print ages ago,and thought at the time that the info was wrong.My guess is that it's a misprint,I think it could be D1012 Western Firebrand,which carried mfye from 03/68 to 03/71. Neil

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 6 9 71 Southall-Reading General-Southall D1018 D1059 D1060 D1070 1535 1589 1607 1609 1646 1656 1658 1662 1664 1912 1933 1934 1935 1956 3601 3947 D7007 D7026 D7053 D7065 DB975023 Reading General D809 841 853 854 D1002 D1003 D1020 D1028 D1029 D1035 D1036 D1040 D1056 D1065 D1068 1533 1584 1588 1589 1591 1606 1607 1612 1637 1640 1651 1658 1662 1667 1669 1672 1674 1677 1680 1709 1751 1753 1755 1776 1864 1904 1938 3807 3953 3965 5535 6514 6534 D7033 D7049 D7065 D7100 1200 E6045 Wasn't the railway great back then.... Neil

Hi Tony, I think most of the Brush 4's were WR based examples,and apart from the original five Brush 2's allocated to the WR the others could have been from Stratford..We probably stayed there nearly all day,being the school summer holidays,and back then freight traffic was more plentiful,hence the number of 33's.Hymeks were a bit lacking that day.. Neil

Hi Billy, By a huge coincidence,I was also on a family holiday in Cornwall in August 1972,and on the 8th I absented myself from family stuff and took the "CRE" from Penzance to Plymouth,hauled by Western Centurion. I took the long walk to Laira,and managed to get around the depot.If you had done the same,your wish of seeing Warships in service would have come true! There were 6 serviceable examples there,plus 3 in store.But,to the point of your question,it may(or may not) help your identification if I listed the Westerns I saw that day,both at the station and at Laira: D1026 D1036 D1046 D1057(which hauled my train back to Penzance) D1009 D1021 D1038 D1054 D1059 D1063 D1008 D1011 D1013 D1019 D1023 D1024 D1028 D1031 D1033 D1042 D1051 D1053 D1054 806 Cambrian was seen at the station. Some of these Westerns were seen both at Laira and the station.I am not a Western recognition expert by any stretch,but maybe this list might narrow down the i.d. of the loco in your picture..? Neil