D826

Met F Class 0-6-2, because my Dad drove them, and I have a photo of him driving L52 near Gt Missenden in the early 1950s, taken by CRL Coles. A WR County 4-6-0, - I always liked the look of the straight splashers, and once my above mentioned father drove pannier tanks he was a disciple to the mantra that NOTHING bad ever came out of Swindon Works. He loved the Panniers, (Red variety), said they would pull anything, but said stopping was the skill - and talked about the teamwork of good driver, fireman and guard with the coal and pway trains he drove. For diesels, a full class 120 DMU set, and a North British Warship, both the D600 and 800 variety to complete the hydraulic set in preservation. Cheers. Matt W

Good morning Downendian Thank you for posting. Happy Christmas and a brighter 2021 to you and all in this corner of the Parish. The D600s at Panttyffynon is bloody marvellous, and I love D1015 in BSYP. Always thought BSYP really suited the two D800s it was applied to, and also, IMHO, was the best livery on the Hymeks (as long as it was with white window surrounds a la D7036 and not that bloody awful all over blue on D7007). Who'd have thought white window surrounds would make such a difference? Love anything to do with hydraulics. Best Regards Matt W

Nice work on the Mount Pleasant Inn, very nice. Recognisable to me Chris. Now when I were a lad, there used to be a pill box with a marvellous view of the Exe Estuary, just below the chalets at Oak Cliff. Used to scramble down to it while my parents walked down the road to the Warren. Are you going to model the station footbridge ? (The metal lattice one removed in the mid to late 70s - not the red brick and cast iron one which still links the car park to the sea wall walk up to the Langstone Rock). No holiday at the Warren was complete until Dawlish Warren railway museum, and model railway had been visited( in the old up side station building). Loved Dawlish back then. In the summer, sitting at the Beach Hotel, (letting rooms, nowhere near as grand as it sounded) there would sometimes be a down train creeping round under cautions from the Warren, to Dawlish outer Home, and a train pulling out, down to the west. Lots of freight too, including the Milks, always a personal favourite. Good modelling sir. Happy Christmas Matt W

Just be great to see trains using the metals from Yeoford to Crediton again. Everytime I've travelled from Umberleigh to Exeter recently, the rust on the railheads of the Okehampton route has made me a bit sad. Shame we wont see D800s, Hymeks, 31s, 33s, 37s, 47s, 46s, 45s or 50s.....even first gen DMUs, but you can't have everything. Just be good to see it in use. Matt W

Oh, I know. Cycle tour a few years back proved notwithstanding manufacturer claims, nowt is totally waterproof! Day 1 Got the ferry from Oban to Mull, cycled round Mull - lunch on Ulva - sunny and magical - to Tobermory - it rained. Day 2 Got the ferry to Kilchoan, cycled up the Ardnamurchan peninsula to Salen then to Malaig- it rained apocalypticly. Day 3 Got the ferry to Skye,(it was sunny), cycled to the Kyrrelhea ferry, (it rained), crossed to the mainland, (it snowed), cycled to Strathcarron - (it rained), I thought about throwing my bike in the Loch. Day 4, cycled to Achnasheen via Glen Torridon - It was SUNNY, (but bloody cold). Train back to Aberdeen, sleeper back to London. (You know what, the bikes were driven back to London by a bloke in a Transit van.... To date best cycle storage on any trains has been on a tour in Yorkshire - DVT on a 225 on East Coast. KX to York, then Leeds to KX return. Tour in Devon, the 125 storage wasnt bad - 6 bike capacity mind and called for nifty removal from coach behind power car before it departed Plymouth. Tour across Wales from Temple Meads to Llandudno, Virgin had cancelled a service so the pre booked return trip was diabolical, expected the bike wheels to be in 2 halfs at 90 degrees to each other ! Once you're wet you cant get any wetter so it's just about achieving a state of mind. (That state of mind would be mildly bonkers ). Seriously though integration of transport modes is what we need to do better as a country. There are signs of hope. Active travel won't work all the time for everyone, nor will it work for all trips, but we could make it a whole lot easier. With Covid, and reduced passenger loading, maybe some of the DfT specified ironing boards, sorry, seats, could be removed to increase flexibility of use. I can't see the majority of people returning to a 5 day a week in the office pattern of working. This could be a time of significant opportunity. Don't let the rain stop you ! All the best Matt W

Should have said Kevin, memories of the ex southern lines in North Devon also give me a lot of pleasure. Forgot the smaller box up at Central- I was thinking of the big old box up at Howell Road Bridge. So I suppose there were 5 boxes in the vicinity of Exeter. Always thought Barnstaple Junction box was a beaut- even when the line to Town and and Vic Road was truncated, Barney Goods Yard still had plenty of interest. Who couldn't love a 25 on Ball Clay or Milks ? Anywhere Fruit Ds and Siphon Gs went has to be good, doesn't it. Compliments of the season to you sir. Best regards Matt W

Superb images IKCDab - thank you for posting. Lovely western region boxes - particularly like Bruton and the austerity design at Castle Cary, to replace the one disassembled by the Luftwaffe. You don't have any images of Exeter's three boxes (incl Cowley Bridge, - 4 I suppose with Central), Dawlish Warren box, and the beautiful box at Dawlish with the cut away to clear the up platform. Dawlish station has never looked the same without it. Mind you, I still fondly remember the timber platelayers hut with its little brick chimney up by the Langstone Rock. (I have an ordnance survey driven illogical pathological hatred of the Langstone Rock being referred to as Red Rock - my family will tell you it's an old git thing) ! Cheers and Merry Christmas all you RM webbers * Matt W *who fuel my hydraulic, rail blue, Western in the 70s, and railways generally in the 70s memories. Fantastic website. Love it. A cheerful two tone on Desilux air horns to you all.

Ultimately in the Darwin/anti social behaviour Award stakes, an idiot cyclist will probably* be a less dangerous weapon than an idiot in a car/SUV.... *other interpretations are available. Fact is I see far more instances of bad/dangerous motoring than cycling. Cycling my friends, is good. E bikes are going to increase the range of people who can access it literally and in terms of journeys it can work for. Best regards Matt W

D9521 I bloody love hydraulics, even the models get me hearing that high revving in my minds ear. I have memories of what must have been double headed warships running through Dawlish, and just love Westerns. Lovely looking models from the glimpse. Love the blue data panel on the Warship. Merry Christmas Matt W

Lord above, season of goodwill to all men and women. There isn't half some sweeping generalisation on here about cyclists. All the former railway lines converted to joint cycle footpaths in Devon are excellent- suggesting they would be better as roads doesn't stand scrutiny. Chill people. I cycle and I drive. They're not mutually exclusive. Best regards Matt

Well they need some good advice then ! Planning gain wont pay for anything unconnected with the impact of the development- not if it wants to stand up to scrutiny and potential legal challenge anyway. A planning contribution needs to pass the tests necessary for genuinely required planning obligations. It could reasonably be expected to mitigate the cost associated with the demand for additional primary and secondary school pupil places, and potentially the need for additional classrooms and depending on scale, even schools - and other public service requirements, arising from the impacts of the development. Your Council tax does not pay for that. This is the major issue with so many of the reforms that enable change of use of often unsuitable offices to residential units without needing planning permission - no associated planning obligations and therefore additional pressure for services. Anyway, the Planning White Paper consultation earlier this year promises further significant reform, including potentially an Infrastructure Levy, sweeping away section 106 Agreements, and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to history. There are also references to Land Value capture which have aroused considerable interest in various quarters. Quite how infrastructure tariff squares with consultation launched last week on further extension of permitted development rights to Class E business and commercial uses in the amended UseClasses Order I do not know. No planning contributions, further market distortion through residential values being the benchmark against which all free holders consider property management, and the pace of change in our high streets, towns and villages will simply accelerate. Lots of contradictions in consultation at the moment. Exciting times... (i think that's the word - you have to try to stay upbeat) in UK plc....I think. Best regards Matt

It's a cracking image, great. Thank you for posting. I can hear the rails singing...and that diesel pounding. Love the line side telegraph poles. Some bemoan the railways of the 70s. I thought it was fantastic. I love these threads with images from "when I were a lad" cos it was more interesting- dour 70s my "bottom" ! Cheers. Matt W ..

On the Cl 47 data website there's a cracking picture of D1662 IKB at Royal Oak in blue, with double arrows, on each side, and a single green door. Peachy looking. Hope this link works - http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v3.php?img=0326020312000 Best regards Matt W

After the Westerns had gone, my memory is that the clay liner was a regular Class 46 and 47 turn. Not to say it was never a LL50, but I don't remember it myself. 50s (unrefurbed), defo hauled the Milks to 1980. Best regards Matt W

Might have had weight restrictions, but two Castles ran over it on Bridge load deflection tests, so it was pretty strong ! See

Now that shot of Dolcoath, ladies and gentlemen, shows a proper train, tis proper job, and thum Milk Tanks too. Lovely me 'ansomes. Splendid. Cheers Matt. Matt !

Never knew Milk was sent from Swindon to Cornwall. You learn something new every day. Thanks Matt W

Great info chaps. Does anyone know if the 4 wheel ones at Lostwithiel ever ran in revenue earning service ? (My phone does strange things to messages on here so excuse any extracts of previous posts). Matt (Luddite) W

Matt, (Karhedron), do you know if the ones used on that ill fated Chard to Stowmarket were the the tanks that lingered on at the dairy at Lostwithiel till about 1987 ? Seen in the third image at this link to the ever brilliant Cornish Railways Website: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/lostwithiel-exc-to-sr-germans.html I thought they looked fantastic long before the silver bullet bogie clay wagons. Mind you, they look like 4 wheeled under frames. The pictures of the Chard flow you mentioned are clearly 6 wheeled - so were there others which were produced for flows which never came ? What might have been eh ? Best regards Matt W

The sound of the up milk, blasting out of Kennaway Tunnel with a Western, and later, 50s on the front, was soooo distinctive. The heavily laden 3 axle tanks produced a rapid syncopated clatter over any rail joints and they just sounded fast. I missed the Milks massively when they disappeared around 1980. They, along with Siphon Gs really seemed to link back to the days of steam. Throw in the lower quadrant signal arm dropping and bouncing just outside Kennaway, and the sound of the signal wires and pulleys tightening and slacking and there's a whole load of sounds, as well as sights, long gone. Very happy memories. Cracking thread chaps. Matt W

True enough, DCC have a few issues with the old GWR bridge down by Rock Park. When I've walked the stretch of the Ilfracombe line in the Slade Valley thought how hard the engines, steam or diesel, would be working. I bet a 63XX steam loco exhaust would have roared round the valley - and I bet then there Maybachs would've had the taps wide open too. I know D800s and 7000s were common at Ilfracombe- the climb might have caused their D63xx MAN engined contemporary diesels to chuck in the towel ! Not sure I've seen a picture of one at Ilfracombe though they were common on the milk from Torrington and clay from Meeth.

The bridge would have been great as a cycle/footpath for the Tarka Trail

Bude, What a fantastic image, the iron bridge and a Hymek. I'd have liked to be on The Strand at Barney to hear and see that go by. Spot on. Matt W

Missed it first time round. Fantastic images. Thank you for posting. Matt W

At risk of thread drift, the tinted/polarised widscreens referred to by Mike and Fat Controller above, an effect I remember so well on locos rounding the Langstone Rock, shows up in this link to a slide of a Western on ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHOTO-CLASS-52-WESTERN-PREFECT-D1066-AT-FROUDS-LANE-8TH-NOV-1974-/224155218293 And 1557 further along the sea wall. https://images.app.goo.gl/szzxFWmupQjWepKs8 Best regards Matt W