31A

I believe WCRC also run the "Dalesman" and "Scarborough Spa Express" trains under their own auspices. https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/scarborough-spa-express/steam-experience

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/news/four-more-stations-north-east-get-dose-classical-music-help-combat-antisocial-behaviour

Difficult to say, from the information I've got anyway. As you say, it is hard to photograph unless you are able to go trackside, so there aren't many pictures of it in books that I've got. It can be seen in the distance in a picture taken in the early 1950s, on p19 of "Railways around Harrogate Volume 3" by Martin Bairstow - sadly I haven't got vols 1 and 2! This picture only shows half the gantry, the side which currently has dolls on it, and as far as I can see in that picture the configuration then was much as it is now, except that the Home arm has a Distant below it (above the Sub arm). Presumably that related to Harrogate South box which was closed in 1981. The Sub arm controls access to the Middle Road.

Luckily I was able to do just that, several years ago now before I retired. I think the gantry has now got chunkier handrails, and the siding beneath it (on the left in the first photo) has been fettled up and is now used by the LNER Azumas as a turn back siding.

Luckily my trains didn't have first class so that problem never arose! I did say "strictly speaking"....

There aren't any preserved A5s either, yet a very nice RTR model of one came out earlier this year!

I haven't got a 1958 timetable either, but I've got a 1959 one! In Table 2 (London King's Cross, Peterborough, Grantham, Doncaster, Hull, Leeds, Bradford and York), it shows no Peterborough arrival time for the 5.35pm King's Cross-Newcastle and the departure time has a note U against it which is explained in the footnotes as "Calls to take up passengers only", which is the way of advertising to the public that it is not available for passengers traveling from King's Cross to Peterborough (as well as the fact that Peterborough wouldn't appear on the list of calls on the King's Cross departure indicator). As you say, in Table 1 it only shows the Peterborough departure time, not an arrival time and that applies to all Peterborough entries in that table, as Table 1 shows trains FROM Peterborough towards Scotland but not "local' journeys between London and Peterborough, for which Table 2 is the source of information. For example, Table 1 only shows Hitchin between King's Cross and Peterborough as at that time some long distance trains called there, and Table 1 doesn't show the 4.15pm King's Cross-Cleethorpes or the 4.19 King's Cross all stations to Peterborough. These are shown in Table 2 as they are trains which can be used for 'Local' journeys to Peterborough. I think strictly speaking if somebody had managed to evade the ticket collector and was board that train with a ticket to Peterborough, they should be asked to pay the Excess Fare to the first unrestricted stop which was probably Grantham.

Indeed; after I had pressed 'send' I realised I should have mentioned that Peterborough would not have been listed with the calling points on departure boards etc. at King's Cross. In the 1990s I worked in Watford (Melton House) for a while and quite often boarded 'Set Down Only" Up trains, with my Duty Pass, to go from Watford Jn. to Euston after work - nobody ever tried to stop me!

Quite possibly they wouldn't have been let on the platform at King's Cross in the first place by the ticket collector on the platform barrier.

The Leeds Northern had closed for passengers for about 5 months by then (on 5th March 1967), and at that time was only open for freight between Starbeck and Melmerby, but was still intact throughout and after the accident involving DP2 it was briefly re-opened as a diversionary route! Equipment such as batteries was installed in the closed signal boxes, and seven signal boxes and two gate boxes were reopened to deal with the diverted traffic, which ran from York via Poppleton and Starbeck. It seems to have only been used by Down trains on 31st July, 1st and 2nd August after which it went back to being freight only as far as Melmerby again. As recounted in "Railways Through Harrogate" by Martin Bairstow.

Fine here Nick, on Safari on my Apple laptop.

Very sorry to hear that Coronach; best wishes and I hope you have a swift and full recovery.

I don't know, to be honest. I remembered reading about it in Modern Railways quite recently (or so I thought!). I think I saw one of their units at Doncaster a while ago but I don't know if it was doing anything useful.

Already happening to some extent, admittedly not with the passenger train operators but two firms are using 'repurposed' former passenger rolling stock - converted Class 321 and 319 EMUs. https://www.varamis.co.uk https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2021/11/23/orion-confirmed-first-trains-spark-a-new-chapter-in-uk-mass-market-light-logistics-by-rail/?gdpr=accept

Actually there is some parcels traffic by passenger train at the moment: https://intercityrailfreight.com Article in the May 2023 Modern Railways magazine probably explains it better than their web site does.

I think Sectorisation was one reason for Red Star's demise. Up to then, at smaller stations the same clerical staff that sold passenger tickets also dealt with parcels, in the same premises, and the Railman (platform staff) put the parcels on the train as well as performing other duties as necessary around the station. The trains all had coaches with Brake sections for the Guard's accommodation anyway. So all that was effectively 'free' to the parcels service and would have been there anyway, but at Sectorisation notional costs and time of the assets and staff had to be divided between the relevant Sectors and suddenly it wasn't 'free' any longer. Class 150 DMUs were mentioned earlier, but a lot of rolling stock of that generation had lockable areas for parcels. For example on the 317s on the GN, the saloon at one end of one of the driving cars was lockable for the carriage of parcels and when in use for parcels, the external doors to that part of the saloon didn't respond to the passenger door buttons but could be released by staff using a button on the coach end. As the GN electrics were DOO by then, the station staff had to meet the trains and load and unload the parcels. But that didn't last very long and I think the parcels for intermediate stations went by road for a while before the service ceased.

I believe they have such a system that covers all of Holland: https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/traveling-with-the-ov-chipkaart/different-ov-chipkaart-variants-ns-business-card.html

One place where both the GN and the Midland would have found length saving in close coupled suburban sets useful would probably have been Moorgate (Widened Lines) indeed the Quad Art sets were specifically designed to fit the maximum seats into trains serving this terminus. Before them, the GN used close coupled sets of 4-wheeled coaches on their suburban services.

That's interesting. I with I'd realised that was where the problem lay before I'd splashed out on two new motors for my B12! I think I was led down that path by various inconclusive reports of people having problems with B12 motors, but with hindsight I should probably have realised the chances of getting three duff motors ought to be vanishingly small. Anyway thanks to 34B/D for hinting at the actual cause of the issue, which I shall bear in mind if anything similar happens again.

There's been a lot of realignment in that area in recent years in connection with the construction of the High Speed Line towards Liege and Brussels. I've travelled through Aachen four times this year! And no sign of the flyover any more, although I remember it well from the 1980s. I think trains heading for Belgium now leave Aachen Hbf on the left hand line; the line after the junction at the station only leads to Belgium and effectively isn't part of the DB system although it belongs to them as far as the frontier.

Welcome back, and thank you for this. My A5 has hardly turned a wheel in anger yet (lovely model though it is) and I have not come across that problem with it. However, one of my Hornby B12s (61533) has been behaving in the manner you describe, over time getting worse and worse, and I have replaced the motor twice, thinking that was where the problem lay. However this evening having read your post, I took it apart and hard wired the pickups, bypassing completely the circuit board in the tender. If anyone's interested, I had to connect orange to red and grey to black inside the tender. I've just been giving it a good 'work out', and so far it has behaved impeccably. So although inconclusive as regards the A5, I suspect you are onto something. I don't know whether you use DCC, but if not it ought to be straightforward to bypass the circuit board and all its components.

I also built one if the D&S Models LNER 'General Van' kits. It was a good kit to build as long as you don't try and rush it (there are a lot of small parts!) and produces a very nice model; here it is together with a ex LNER BY from the Chivers plastic kit, which also makes up into a nice model. This is another ex LNER BY, also from the Chivers plastic kit; it represents a Diagram 120 van. The main deviation from the kit as supplied was to substitute an MJT etched guard's lookout, which looks better than the one provided. I have since made another BY using Comet and others' metal parts, for Gilbert's Peterborough North layout. I made this one as a Diagram 170 - the main difference being the axleguard and spring arrangement. I actually think this has made a nicer looking model than the plastic one, although there's not a lot in it really.

If you haven't already got it, you might find the book "Signalling Centres in the North East: No. 1 York" (published by the North Eastern Railway Association) of interest. I've just had a quick scan through my copy, and as far as I can see it doesn't refer to a Fruit Dock. However there is a diagrammatic signalling diagram for York Yard South box circa 1942 (p93), which shows the lines it controlled at the apex of the triangle. So leading off towards the east (passenger station) direction, at the top it shows Up & Down Scarborough to Leeman Rd. & Waterworks SBs, then below those lines, sidings fanning out labelled "P. Way Yard", "Van Sidings", "G. N. Shed", "Mid Shed", "N. E. Shed". By "Sheds" I take it to to mean the Loco Sheds that were within the triangle. Below those are the other side of the triangle with six running lines leading towards Holgate Jn. (Up & Down Independents, Up & Down Doncaster, and Up & Down Leeds) and below those again, the Cattle Dock sidings. There's also a good aerial view showing the whole layout looking north from Blossom Street right upas far as Skelton (as well as other information) in the Ian Allan book "Britain's Rail Super Centres - York" by Ken Appleby, with the area in question identified as "South Sheds". I think the flat roofed building you refer to was a P. Way Cabin, and the writing on it said "PRIZE LENGTH" (i.e. a 'Length" which had won a prize for its condition at some point). The building was there until recent years when the area was cleared to build the Network Rail ROC, and I seem to remember the lettering was lying on the ground propped up against the building latterly. I hope this helps, although not a direct answer!

Well, that's what they've said they want to improve, by having station staff out and about and 'visible' to the public rather than behind a ticket office window, which in some cases may well be some distance from the platforms and not within sight of them.

Nothing to do with that - it's been the same since the start of Privatisation. I could equally well have instanced Waterloo, Euston or any of the other Network Rail managed stations.