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A factor in the Royston Grange tragedy.

You've got to start somewhere! Did anyone recognise the line? Apart from it being somewhere around the West Midlands?

I would say that the post-war boom came to an abrupt end in late 1973, when the price of crude oil went from $3/barrel to $11/barrel between October and December of that year; that and the OPEC- inspired embargo on countries supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war. For a start, it spelt the end of the steam turbine - propelled ship, of any size. I can remember, in the company I worked for, all the 35,000 to 100,000 - ton dwt tankers went very rapidly for scrap, between the middle of 1974 and the middle of 1975. There was aclass of 65,000 tonners; the two steamers went then, whereas at least one of the three motorships lasted until 1982. That being said, Britain had long-standing economic problems, stretching back at that time for around 100 years, and no - one in a position to do anything about it, actually bothering. That goes for politicians, of all parties, those in charge of the companies concerned, and those who ran the trades unions

Quatermass?

Which reminds me of a Youtube I first saw about 15 years ago, of a ship striking a lifting bridge on the Welland Canal on the St. Lawrence Seaway (?) Either the ship had a mechanical problem, or the bridge keeper was asleep. At any rate, when the ship hit the bridge, it was only partially raised, and the upper part of the accommodation was torn off.

Would it also be fair to say of those with political power between about 1950 and 1976 more or less agreed on the direction of travel of UK ltd, with differences being quite small. There WERE those, in all parties, who disagreed with the post-war settlement, but until the mid-1970s, their views didn't have much traction. Slightly out of period, the first meeting of the shadow cabinet after Mrs. Thatcher became Leader of the Opposition was quite legendary.

Some stunning photos, Trev. I'm very glad that you didn't hang up your camera after steam finished. Also, I hadn't realised that semaphores had hung on that long on the ECML.

With a tunnel at one end for a scenic break, and track curved almost throughout

Can't remember much going to the cinema to see the film in those days; mind you, I normally sat towards the back!

What. The. Dickens. Is. That?

I know about that. What I was on about was those who could put lots of alcohol away, and still be functionl enough to hold down an employment position. I saw these both at sea ( the old man who stayed in his cabin drinking, after giving "full away", and you didn't see him again until you arrived at the next port, was legendary) and on shore. If we all worked the sort of hours people worked at the turn of the 19th century, unemployment would be permanently above 3 or 4 million, IMHO. You have to work 21 hours a week minimum wage before you (and your employer) start having to pay N.I. contributions. So having people working less than that is financially advantageous to employers as well. What it does for future pension entitlement, I don't know.

Harsh! He wouldn't have got where he got if he was just a dirty player.

I would imagine in the same way that someone who "Likes a drink or two" does, I would think!

There was an article in one of the magazines some time ago about the B & T with particular reference to Bedlington (Backtrack, IIRC). It said that trains travelling in one direction had to run past the station and reverse in, which sounds very odd. was this so?

Some absolutely superb photos in this group, particularly the first, third and last. Did you manage to rescue your car?

Absolutely no apology necessary! I dived in as well, without noting the time of your answer.

I take it, in the first one, the tanker was laid up?

Invisible ink again! There is one on the River Mersey near Northenden. You can see the penstocks from the M60 going towards Stockport, just on the approach to Junction 3

There is a part of the town where I live called Flowery Field. Doubtless it was once, but hasn't been since probably the middle of the 19th Century.

For evening out flows in watercourses? Basically flood alleviation by diverting excess water into a pond, and releasing it when the flow lessens.

Trains from York and Northwards, and from Leeds at present using the ECML, not normally stopping at, say, Donny or Peterboro, or places like that, would use HS2 phase 2b and run to Euston. These would probably give a faster time than at present. There will then be extra paths on the ECML to run more stopping and semi-fast trains, which of course can run at 125 between stops. The actual service pattern (for a line unlikely to be in use before 2045) has probably not even entered the detail planning stage yet. How old will the Azumas be in 2045?

By ordinary trains, I mean the sort of express trains which run, for instance, between, e.g. Edinburgh and London; or Glasgow,Manchester, Liverpool and so on, will be transferred to HS2 for the relevant part of their journey; why would ticket prices be increased, except as part of demand management, as mentioned above.

Why? HS2 will be taking the ordinary trains which at the moment run on the legacy network.

We're going to find out; FF finished generating a couple of weeks ago.

Bit old for you!