Ben04uk

Looing forward to this book as well. Does it cover Siphons in BR days up to when they were scrapped or just their GWR heyday?

Can anyone provide any more details on the parcel services at Seaford station in the 1970s - 1990s? I'm sure I've seen some photos a Class 73 with a single MK1 brake or GUV at the station during this period.

How did it operate? Was it part of the Eastbourne to Bricklayers Arms parcel service?

I presume loading was undertaken in the former bay platform?

these services seemed to have evaded the photographer! I dont think i've seen a photo of the Earley oil depot.

On 04/03/2023 at 11:57, HillsideDepot said:

A long forgotten print recently found in an old envelope of holiday snaps shows Mortimore's Yard on a summer morning 

Is that a Ratio coaling tower i can see in the coal yard? Looks very nice.

Does anyone know any details about the Mechanical Engineers Power Supply Section? I believe they had their main depot at Horsham and specialised in the provision of infrastructure and maintenance of the Southern Region third rail power supply network - did they have any other depots elsewhere? Would they have been likely to have been seen on the East Coastway line? They appears to have inherited a number of ex-revenue wagons (there are some photos on Flickr) - does anyone know exactly what type of wagons did they used and had in their fleet - would it have included brake vans, opens, and vent (store) vans?

On 13/11/2022 at 15:57, Ben04uk said:

thanks both and it definitely is Volume 4 that includes Ilkley is it?

anyone able to provide confirmation on this please?

thanks both and it definitely is Volume 4 that includes Ilkley is it?

Does this cover as far out as Ilkley and does it have any photos from the 1970s?

On 18/10/2022 at 14:14, Halvarras said:

 

Pretty much where I am with it at the moment. I had every issue until I moved house nearly 3 years ago and made a decision to keep the first 200 and ditch the rest. The reason was that those first 200 contained far more articles on the 1960s and 1970s so were more relevant to my main interests. Now Traction generally features 1980s onwards, and although I maintained an interest in the real railway throughout that decade it waned considerably after that (can't help it, my earliest railway experience was almost totally diesel-hydraulic). So why have I kept it going? Because, up until now at least, a subscription only amounts to £2 per month and it does still occasionally include articles of interest, e.g. industrial shunters (about which I knew very little) and the sterling efforts by preservationists to maintain heritage diesels and even build recreations, such as the new LMS 10000 in the current issue. I do attempt to read every article to make to that £2 worthwhile but increasingly question whether the time spent reading about, for example, long-gone freight flows would be better spent at the modelling table (besides which I could do without the bimonthly reminder of how many industries have been shut down in this country since the 1970s - much as I respect the authors and their extensive research I'm finding that aspect ever more depressing). And I also get my modelling fix from more in-depth articles in a monthly modelling magazine.

 

My subscription runs for a few months yet so I'll see how I feel about it when the time comes........just like last year, and the year before, and.......

I too am more interested in articles covering the 1970s. Has anyone ever produced a comprehensive database or list of all the articles published in Traction magazine?

Do you have any more information on the Sundown Lane layout that is scheduled to attend? Apparently it is an EM gauge layout set in 1973s SW London but is not a layout I've come across before.

4 hours ago, it's-er said:

Oxford Diecast have provided details of their new first quarter February to May 2021 release programme.  There are various new liveries and colour schemes, but Eloise acknowledged there are delays in their programme because of Covid etc: they need time to catch up, so new tooling is kept to a minimum in this announcement.

 

Eloise provided details about progress with new tooling from previous announcements, and had photographs of first castings of two modern Ford Transit vans and of the forthcoming scooter (wonderfully cute and detailed!).

 

There are three new toolings, all in 1/76 -

Alexander M type Scottish coach,

Bedford RL which comes first with a large enclosed lorry body (I'm sure there is a better way of describing that), and will hopefully later appear as the well-known Bedford S which I think is similar or even identical, and

a huge 6 axle Liebherr LTM1350 crane.

 

There are no new toolings in 1/43 or 1/148. Questioned about this on Facebook, Eloise said the market and sales heavily favour 1/76, but they have not forgotten these other scales, and they will have new toolings in due course.

 

No doubt details will be on Oxford's website shortly, but this gives a quick indication of what is coming!

 

John Storey

at last a cement mixer!

Does anyone know the history of the Class 101 DMUs operating in Cornwall and Devon in the early 1970s?

I have seen a few photos of P800, P801, and P803 at various places in Devon and Cornwall between 1972 and 1974. How long did they last at Laira for? It would appear only a year to 18-months or so before they were re-shedded. Why such a short life in the West Country and why were they needed in the first place?

They all seem to have been in Blue/Grey by this time and all with headcode box - none seem to have been in all Blue.

I know some came back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in Network Southeast colours.

On 14/11/2020 at 17:30, Tankerman said:

 

They worked the Falmouth and Newham branches from the time they displaced the 45XX and 84/94XX until November 1971 when the local goods facilities were withdrawn. If you saw a pair of them on the Paddington-Falmouth between 1959 and 1966 that wouldn't have been that unusual as they often ran in pairs to substitute for a failed Warship. 

 

My abiding memory of them is being at Truro on a Saturday when two of them arrived heading west at the head of a train for Penzance, which included the failed Warship. The weather was bad as it was a westerly gale and the noise they made getting away on the curving adverse grade was unforgettable.

Do you know what goods were carried on the pick-up freight services on the Falmouth branch when Class 22's were operating them? I have seen plenty of Vanfits stored in the sidings at Penryn but never sure what they would have contained.

Excellent news - did this class of DMU ever make it to Ilkley?

14 hours ago, Daniel W said:

It looks like the book has been pushed back to february next year: http://www.crecy.co.uk/the-acquired-wagons-of-british-railways-volume-3

 

That's disappointing, that means the volume covering 12T ventilated vans will be even further pushed back.

Yes, looking forward to it. Vol. 3 is wooden coal wagons to the 1923 Specification. I expect Vol. 4 will be the rest of the minerals. 

can anyone set out the contents page for this book? Interested to see what it covers.

Has anyone commissioned one in plain BR Blue livery?

1 hour ago, C126 said:

Perhaps of vague interest, I found the following at Lewes in my latest batch of scans 'dumped' in my 'Personal Galleries'.  Sorry there is not a specific date (September 1991).

 

 

 

Many thanks, I wonder if this is the Hastings to Brighton student service mentioned above but the '64' headcode suggests not - anyone know what service the 64 was?

On 30/04/2020 at 19:32, 4630 said:

 

The content for both volumes is laid out by EMU class, including electric and electro-diesel locomotives which are also included in volume 2.

 

From that viewpoint, the lines that each type of EMU and locomotive worked along during their lives is featured to some degree.  

 

There are certainly photos of Brighton, as you would expect, with 4-LAVs, 5-BEL and 6-PUL.  There also several of the booster electric locos and other EMUs at other locations in East Sussex too.

 

As a general observation only a handful of photos in total, from across both volumes, already feature in the numerous books that I already have about Southern Electrics.  For that alone both of these volumes are, for me at least, good value.  I appreciate though that, as they say, ‘your mileage may differ’.

Thanks for the summary. I know the photos are all black and white but are they entirely from the Green era or are there several in blue and grey livery?

On 29/04/2020 at 11:58, 4630 said:

 

Pleased to say that my copies of Southern Electrics Volume 1 and 2 arrived in West Yorkshire earlier this morning courtesy of DPD Local.

 

A quick flip through the pages shows them both to be well worth the wait. 

Can you give us a clue as to what lines are covered in both Southern Electrics Volume 1 and 2 ? Any photos from East Sussex?

Just now, leopardml2341 said:

Errrm, isn't that four things?

no, definitely only three!

1. Death

2. Taxes

3. negative comments from model railway enthusiasts! 

Cheers, only three things are certain in life; death, taxes; and that you'll get negative comments from model railway enthusiasts! 

I've really been looking forward to the Southern Electrics 1948 - 1972 Volume II book. Any clues as to what lines are included in this volume? Any Central Division lines in Sussex on the South Coast on the East Coastway Line or are the majority of photos in suburban London?

Did the Cep and Bep units stay allocated at Brighton until the 1980s?, i.e. the refurbished versions (15XX) ?