1165Valour

I've already brought these up in GCR ideas thread, but thought I'd put them here: - The Macclesfield, Knutsford & Warrington Railway: would likely have been CLC with NSR running powers or joint CLC/NSR. - The Blackpool Railway: possibly joint GCR/Midland, maybe L&YR at a stretch - The Manchester & Huddersfield Railway: was nearly included with the MS&LR at its formation

Well, you're not wrong. There's the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway, which nearly ended up joining the railways that formed the MS&LR. The GCR in Huddersfield - that could have potential.

Does anyone know of a way to get the GCR to Peterborough? One idea I had was for the Midland Counties Railway to not build the Syston and Pboro for whatever reason, with the line later built as a joint effort between the GCR and someone else. The route would likely be something like Leicester-Oakham-Stamford-Pboro.

This is a somewhat more frivolous what-if than I try to post here, but I got it in my head, and now can't get it out. Had BR perhaps been less short-sighted and not closed the Great Central Main Line, what classes would have been likely to have worked the line in the 70s and 80s? I would guess similar engines to those on the rest of the Eastern Region or Midland, but I'm not sure.

Where were the Patriots on Midland Main Line allocated at this time?

Just for fun, I tried to find out what the last steam engine built was for each of the major railway works. So far, I've found out the following: Ashford: 8674, LMS Stanier 8F Brighton: 80154, BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T Crewe: 92250, BR Standard Class 9F Darlington: 78064, BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 Derby: 73154, BR Standard Class 5 4-6-0 Doncaster: 76114, BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 Eastleigh: ? Gorton: 61349, LNER Thompson B1 Horwich: ? Stratford: ?, GER N7 Swindon: 92220, BR Standard Class 9F As I said, this started as a bit of fun, so I'm certain I've missed a few works sites.

A very big thank you to all who have answered so far!

Thank you, I knew better than to trust my counting.

Counting up based on wheel arrangement, I have: 34 0-6-0s; 14 4-4-0s; 12 0-4-4Ts; 3 0-4-0Ts; 7 0-6-0Ts; 10 2-8-0s Which gives a total of 80 locomotives. Which one did I miss?

Ah, thank you! I had always thought you were a Midland fan, didn't know the Slow and Doubtful was an area of interest for you.

Does anyone have a number of engines on the S&D at some point from Grouping to 1930? I've tallied up the engines mentioned in the Wiki article, but as it doesn't take several of the rebuilds/reboilerings into account, I wanted to check my figures by someone else.

Thanks, any chance a stray Patriot could work its way over there?

Does anyone know what engines worked the Leeds-London trains on the Midland Main Line in the late 50s/60s timeframe? Also, what sheds did they tend to be stabled at?

Does anyone know if the Cromwells could fit in the UK loading gauge? I know they weren't perfect, but I just love them so.

In Volume 1 of his history of the MS&L/GCR, George Dow laments James Allport's departure from the MS&L for the Midland. Under Allport's leadership, the Midland became a major trunk line, and his forward-thinking led to the provision of third class on all trains, and the abolition of second class. Had Allport stayed with the MS&L, how could the history of that company have been altered?

While Hawksworth dismissed the mythical 4-6-2 frequently attributed to him as being nothing more than a "draughtsman's dream", it does have a certain charm to it. Had it been built, how would it have compared to the express locos of the other regions? Weight-wise, it seems a bit worrying, at least to me.

Yep, pages 175-182 of Volume 2. Still in Volume 1 at the moment, so I'm not quite there yet.

Does anyone know of any Class Fives having their original Stanier boilers replaced by Ivatt ones, through overhauls and the like?

Does anyone think it likely the Knotty could have gotten running powers for the Macclesfield-Warrington line had it been built, or would it have been solely CLC?

When it comes to trying to establish canonicity in Awdry's Railway Series, I tend to use this general principle: - When Awdry's writings clash with illustrations, go with Awdry's writings, - When an illustrator clashes with another illustrator, go with the chronologically later illustrator (Awdry famously had trouble with his first illustrator) Unless otherwise specified or depending on cirmcumstances, of course.

Here's an overall view of the yard: One can see a shunting signals controlling the yard here:

Looking at my copy of the Christiansen and Miller book on the North Staffordshire Railway, they mention that in the 1860s there was a proposed "Macclesfield, Knutsford & Warrington Railway" which the Cheshire Lines would have had running powers over, and a later proposal in the 1870s for a line linking the CLC at Winsford with Sandbach. Both of these proposals could allow me to include the GCR and the Knotty, so it certainly seems these are worth looking at.

Perhaps have the North Warks line be run as a joint GW/GC venture?

To review the ideas I had so far (Forgive me, @James Harrison): What-If Ideas: - I dunno, something with Nottinghamshire - North Warwickshire Line (This likely wouldn't work due to the GWR, maybe have it be joint GW/GC?) - Welsh Railways Union (This probably wouldn't work due to the bottleneck of the Mid-Wales Railway) Prototypical: Great Western & Great Central Joint Railway

Does anyone know what the quickest route between Talyllyn Jct to Cardiff?