FarrMan

A good morning so far. The duvet now seems to have realised who is the boss round here, Gilbert I just read this and it reminded me that I should have changed the duvet cover as soon as my wife got up. Thanks for reminding me! Your regular duvet battle reports do have their uses. Lloyd

As Whittlesea used to be called Whittle-on-Sea, does that count? Lloyd

I do like these random shots that show views not normally seen. In the best possible sense, you are a great plonker! Lloyd

It would have to be Culm Valley branch, Tiverton junction to Hemyock. If that is not idiosyncratic, what is? Lloyd

I would go for the Network South East livery. It looked bright and cheerful, though not often seen in the North of Scotland. I do remember seeing a full train of NSE liveried coaches at Kyle of Lochalsh station on at least one occasion. i think they were running for a while out of Inverness. Having seen all the votes coming in for the Chocolate and Cream brigade yesterday, I was thinking that we might even win, which would be have been quite nice for our wedding anniversary. My daughter-in-law sent me a suitable present for the occasion as shown below. Lloyd Drag files here to attach, or choose files... Accepted file types jpg, stl, png, pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, dwg, dxf, obj, gif, jpeg, JPG, JPEG, ino, mp3, svg · Max total size 10MB Uploaded Images Lloyd

Oops sorry. How did I repost that old one? Must be an attack of the Sea Nile virus. Lloyd

Gilbert True, that that was why it was called the Chinese laundry, but had the casing been removed in that area, and perhaps some enlargement, with some serious development it might have been made to work. How many ideas work straight off the drawing board? Lloyd

Clive Having got it right, why change it? I will go for Brunswick green and chocolate and cream. Lloyd

Agreed. I was hesitant to say anything, but I felt that a (hopefully) polite response was necessary. Lloyd

Tony I am sorry that you feel that way. Having just been preparing a class on arguments for the existence of God for my Bible Class this Sunday, and working on one on the reliability of the Bible for the following week, I would not agree with you, though I fully respect your right to that point of view. Unfortunately, in too many churches these days it is little if anything more than superstition. Lloyd

Chris Very interesting. i agree that there were too many innovations for one project, but what interesting innovations. In some ways ahead of its time, but if some of those innovations could be made to work! Lloyd

Gilbert True, that that was why it was called the Chinese laundry, but had the casing been removed in that area, and perhaps some enlargement, with some serious development it might have been made to work. How many ideas work straight off the drawing board? Lloyd

There are plenty of classes of loco, steam, diesel and electric, that it would be nice to have preserved. Some of the very early locos, or the heyday of the broad gauge, and many others would be nice to see the originals still, especially in working order. I think my vote must go to the leader class from Bulleid. An interesting idea that, with more development, could have been successful. As it was, it appears to have hardly been given a chance. Lloyd

My family connection with railways was limited to my grandfather working as a clerk on the railway in Edmonton, Alberta, but as he left Canada in about 1923, ha cannot have been there long. I do not remember my own first experience of railways, but I am told that at the age of three (1952), I made what must have been my first railway journey, from Peterborough to Cardiff. Apparently as I walked down the platform between these trains that I was not used to, my eyes were going from side to side in wonder. I do remember a later incident in the mid 1960swhen, having traveled by train from Wolverhampton to Paddington and spent the day spotting in various locations in London, I then kipped down on a bench at Paddington Station overnight to wait for a special to Swindon and Eastleigh works the following day. A policeman woke me up in the middle of the night and I had to produce my ticket to convince him that I had not just run away. Ah, the days of innocence. Lloyd

Gilbert i think you suggested wisely in your last paragraph. I think that I would have to choose 4916 Crumlin Hall. I wonder how many young spotters put a 'b' between the 'm' and the 'l'? Lloyd

My thoughts exactly! Lloyd

There used to be a chippy (i.e. a retailer of chips) at Bankfoot, between Perth and Pitlochry, that was called 'The Frying Scotsman'. Lloyd

I think for most appropriate name, it would have to be Evening Star for the 'last' built steam loco. Lloyd

Tony Still can't get rid of this link from my reply box. I agree with you that today's railway is better in the minds of the general traveling public. I also agree that there was much more variety in the 1950's and 60's. There were so many more lines that have since closed, and many more locos in such variety. However, there was not much variety in liveries, whereas with privatisation there is much more variety. Again, if you know what to look for, there is still enough variety in the current scene if you know where to look. I think part of it is that we tend to be more interested in the scene at the time we became interested in trains. Lloyd

Re lost lines, I was going to say the branch from The Mound to Dornoch, then there might have been more of a chance of the Dornoch Firth road bridge including a railway line, saving a lot of time on the far north line. At present it is quicker to go from Tain to Golspie by bicycle than it is by train. I think I have to plump for the direct line through Glenfarg from Dunfermline to Perth. That would save quite a bit of time between Inverness and Edinburgh, making it more competitive that it is just now, whether via Stirling or Ladybank. Lots to choose from, but not many giving a shorter main line between two cities. Lloyd

Ah - memories of long ago. My lying in bed accompaniment was to the sounds emanating from Peterborough North, probably about 1/4 mile away as the crow flies, and as there was a road heading in the direction of the station about opposite my bedroom, the crow would not have many obstacles to get over! My lullaby was A3's, A4's, B1's, etc., plus all the Midland side shunting. Lloyd

Gilbert How are you getting on with your hair clippers? When you got them, I recommended that you always check that the comb is on before you try cutting your hair. I should have listened to my own advice - last Saturday it had cut all of the front half of my scalp when I realized it wasn't! I now have what was called a Yule Brinner, or a Kojak, depending on how ancient you are. And no, I do NOT intend to post a photograph for amusement. Lloyd

What a difficult choice today's poll is. i think it would have to be the 1950's at Cardiff Central Station. My early memories of annual summer holidays spent with my grandparents, with trips to Barry Island, etc.. Seeing all the movement around the station, with Canton shed not too far away, and everything steam. I remember seeing my first diesel (or was it the gas turbine?) and being so shocked. When I asked my father what it was, he told me that before long they would have replaced ALL the lovely steam engines. (It must have been after 1955.) I just could not believe him, but only a short time was to prove the truth of it, Next best would probably be 1900's or 1910's in the same location, to see the various railways that were later absorbed in their original variety, but that relies on a lot of imagination. Lloyd

4) Machynlleth/Dovey Junction. This is the opposite to Reading, TBH, and I think some sort of freight traffic would have to be dreamt up/maintained, unless you're very interested in observing the subtleties of TfW's 158 units. Doing both stations together would be interesting if one had the space to capture the line as it goes down the Dovey valley, but realistically Machynlleth on its own would be quite feasible. Trains split and join here, and there's also a maintenance depot (which still uses the old engine shed). Dovey Junction is less interesting operationally, but I'd like to see if the ambience of the place could be captured - standing in the middle of the estuary marshes, with the mountains to the north forming the great southern wall of Gwynedd as a backdrop, and the wooden trestle bridge on the Pwllheli line as a distinctive feature. Modelling it in November time with winter oncoming would be very atmospheric. One advantage of modelling Dovey Junction in November would be that you would only need to paint very few people! Lloyd

I can't say that I like them, but the 37 gets the most ticks from me. Must be all that standing around in long grass! Lloyd