Mike_Walker

Technically, the old Marlow station wasn't demolished to make way for an industrial estate, that came later. Initially the site was cleared to permit expansion of the adjacent sawmill which had opened in 1947. This replaced a mill in east London and was served by block timber trains which ran to Marlow from Bow via High Wycombe hauled usually by Stratford Class 31s (or 30's as I was once told by someone who worked them - they still had Mirrlees engines then) although on at least one occasion a pair of Class 15s were apparently deployed. The operation didn't last more than a couple of years before the sawmill closed and the site was redeveloped as an industrial estate. The last run appears to have been in late 1969 or early 1970. Interestingly, the first WTT issued after closure of the Bourne End-High Wycombe section in May 1970 included a revised path for the timber trains running via Maidenhead with a reversal at Bourne End. That is the reason why, initially, the station level crossing at Bourne End was retained and a stop block installed just short of the Cores End LC. Incidentally, none of us in the area have ever come across a photograph of these timber trains on the branch so if anyone reading this can oblige we'd be eternally grateful!

He is: Milton Keynes Central And... he's threatening to have all three linked together at GETS this year!

Can we get hold of a scaled down SK and scale pins to go with it...?

Perhaps but even if the range of tickets offered is restricted, I doubt if a machine would enable you to buy a ticket to ANY other station on the network which you can do at a ticket office.

As someone pointed out to me recently, ticket machines don't offer the whole range of tickets including Eurostar for example. Presumably you are happy to bar those who do not have a smartphone or internet access from using the railway and other services. Your family might be 99% connected but a larger "minority" than you might think aren't for various reasons, not always just personal choice.

It appears a total of 56 were sold out of BR service for further use which included 4 to Ford and 5 to the Derwent Valley. A further 5 were also exported for further use.

Personally, whilst I have internet banking via my computer at home, I refuse to have it on my phone in case I lose it or have it stolen.

Sadly there appears to be a general assumption within government and local authorities that everyone has either a smartphone or internet access. In our village we have a guy who refuses to have anything to do with such things and has a small gardening business. This generates green waste that he needs to take to the local dump and because he's a "business" he has to have a license. When we were still under a District Council he could go to the office in Wycombe each year hand over cash and get his license. Now we are under the unitary Buckinghamshire Council he can only do it on line. "But I don't do the internet" he protests. "Then you can't have a license" comes the reply. In frustration he tells the council he will fly-dump it (no intention of doing so of course) which resulted in him being told if he did it was a criminal offence. Protestations that he just wanted to be legal and have a license fell on deaf ears. Eventually, he got a neighbour to do it for him. It is this form of disenfranchising that will harm the railways if this plan goes ahead. After all, a large proportion of those that don't have smartphones or internet are those that use the railways. We live in a world where the politicians of all colours are totally divorced from the lives of the majority the purport to "serve".

If you go to the Flickr site where this appears you will see that Bernard Mills is quoted as saying it's north of Bere Alston and that is the Calstock Viaduct in the background. It looks more like Calstock than Forder to me (Forder isn't so tall) and it would account for the SR stock. Bernard is something of a legend down west so I think we can bow to his knowledge.

I appreciate the sale contract is with the shop but my point is: will the shop pass on your complaint in full and correctly when sending it on to the manufacturer? If returned direct we can be sure the message gets through - assuming they read it and take note.

There was a shop in central Reading that catered mainly for "mature ladies" that retained that sort of cash system until it closed a few years ago - fortunately after my Mum passed as she would have been mortified - no trip to Reading was complete without a visit from her.

There is an interesting discussion ongoing on @NHY 581 Sheep Cornicles thread. From what is being said, it would appear that a, frankly, unacceptable number of below-par performing models are finding there way into customers' hands although I appreciate that there are many more that perform to the satisfaction of their purchasers that we never get to hear about. Perhaps it's time we, as customers, become more proactive. If you buy a locomotive and, after running-in in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, it fails to run in exactly the manner you expect then don't tinker with it, return it. And by return it I mean to the "manufacturer" not the retailer. If returned to the former with a detailed explanation of what is felt to be wrong with it and what you expect then they will be left in no doubt whereas if it is retuned via a retailer can we be sure that the manufacturer will get to know any more than it was returned as "faulty". If the "manufacturer" has a genuine desire to please its customers (which I'm sure goes without saying) analysing the reasons for these returns should pretty soon flag up areas of concern which one would hope they would take on board both with the Chinese factories if down to poor QC/QA and in the mechanical/electrical design of future models. Possibly it's not a case of whether or not we should accept less detailed models but rather accept that the standard we have reached should be a plateau and that future investment should go into improving the mechanisms even if that does up the price still further. I'm sure many if not most of us would be willing to pay a little more if we could have total confidence that our new and very expensive locomotive would perform straight out of the box as we should have a right to expect.

An interesting side discussion developing here and in may ways complimentary to the Less Detailed Models thread. From what is being said, it would appear that a, frankly, unacceptable number of below-par performing models are finding there way into customers' hands although I appreciate that there are many more that perform to the satisfaction of their purchasers that we never get to hear about. Perhaps it's time we, as customers, become more proactive. If you buy a locomotive and, after running-in in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, it fails to run in exactly the manner you expect then don't tinker with it, return it. And by return it I mean to the "manufacturer" not the retailer. If returned to the former with a detailed explanation of what is felt to be wrong with it and what you expect then they will be left in no doubt whereas if it is retuned via a retailer can we be sure that the manufacturer will get to know any more than it was returned as "faulty". If the "manufacturer" has a genuine desire to please its customers (which I'm sure goes without saying) analysing the reasons for these returns should pretty soon flag up areas of concern which one would hope they would take on board both with the Chinese factories if down to poor QC/QA and in the mechanical/electrical design of future models. Possibly it's not a case of whether or not we should accept less detailed models but rather accept that the standard we have reached should be a plateau and that future investment should go into improving the mechanisms even if that does up the price still further. I'm sure many if not most of us would be willing to pay a little more if we could have total confidence that our new and very expensive locomotive would perform straight out of the box as we should have a right to expect.

At Exeter, NR have a staff member on the ground at all times to monitor the crossing primarily to ensure no pedestrians either try to dodge the barriers or become trapped. He/she can contact the panel (from where the barriers are operated) if there is a vehicle obstruction. Nice job on a summer's day but hell when it's raining or in the depths of winter. I know someone who did it on a regular basis for a couple of years in between covering relief turns at Crediton (the other TVSC:Taw Valley Signalling Centre!), Exmouth Junction and Paignton.

If ASLEF are on strike then the Elizabeth Line should be working as that union is not in dispute with MTR-EL or TfL. However, if the RMT call the signallers out then it might be affected depending on what level of cover NR can provide for the TVSC at Didcot and the Romford signalling centre. There has been a dispute between the RMT and TSSA with MTR which resulted in one strike day. Generally speaking LU is not part of the current round of disputes but can go on strike over anything. Just hope for the best and book within the last two weeks. As mentioned above, the unions have to give two weeks notice of a strike so you can have a degree of certainty. If the attendance at GETS and Warley last year, both on strike days, are anything to go by then I don't think Ally Pally will be "poorly attended".

I'm told the operators, or one at least, get more complaints about the seats in the 800s than anything else. They were specified by the DfT at the lowest possible cost. The joke on GWR is that all the money went into the driver's seat and nothing was left for the punters. Having sat in driving seat on a couple of occasions I can confirm that they are about the most comfortable I've ever encountered and I'm not talking just about train cabs. When you compare the present GWR first class offering with those superb leather seats on the HSTs in their latter days, well... Up thread someone poured scorn on the BR InterCity 70 seats. The standard class seats on the Chiltern Mk3s seem to be held in high regard by the punters. How many of you realise they are IC70s that have merely been reupholstered and lined up with the windows?

Each to their own as they say. But you are in a very small minority!

Whereas here they are probably the most hated trains on the network. From the passengers' viewpoint they are uncomfortable, noisy and rough-riding (compared with what they replaced) whilst for the operators they are overly complex and expensive to operate to say nothing of them cracking up. I realise much of the blame for this can be laid at the door of the DfT who specified the things - not trusting experienced railway management to do it - and not at Hitachi's.

I can understand the size of their home market but do the Japanese flock to buy models of British outline in large numbers in any scale/gauge?

Pete Waterman, or his trust, does indeed own 18000 and he was a Didcot last year to discuss its condition and what should be done about it but I haven't heard what, if any, decisions were arrived at. There are many who consider it is rapidly becoming an eyesore.

H&A Models sell some nice turned buffers which fit neatly into the moulded shanks. I use them all the time.

Looks like a piece of well polished mahogany furniture to me. Nothing like you'd ever see on a wagon.

Since the IETs replaced real trains it's not easy to take a surf board on the train anymore. You can't insert an additional TGS into an IET just for surf boards like GWR used to on HSTs.

Correct, Horsenden Crossing to be pedantic.

Americans are good at dumping anything everywhere, there seems to be little civic pride. The best I ever saw was a sign in West Virginia saying "No Dumping" barely visible for the scrap dumped around it!