Mike_Walker

Almost all of the Marlow branch was relaid in November 2019 from a point just before Donkey LC leaving Bourne End through to Marlow. Most of it is CWR on steel sleepers but there is a short section on concrete at Bourne End and at Marlow plus as mentioned, a short section of BH under the stop block at Marlow. One of our MDRS members asked the question why at the time but I can't remember the answer now. This past week (half term) the branch was closed to permit relaying from just south of Cookham almost to the river bridge at Bourne End. Again this is CWR with concrete sleepers as far as approximately the summit between Cookham and Bourne End then steel. I did ask the question and was informed that the choice is dependant on the stability of the ground structure below the railway. This now means that then entire branch from Maidenhead has been relaid apart from across the river and the Bourne End station area. The latter may be connected to the long held plans by GWR to remodel the junction to permit trains to pass there but that seems to have gone quiet since the pandemic struck.

Whilst at my local supermarket at the weekend I spotted a Tesla SUV that has upward opening gull-wing doors. No problem in an open air car park but I did wonder what would happen in a multi-storey some of which have quite restricted headroom and would those doors hit an adjacent vehicle whilst opening in a "standard" parking space?

Any help?

I agree, I think the mill will be too overpowering to the scene.

But it is worth remembering that the most recent DMUs, 172s, 19x etc. have reverted to the old diesel-mechanical transmission, albeit with fully rather than semi-automatic gearboxes, as these give greater fuel economy and are much quieter especially when starting away from a station. I'm sorely tempted to pass some of the Class 50 observations here onto my old mate Mark Hopwood - Class 50 foamer extraordinaire - he'd be mortified. I don't think he's ever fully recovered from the shock he had when, still a schoolboy, we took him into OOC to see 50013 chopped into five large lumps by Mr Booth's lads. He was almost in tears. But then he only really became aware of matters railway related as the things were arriving on the Western and never experienced Hydraulic Heaven for himself - he regularly gets his leg pulled about it to this day! Class 67s have never actually been authorised to operate in service above 100mph and are pretty dire to travel on: they are noisy, vibrate like hell, ride roughly and accelerate like a tortoise - I speak from experience! Enthusiasts call them "Skips" because of the shape, drivers because it's where they belong! One of Chiltern's senior drivers summed up the change from 67s to 68s as like going from an HGV to a Ferrari. Because of their weight, both classes command a high track access charge premium which is one reason they are falling out of favour at Chiltern along with a single vociferous resident near Marylebone who complains about the noise and fumes and seems to have a hotline to Citizen Kahn. When a 68 leaves High Wycombe after a station stop on a down the whole town can hear it! And to me they have a certain Maybach-like note to them or perhaps it's my warped imagination...

AIUI the SR crews were only trained on the Swindon built Class 42 Warships not the NBL Class 43s.

There were several through trains each day between Bodmin Road and Padstow which were always worked by 45xx tanks and from around 1962/3 these were replaced by D63xx's until the services were rationalised in 1964 when Bubble Cars took over, usually the GRCW version.

I see on Google Street View that the crossing signs are still in situ at Helland on the Wenford branch too along with the rails in the road but the branch i, of course, lifted.

Not unknown though. Wooburn Green near me was a block post and token station with a level crossing but no passing loop.

That would agree with my lunch time observations at school. Slightly off-topic but in the early months of 1965 we were also entertained by the regular use of 6106 to shunt the yard. At that time it was ex-works (the last steam loco overhauled at Swindon I think) and it was kept immaculate. Such a contrast to the few other steam locos wheezing about at that time.

Sorry to contradict Mike but I started at the old Wycombe Technical High School in September 1963 and we spent many happy lunch hours watching Westerns passing which continued throughout that term. The dreaded Duff's didn't appear until the following year.

D7000 was actually delivered with blue route availability markings but they appear to have been changed to red before entering service.

Me too!

Reminds me of a Long Island RR engineer who often strapped his bike to the walkway of a GP38-2 so he could cycle from Montauk station out to Montauk Point and back during a layover.

Unless there's been a change recently, only London Overground trains (378s) are allowed to change systems on the move on the West London Line. Southern 377s have to stop and do it. This is near North Pole and not in a station.

Yes, that's correct they were used to charge the 'Donkey. The station was on the town supply.

Actually it was Southall West which is facing from UR to UM and DM to DR. I think all the junctions on to non-electrified lines off the GWML have run-off wiring for just such eventualities.

No first class on GWR LTV services for years either. When Chiltern withdrew it the only complaints they got were from the patrons of Gerrards Cross!

Is that the voice of personal observation, Mike? 😀

I believe the pumps have been relocated in the tanks and are no longer visible. Just the pipes now.a

This poor thing decided the Glenfinnan Viaduct was a good shortcut... until a train came along. It was terrified but managed to get to a place of safety!

That's why it's called HIGH Wycombe - 'cos it's in a valley!

Try asking Steve at Railtec.

It's the opposite side. 🤣

The incident took place around 06:35 between Hayes & Harlington and Southall West Junction and train involved was 1K01, the 05:34 Bedwyn to Paddington worked by 800024. This section of the GWML is still equipped with the headspans installed for the Heathrow electrification in the early 1990s and in such areas damage to the OLE above one line almost always results in damage to the wiring above all lines and this is what happened on Monday. At the time of the incident the train is reported to have been travelling at 52mph as it was slowing to observe a 50mph temporary speed restriction commencing at Southall West Junction but it still managed to destroy around 2 miles of overhead line as well as the unit's pantograph. The result was that not only was 1K01 halted but all trains in the area were brought to a stand and several had to be evacuated where they stood. Network Rail repair crews did not reach the site until midday. All services were cancelled between Reading and Paddington although a limited shuttle was established between Reading and Slough. By late evening this was extended into Paddington. On Tuesday a limited service operated between Paddington and Reading but this was suspended at 20:00 to allow crews unlimited access to complete the repair work. An investigation is underway to determine the cause which basically is either a pantograph problem on the train or a defect on the OLE. I understand that early indications are pointing to the latter.