roythebus1

I've had remote uncoupling for years, called Kadee. Far cheaper than all these electronic gimmics. what surprise me is that everyone spends a fortune to have the latest super-duper detailed model then runs it unprototypical Peco track and uses great big tension lock couplings.

I done the Dortmund show many years ago when the fledgling Copenhagen fields appeared there. An excellent show in those days too. But lots of "proper" traction, loco-hauled S bahn etc. all changed now.

I wish someone could supply a decent jig to hold the wing rails in correct alignment with the crossing V! But, with the advent of the British Finescale stuff rom Wayne, why bother hand-building?

It looks more like K's, but the pole pieces and magnet belong more to the Triang X04, so I'd go for Zenith.

At the risk of going slightly off-course again, I hear of similar rumblings with the London Buses franchises. they are all bar one let to the multi-nationals usually run by overseas governments while the UK government isn't allowed to do the same. From what I hear the operators are up in arms over the electric buses fiasco, the road layouts imposed on their buses by the addition of cycle lanes everywhere, all designed by people who have obviously never driven a bus, let alone ridden on one. As for the contracts, they are being re-written mid-term and the operators have simply had enough Several of them are reported to have walked out of meetings with TfL officials over the impossible conditions that have imposed. That is why we read of some services being "backed" by operators as it is impossible to run them for the costs originally agreed. TfL seem determined to keep fining operators for problems that are basically of TfL's own doing. Some of the top people from the operators have told TfL in no uncertain terms what they can do with their contracts using almost barrack-room language. To agree with what The Stationmaster says in one of his replies above, I remember interest rates on my mortgage being around the 17% mark when I was a train driver. Luckily in 198 Thatcher, for all her faults (and I still hate the woman to this day) for some reason authorised the train drivers to have a record-breaking pay rise. That enabled me to get a decent house in Streatham. then 2 years later she engineered the flexible rostering strike which saw all 28,000 drivers threatened with the sack for trying to protect our terms and conditions. like the ASLEF strikes thee days, it was more about T&Cs rather than the money. But she got her way. Railways were privatised and the race to the top for drivers' wages started. Waterloo drivers found that with the advent of Eurotunnel they could make the short walk across the concourse and almost double their money driving to Paris once a day instead of Waterloo to the City of London and back 16 times in a day. I suppose it's a pity the other rail workers pay hasn't gone up at the same rate as drivers' pay.

As a volunteer guard on the IWSR in the 1980s, we had a group of the scouts on the train, all dressed in grey uniform jackets. Going along I looked out as per my duty and saw what appeared to be someone in a grey jacket and cap swinging round between the first coach and the loco, a Terrier. I pulled the handle to stop the train, then walked forward to meet the driver. Told him what I'd seen and he laughed. What I'd seen was his fireman swinging round the footplate to give the Westinghouse pump some impact maintenance to get it working,.

That may have been the driver on local service out of Liverpool Street, went outside of his cab to see the couple in the leading compartment. EMU stock.

Maybe, but all the experiences railway professionals have long since gone from the railways. they are now run by accountants and box-tickers, nobody with any sensible idea of how to run a railway.

To add to the Swiss element, railways built to UIC spec have greater lineside clearances than UK railways, so less chance of losing your head when falling out of a window. I done some volunteer work on the metre gauge TTA in Belgium over the last 12 years. That has open-sided toastrack coaches with just safety chains. Some passengers chooses to sit on the step with their feet dangling over the edge. In the height of summer the lineside vegetation brushes the sides of the coaches. If passengers get injured, that's their problem, they have to have a sense of self-care over there. But on the TTA the line speed is 25km/h. <ahem>.

The original MRC's 00 layout, the Longridge, Brampton Sands and Calshot Railway had an odd track system designed by a Mr. Fleetwood-Shaw (known as sheetwood floor). It was the equivalent of laser-cut plywood sleeper bases, probably punched from thin ply, with rails held on every so often with some sort of clips. It wasn't fixed down except at the ends of baseboards. At one exhibition at the Central Hall in the late 1970s the BBC turned up to do some filming. the heat of their lights made the track expand so much it rose above platform level and made train operation impossible! Luckily it was the last showing of that layout. The replacement had track fixed securely.

I've not bought much ralway stuff on eBay, but was after a Bachy green class 20 a couple of years ago. Stroke of luck, someone had a decent undamaged D8000 body on there, so got that for a song. A few days later someone else had a good running chassis on there for not very much! Result, a remarkably cheapEE Type 1 for not very much

The cost of seat belts on trains per casualty was investigated in the Hidden Report. I can't remember the cost per life, but it was ££hundreds of millions of "investment" to save one life. There was a delay report I saw many years ago at Victoria, something like "we regret the 0820 to orpington is delayed due to an avalanche in Switzerland". I asked at the time, who explained the Night Ferry from Paris was delayed awaiting a connection from Switzerland, so the Night Ferry meant it ran in the path of the inward 0820 to Orpington.

At the famous London transport Chiswick bus driver training school some instructors would tell the new drivers to turn left out of the gate and take the first available road on the left. along chiswick high road, the first turn on the left was signposted as a dead end; the second was no entry, the third was at traffic lights, which was the first available road. It caught out quite a few and tested their observation. Usually on the last day the instructor would take them to Clapham Common, a nice wide road. Back at Chiswick he'd say "well, you and you have failed". the horrified trainees knew they'd done no wrong...He'd say you both drove all along The Pavement at Clapham. Both denied it. then he'd get out the AtoZ where they found out The Pavement was the name of the main road at Clapham!!

You may find a bit of localised heat will free things, maybe run a hot soldering iron round the area for a couple of minutes. I do similar when I', dismantling old bus parts, but use a more industrial type blow lamp or oxy-acetylene!

One of the other major problems with today's new drivers is the absolute reliance on the dreaded satnav. "Oh but the satnav told me to go down there. Kerunch, 6'6 width. Bigger kerunch, 12 foot bridge with multiple injuries and possible fatalities. When I had my own bus company in Mitcham I had a friend who wa a n H&S consultant to give a chat to new entrants, emphasising the dangers of low bridges. The following day got a call, one of my buses had tried to go under the low bridge on Southend Road Catford. the driver had been on the H&S course the previous day. He'd asked if the could divert to his mm's to collect his AtoZ and in his mind he was driving his car.

In BR days anything that had the right class of seating was used, regardless of type, colour or design.

Hornsey used to provide bankers at Farringdon Widened Lines to help goods trains up from the widened lines to Holborn Viaduct, and if required from Kings Cross Met/Widened Lines up Hotel Curve at Kings Cross. In later years if was the usual 350 shunter

Photo 1 above, the original Frank Dyer plan scaled down; photo 2 a view from the countryside, the late Ian wood with his back to the camera operating the main panel, my first Mrs Treasure Gould driving on the main line; photo 3 the original hidden loops, on the right the dead-end sidings that served the local lines; photo 4. The "Mighty Wurlitzer" control panel for the main layout. Other panels were for the goods yard, local lines hidden sidings, another for the branch station and the hidden loops panel. Photo 5 New Annington station looking towards the loops; photo 6 A very puzzled me wondering what to do next. Note the extension to the loops included an incline up to the branch terminus. the line had been re-opened since the Beeching cuts as a useful diversionary route for freight and HSTs. Ex mrs fixing things on the right. Photo 7 under the country side boards, a very heavy box construction was used. also note the ex USAF rotary relays used for point switching. they too were very heavy and were replaced with Old Pullman slow-motion machines. Sadly they are no longer available and were the forerunner to the Fulgerex machines. The loops had a further extension outwards with another 6 loops if I remember correctly.

New Annington was indeed originally a steam-era layout. A double track main line with a double track branch. the main station based loosely on ECML London area. Local trains terminating from the city would run into a siding with a run-round loop, then cross over to the "towards London" local line to work back. Branch train could use the centre bay to reverse, loco uncouples, fresh loco runs in from the locos spur and takes train away up the branch. Fast trains go roundy-roundy. As it was about the tome Lima and others started producing "modern image" locos and stock and the layout builders were more into those than steam, it was never really run with steam, but diesel loco-hauled trains and DMUs. bit later in its life the main platforms had to be extended to take 8 car HSTs and some track alterations made. eventually it gained OHLE which was designed so locos could run with pantographs actually touching the wires. Signalling was semi-automatic colour lights complete with route interlocking, so signals could not be cleared until a route was set. As trains passed the signals, they would return to danger and previous signal aspects would change automatically using relays and light-activated switches. All could be returned to danger individually. Drivers had to drive to the signals. It was very advanced for its era.

Nobody has noticed that it's highly unlikely to have a direct access to a turntable from a main line.

Did the GWR have wider lines on their signa box diagrams? Until 1891?

Yes, they are well remembered. there's a Lost Boys 1968-1988 FB group, no "rebellious" drivers or secondmen permitted to join. We have very long memories of those scabs. Lost wages were made up in other ways as mentioned. Waterloo done away with disposal time for every arrival which meant 12 minutes overtime on the end of every duty to secure the train properly. Additional walking time as it was impossible to get from platform 15 to the far end of platform 1 in the rush hour in 5 minutes. All those minutes added up and I think we gained 4 additional duties out of it!

At the risk of derailing this thread further, following the 1982 ASLEF strike against the imposition of flexible rostering which ended after management (the Thatcher government) threatened to sack every driver if they didn't go back to work, various ASLEF branches made various resolutions to "get back" at management. At Waterloo we refused to take training schools in the cab, inconvenient at the south side training school was there. A while after that rostering was altered and Waterloo lost its work to Exeter which caused an uproar in the top link. It meant a loss of several mileage turns. In those days if a duty exceeded 200 miles, a mileage bonus was paid. I can't remember the outcome of that dispute, I think an overtime ban, but everyone at the depot supported the move. A while later management wanted to do away with the "tunnel walk", a Saturday afternoon duty for Waterloo & City drivers. Book on after current went off at about 1400, a group of 8 with an inspector would walk the tunnel from Waterloo to Bank and back through the other tunnel, checking various items of safety equipment. It was as they say a snip turn, depending who the inspetr was and how quick we could walk. Management wanted revenge and were adamant we would lose the 8 turns every Saturday. The branch had an urgent meeting and resolved to shut the W&C every morning between 0800 and 0930 and 1630 and 1800. On the first morning of the action, muggins was the 3rd driver to book on for a Waterloo & City duty. When booking on we were asked what our intentions were. "To obey the branch resolution". First 2 got sent home, with me the foreman had changed. I was told to wait for the depot manager at 0900 which I did. I was duly summoned to see him and he refused to sign me on. I pointed out that I had sat there awaiting his arrival from about 0630 util 0930 and wanted paying for my time. The Union got involved and they were told I'd be pif for my time, but any drivers refusing to work normally would be sent home. Waterlo, being allegedly the most militant branch on BR had a hasty meeting and resolved that all drivers would support theit sent-home mates by putting £5 a week into the branch funds, this would be shared out between the sent-home drivers. Management went one step further, by booking men on their rest days to cover W&C turns. We were one step ahead...a mutual exchange of duty from a W&C duty to a duty "upstairs" on the main line with someone who was working a normal (not rest-day) job. That way the W&C remained shut for about 4 months, every driver paid a fiver into the fund and made up their wages by working rest days upstairs. Eventually management gave way and we kept the tunnel walk until it was taken over by the Underground in the 1990s. As a further aside, on the Southern these days there's usually a shortfall of about 93 drivers on long-term sick or slightly shorter term sick mainly due to what they now call "fatal trespass incidents". I'd suggest similar numbers on other TOCs.

The public consultation would take it towards the end of this century, arguments in parliament another 20 years of governments changing their minds a bit like the HS2 fiasco, meanwhile China builds 32,000 miles of new high speed lines. And TfL still won't have built the Ricky-Watford Junction link!