Pete 75C

Glasgow Emerald was in RM in Jan 2006. I thought at the time it was pretty clever and certainly could be useful inspiration. http://wealden.weebly.com/glasgow-emerald.html

I'll always have a fondness for the humble Crompton, as this was the second loco type I qualified on back in the 80s (after the Class 47). Last year, 33108 was a visiting locomotive at the North Norfolk Railway's June diesel gala. Living in Sheringham, a quick trip down to the station was called for. A quick question, though... 108 has white window surrounds at one end only. Is this just a preserved embellishment or did she ever run like this? Pete.

A detail shot of the NNR's D6732 just after her repaint last year...

And a few shots of 47367 at the 2013 gala...

A few shots of 47596 Aldeburgh Festival at the North Norfolk Railway diesel gala, May 2012, just before her NSE repaint.

Thanks for that. If it has a London feel, I'll have done something right. Inspiration comes in many forms, and a big inspiration for this was the superb Sumatra Rd, but I know my own limitations and will not come close to the superb atmosphere achieved on that layout. Having said that, I do seem to be knocking out a fair number of quick builds lately with the sole intention of improving skills. One day when I convince my wife that we really must buy that house with the huge cellar/loft/workshop, I might be able to build a permanent layout without too many mistakes! Another skill that I'd like to improve is scratchbuilt buildings. Ready-to-plant resin and card kits aren't really rocking my boat at the moment. Lots Rd is on the back-burner for now while I get a door-sized N gauge layout out of my system. I'm 46 with the attention span of a twelve yr-old but it will get finished!

I gave my daughter £20 to get something she wanted from a toyshop in Sheringham this morning. To be fair, she's been on about it for ages and didn't get it for Christmas. 5 minutes after she went out, I wondered if it was available on ebay... Yep. £6.99 free P&P. No problem, I thought, I'll call her. Imagine my horror when I could hear her phone ringing in the bedroom - she'd gone out without it! Moral dilemma - do I let her keep it or take it back to the shop and make her wait for the postman to bring the ebay bargain???

Of course it's smiling - it's having a drink. I usually have a smile on my face when I'm in the pub being topped up...

D1669 was camera-shy to say the least... http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v3.php?img=0758050007210

Not at Selhurst in 1984... Aside from woolly hats, Walkmans and more hair than a Shetland pony, a lot of carriage staff used to carry keys around on a chain long enough to snag on the 3rd rail protection boards! H&S did exist in the 80s, it just hadn't made a lasting impression on the public conscience back then...

At the risk of a verbal flogging from those that follow the present-day liveries, there's nothing that can change my mind about rail blue. It even hid the dirt well. That just can't be said about anything pale. Automatic carriage washing plants just don't get into the nooks and crannies the way a (human) carriage cleaner can with a rag, a squirty bottle and something nice on the Sony Walkman to help pass the time at 3am.

That would make sense I guess. However, I've just typed www.GreaterAnglia.co.uk into Firefox (no spaces, obviously) and it is recognized and translated to greateranglia before the page loads... I'll have to ask my teenage son what the problem with Capitals is... he must know as he never uses them! And being a teenager, he knows everything...

I have to say, I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but since when has it been acceptable to drop the Capitals? Speaking as someone who spends ages sending a text (not a txt) with all Capitals where they should be and proper punctuation... Must be getting old...

Nice. Someone does have a bargain, I reckon... An RMWeb member, maybe...?

Just because I assume something, rarely makes it true! I heard that from a friend who never uses liquid PVA or washing up liquid - he prefers to use a blend of stone and Cascamite powerdered glue. Maybe it is more likely to be the granite or the PVA. Anyone else know for sure?

I'll be delighted if I'm wrong, but I always thought the greenish hue was as a result of the detergent used during the traditional dry ballasting method? I thought that was why many people preferred not to go down the "with a drop of washing up liquid" route. If it's the ballast itself that causes the colour change, well, you learn something every day... Pete.

I like that very much. Thanks for the pictures of the process.

Also, dare I say it, H&S has slowed the process down somewhat. Personal safety is a far bigger issue now than in the time of the St Pancras video. That's no bad thing, but it does come at the expense of a speedy job.

I can vouch for the troughing being pretty heavy. There is/used? to be a Permanent Way store close to Norwood with thousands of trough and lid sections. They're so substantial, that some of the lids were used as the base of my Dad's garden shed in Wallington. And no, I have no idea how that happened, officer...

Ah right... having found these press release images on the Network Rail site, it explains the problem... In my mind, I'd imagined some spoil had fallen onto the line, I hadn't realised the terrain had slipped away from the line...

I'd never heard of that either - I had to Google to find out it used to be Smitham... Re: the landslip on the Dorking - Horsham line... as that diversionary route is so crucial, I would have thought a Herculean effort would have been made to clear it. Unless any major infrastructure has been damaged...

Thanks for that. 3 loops, 1 long siding and 1 short siding thru' the shed. If my 4th loop had been a siding... I was close! No cigar, though.

.John, that track plan was from memory and it's now 25 years since I was there. It's just a rough interpretation of what I remember. If it was correct, believe me, I'd be more surprised than anyone!

Ignoring Wimbledon to Sutton for a moment and recalling the Wimbledon to West Croydon single line, I agree that Tramlink's success is probably due in no small part to the frequency and number of stops, but ironically if you zoom out in Google Maps or Bing (for example), the route of the West Croydon - Wimbledon line passes through some areas of fairly low (for London) residential density. There is Mitcham Common for a start, and particularly around Beddington Lane, it's far more industrial than residential. For a lot of the route, you'd see more fork lift trucks and warehouses than you would houses. Just about every residential development along the former railway corridor was within easy walking distance of one of the original stations pre-Tramlink. I think a lot of the problem is that people can be lazy. Today a quarter or half mile walk to a railway station is seen as unacceptable to a lot of people. Give them a tram stop at the end of their street (but no further) and they may use it rather than get the car out. You're quite right though that it was under-used. As a driver on that route, quite often as I ran in to a station other than West Croydon, Mitcham Junction or Wimbledon, there would not be a soul around. Pre-456, you may hear the tell-tale slam of a single door letting you know that maybe one passenger had got off.

Thanks for that Bill. I like the "double whammy" of both alignment and electrical continuity using the tube + rod. Pete.