caradoc

The NIMBY said, effectively, that nurses, police officers and soldiers will have to be sacked to pay for HS2. Is no allegation too low for these people ? And as for Wolmar, who claims to be both a rail expert (the only one the BBC know of) and a rail supporter, words fail me. If such people had their way we would still be travelling by horse and cart on unmade roads.

As others have said, BR blue was what I grew up with, my 'proper' interest in railways starting in 1971 when I went to secondary school. As to those who say the BR Blue period was boring - The only boring thing was the uniform livery (which after all is only a coat of paint). Thinking back to the my favoured 1972-1980 period; The variety of loco and unit classes, the quantity of freight vehicles (unbraked, vacuum braked and air braked), the number of freight terminals, eg collieries, steelworks, etc; The number of shunting locos still required, and all those depots, some well-known and others obscure (eg Blyth Cambois). Getting a bit philosophical, part of the wonderful memories is the thrill of discovering new things, eg visiting Reddish Depot or Tinsley Yard for the first time, or, for a southerner, the ultimate dream of a family holiday in Scotland! I do believe that as we grow up and become more affluent, experienced and knowledgeable, such excitement (as far as railways are concerned at least) becomes much rarer. Hence, perhaps, the froth each year over Hornby and Bachmann's announcements !

David Larkin's softback book 'BR Standard Freight Wagons - A Pictorial Survey' (D.Bradford Barton 1979) has a picture, dated 1970, of a HOP32AB (ie HAA post-TOPS) at Aylesbury. I presume it was being used as a barrier wagon, as in the background is a static oil tank and some 100t Shell tank wagons. A bit too early for your period, however !

Oldlugger, I'm with you on mobile phones, I love railways (despite having worked on them for 33 years and counting), and I loved the Woodhead route. However us enthusiasts are a tiny minority and our influence on Government policy is precisely zilch. Despite that, we ARE re-opening lines, particularly in Scotland where I live, and hopefully HS1 will soon be followed by HS2 ( and 3, 4 etc), BUT any railway has to justify its existence by providing a service that passengers and freight customers will use.

Woodhead closed because the lifeblood of any railway, its traffic, had already vanished, or was about to vanish. What coal traffic (for which the route was electrified) was left ran direct from mine to power station, for which the Woodhead route was inefficient and expensive; Passenger traffic has for forty years now been handled by the Hope Valley, without needing a second, isolated, station in Sheffield. I would love to be able to go once again down to Wath, Penistone or Guide Bridge and watch the 76s pass by, but the world has moved on.

Yes, the DMU stabling was definitely during the all-blue period. I also seem to recall Aylesbury being a hotbed for SPV parcels van action - Was there a particular traffic they were used for ? I certainly recall seeing lots there.

I remember visiting Aylesbury on Sundays in the mid-1970s to get Marylebone DMU car numbers (sad or what ?) and there were units stabled all over the place, both at and north of the station, on sidings and running lines IIRC.

The Achille's Heel of any plan to rebuild the Woodhead route is, in my opinion, the station arrangement at Sheffield; Would trains reverse at Nunnery Jc and serve Sheffield Midland, incurring a time penalty ? Would trains serve a re-opened Victoria, saving time but increasing construction and operating costs, and having no connection to the rest of the rail network ? Or would trains serve both Victoria and Midland ? I do believe that if there had been a direct connection between Victoria and Midland, this would have been electrified with the rest of the route which might then still be open today.

About 1000 yesterday I ordered their 3 exclusive Bachmann TTA wagons. Had the Postman bothered to ring the doorbell, instead of putting a card through the door, I would have had them at 0820 today ! As it is, I have them now, so their service is superb (as was the much-maligned Post Office, except for the final link in the chain).

You went there in a 44t artic......How much were you planning to buy ?!

I hadn't realised that Gateshead had even had Class 20s, so this post got me checking old ABCs. By my reckoning, 52A must have had one of the most varied collections of diesel loco over the years: 03, 04, 17, 20, 24, 25, 31, 37, 40, 46, 47, 55, 56. Not sure if I've missed any !

Yes, but the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is (or rather will be) by far the longest and most ambitious scheme of its type in Britain, and Edinburgh's tram system will (or rather might) be the first modern tram system in Scotland. The travails of both have done absolutely nothing to further the cause of modern public transport. Furthermore, if the Cambridge/St Ives scheme was a railway, rather than a busway, I have no doubt at all that it would be operational now. Perhaps local authorities should concentrate on fixing streetlights and emptying the bins, and leave complex projects to those who have some idea what they're doing.

Those responsible for this project should now offer their expertise to the Edinburgh Tram system.

According to Bill Simpson's book 'Oxford to Cambridge Railway' Volume One (OPC 1981), the oil terminal at Islip was opened in the mid-1930s, and used by the Air Ministry at first, being taken over by Esso after WW2. He also says the terminal was hardly used after 1969, but until then 60 wagons a day were supplied, which seems a large number for such a small location. I don't recall any large storage tanks at Islip, so, as Brian says, was the fuel pumped direct to Upper Heyford and stored there ? Due to its size, Upper Heyford, in its heyday, would certainly have required vast amounts of fuel.

I had a quick look (fron a passing Voyager) at Albion Oil Terminal, between Dudley Port and Sandwell & Dudley (formerly Oldbury) on the Wolverhampton/Birmingham route. Although the storage tanks are long gone, the track appears to remain, although very overgrown, the connection to the main line remains, with the crossing plain-lined, and the exit signal from the sidings is still there. I recall an incident, possibly in the 1970s, when a train of 100t tanks was propelled slightly too far and one ended up in the adjacent canal.

I'm puzzled....How do you get prostitutes of three different varieties, (I've had a very sheltered upbringing), and can you get them from Preiser or Noch ?

64588 at one time also had a variety of experimental seating installed, some of which was a lot more comfortable that the standard low-backed Class 314 seating. Comfort on the 314 fleet would be improved by fitting the same high-backed seats as used on the Hornsey Class 313 fleet. The original 64588 was destroyed in the Newton collision of 21st July 1991.