45655

So was York city centre! Keith.

Bulleid lived at Boxhurst on the slopes of Box Hill. I believe it was at his suggestion that the Deepdene Hotel became the SR Wartime headquarters. Keith (“i” before “e” except after “c” and “k”) Alton.

Thanks both. I've learned something today. In my ignorance I had imagined that Hillards' reach extended no further than Yorkshire and Humberside. Keith Alton.

Gosh, Hillards! I remember them well from my student days in York in the 1970s. A regional supermarket chain of the pile 'em high variety (cans displayed in cut open boxes). I don't suppose they are still going. They did have a quite reasonable meat counter, though. Tomato sausage, anyone? Keith Alton.

I think that must be the late David Ratcliffe driving Sir Haydn. He was one of only two volunteer drivers at the time and also drove on the Bluebell. On the right is Irish Pete (the basis of no. 7 Tom Rolt). Not sure what the agricultural implement is doing there, though... Keith Alton.

I'd agree that the lighter coloured bags are likely to be modern polypropylene and the black ones are the earlier hessian sacks, which I remember well from coal deliveries to my parents' house in the '60s and '70s. If they weren't black when they started they were soon impregnated with coal dust! Keith Alton.

Thank you - most helpful.

Looks like an electric vehicle. Very eco friendly. Incidentally, I am looking for a "proper" coal sack (full size) for display with a set of coal scales. Does anyone have any idea where I might be able to find one? It's not the kind of thing which is routinely sold on eBay. Keith Alton.

The earliest reference to 1105 which I have been able to find in Watercress Line sources is in December 1982, at which point it had apparently been purchased from Inverness but not delivered. This would put the 1984 date of the Crianlarich photos in doubt (or the griddle car shown is not 1105). Keith Alton.

... where it sees regular use serving light lunches on midweek trains and curry and chilli to passengers on the real ale train. Currently it is in the carriage works for a bit of TLC but it should be coming back out to play in April. Keith Alton.

An interesting system of current collection, given the very low height of the tunnels. The museum displays appear to show two overhead traction current rails and initially I wondered whether this might be an early application of the Ganz 3-phase AC system, as later proposed for the Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway. Apparently not, as the electrical installation was by Siemens & Halske and was originally 350v DC using trolley pickup. Presumably a balanced supply was used to avoid electrolytic corrosion of gas pipes etc due to current leakage, as on the London Underground. However I gather that this was later altered to a single current rail and running rail return (with the voltage increased to 550v). Keith Alton.

As a matter of interest, how close is the site of this slip to the 1961 slip? Keith Alton.

Presumably the back entrance to the Black Country Museum, just short of Dudley tunnel. I recall overnighting at that wharf some years ago. The gates were open and there was nothing to stop us wandering around the empty museum site after hours. I don't suppose you can do that now. I hasten to add that we paid a "proper" visit the next day and paid the admission fee. Keith Alton.

I must have passed you in the shop! I came away with the malachite version and, yes, it is missing the class markings on the brake vehicles. Just a matter of a few transfers, though. The body finish is a bit matt, so I think it is due for a touch up and revarnish anyway. Keith Alton.

That's what it used to say in the Carols section of Hymns Ancient & Modern. (Though not the bit about decs.) Keith Alton.

I've been a bit busy recently with trains that are All Lit Up but I've now been able to refer to my copy of Barry Marsden's Middleton Press book on the York Tramways. You must be right that we are seeing the Merchantgate end here as Piccadilly is running to the right of the picture. I'm sure I recall a narrow single entrance at this end so either my memory is playing tricks with me (entirely possible) or part of the building was demolished before the photo was taken. Referring to the J C Gillham map in the Marsden volume it's clear that at one time the trolleybus wiring ran from Pavement down Piccadilly and formed a loop through the depôt, although running in the opposite direction to the one I suggested earlier i.e. in at the Merchantgate end, out at Dennis Street. This would have been for the earlier Railless vehicles as it appears that the 1931 Carrier-Clough vehicles were always garaged at Fulford, reached by using the tram wire and a "ball and chain". Mr Gillham also states that there was a single tramline in the Piccadilly depôt, which was never connected to the rest of the tram network (which confirms what we already know). Keith Alton.

Aren't we seeing the Dennis Street end here? The entrance for trams was via the very narrow exit (strictly one track) on the corner of Piccadilly and Merchantgate. Although the layout shows a dead end for trams I understand that the trolleybuses ran in this end and out the other as part of the terminal loop. Thanks RichardT for showing us the plan. Fascinating! Keith Alton.

Thanks very much for showing us these. I confess I didn't know about the tram track. Perhaps they just intended it as an outstation for storing trams? I'm glad I knew the city when a lot of old industrial buildings like these were still around. Keith Alton.

I'd agree that the Southern never used Gill Sans on rolling stock or enamel signage*, although it was certainly used in printed materials. (Gill Sans was originally designed in the 1920s for the Monotype Corporation.) The 18" x 6" dished enamel doorplates introduced after WW2 used something that was fairly close but still definitely wasn't Gill Sans, as opposed to the later BR versions which used the genuine article. I think we're on a hiding to nothing if we try to identify the SR's house lettering styles with a particular printer's typeface. They appear to have been hand drawn and I suggest that they were basically derived from signwriting practice. Returning to the loco in question, the "Southern" title is clearly a variant of "Sunshine" and the number looks like a simple version of the contemporary style used for buffer beam numbers. Both were probably hand painted to get them to fit the available space. Keith Alton. * I have seen a "target" (Birkbeck I think) with Gill Sans lettering but this is wholly exceptional and my guess is that it was a very early post-Nationalisation lash-up.

Most broadcast feeds are pretty heavily dynamically compressed these days using a device called an Orban Optimod (Mr Orban being the designer). These were designed for the US commercial radio market, where loudness matters, and are very sophisticated pieces of kit, equalising and compressing different frequency bands to maximise perceived loudness for listening in cars etc. This is applied at the studio end but there are also limiters at the transmitter to prevent over-modulation. For FM this used to be done by varying the pre-emphasis applied to the broadcast audio but it may be different now. One exception to the above is the Radio 3 320kb/s AAC digital feed used for BBC Sounds. This has no dynamic compression, just protective limiting to prevent ADC overload (which would not be nice). There is an alternative 128kb/s AAC feed which does go through the Optimod and I have them set up in Apple Music so that I can do an A/B comparison. The effect of the dynamic compression on the 128kb/s feed is very noticeable. Personally, I have my CDs ripped to 320kb/s AAC files with variable bit rate encoding, on the basis that if it's good enough for the BBC it's good enough for me. A few years ago the BBC experimented with a FLAC feed (using lossless compression) during the Proms but this hasn't been repeated, whether on grounds of cost or because it wasn't thought to be worth the candle I don't know. Keith Alton.

Until the 1960s the Board of Trade and its successors generally required a brake van at each end of a train to provide a buffer zone for passengers in the event of a collision.* Before the days of continuous brakes this would also provide additional brake power, with a brakesman riding at the front and the guard at the rear of the train. As bude_branch says, at one time the vans on local trains would gobble up huge amounts of stuff - not just passengers' luggage but also milk churns, boxes of fish, barrels of beer, local produce, dogs, parcels, etc. The vans on these sets took up half the length of the coach. (Don't forget that they were built as four coach sets - they were reduced to three in the 1930s due to generally declining traffic.) Keith Alton. * This was often ignored in practice when a strengthening coach or two had to be popped on the front.

It’s an easy mistake to make. PP sets 1-6 were I think unique in being converted from existing 2 sets and retaining a van at each end. Pretty much all other PP sets had a single van at the outer (driving) end. Keith Alton.

MHR has three Mark 1 TSOs which retain the original type windows with the glass clamped onto the rear of the body side panels and sealed with mastic. 4549 and 4600 were in use from day 1 in 1977, having been delivered by rail in 1976 over the original track, before it was lifted. They have now been in use by MHR for twice as long as they were by BR. The third, 3906, was a later acquisition, an Eastleigh-built example of an early type TSO in virtually original condition - so they stripped out the toilets at the last overhaul and converted them into a buggy storage area! It's worth noting that there were two distinct types of external window frame fitted to Mark 1s. The first retained the use of mastic seals and many (probably most) early vehicles were retrofitted with these. I don't know if any were built new with this type, though. The second used rubber glands to retain the glass and from the 1960 date I suspect that it is these to which Parkin refers. This type was generally fitted with double glazed main lights in first class areas although these have proved a maintenance liability in preservation so many have been replaced with plain glass. Keith Alton.

Looking towards the Dysynni estuary and the sea from Brynglas block post (Talyllyn Railway), 4 September 2022. Keith Alton.