4630

38 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

There is an easy test for French snakes .  If the eyes are round like here, they are non-venomous.  If oval or tending to slit shaped then beware.

I think I’d prefer not to get close enough to any snake to be able to tell if the eyes are round or oval. 

There was a discussion on R4s The World at One today about the latest figures.

World at One, 8th May 2024

The piece starts around 21 minutes into the programme.

1 minute ago, Northmoor said:

What's the emoji for, "Oh my God that might only be a car but it is achingly beautiful"?

And the emoji also needs to recognise the wonderful sound that would emanate from that Maserati engine and the exhaust note too. 
 

Several more, this time from 7th May 2024...

GBRf 66758 'The Pavior' approaching the foot crossing at Cromwell Bottom, near Elland, with 6G95 from Crewe Basford Hall to Ravensthorpe, bogie box wagons loaded with fresh ballast...

...GBRf 66726 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY between Brighouse and Bradley Wood Junction with 6E09, loaded biomass hoppers to Drax Power Station from Liverpool Biomass Terminal...

Recently released to traffic, newly converted DB Cargo 66651* (previously 66221) heading west along the Calder Valley towards Brighouse with 6M16, from Tees New Yard to Knowsley Freight Terminal, empty binliner working.

* The first of ten (66651-66660) that DB Cargo are planning to convert over the coming months.

A couple of Engineers' trains heading to the worksite on 6th May 2024 passing through Brighouse.

GBRf 66761 ‘Wensleydale Railway Association 25 Years 1990-2015’ working 6G90 from Doncaster Up Decoy Yard to Ravensthorpe...

...and passing in the opposite direction through Brighouse but heading to the same destination, 66707 'Sir Sam Fay GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY' with 6G91, Doncaster Belmont Down Yard to Ravensthorpe.

Last train to London, just headin' out,

Last train to London, just leavin' town...*

Grand Central 221143 departing from Brighouse on 6th May 2024 with 1A67, Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross.

*in the immortal words of ELO.

29 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

There's a rumour that the GBRf 60s will take over Rylstone quarry working from next week, with Arcow to follow.

 

 

That probably makes a lot of sense as there are generally fewer daily biomass workings between Liverpool and Drax over the summer months, so putting their 60s to use on other suitable workings avoids assets sitting around idle and also allows their 66s to be re-deployed on to other duties.  

33 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Model Railroader is (usually) available from WHSmiths in the UK when my local hopeless branch bother to stick it on the shelf that is and I have to say, it's not great.  I have a copy of the July 1974 MR on my desk at the moment, thick with pages, well written how to articles (I mainly bought it for a brilliant article on paint schemes on SP switchers) and larger pages, the current issue of MR (April 2024) is little more than a flimsy pamphlet.

 

Trains used to be worth a read but has descended down the same rabbit hole that Rail Enthusiasrt/Rail did in the UK, becoming little more than a thin bottom kissing trade magazine and if it went I would not rate it as a loss, thing is I suspect as has already been mentioned that Trains was the one mag the new owners actually wanted.

 

Yes, I tend to agree with you about the progressive deterioration of the content in MR over the years.

When I was a regular MR buyer (courtesy of MG Sharps in Sheffield) during the 1990s and early 2000s my impression was of far richer and varied content.  It's difficult to pin down exactly when but, I guess the editorial changes over subsequent years would have been the catalyst.

Similarly with Trains, I found it interesting and was a regular buyer at that time too, but when I've thumbed through copies at WHS recently there really is nothing of substance now and by my reckoning it wouldn't even remotely qualify as a trade magazine.  So if that's what the new owners of the title are envisaging I suspect they maybe disappointed in the long term.

I hope the Milwaukee, Racine and Troy doesn't suffer the same fate as John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid layout.

As mentioned by previous posters above, best wishes to the current Kalmbach staff affected by the sale for their futures.

On 29th April 2024, GBRf 66797 with 66720 ‘wascosa’ and 66799 ‘Modern Railways Diamond Jubilee’ pass through Deighton heading west towards Huddersfield, working light locomotives from Doncaster Down Decoy Yard to Crewe Basford Hall.

On 1st May 2024, Colas 66848 passes the River Calder on the approach to Brighouse with discharged bitumen tanks, working as 6E43 from Colas Ribble Rail at Preston to Haverton.  A slightly unusual occurrence as this working is normally in the hands of a Colas class 70 or less frequently one of their class 56.

GBRf 60021 PENYGHENT passing the River Calder approaching Brighouse on 1st May 2024 with 6E09, loaded biomass hoppers, working from Liverpool Biomass Terminal to Drax Power Station.

On the subject of cats liking boxes...

Stowaway cat accidentally mailed to California in returned package

She doesn't look impressed.  

53 minutes ago, eastwestdivide said:

They've rearranged the clutter around it now! Still in use as a community space, something to do with mental health. 

 

Known as Platform 1.

https://platform-1.co.uk/

12 minutes ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

This is British...

 

Hythe Pier railway by the looks of it, looking along towards Southampton Water. 

On 17th April 2024, 34046 'Braunton' passing Colne Bridge, between Huddersfield and Heaton Lodge Junction, with the outward working of 1Z80, The White Rose rail tour from Hereford to York - 34046 having taken over at Crewe...

...and in the early evening approaching Brighouse, on the Calder Valley, heading west with the return working 1Z82 - 34046 having taken the lead at Gascoigne Wood Down Loop for the route back to Crewe. 

15 minutes ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 

The statistic that patronage doubled after privatisation is often quoted by its supporters. But what I've not heard them say is what exactly it was that the privatised railway did that was so much better than BR. One trend of the privatised era was more frequent but shorter trains; however that was started by BR. Can it be argued that the doubling would have happened anyway if BR had continued?

It could be argued, yes.  And with supporting evidence of what might have happened it may be possible to convince some.
 

But as BR didn’t continue there isn’t and can’t ever be conclusive proof - one way or the other. 
 

The irrelevance of the graph in isolation though is shown by what happened in 2021.  The graph shows a massive dip.  Clearly privatisation had failed.  Oh wait.  How about some context.  Ah yes.  COVID. 

That’s the point.  It’s the context that’s important to help support, interpret and explain the movements highlighted on the graph. 
 

5 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

It brings to mind this graph which appears to show an unfortunate corelation between ownership and passenger numbers.

 

I’m reminded of the phrase that correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation. 

3 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

I don't think there's a thread on this topic yet.

 

Any thoughts on Labour's plans to take over all passenger franchises? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/24/labour-promises-rail-nationalisation-within-five-years-of-coming-to-power

 

The Telegraph naturally homes in on  the negative  "Labour refuses to guarantee lower train fares under potential government"

 

One benefit that occurs to me is that it would stop TOC's poaching drivers from other TOCs, removing a disincentive to train more drivers. In a way I'm surprised that ASLEF are in favour of the plan since privatisation has surely driven up their salaries.

 

And it might improve reliability by increasing the pool of staff who can step in and substitute for staff who're off sick.

As always, the devil will be in the detail, for which at the moment, for very good reasons, there isn't a lot of.

But to pick up on one particular point in your post to ponder on;

3 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

 

One benefit that occurs to me is that it would stop TOC's poaching drivers from other TOCs, removing a disincentive to train more drivers. In a way I'm surprised that ASLEF are in favour of the plan since privatisation has surely driven up their salaries.

 

In the period from nationalisation in 1948 until privatisation in 1994 British Rail's staff had, to the best of my knowledge, a largely uniform set of employment terms and conditions and pay scales.  I've no doubt there was also some limited local and regional variations to take account of particular variables.  This homegenous situation, not without conflict I grant you, evolved over time by mutual discussion and eventual agreement(s) between BR and the associated trade unions in the industry.

The situation now is quite different.  That homogeneity as I understand it is significantly eroded.

To give one example, for historical reasons due to the TOCs previously involved and the way that franchises in the north operated and were changed over time, train crews at the current Northern have different sets of terms and conditions depending which side of the Pennines they are based at.  That has implications for the operations of services on Sundays, for example. 

But to use your example of train drivers, what's the potential outcome likely to be if there is an attempt to harmonise the drivers' pay scales at say Avanti West Coast (who I understand are at one end of the drivers' pay spectrum) with say Northern (who I understand are towards the other end of the pay spectrum).

Do you harmonise pay scales up, or down?

If you harmonise up, where does the funding come from to support that?

If you harmonise down, what will the impact be?

How do you achieve harmonisation overall whilst minimising the impact on staff affected?

Over what timescale do you try to achieve that?

There are no easy answers here.  And this is just one dimension of a very large and unwieldy issue.

As I said at the start, the devil will be in the detail.

21 minutes ago, bmb5dnp1 said:

Hello,

    I've never understand why people have problems with shareholders (which may include your pension scheme) making money as without them there'd be no investment or jobs anyway. 

 

                             Dave 

Without wanting to take the thread off in a whole different direction that risks acrimony, the wrath of the moderators and eventual locking, an examination of the history of the privatisation of the water industry and in particular the issues at Thames Water might throw some light on "...why people have problems with shareholders, etc..."

The net effect of which is best summed up in my mind by the phrase "Privatise the profits, but socialise any losses."

Darius, I’m in awe at your ability to turn MTK’s assortment of castings and body shells so rapidly into such excellent models. 
 

Don’t you ever rest?

There's a seven page article about the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) in the May issue of Modern Railways.

Much of the content will be familiar to readers of this forum, but the article draws on input from Neil Holm, who is the TRU Managing Director, so IMHO should be the definitive version of the project, in terms of scope, and current and planned progress. 

On 12/04/2024 at 11:27, jamie92208 said:

Is the new bridge installed over Bradford Road in Huddersfield yet?

 

Jamie

Not yet Jamie, but I don't believe the instal was planned for during the recent rail line and Bradford Road closure.  It'll be during one of the later closures.

There's a bit more about Roy Cross here for anyone interested.

http://roycrossfineart.co.uk

http://roycrossfineart.co.uk/airfix-gallery

He didn't do all of the Airfix box art, although he was apparently the most prolific.

On 19th April 2024 West Coast Railway Company's 57313 'Scarborough Castle' arriving at Brighouse to terminate with the Northen Belle rail tour set, having completed an Afternoon Tea outing as 1Z66 from Skipton...

...57313 then eased the empty coaching stock away working as 5Z66, Brighouse to Crewe Down Refuge Siding, via Bradley Wood Junction towards Huddersfield and Greater Manchester...

...with 57315 on the rear.

Colas 56090 rumbles towards Brighouse on 19th April 2024 with 6E44, Colas Ribble Rail at Preston to Haverton, discharged bitumen tanks.

Rather nice to see (and hear) as this working has been in the hands of Colas class 70s (including the hired-in Freightliner 70) for awhile.

34 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

 

Why is it that when railways are shown in movies (or on TV), very little thought seems to have been given to make sure they're 'accurate for period', or even place…

 

Whenever I point out a glaring railway inaccuracy or implausibility in a film or on TV, it’s usually followed by a loud schhhhhhhh from Mrs 4630 and accompanied, with a hint of menace by, “Will you just stop it.  It’s a drama, not a documentary!”

GBRf 60047 Scafell Pike heading west along the Calder Valley towards Brighouse in the early evening on 17th April 2024 with 6M09, Drax Power Station to Tuebrook Sidings, empty IIA-D biomass hoppers.