jonny777

Sorry about the poor quality. I was experimenting at the time with a 3x converter on my zoom lens (not advisable without a tripod). Scotsman and Mayflower double-head a railtour towards Sellafield on 8th May 1976. Next? Steam loco at Mallaig in BR days (i.e. not a preserved example).

Oh dear, maybe I have made it too difficult? It doesn't have to have the sun in the photo, maybe just the red/yellow glow reflecting off the train?

D1023 at Crewe with the Western Memorial railtour - 29th January 1977. (I have just noticed my max single file size has increased from 1mb to 32mb) Next - an HST with the setting sun.

Sorry, had to pick up swmbo from yoga class.

Will this do?

I am beginning to wonder about D1669. It should be named, but I can't see a plate. Are you sure it is not D1969, David? The number is rather blurred on the image.

J776 is a very short train for a 47 on the ECML. I wonder what 1N70 was? Sadly I don't have the relevant WTT. Edited to add D1669 was a Cardiff loco. Curiouser...

Tetley's Mills never failed to blow me away, and the first time I saw Dave Shakespeare's stone walling I really could not believe I was not looking at a photo of the real thing in 12" to 1ft scale. Sadly, Dave is not with us any more, but this video is a wonderful tribute - and gives inspiration by the bucketload.

I'm beginning to get a headache...

Presumably the concrete sections have undertaken a tortuous journey via Norwich, Ely, March and Spalding in order to approach their destination from the right direction for the unloading siding?

2 x 31s on a Skegness service was uncommon. I'm pretty certain that it was an FP 47 working by then. A last minute failure may have caused the substitution.

Thanks Simon. It is May 2011, and I have managed to download a digital back issue.

I found this BTF video while browsing. It has some interesting 1960s footage from the NE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgnTonf-Oc

A deafening silence fell over the poor quality performance of the 47s in the 60s/70s. It had to, because after 512 had been ordered by the gung-ho management, it would have been a shock to most people to find, that after engine de-rating, they were hardly any more powerful than a Peak. I do wonder if that was a contributory factor to the lack of interest in Kestrel? Did they wonder if 4000hp was a step too far for Brush at that early stage, when 2750hp had been proved problematic?

Peaks may have been common on SW-NE services, but how many were 45/1s until HSTs appeared on the Midland?

I think the 35 replacing 50 idea is disingenious, because it could be argued that there was a surplus of electrics south of Crewe, before northward electrification was completed; so the 81-86 classes could take over duties (previously worked by single or pairs of 50s), as well as 87s.

Time for the "ignore this topic" button, methinks.

Thanks Paul, that makes much more sense.

I thought the GWR had their 150th anniversary in 1983, which was 'celebrated' at Swindon by cutting D818. This year would be the 184th year. (or are they being pedantic and cutting out the BR(W) years?)

I have a bus pass, and so now drive as little as possible. However the antics of some road users, when in the vicinity of a bus, has to be seen to be believed. Drivers who will not give way to a bus, under any circumstances. Drivers who believe that being behind a bus is equivalent to some form of torture, and will do anything to get in front; even if it means forcing oncoming vehicles onto the pavement. Cyclists who believe that riding up the nearside of any vehicle is compulsory when the vehicle has slowed down because it is a bus and is stopping at the bus stop 10 metres ahead. Women drivers who seem incapable of reversing their small cars, so gesticulate for the bus to reverse when traffic is down to one lane due to road works. I could go on, but some may think I am just making this up.

What annoyed me about spotting in the 1960s were the unidentifiable steam locos from a short distance (say 100 yards or far less at times). I must have seen twice as many WDs and O4s than I ever underlined in my ABC, because I just couldn't read the cabside number. This was also a problem when viewing lines of withdrawn locos from passing trains.

Where I differ from others here, is that I don't find the fens bleak and/or depressing. For me it is home, even though I haven't lived there for many years. The the big wide horizons and lack of hills is not something that I think about because I grew up there. The drainage and vast arable fields maybe artificial, but the flatness of the landscape isn't. It was just as flat when it was mostly marsh and reedbeds. As for disused windmills, venture into south Lincs and you will find lots. And Denver can hardly be seen as a prime example of Fenland; for a start it is east of the Ouse, and the windmill is 10m amsl, which is almost mountainous.

I do know this, (although much of it would be tidal if their were no sluices). I was born in the Fens; so were my ancestors. Most of my surviving relatives still live there. I am simply just defending the region. The reason water doesn't flow quickly is because there is no gradient, and, as was illustrated in Boston a few years ago, if the high tide is whipped up by strong winds and a deep low pressure, sea water will still inundate the area. I think the model is great, and the silos remind me a little of Heygates at Downham.