jonny777

Now, you have made my day - and possibly my year with those two photos. 63639 was one of the regular 04s that I used to see in the early 1960s, so much so that shouts of "scrap it" were probably heard when it appeared for the 'n'th time. Unfortunately, my wishes came true all too quickly and I have had many decades in which to repent at the blase contempt with regular steam locos were treated in those days. However, this is like meeting an old friend once again. Mind you, I look at 63770 and wonder if it is ever going to be possible to re-create that level of weathering on an 00 gauge model? It does look as though the option of an early or late crest on the tender is not particularly relevant to many of this class.

Lovely photos. They bring a tear to my eye when I reflect on what was lost through 1960s official vandalism.

I think the summer break was about 6 weeks in those days, from about July 20th to the first full week of September. There were more in 1959, possibly due to BR taking advantage of the excellent summer weather, for extra revenue. On Monday July 27th 1959 the Derby excursion was headed by Colwick stalwart 61188. On Thurs July 30th there was another excursion from Derby, but as the loco was 44818 it may have originated at Midland. Another on Aug 6th (Thurs) had 61982 in charge.

There were not that many Derby to Cleethorpes excursions either, in the late 1950s. An occasional one ran on Sundays. I found one in 1958 but was early in the season on June 22nd hauled by K3 61837. There was one on Thursday July 7th 1958 with 61874 on the front, but that is about all for 1958 that I can find.

Just had an email from Hattons to say 266211, which is a heavily weathered 47981 has been put back to a July delivery date.

Yes, the grey skies do fit with the rather diffuse shadows on the model. The all over blue sky does not, because unless the sun had been obscured by the one small area of cloud in the sky, the shadows would be much stronger. In other words when the sky suggests the sun is shining, the contrast between light and shade would be much greater. I quite like the effect on the final photo where some bright light is coming through the drawn curtains at an almost horizontal angle, because it suggests late evening in summer, and fortunately the layout is orientated the correct way for this to come from "the west", as it were.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buzzard_UK09.JPG

I doubt it would be a Kestrel soaring around very high. They tend to hover a few metres above their prey when hunting, or sit on a prominent tree branch or pole of some kind watching for movement . Buzzards are much larger than kestrels or sparrowhawks and are recognisable by their dark and wide wings with a grey/white patch on the underside of each which is visible from the ground.

I watched a buzzard yesterday, soaring round and round on thermals high above our back garden and never moving its wings once; until that is, it was noted by the seagulls that nest on the church. They mobbed it until it moved further away. I haven't seen swallows or house martins here yet, but then I haven't been sitting outside much. The people in the house behind are doing some building work, so a quiet afternoon in the garden is accompanied by incessant radio muzak, the noise of angle grinders and people who need to shout to each other every few seconds.

Please don't put your efforts down too much. It is an excellent layout which as soon as I saw the first photo of this thread I knew that I was going to enjoy reading about.

Thanks. That dusk photo looks rather good. I had never thought of being able to vary the time of day to that extent.

I hope I have not missed this somewhere in the text, but how long would that complete process take, approximately?

They are great photographs. Thanks very much. It is rather strange seeing steam hauled local trains as late as 1965. Were dmus never used on these services in an attempt to cut costs, and maybe increase passenger numbers? Or was it all just a cynical ploy to starve the line of investment?

My hard to decipher notes from the time appear to suggest the headcode was 6B40, so I think that would rule out cripples, although not all headcodes were accurate in those days. I dont have a WTT for summer 1968 unfortunately.

Hi Jeff. Your Doncaster photos are a little earlier than you suggest, given the cutting up dates that I have. 24099 was cut up in Aug 1977. 24071 was cut up in Jan 1977 and D5901 in Feb 1977. The vegetation looks very green, which rules out the summer of 1976, so I wonder if they were taken in the Autumn of that year?

I hope you don't mind me adding this poor b/w photo of banking in the hydraulic era, Aug 1968, to your excellent thread. In those days transfer freights were more common between the yards up and down the hill, and Warships were occasional banking engines back then. This is D821 giving a helping hand. Not visible in the photo is D7043 which on the front of the train and at a point somewhere beneath the church spire.

Except that the notes disagree with a report in one of the monthly magazines of the time (I am trying to find it) that both 01001 and 01002 were black in November 1979. I never saw a correction to that report in a later issue.

Thanks. That is probably another myth exploded, although it does beg the question as to why the later BR totem was not applied at the same time as the repaint? (Others may be able to make up their own mind here - http://tinyurl.com/paoqv7y http://tinyurl.com/odnl722 http://tinyurl.com/ohyntjb )

And some say it remained in original BR black livery at the same time.

Those photos bring back the memories of good old Speedlink, private industrial sidings being encouraged where possible and wagonload traffic expanding again for a short time. And all lost on the pre-privatisation bonfire of anything which did not make an 8% return that was demanded by the faceless DfT beaurocrats. 150,000 extra lorries on the road, within 12 months. (I hope this will not be counted as too 'political')

Excellent photos. Thanks very much.

Yes, according to the disposal book that I have, 84008 was cut up by A Hampton at Crewe in November 1988.

Did pylons not exist in the late 1950s?

Well, you have lost me completely now.

The lone Red Admiral is very interesting because it bears out the idea that they are able to survive a mild UK winter in hibernation. I doubt it would have migrated that distance by early March.