BrushVeteran

I have a similar image of 5803 I took at Reading in March 1972

I'm certain that this is 31143 at Leighton Buzzard.

Sorry but it was D5545 which was the first uprated to 1600hp, with D5655-70 following later on in 1961. You can tell these apart by the blanking plate adjacent to the fan cowling on A side. Underneath this was an additional radiator header tank to aid the cooling.

Well I managed to do it in it's original guise as D5835. with a Lima example!

I too use an Epson V600 photo scanner and I think it is brilliant. It can cope with most size negatives and even by placing the negative without the adapter gives you a good result, sometimes with a little trial and error.

Tapps Bar in Madoc Street Llandudno.

In Oxford we have four real ale pubs within about a ten minute walk from the rail station. The Royal Blenheim situated in St.Ebbes St (off Queen St) normally has seven or eight on but no food at the minute, The St.Aldates Tavern just around the corner in St.Aldates does do good food as does the Old Tom just down the road from this. There is also The Chequers in High St with grand surroundings. There are a couple of Wetherspoons en route from the station but lack atmosphere. If travelling to Oxford Parkway then Kidlington has six real ale pubs with three of them almost next door to each other on the main road these being the Black Horse, Black Bull and Red Lion however the best 'local' real ale pubs are the KIngs Arms and Six Bells which are all linked with the other three on a five minute bus ride from Parkway, otherwise it is a bit of a walk. York has many fine establishments namely York Tap on the station itself and the famous Maltings adjacent to the river in Station Road. In Lincoln there are three pubs which I occasionally frequent but two of them are about a twenty minute walk up hill (very steep) near the back of the castle in Westgate, The Strugglers, a small very cosy pub and round the corner in Union Street The Victoria. There is also The Treaty of Commerce down the other side of the railway station in High Street which is about a three minute walk from Lincoln Station. Back to London and one of my favourites is the Southampton Arms near to Gospel Oak station and in Highgate Road. You can actually watch the trains going over the bridge to Upper Holloway and beyond. In Llandudno you have Tapps Bar, turn left out of the station along from the towards the town in Madoc Street on the right hand side, 3 mins.

We did one at Oxford Bus on a Trident, which was back at Plaxton's for warranty bodywork so had to be repainted. It turned out to be quite attactive.

Thank-you Bernard TPM, that looks a lot better and clearer.

The main 'achilles heel' of the Hymek's Mekydro transmission were the oil coolers which leaked oil resulting in overheating of the coolant in the main radiators which caused engine shutdowns. I can well remember having an 'unofficial'cab ride back from Worcester with my Uncle who was an Oxford driver and ascending Campden Bank, after a Honeybourne stop, the loco would not change down to 3rd speed and stayed stuck in 4th. We made the summit but glided silently into Moreton in Marsh where we waited for at least 20 minutes before the engine would restart. I remember also being told that when upward gear changes were about to commence, from first, second and third speeds, that the instruction was for drivers to reduce power to enable the two speeds to synchronise with each other to avoid a 'surge' in the transmission which was often felt throughout the train. I don't think that this instruction was adhered to rigidly owing to the numerous different types of WR traction at the time. But as has been mentioned the Hymeks were made to work hard during their early years and most of the railwaymen I know from that era thought they were probably the best. Certailnly Beyer Peacock built a good comfortable cab with adequate ventilation. Now to order a copy of the book!

47460 'Great Eastern' was unofficially named initially and sported a silver roof. I believe this was the/or one of the first Class 47's to have a roof job. The silver did not weather very well, being of a semi-gloss finish and Stratford reverted to using rail grey to achieve the same effect. I'm not sure of actual dates though but I expect the Class 47 site will provide most of that information.

Another outstanding and fact packed book by Anthony on the unsung branch line and lower end of BR's diesel motive power. With just 54 locomotives amongst these two type 1's there is a wealth of information relating to usage, works visits, liveries, depot allocations and final disposal and scrapping notes......................all contained in a 350 page well presented publication. There are multiple images of all locomotives built including many that I haven't seen before...........and I have seen loads! In the days when I was a teenager camera film was expensive and on my visits to Stratford in east London there were more superior classes of locomotives that enticed a photograph yet somehow I always managed to take the odd image of a D8200 or D8400. Therefore I am pleased that a quality publication has surfaced outlining the history and reasons for building these obscure machine. Anthony's style seems to 'leave no stone unturned' and gives plenty of historical references to further information and images. Like the previous books in this series, the NBL Type 1 D6100, the Metrovick D5700 and the Clayton D8500 classes, Pen & Sword's style of presentation makes this a valuable top-notch book which hopefully will cumulate in a complete library of BR's first generation diesel types. I would add that I am slightly biased, as I have contributed a few images, but am also pleased that these images have been put to good use and presented within a very professional publication. These books get better and better! Thoroughly recommended

Trains 4U in Peterborough may be able to advise as they used to stock some of the LLC range.

Wait until she does things like this Tony!...........................this was Badger eying up the fish train!

What a shock! I have the greatest respect for Russ and his strive to complete the history of BR diesel and electric loco liveries. I also had many a communication with him and feel it quite an honour that he had used quite a few of my images in his books. I had wondered why I hadn't heard from him recently and I hope his methodical research can be perpetuated into a Russell Bible of BR Diesel & Electric Liveries, which I know was his ultimate goal. R.I.P. Russ!

Hello Tony and I hope you and Mo are well. What a lovely classic shot of the Bristol LS outside LB station. Unfortunately there are a few details that need rectification and as I know you seek perfection, then you'll forgive me for mentioning! Firstly the destination would be correct for a similar vehicle operating the 24 service from Stamford. The particular vehicle depicted, 2211, was built differently to the model and had the emergency exit in the middle at the rear, making it a three window arrangement.................this was the only one built like this for LRCC and carried the registration number LFU713, MEW54 didn't exist on these vehicles. 2211 was allocated to Lincoln and then Goole so would not probably have ever operated this service. A good vehicle to depict this model on this route would therefore be 2216 OFU436 which was allocated to Grantham and did operate this route. I think I sent you an image of it when I gave you the model. Anyway I hope you don't mind my interference but us 'bus nuts' do also try............and often fail.................to seek perfection! All the best Grahame

You're not wrong about that, although it was quite an attractive looking body, it was built down to a price with grossly inadequate research into the effects of an unsupported aluminium framed body on a cut back Leopard chassis with a gigantic boot. The Tigers were slightly better as the air suspension was kinder to 'body shocks' but nevertheless they also fell to pieces! I am at present involved with the Cherwell Bus Preservation Group in an attempt to restore a former Oxford Citylink example and to remedy some of the failings that Leyland/NBC 'ignored' on the drawing board and we have had to add in order that the body structure will survive in preservation. I was involved with the warranty process when these vehicles were initially delivered and the six Oxford vehicles spent some considerable time and mileage between Lowestoft and Oxford with ECW adding more and more gusset plates in an effort to stop the vehicles 'dragging their arses' along the road. They also 'p****d' in water from all directions necessitating the use of pallets in the boot to keep the luggage dry. Also if you had five fairly hefty people sat in the rearmost five seater transverse seat then you also risked the rear window popping out! Knowing how ECW built their bodies on conventional supporting full length chassis then I know their pride was deeply affected when they had to turn out these B51's and it was something you didn't mention too much in later years to anyone involved in their build. We therefore hope that when our B51, VUD30X, is finished in a couple of years or so time, that we can revitalise the ECW pride in what was probably one of their worst products. I have plenty of more tales to tell about the restoration of this body but will depress myself having to go over it all!...........it is not fair the the ECW workforce either...............they built what they were told to and their future fate was already in the balance. A few pictures of our 'beast'!!

Unfortunately the ex. BR drivers I knew that would have driven NBL Type 2's at Oxford have all passed away. I also cannot remember any of them becoming failures whist performing their respective roles whilst at 81F, the Abingdon branch MG car trains, Cowley branch car trains to Hinksey yard, Fairford branch to Witney blanket mill, Wolverton to OOC empty stock workings and occasionally the Blisworth parcels. Some of them looked a bit down at heel but some of the later blue repaints started to appear before they were all withdrawn. I think the duties at Oxford were less arduous than those at Old Oak and even on a couple of occasions that I remember them deputising for Hymeks on the Worcester line they seemed to complete the round trip OK. Apparently they were quite comfortable and warm in the cabs but I expect the vulnerable CWA boilers were not used on Oxford duties improving reliability somewhat!

To be fair to Howes and indeed currently Gaugemaster, most Heljan spares are produced at the time the respective model is made and the spares are what is left over from the batch being produced. Therefore anything going out of stock has to wait until another run of the same model is being produced and that spare sprues are available. There will always be an OOS issue with spare parts for non current models. Wheel sets are produced as a separate but there again a large order has to be made by Heljan to their Chinese vendor to justify the expense of a one off part. When the spare sprues arrive with the shipment from China they then have to be sorted and identified then photographed and catalogued with sometimes the same part being on two similar sprues depending on how the moulding process is divided up. There are far more Heljan spares available then most other manufacturers supply these days and to be fair there is not much profit in it for the spares agent at the end of the day considering the space that has to be provided to administer and provide such a service!

A cotton bud dipped into meths and rubbed gently over the required area will remove the weathering but don't rub too hard or you will go through to the base coat. I completely and successfully removed all the weathering off a blue syp Hymek D7051 some years ago, just take your time. If you renumber a Heljan loco you will undoubtedly remove part of the weathering as that is the final process in the factory finish.

What about bus driving? With most reputable bus operators you get paid whilst you are training and the conditions are probably a lot kinder to your back problem. Modern buses are very easy to drive and depending on where you are the routes are well regulated and suited to the vehicles you are expected to drive. I did it regularly for over 35 years of my employment of 41 years with the same bus company and I still miss the comradarie. There appear to be a lot of bus driving opportunities at this present time.

Most of the Heljan driveshafts are basically the same design but just different lengths. I would imagine that getting one for a class 26/27/33, cutting it down and sleeving the join would remedy the problem.

D5513, D5610/38/43/62/65/77/85, D5802/13/15/25 are locos known to have carried the new BR double arrow logo whilst sporting small yellow panels within BR green livery

Fantastic choice of a short lived but iconic wagon of the sixties......................a few packs of these will be required!