HillsideDepot

The micro "bug" has very firmly bitten me, so the video was great to watch for (even) more ideas. The colliery loader layout is of particular interest as one of my plans has a near identical track-plan, but is based on a real location. Is there a layout thread anywhere for it? Looking very closely at the video I'm wondering if it uses Set Track, or whether the camera angle makes the points look sharp and the track spacing wide compared to the Streamline I'm used to. The video shows that it runs well, so if that is Set Track, it opens up even more possibilities for limited space industrial settings.

So a pure electric unit, which will become completely stranded if it leaves the wires, is allowed to enter the "danger area" whilst an IET which can switch to diesel and mobilise itself again is not permitted to enter the "danger area". Hmmm, I'd like to read the Risk Assessments which reached that conclusion, especially when the EMU will be an occasional visitor so either traction or route will be relatively unfamiliar to the driver concerned whereas an IET, which performs the move every hour Monday to Friday with drivers well versed in both route and traction, get extra safe guards. It could only happen on the railway...

Having been used to both Leyland and Alexander Pacers around Tyne & Wear in by student days, they then rather disappeared from my radar apart from a brief re-appearance during Wessex Trains days. But a small fleet of 143s is hard at work for GWR around Exeter so I thought it appropriate to have a few trips for old times sake. With my Freedom of the South West ticket at the ready I boarded 143603 at St David's with 2F29 1213 Paignton to Exmouth service. A quick turnaround at Exmouth saw me transfer to 143620 and 2B78 1353 Exmouth - Barnstaple, seen here at Topsham waiting to cross 2F31 which was also a pair of Pacers. One passenger was making his anti-Pacer views known to anyone who'd listen. This prompted the Driver to say that he'll miss them when they go as they work well, and with all those windows its like driving a conservatory, which is ideal on the Devon coastal routes and much better than being pushed into a corner as on gangway fitted units. Another Exeter Driver had tipped me off to the replaying work on the Barnstaple branch later this month and how its well worth a ride on the jointed track with a Pacer so I decided to stick with 2B78 through to the terminus where our trainee driver and his instructor change ends, having first checked that the reds lights are correctly displayed. With the rain falling I changed back to 143603 as it waited to form 2F43, the 1543 Barnstaple - Exmouth. As we bounced back across Devon to the main line I couldn't help wondering if GWR will organise a Pacer Farewell as they did for the HSTs. Pacers aren't exactly loved, but they have done their job, largely unnoticed, for longer than their designers could have envisaged. If I had to use them every day I'm sure I'd think differently, but as something to ride occasionally for their quirky-ness I'll miss 'em.

And with that news my loco "wish list" is now empty thank you Kernow/Heljan

Kernow are reporting on Facebook that the wagons are in the country and awaiting Customs clearance.

The "Ratio kit" building also got my attention when I visited Wroxham on holiday in July. Here is a closer picture, taken through the fence of the Bure Valley platform.

Both are now in traffic, 002 being a very recent entry. The Past and Present BR43s/800 Super Express All Enthusiasts Group on Facebook is showing for 800002 today.

Oh yes, all correctly set blinds, not least because in the early years the Western Area Traffic Commissioner used to attend in person! Even Sunday's one-off 23C had special blue "Express" blinds on the Routemasters. Here is part of the 23C convoy very much off the public highway near Quebec Farm Sir Peter proves the speed of his Euro 6 engined RM1005 by leaving the rest of us behind And although it is a modern LT it did carry a wheelchair user on the 23C and had been fitted with special vintage style Stagecoach Holdings fleet names. It also had LT Buses style roundels but with Imberbus wording. The bus is also carrying Imberbus adverts. Of the "curiously named spots", Gore Cross Interchange is a bus station in a field where the various legs of the 23A converge. Buses run on from there to Brazen Bottom (named after the nearest farm, which isn't even visible from the terminus) and on via Market Lavington and West Lavington back to Gore Cross and then usually on to New Zealand Farm Camp. Other buses come from Imber to Gore Cross and run on to serve Tilshead (where people can and do connect with Salisbury Reds service 2) and Chitterne. With two or three buses scheduled on most journeys and all buses in all four directions meeting up at Gore Cross it can be a busy place. It was also this year the location of Thamesdown's towing wagon, which was unused. Routemaster mechanical support was provided by an RML owning enthusiast in his Land Rover and was likewise not needed. Finally Wright Bus always send a support engineer to look after the LT "Boris Buses". He was needed; to tighten a mirror arm! Given the sophistication of the LT vehicles it is useful having someone with the necessary laptop on site, but his presence is more than repaid as each of the buses is constantly feeding data back to the factory in Ballymena so they are collecting information on a style of operation which LTs don't normally do, just in case Imber & District Omnibus Co Ltd ever order a fleet of them.. It is a fun day, but hard work because it is a bus service and has to be run in a disciplined way. Everyone does it on a voluntary basis, from private vehicle owners through to subsidiaries of Stagecoach, GoAhead, Arriva, First and RATP and all the staff who give their time. They make it all possible.

The road through Imber is open on a few occasions a year, and Christmas is likely to be the next time that the road is open to the public. I know that there have been occasions when the church has been open for a service and vehicles have been escorted in and out by the Range Wardens whilst the Plain has been in use. The best place to get information is https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/salisbury-plain-training-area-spta-newsletter as openings can be affected by military training requirements, Only a few of the roads are open to the public, all others are closed and marked by red barriers (the Wardens had even barriered off the Park & Ride Car Park at Imber between Saturday evening and Sunday morning). By special permission there was a 23C journey on Sunday afternoon which covered the "Southern Transit Road" from Sack Hill to south of Gore Cross; eight London buses going where no bus had gone before.

I haven't seen the breakdown by type, but there were 35 buses working today, and lots of "three-bell loads" (bus full) so much so the RMA I conducted was required to do an extra trip in its break time. It seemed about the same proportion as previously, and they use modern ones to allow wheelchair access to the route. Two of the non-Routemasters were an RT and an RTW which I sampled. I also managed to be in the right place at the right time to get short ride on the 99 year old K-type. But I have to say (and its completely down to my age) my favourite trip was on M1 - that brought back many memories.

Sir Peter Hendy has leading roles at both Network Rail and Imber Bus, but even he hasn't managed to get trains to Imber.... yet! Imber Bus runs this Saturday, and for the first time also has a limited service on Sunday. The original idea was along the lines of "where is the most unlikely place that we can run a registered bus service to?" and now 10 years later Imber Bus has grown to providing a bus every 15 minutes from Warminster Station to Imber with buses continuing across the Plain and on to variously, Market Lavington, Chitterne (look out en-route for Copehill Down training village in the distance, with its "railway station") and New Zealand Farm Camp. The service is provided mainly by Routemasters (old style and new) but there are usually one or two other vehicles too - last year Ensign's magnificent Metropolitan took part. I believe 30 different buses are operating this year, and most journeys will be operated with duplicate vehicles. If you're with reach of Warminster (GWR's Cardiff - Portsmouth route and SWR's Waterloo - Bristol route) and want an unusual day out I can certainly recommend it, even if the 4TC has to stay on the railway.

The livery application was also different between Blue/Grey HST stock and the loco hauled version, not just the lettering. On an HST the blue/grey divide goes through the door handles, on loco hauled coaches it is lower to match MK1 and 2 stock. Subtle, but it makes the HST Mk3 look sleeker.

As well as the land train at Exmouth there is the Big Beach Bus which is scheduled for an open top vehicle. It even runs in service from and back to Exeter (where it is based), although an 0730 start is a bit early; the homeward trip is nicely timed if its a sunny evening.

Another "no" here. My "inglenook" Drew's Sidings has no points, is based on a real place, and uses additional wagons (a CCT with tail lamp, and a crane & match) as scenery to get the siding lengths correct for the puzzle. I have operated the layout for a day at an exhibition without driving myself totally mad, although my lunchtime relief operator, a professional railwayman commented "thankfully my trains are prepared for me" at the end of his spell. The great thing about an inglenook is the wide variety of scenes it can be set in. A layout in itself ; the goods yard of a larger layout; private sidings adjoining a bigger yard; shunted by the train engine, a yard pilot, or one of the many delightful industrials now on the market. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the simple inglenook plan, finding ways to "disguise" it certainly adds variety to the genre. And whilst its not exactly an inglenook, there is an interesting US live feed from Virtual Railfan, available on You Tube which shows a foundry where the local shunts, sorry switches, during the afternoon. Like all such workings times vary depending on the work to be done, but sometime between 19:00 and 21:30BST 7 days a week you should see it at work. And You Tube has a 12 hour rewind, so if the empties are by the exit (they are shunted out by a road/rail shunter) the local hasn't arrived yet, if they've gone rewind a bit. Its not exactly an inglenook, but close enough to get an idea of how they really work. Maybe I should dust off my Civil Engineer's stores inglenook plan....

Very tempted here too - that pair with a sliding door "Castle" set of coaches between would be a similar length to a 5-car IET I reckon, making a nice themed display case pairing.

I too built one many years ago, albeit "kit bashed" to be a low relief/ half relief bus depot, and don't recall any problems. But then, I've built several of the Craftsman series kits and take the instruction sheet merely as a guide to the general direction to take!

BR Brake Vans & Ballast Ploughs (Gent) shows B953300 as being branded "RU for use on ore trains, Banbury to South Wales".

Brew Street is great, I've got various scenic ideas based on that track plan. Chris has now extended it with a module on the right hand end, with fiddle yards at each end. I saw the enlarged version at the recent Warminster Show. Very, very inspirational, although part of me preferred the original small version, because it is so clever.

The Crossing Keeper at Whittlesea (just outside Whittlesey) locks the gate for East Midlands Trains 158806 to pass through (24/06/19) With the train gone the crossing can be re-opened to road traffic Manually worked gates must be a rare species now on NR.

The VR would appear to be Eastern Counties KVF245V, according to Rob Sly's excellent website .

Bus Lists on the Web says that it is a 1969 Guy Wulfrunian with Roe body. It was a demonstrator for Guy. Its visit didn't lead to any sales, no doubt to the relief of Southdown's Engineers, given the Wulfrunian's subsequent poor reputation.

Meanwhile, not class 91 related, but over the same Wootton Bassett Junction pinch-point, Go-Op has submitted an application to run: This presumably replaces last weeks (OK, a bit unfair), the few month old Go-Op idea to use 769s from Taunton to Oxford.... As an occasional observer at Callow Hill west of 'Bassett but where both mainlines are easily visible even the current timetable can be a challenge through the junction.

I've been musing with ideas from Torrington for a mini layout for a number of years and have collected a number of images from the web to aid me. I have also scanned a few book/magazine images so I have everything in one place, and one of these, a Bernard Mills photo, shows the goods shed pipe loading three tanks at once. There is a hose attached to the stop block end of the overhead pipe, one in the middle (with a man on top of the tank) as seen in photos in this thread and also one into the tank just outside the goods shed. The caption mentions that only three tanks could be filled at once, necessitating lots of shunting (ideal for a layout!). There is a road tanker off loading at the corner of the Provender Store type building, a flexi pipe leading to a vertical one up the corner of the building to the overhead gantry arrangement. The main subject of the photo is a clay train in the main platform with a Baby Warship at the far end. I can't, for copyright reasons, post the photo, but I think it was in Traction, and at a guess a fairly early issue.

At Chippenham there was no sign, nor a timetable, until the 21st century when a proper 3 stand bus area was created and most services diverted to serve it. Various buses called at the station, including, for a while, a Sundays only Post Bus to Reading, but the main reason for buses going there was to serve the nearby college rather than connecting with trains. The station yard merely made a convenient (relative term!) place to turn. Two double deckers, and a double bank of cars parked up didn't make a good combination, especially on a dark winter's night with steamed up windows. Buses would draw up parallel with the front of the station (occasionally hitting the canopy in the process), and reverse to the left by the Parcels Point before drawing forward to load in the middle of the area. This shows the area in 1989, little changed in several decades. Photo: Ben Brooksbank, Wikimedia Commons Currently I'm professionally involved in discussions on the next iteration of the "Station Square" as its now grandly titled.

Following the replies/comments to my earlier post about IET washing I have been back to my source, and it seems that "DfT" was exasperated shorthand for ORR, and a search on their website finds a prohibition notice P-CVI-HMRI-0802-019-1 Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd prohibition notice.pdf and an improvement notice I-HMRI-CVI-21-02-19 Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd improvement notice.pdf for Stoke Gifford. I've not been able to find mention of North Pole or Maliphant. It is surprising that an industrial concern, be that considered to be Hitachi, the depot construction contractor, or the wash sub-contractor didn't spot the issue. By comparison we've just employed local trades people to built a new class room/ meeting room next to church, and the idea of running the hot water from the church boiler about 5 metres from the new sink was met with an instant "can't do that, there's a risk of legionella." None of which gets the trains clean....