rodent279

Not sure about 30,000 years ago.....5000 maybe, but I take your point.

Reminds me of that whale that goes around with it's mouth open, feeding on plankton all day. Can't remember the name of the whale now.

Does the same apply to the Kitmaster/Coopercraft MK1 kits as well? Cheers N

On a serious note, has anyone ever tried modelling the Atmospheric Railway?

I was going to say is it possible you've mistaken 158 for 163? They're similar shaped numbers. However, if you're on the station, on the same platform, I'll concede that's unlikely! As Swindon only had one platform at the time, you would not have seen it through a train window from another platform. I suppose the parcels train could have been an extra, or a late running earlier service. I went with my dad, a BR employee at the time. I don't know what time we left Swindon, but I know we would have got there around 11-11.30am. We'd have spent at least a couple of hours in the works, then we went to Swindon museum. There are some absolutely useless, totally over exposed photos of the Dean Goods, Lode Star and City of Truro on the same set of slides. So I'd guess it would have been 4pm at the earliest before we got back to Swindon station, probably later. I know there was a 1609 off Swindon to Paddington, and one an hour later, and I doubt we would have left later than that. I remember dad meeting a colleague of his from his earlier days on the railway, and us sitting with him on the way back to Paddington.

5 years on, and after a lot of trawling Flickr, I am now convinced that it is 31158. There are some photos of it, including a few taken at Torrington on the last train tour in 1982, that show little things like the small white blemish under the cab side window on the second man's side. The clincher for me is these two:- Cardiff Central, May 1980. Over a year earlier than my photo, but that tell-tale white blemish is there under the cabside window. There is another blemish behind the door, slightly lower than the one under the window, and there is evidence of a possible scrape at the bottom of the cab side panel. Torrington, November 1982. Not so clear in this one, but there is a small dark spot to the right of the left hand (second man's) side blue star, that is also in my photo. I don't think it's 163, as this photo taken the previous month shows it looking a lot tattier on the bodyside. There are also one or two rust spots on the front that aren't there in my photo. Edit: just remembered that I posted the photo in the Banger Blue Flickr group, and also posed the question in the discussion group on there. Someone else has also come up with 158, so that seals the deal for me. Cheers N

Thanks. Do you know which ones received these mods? cheers N

Reviving an old topic, there also seems to be a difference in the 4 large bodyside grilles (no. 1 end, the cooler group end? Some seem to have had two separate rows of grilles, a pair above the waist line, and a pair below. Other seem to have 1 single large grille running across the waistline, and one above & 1 below the waist line next to it. Can anyone explain whay that was, and which locos it applied to? Cheers N

Neither really, I've just never thought either of the two British streamliners looked quite right. Close, but no cigar, certainly not in the worst looking loco category. I do have a liking for German steam locos generally, Bavarian S3/6's and the Prussian T20 "Bergkönigin" in particular.

I suppose class 31's aren't exactly lookers, but they do have a certain chunkiness about them. They just always seemed to be so oily, which didn't help.

I love it. A beauty, seems better proportioned than the streamlined Duchess, and more purposeful than an A4.

The train that thinks it's a Minion!

So are Basil's behaving nicely now? I haven't seen many reports of them sitting down recently.

No, didn't know, but it doesn't surprise me. Prime location for the London commuter market.

The rubble may be useful elsewhere on the line, as infill.

Fascinating. It was always TR House when I was there. Officially it became Mercury House when TR was "merged" into Mercury Communications, in April 1990, but everyone still called it TR House. I haven't seen the inside of that building since 1991. 3.05 in is the 1st floor where I used to sit, facing the power box and steps to the station. The partition rooms down the middle are where equipment was tested-amplifiers and loudspeakers for P.A. and sound broadcast systems, telephone systems and on-site radio pagers. Happy days.

But at around 2000 rail horsepower, a Peak is still well short of that. I wonder if it was because BR was already seeing Peaks as mainly passenger locos, and 40's as mainly freight locos, therefore more likely to need high power up front when restarting a heavy freight on a steep climb?

On a slightly different note, I know mu jumpers were removed fairly early on, but I wonder why BR felt the Sulzer Type 4 didn't need to work in multiple, but EE type 4's did?

Off the top of my head, at least classes 24/5, 30/31, 44-47 had roof mounted water fillers requiring bodyside steps. Not sure about the 26/7, 37 & 40's, baby hydraulics and baby Deltics-were they filled through the side doors? Clearly it wasn't an insurmountable problem, as Warships, and presumably Westerns, had bodyside mounted fillers. Class 76 & 77 also had boilers-their fillers certainly weren't roof mounted!

To be fair, putting the boiler water filler in such a position as to require steps to the roof was perhaps not the cleverest piece of design. Overhead electrification was nothing new in 1959, and both BR and manufacturers will have been well aware of the planned expansion of the electrified railway. I can understand prototypes like the LMS twins & Southern trio having them, but really, after Woodhead opening, and in the light of the WCML electrification plans, and the (at the time) plans to extend to the ECML, and the 1955 decision to standardise on 25kV A.C., it does seem strange that as late as 1962/3 locos were still being built with them.

Awesome, thanks Neil, spot on what I was looking for! With the photo below, this proves that it lost it's headcode box chars in the April 77 works visit, and wore dominos at both ends, presumably until another works visit in late 77/early 78. By Mar 78 it had sealed beams. Cheers, Neil.

Ok, yes, that makes sense

How does an opposed piston design keep the weight down? Surely you need two or more crankshafts?

Yes, nur it's got much more on 24/25's. Another thing I've just noticed is sandboxes on the inner bogie ends. As built, they all seem to have had them, but lost them fairly early on, mid-late 60's. I haven't yet found a photo of a blue one with them. My 45039 is a Mainline Peak, now over 40 years old, and it has them. Have to get the knife out! Cheers N

Don't suppose you've found a list of shopping dates anywhere on t'internet have you? I know http://www.brdatabase.info/ has some info on TOPS numbering and air braking, which would seem reasonably reliable, based on looking at Flickr for shiny ex-works photos. I guess the only other way is to trawl through back editions of Modern Railways & Railway Magazine.