chrisf

Over the years there have been several ways of describing what the layman might call a relief train. The GWR was fond of running its principal expresses in several parts. In the 1943 Paddington station working book we find a 1.55 pm to Neyland that runs in two parts. The first is shown as leaving at 1.55 pm, the second at 1.57 but running to Cheltenham. More recently [1955] the 10.30 am Cornish Riviera was duplicated by a 10.35 am departure which was shown to run each Saturday and seats could be reserved on it. Had it been necessary to run it on other days the rather cryptic note "For stations served and formation, see Weekly or manuscript Notices" had to suffice. More recently still [1960] there were additional trains on Friday nights which served to relieve other trains but were not specifically described as relief trains in the WTT. A 5.50 pm to Swansea with a column note "Q other days" ran ahead of the 5.55 pm Red Dragon. The 6.10 pm to Birkenhead left at 6.11 pm on Fridays only due to the presence of a 6.8 pm in advance of it, again shown as "Q other days". Something more akin to what the layman would regard as a relief train may be found in the Notice of Passenger Train Arrangements for the Cardiff District for the last week in July 1954. This was the second of two weeks in which NCB Area 5 was on holiday and the railways responded accordingly. Some snippets: "9.44 am Rhymney to Penarth - A Relief Train to run from Bargoed to Cardiff (Queen Street) in advance and, if necessary, extended to Barry Island. ... Station Master, Cardiff (Queen Street) to arrange a suitable train and provide a guard." No timings were given in the Notice for this or the following: "Stand-by train at Cardiff General - If weather is fine, a train to be available at Cardiff (General) at 10.30 am for relief trips to and from Barry Island as required throughout the day". Read this and weep, Arriva. For younger readers: Cardiff General is now called Cardiff Central or Caerdydd Canolog. Chris

Good morning one and all, with hearty confettibrations to Debs and Passepartout Yesterday was full of the unexpected. I managed to negotiate a discount on the cost of my gas servicing contract and book a service engineer for this afternoon. I got a free lucky dip on the lottery and bought a book about Terry Wogan while I was waiting for the copies of the local Sunday paper to reach the office. Happy Hippo, you have a point and, I trust, a suggestion of how I should refer to the young person in question. This evening there is a slide show about the Midland and Great Northern which has the potential to be interesting. Across the pond it is possible that an attempt will be made on a world record. Every year on Independence Day the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest takes place at Coney Island and unimaginable quantities of dogs and buns are consumed against the clock. The record currently stands at over 60 in 10 minutes and I believe is held by someone with the delightful name of Joey Chestnut. Think of that when eating your porridge, if you dare. Felicitations to the ailing and distressed but possibly not those with indigestion Chris

I've found some sightings from 1966. On 9th August 55025 was working between Bodmin Road and Wadebridge, and on 10th August 55026 was working between Bude and Okehampton. You have the ever vigilant members of the RCTS to thank for those observations. By 13th September 55026 was probably getting lonely as it was reported working with fellow bubbles 55017 and 55016 and Class 118 triple 51308+59475+51323 as the 16.30 Goodrington Sands to Exeter St Davids. 55025 and 55026 were transferred to Cardiff Canton in October 1966. Chris

Good morning one and all There are better Sunday lunches than pork mince but a bit of ingenuity produced a satisfying plateful. Not until 6 pm did I realise that the local paper delivery brat had defaulted. It is so long that he/she/it last did so that the newspaper office has moved. I'm sure I will find it. Then will follow the potentially interesting telephone conversation with British Gas about my homecare contract and how an increase of approaching 20% can be justified. The week ahead sees a slide show on Tuesday night and the task of writing a report of it on Wednesday. On Saturday it is Chris versus the M6 again, being sure to get home in time to attend a concert in the evening. For the rest of the week there is the intriguing prospect of a little m*d*ll*ng because most of my lame excuses to slouch in front of the TV have been swept away by flipping W*mbl*d*n. The coverage is bound to overflow into slots not allocated to it and it is small comfort that it only lasts for a fortnight - unless, of course, the weather is such that play is disrupted and it spills over into a third week. Perish the thought. Felicitations to the ailing and distressed Chris

The use of drive end trailers was by no means confined to working with single power cars. In the early days of dmu operation out of Paddington, in winter 1959-60, there were some very odd formations. 3 car Cross Country unit plus drive end trailer was one, 3 car suburban set plus drive end trailer plus single power car another. By the summer of 1961, when the Pressed Steel dmus later known as Class 117 had finally arrived, there was a booked working of two 3 car sets plus drive end trailer from Windsor to Paddington and back. Doubtless there are other examples elsewhere. Chris

Good morning one and all, and condolences to Nidge. I was pleasantly surprised at what I managed to do with the chicken breast. With guidance from a book by the Hairy Bikers, I sliced it butterfly-style, ie horizontally, to get half the thickness and twice the width when opened out like a book. It was pan-fried for four minutes each side in oil. A sauce was then improvised with perhaps too much Jif lemon juice, a teaspoon of runny honey and some Babycham instead of white wine, all boiled to reduce. Served with new potatoes and frozen broccoli, it was pleasing. Less pleasing is an e-mail that came in overnight. British Gas wish to increase the cost of my boiler servicing package by £7 a month and helpfully point out that other providers of boiler servicing are available. I seem to recall that they tried this on last year and that somehow I achieved a reduction over the cost prevailing the year before. Tomorrow's telephone conversation should be interesting. Today there will be more culinary adventures and, less enjoyable, a pile of ironing. For some reason an early version of this post escaped into the wild before I had finished composing it. How irritating. Felicitations to the ailing and distressed Chris

Good morning one and all I find myself with a spare chicken breast. What a good excuse this is to rummage through my rather dusty collection of cook books for an inspirational recipe. "Chicken and Egg" by the Hairy Bikers should do the trick. On the fodder run yesterday I was thinking on my feet so came home with some pork mince, a leek and a tin of tomatoes. I'm sure I can do something with that. Having read some cockwomble tales this morning I rather wish that I had grabbed the camera yesterday. A rented van had been parked at an angle across the pavement with its nose up against Mrs Electric-Chair's double gates and its door projecting into the street such that through traffic would have needed to proceed with caution. Doubtless there was a good reason for this. It was not even a white van. I think it has gone now. The national obsession with Wimbledon has begun a bit early. The "Open Country" slot on Radio 4 is describing the scene of the crime as I type. From Monday there will be blanket coverage on one and a half TV channels but even this will not stop the remaining regular programmes being disrupted without prior notice, usually because Andy Murray is playing. As is often the case with the BBC, a sense of proportion is required. Gentle reader, feel free to riposte that it is I who requires it, for would it not be boring if we all had the same taste. The great broadcaster Peter West has just been mentioned and it so happens that he was a friend of my late father. They met through the sponsorship of youth tennis by Green Shield Stamps in the 1970s. Felicitations to the ailing and distressed Chris

There is a photo of one at Perranporth on 7th June 1962 by Robert Darlaston on page 176 of "British Railways - the first 25 Years Volume 5 The South West" published by Lightmoor. Which one it was or how long it stayed I know not, I'm afraid. Chris

IIRC No Nonsense Kits make Bulleid grab handles. George Dent used them to upgrade a Bachmann effort in Model Rail a few years ago. Chris

Pure guesswork here - Joe Grundy,played by Edward Kelsey? Chris

Good morning one and all Poorly Pal and I attended an enjoyable talk last night, by David Mitchell on the Talyllyn Railway. This was most welcome after a day of mixed fortunes in the m*d*ll*ing shed. We both enjoyed our lunch of king prawns with a bold selection of stir-fried vegetables and Szechuan sauce. This morning I need to unload the car before taking it on the fodder run. At the moment it is partly across Mrs Electric-Chair's gateway but by the time I head for and return from the mega-grocer there should be a better space left by some poor devil who is still working. I ought to do some laundry today too. How nice. In my inbox this morning was an invitation from the Commuters Association to respond to a consultation on the proposed Thameslink timetable. I am sorely tempted but they will not appreciate a mere civilian telling them that there are too many prongs south of the river and nowhere to put a train that presents out of course. It is always easier to do someone else's job than your own. With that happy thought, felicitations to the ailing and distressed. This may or may not include Thameslink travellers ... Chris

Good morning one and all In the tea/coffee debate someone mentioned Camp coffee. That jerks a memory. It used to sponsor the coffee break segment on Tony Windsor's Radio London show. Goodness, the fiftieth anniversary of the Marine etc Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 is fast approaching. I met TW [no, not Mr Wright] at a Big L night in Huntingdon and somewhere have his autograph on the back of a Ravi Shankar concert ticket. The anniversary of Black Monday, 14th August 1967, is on a Monday this year so do not be surprised if I drivel on about it at the time. Quite a lot of sea food scares me to death, which I suppose is better than eating it and facing the consequences. I have never been brave enough to eat moules marinieres, the national dish of Belgium, but I can cope with king prawns and will be doing so at lunchtime as Poorly Pal asked for prawns to go with today's stir fry. The garden went unmolested yesterday. I bought some spuds and will wait anxiously to see whether they get nibbled. If they do, I suppose it might be down to rats. That would be most unwelcome. Perhaps the guy on the market was joshing with me. Drat. Please forgive that pause but I just put my elbow on the file cleaning brush which was clearly not rounded up with the rest of the tool kit. It can only get better. Felicitations to Tony, Rick and all others in distress Chris

I have not been following this thread but have just been through it from top to tail. Nowhere can I find any indication of the thinking that led to the adoption of the mechanism chosen. I am sure it is more than adequately powered but this is at the cost of the unsightly interior moulding. The photographs accompanying Chris Leigh's admirably thorough review in the August Model Rail make the interior moulding look like a trough of custard with lumps of rhubarb sticking up. If I were a prospective purchaser, which I am not, i would file this under 'missed opportunity'. Chris

Good morning one and all My vote is, resoundingly, for tea. As a retired Civil Servant you would expect nothing else of me. Somewhere in the house there is a jar of supermarket own brand instant coffee. It sees little use. I take no pleasure in consuming coffee in a restaurant, cafe or one of the all-pervasive chains of coffee houses. It strikes me that the current mass passion for the stuff and its variants such as latte and americano is another illustration of marketing's triumph over the gullible. Think lager and The Sun for starters. An emergency fodder run is needed today. Something has been nibbling my potatoes. Whatever it is has the ability to start in the middle of a plastic bag and work outwards. There were just enough untouched spuds to provide the accompaniment to a portion of Spanish chicken yesterday but I had to chuck the rest in the compost bin. This is as irritating as it is wasteful. Fortunately it is market day. I might also look in at a large department store to see if there is anything on which it is worth redeeming some vouchers earned with one of my credit cards. A couple of plain white T shirts would be a good start. Hooray, I have just avoided a typo: years ago a magazine managed to print "T sh!t". I have excused myself from gardening today. About 40 minutes were spent yesterday wielding a fork before fatigue set in and the rain began. Later there is veg to prep for Poorly Pal's lunch tomorrow. I need also to round up certain components of the tool kit before the car is loaded. Yesterday the solvent brush went AWOL for nearly half an hour and it is a while since I have seen the solder sucker that I bought at Railex. Let all in distress recover, and quickly. Chris

Three !01 trailers - 59528, 59538 and 59543 - were sent to Reading from the NER in about 1967 to replace the three Hawksworth coaches fitted to work with dmus in 1961. Chris

Good morning one and all I had another half-hour in the garden yesterday morning but soon got hot and bothered even before the backache kicked in. Undeterred, I plan to venture out there again this morning once I have done the fodder run. I got a bit of m*d*ll*ng done as well. Two comics came in the post. One called for an immediate letter to the editor as the captions in one of the features needed some clarification. The other went to the top of the insomnia pile and had the desired effect. Tony S, you poor man. Get well soon - it sounds nasty. Too many have been smitten with unwelcome ailments lately but then what other kind is there? Fond thoughts to all in distress. Chris

My subscription copy arrived this afternoon, so that's bedtime reading sorted. Chris

Good morning one and all So much for good intentions yesterday. I spent about 45 minutes in the garden wielding hoe and fork to rip out weeds but ran out of energy, leaving much still to be done. Not a lot else was achieved apart from cooking and eating late lunch and dozing off during Sunday P*l*t*cs. Oh well, once I have walked into town later this morning, which I have to do because the bus pass is nor valid until after 9.30, I might have another go at the jungle. Where did all my stamina go? It is time that I responded to the clamour (remember the clamour?). Come with me to Godmanchester on the morning of 15th June: This is Vera, who unveiled the street sign. She was a close friend of my late father. I said a few words and saw no net curtains twitch out of curiosity. Dad would have been tickled, I hope. Felicitations to those in distress, particularly Rick, whose ailment sounds awful and painful. Chris

Good morning one and all I got the mower out yesterday and gave the lawn a short back and edges. Most dispiriting was the extent of weedage that has appeared in the past week and a half and I will wield the hoe today if the temperature does not rise too much. Lunch will be sirloin steak and dessert to be decided. A few little jobs await my pleasure but whether they will be done today is a complete unknown. There is not enough laundry yet, for which let many thanks be given. Could Sunday be - gasp - a day of rest? So what does the week ahead promise? Unless I have made a serious error of omission, the only entry in the diary is the day with Poorly Pal on Thursday. We are back with wok and roll so I need to discuss the menu with him before the fodder run on Tuesday. There being no further burning issues, best wishes to all in distress. I must have forgotten something ... Chris

Yes Chris

Perhaps they are trying to foster MRJ-style speculation as to the content and date of arrival. Doesn't work for me. Chris

Good morning one and all On the fodder run yesterday I spent longer at the checkout than I had done pushing the trolley. Somehow I had picked a day when many shoppers seemed hell bent on emptying the place. The woman in front of me filled no end of bags and spent upwards of £88. She had parked near me and seemed to be having trouble squeezing everything into the luggage space of her Tonka toy [my less than affectionate nickname for 4-wheel drive trainee jeeps]. I wonder how much of what she bought will be thrown away as waste. Some of it looked destined for serving at a barbecue. I do not share the enthusiasm of my late father for that suburban ritual. I recall that 52 years ago, when I was secretary of Huntingdonshire Young Liberals, we had what was supposed to be a fund raising barbie on a farm and discovered that the heating device intended for cooking the sausages was less than fit for purpose. No doubt Ms 4x4 is better equipped. My modest haul included an attractive piece of sirloin steak so three guesses what I'm having for Sunday lunch. The weekend should be undemanding. I do hope so. Some unspecified pottering looks on the cards, leavened with impromptu slobbing-out. I might even tend the garden if I can find the machete. Best wishes to those in distress and, absolutely separately, those with birthdays or anniversaries to mark. Chris

It's All Over Now Baby Blue? Chris

The range of contents is certainly varied this month. The first article to catch my eye was the masterclass on figure painting. I need to study this carefully because awaiting my attention/ courage is a Modelu replica of a friend of mine. "One of its prime exponents" is a strange name for a contributor. Ah, there it is on the next page, Richard Rose. Most of the other authors are named at the beginning of the relevant article. This is as it should be. Why change it? I was mildly curious that Chris Hopper was singled out for the description "modeller" at the beginning of his piece on the Tin Turtle and its diorama. Aren't we all? Well, perhaps not. I liked the piece by Simon Lilley giving prototype information on Class 71, which looks comprehensive. The photographs were well chosen but are not credited. One credit which has gone wrong is in the New Books section. The author of "Rails Across Britain" is David Cable, as in Sir Vince, not Gable as in the Metcalfe kit which Phil Parker has so ably refined elsewhere in the magazine. At this point a deep breath is taken. In the Datafile accompanying Andy Y's thorough evaluation of the Dapol 122 is a list of numbers which belong to Class 121. Even more diffidently, I venture the observation that there is only one prototype Deltic unless you include all those Kitmasters. My apologies for appearing harsh are tempered by the observation that attention to detail is as relevant to a magazine about modelling as it is to modelling itself. Chris

Good morning one and all There was a thunderstorm yesterday morning. Although it rained for only 10 minutes the difference was noticeable and I dripped into my towel much less. The ironing is up to date and I even got a bit of m*d*ll*ng done. Today I need to do a quick fodder run but it will have to be a bit cooler before I face the garden. I cannot help wondering how long it will be before the patrons of Glastonbury will be engulfed by mud. My memory of the summer of '76 concerns a visit to the Isle of Man for an over-ambitious folk festival that must have lost a packet. For much of the week the island was wreathed in fog, to the extent that Jasper Carrott's plane was unable to land and the so-called morning papers did not arrive until 4 pm on a couple of days. Meanwhile on the mainland there had been a great deal of heat. My Mini had been parked at Heathrow for the duration and its plastic seats might well have melted if it had been there much longer. Rick, I do not envy your gout and hope that your visit to The Depot can go ahead with you there. A party of 15 is in my experience so much better an idea than enduring the company of the masses. Should circumstances permit there is a good 'Spoons called the Lion and Pineapple a couple of stops away on the E3 bus. Apparently its name commemorates the two pubs that were flattened to make way for Acton tram depot. Best wishes to all in distress Chris