Pennine MC

The first WR MetCams were the three trailers mentioned by Chris, that ran in London area 117 sets to make them up to quads. Other 101 triples arrived from about 1974, from the ScR. From the late 80s, in the big nationwide switcharound that followed the introduction of Sprinters and Pacers, other 101s and 108s became more common.

Courtesy of cabsaab - the date may be coincidence, who knows

That ties in with my recollection, Bernard (and also on the GT). I had a 1972 2000GT with plain wheels and hubcaps, which could be useful - I never found out what it had had as original, they apparently got nicked off the car lot before I bought it... As you and Peter have said, the later type (IIRC we called them the 'knobblies') were fitted widely to Capris and 'Tinas until into the '80s

I'm surprised it's not been commented on earlier but there was a letter in the last Toddler about these, which said they'd been retained to accomodate catering trolleys on the Cornish leg of the journey of through trains, as they wouldnt fit through Mk1 compartment doors. No idea of the relative dimensions of said parts of said coaches, but it does seem a plausible explanation for three otherwise obsolete vehicles to receive blue/grey - other than the fairly numerous examples of Staniers, there were no other pre-BR designs of non-specialist day coach* so treated. * Please note careful wording. If this thread descends into the usual 'ah but' posts and long lists of buffets and sleepers, I will scream; very, very loudly

Dont want to rubbish your notekeeping Andy but with that '0000' headcode, it's more likely to be '76

Bit of info here Rod, though I'm still waiting on definite proof of any with M prefixes and not on the Cambrian

Railcar recounts the early usage of the 123s, albeit uncharacteristically garbled and without a detailed timeline: I've certainly seen at least one contemporary shot of one when very new on something described as a Derby - Bristol IIRC; putting the best interpretation on the sometimes conflicting evidence, I'd postulate that they were indeed intended for the Cardiff - South Coast route, but that the SR put the kybosh on it, then the NE/SW route usage was maybe an attempt to find work for them until somebody had the bright idea of stopping services at Portsmouth rather than Brighton

As I understand it (not being local, just from recollection of how the mags reported it at the time), there was a spell in between the last Hymek use and the 31 takeover, when the workings were diagrammed to be shared between WR Cross Country sets and SR 3Hs. Based on those dates, it may well have been from about 1972ish (by which time Hymeks were getting scarce) to 1975ish

Anglia Deluxes weren't necessarily two-tone, although a lot of the estates seemed to be. In modern money it would be something like an LX - one up from the entry level and with an acceptable level of creature comfort. As Stewart says, the 'Standard' (base) Anglia didnt even have a heater as standard. The saloon in front of it is actually the higher spec - it's a Super, and would have had the 1200cc engine as standard vice the 997. It has even more chrome - there's a twin strip of it embracing the bodyside 'flash'. It looks like it's Ermine White and Dragoon Red, like my first car

Dont recall the thread David, but both Brian Haresnape's BR Fleet Survey and Brian Webb's Locomotive Studies for D&C confirm as much - and at a quite early date as well. The loco was last-built D870. As the other David says above, it's not rocket science - the engines were to be uprated in order to power a generator set As for the Hymeks, original plans were for 300 of the gorgeous beasts That might have included the Northern Division, before its transfer to the LMR appeared on the cards (another interesting 'what if' scenario), and it strikes me they'd have been handy on the Cambrian, although maybe too heavy in the axleloading. Apart from the tendency to standardise on electric transmission, I'd always understood the influx of 37s to South Wales was because a heavier, six-axle loco was more use for unfitted freight work in the Valleys

Ho hum. I have already corrected myself, right here

So it does, my apologies, I was looking at Gallery 1 You could have linked straight to it Looks like at least 5711 was done before the work at Barrow then, maybe it was a guinea pig

Nice though they are, those are not plain green as per the question but green/SYP. They're also dated 1963, hence no advance on the shot I mentioned, although I've now found a July '62 shot on Colin Marsden's '35 Years of Mainline Diesel Traction'. It's also GSYP but looks very fresh From the Co-Bo World website, I trust Jim doesnt mind me extracting it for relevance: (my bold). As SYPs were established by that time, it would seem likely that any with rebuilt screens had that treatment

Random dip into Mr Haresnape's 'BR Fleet Survey' shows one with flat screens and SYP in 1963; I havent looked any further but it could have happened at first overhaul

Wee - ell, they said the 14 should have been the same price as an 08. So this one should be, um, let me see now, as much as half a 25 and half a 31...

Brilliant

Ahem. From the OP:

I see the logic to some extent, but it doesnt completely follow. Increased traffic demands weren't necessarily always catered for in such a linear fashion as a directly corresponding new build, but sometimes by bringing locos out of store or sanctioning additional overhauls on those that might have been otherwise life expired. Or, we could just constrain ourselves to modelling locos that did exist, whilst assuming that the chimeras worked the parts of the system we arent modelling One thing I dont get too hung up about is getting allocations spot on; if a class was one that was legitimately used in 'my' area, it follows that the effect of 'my' line on overall traffic demands could have led to individual members of it being allocated otherwise than was actually the case

Or '46, which I think was another early blue 'un. I'd use several coats of a brown/black mix, washed, drybrushed and stippled and built up steadily and varied in shade, so as to almost but not quite completely obliterate the base livery. They always look overall brown in photos but somehow it doesnt quite translate to a model

An unusual example of serendipity, I actually found a useful mag clipping without particularly looking and within twelve months of it being relevant Railway Mag April 69, the shot is of 1930 GFYE alongside a Western and the caption states it's one of two on the WR (hence also 1927 above). Reason is said to be to increase visibility at night

There were two WR ones reported in the contemporary 'Railway Magazine' as being done c1968/69; 1927 I can remember fairly reliably cos I saw it (on the evening York - Hull parcels of all things), possibly 1930 although I'm not sure why that one comes to mind. Similarly 1965 rings a bell, though without checking that sounds LMR-ish and I might be inventing it Dont think I've ever come across 1975 before, but it does look all regularly spaced and intentional rather than a pasted lash-up

It is - 8234 in GFYE with arrows and D prefix painted out, Sept 1970

True enough Bernard, and I have to say I share your curiosity

Sounds reasonable and I think I've heard or read of that arrangement before; in practical terms, I wouldnt have thought there'd be too much difference between a horsebox and a prize cattle van (the latter also being NPCCS rather than goods stock). Again in one of Hendry's wagon books, there's a pic of the converse - a cattle wagon containing horses, which Mr Hendry surmises may be off to the knacker's

He'll be handing in his shortbread-shaped badge if he doesnt