Banger Blue

For anybody who has pre-ordered “Bertie the Brake Van” from Hornby. Just received an email from Hornby stating this is in the warehouse and will be dispatched shortly! Wasn’t supposed to be due till Dec 22.

Put your hand on a hot, pretty girl for a second and it’s 5 years (2 for good behaviour)! Double if it’s a relative Judge “send ‘em down” Farquhar-Smyth. 😂

🤣🤣

I can confirm that “Thomas the Tank” is indeed blue and not camouflage green!

Puts you in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel! (What3words location app)

Dec 2018 - the first of the donor 319 units (319449) arrived at Reading for Staff Familiarisation. Aug 2020 - The first GWR 769 (769943) arrived at Reading. Mar 2022 - The last of the batch 769944 is delivered to Reading. one or two even got ‘delivered’ twice as they had to be sent back to works for rectifications to be done. The fleet are currently rotating through Arlington at Eastleigh and Long Marston for further modifications (ASDO, cab cooling etc etc). The 769s have certainly not been RTR, straight out of the box!

I agree Chris There’s a photo of a Hartlebury allocated ‘Restricted Use’ van here. Again the photo isn’t too clear but it looks like the wording is: To Work: then there is a list of what is presumably the workings the van is allocated for.

http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Bampton.htm About 3/4 of the way down the page there is a photo of a 74xx & TOAD at Brize Norton & Bampton station, the text for the photo says: Looking at the Photo, although the brakevan is dedicated to the branch workings, it looks to still be an Oxford van. Maybe that would suggest Fairford / Witney didn’t have an allocation themselves.

Another vote for Crosville livery. The bus of my teenage years, I’ve no idea which variant it is in relation to the Rapido Questionnaire but basically this one as found on Flickr Crosville Leyland National at Ellesmere Port 1983: I would definitely have one of these. Especially that route number F66 as well. for what it’s worth, as I don’t know the variation details, I have completed the questionnaire but just added the link for above picture in one of the free text boxes!

Outside my usual timescale but looking at the previews I’ve succumbed and popped my AS cherry, BR Blue 55005 ‘The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire’ is now on order. 😃

How about this little kit from Metcalfe? https://www.metcalfemodels.com/product/po410-00-h0-scale-wooden-pavilion/

They got a few mentions over on the Deltic Thread as that started to career towards 'off-topic' land but has the Class 40 been mentioned here? If the 55s & 37s are anything to go by, the 40s, given the AS treatment, would be a cracker!

I looked a couple of days ago and 37605 was still showing available, I was wondering what it had done to upset the punters and remain 'on the shelf' so to speak? 😂😂 Someone must have felt sorry for it however as I see all the variations of the Class 37 are now showing 'Sold Out' on the AS website!

I appreciate that this the Deltic thread but, yes I too would like to see AS have a crack at the 40s! 🤞

A certain company from Margate must have seen your post (doesn't appear to be a limited edition though): https://uk.Hornby.com/products/br-ferry-van-2140144-3-era-7-r60113 Apologies if it's bad form to post a competitors products on a manufacturer specific part of the forum! 😬

The GWR 769s are being rotated through Arlington (Eastleigh Works) where they are having modifications done. 99% sure it’s ASDO mods (Automatic Selective Door Opening). There was a swap today. A pair went from Reading TCD - Eastleigh and a pair made the return trip back to Reading. AFAIK the only other big mod that is happening is the fitting of air cooling to the cabs (at least). Driver Training hasn’t commenced yet as the local ASLEF haven’t rubber stamped their approval. The main issues I believe is the cab cooling and some ergonomic factors about the cab! Mileage Accumulation is either done by COLAS drivers or by GWR Driver Trainers / Standards Managers building their driving hours up and these runs (Mon, Wed & Fri) are are mainly over the North Downs to Gatwick Airport for Diesel / DC or between Maidenhead & Swindon for AC running.

Although the Fairford Branch ran beside the perimeter of RAF Brize Norton (as far as I’m aware) there was never an actual rail connection into the RAF Station, however when the Airfield was expanded when the United States Airforce was in residence, some of the dispersal areas for the B-47 jet bombers were on the other side of the railway and they had to cross the line to get to the main part of the airfield. The Oxford - Didcot line runs past the perimeter of what was Royal Naval Air Station Culham and the Signal Box there had a “crash bell” fitted and a direct link telephone between the box & the control tower (Harold Gasson - Signalling Days)

Not the usual green DMU I would expect to see when I’m at work! Epping & Ongar Railway based Class 117 DMS 51384 has returned to its former stomping ground of Reading (albeit a lot newer depot) for a visit to the Wheel Lathe and a spot of tyre turning. 51384 was allocated to RG in the late 1970s & 1980s. https://www.railcar.co.uk/data/vehicle/?number=51384

The website http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Carterton.htm gives the date of opening for Carterton Station to passenger traffic as Oct1944.

Now available to recreate in OO : Not really! As seen on “The Bash Mash” on Facebook.

Yes, your right. The photos I’ve seen on Flickr, the duckets are black. A comment on one of the photos suggests that the van was replaced in 1987 by a ‘Queen Mary’’ van.

I remember ‘“Bertie the Brakevan” from my teenage TrainSpotting days around Chester, happy to see this, I’ll definitely have one of these!

Don't have much choice, I'm at work! I'll have a quick look at the headlines before bed.

Oxford: The "Down Oxford Turnback Line" sits between the Down Carriage Sidings and the Down Oxford Relief.

Currently three sets at Reading: 769925 / 928 / 932 Oxford: 930 / 937 / 946 / 959 There are also three GWR sets currently at Eastleigh: 938 / 943 / 949 The remainder of GWR's 769s have yet to be delivered to Reading.