Claude_Dreyfus

Sad seeing it in such a condition. Here it is at Carlisle in happier days - 30(!) years ago. August 1993.

Knowing a few people involved with Scouting, the reasons for adults (and volunteers in general) dropping out is in part due to the increase in administrative and legal requirements. Whilst these are, in part, necessary when working with young people, the hassle is so great that people do question if it is worth it.

For me, the loss of the more specialised overseas-inspired shows is the saddest consequence; the shows you listed as well as the Southampton 'Eurotrack'. Even the specialised society's AGMs seem not to include any exhibition, or public show-casing of member's layouts. That is not a criticism, just sadly an indication of where we seem to be with overseas modelling in this country. There are overseas layouts out there, and a lot of shows which include overseas layouts (even if some just include a 'token' overseas offering), but I do wonder if there is the appetite for a predominately non-UK exhibition any more. Answers on a postcard!

I believe 377/6s have ventured down the Arun valley once or twice before, mainly due to a rostering issue. There is a picture of 377620 on the route from back in 2015 somewhere on the web and a colleague of mine travelled on a 5-carriage set a few years back - the last train of the day to Chichester. I suspect this may have been the first visit of a 377/7 to Portsmouth though.

Thank you, much appreciated! I have not been to the museum, but it is definitely on the list... To keep to the thread, here are a few suburban pictures. 465035 heads into Victoria on 17 June 2023. 707035 at London Bridge with a Sevenoaks train. 9 March 2023 377442 and 377708 rest in the early morning at London Bridge. 15 February 2023 455805 at London Bridge having arrived with a suburban service. 27 April 2022 377704 arrives at East Croydon. This was actually an oddity, because this unit was used with 377613 on an Arun Valley service - 377704 formed the Portsmouth portion, whilst 377613 formed the Bognor train. And here is 377613 at Puborough. Not a great image as it was getting late, but worth including due to its rarity. 5 May 2022.

At the risk of making this a hovercraft love-in, I managed to get a picture of the new craft, which I too heard was off to Japan soon (on the right). I too managed to capture Waverley. Not a great picture as it was taken from the hover terminal (through a rather mucky window). So to keep on theme, here is a picture of 377468 at Barnham on 15 September. It was operating a Brighton service until it was terminated due to point failure at Arundel junction.

Had a day out to visit the Isle of Wight - although to be honest the main purposes was to have a play with the hovercrafts... It was the first time I had been there since the upgrade of the railway, so took the opportunity to get a few pictures of the indigenous rolling stock. 484004 was doing the honours along with 484002, which I did not get a picture of. The hovercraft was definitely the highlight of the trip. It is the first time I have ever travelled on one - I have seen them on a regualr basis on my travels to the island. Back at Portsmouth I managed to grab a couple of snaps of some Desiros. 444045 passes Gunwharf Keys on the approach to the Harbour. 450049 and 444045 rest at the stops.

166205 at Portsmouth Harbour, having arrived from Cardiff. 15 September 2023

These two were in action this weekend as part of the Pulborough Heritage weekend. The 1953 AEC Regal IV London Country RF The 1971 Leyland Leopard coach

A couple of pictures from the weekend. There were a pair of older buses/coaches doing the shuttle services around the village. Yesterday they included the local vineyard (sadly I was not around yesterday but suspect that service would have proven popular!). Being the Goodwood Revival weekend, these buses shared the road with quite a lot of interesting older cars travelling up the A29 - an early 70s Porsche 911 and a Jenson Interceptor being two such sights. I did not venture down to the garden centre, where the Southdowns Light Railway was located, also the station tours did not appear to be taking place; maybe that was yesterday. Another highlight was a house which appeared on Channel 4's 'Grand Designs' being open to the public. It was very interesting talking with the owner, who is a carpenter and built most of the property himself. And then onto the school, which was hosting the P4 model of Pulborough station - circa 1910. I must say, it was nice to see the model in a more informal setting - especially without the crush which normally accompanies layouts such as this. I understand this is the last public showing for the layout and it is available for sale. Finally, we had a little bonus this morning as the 6N32 10:00 Earlswood - Eastleigh East Yard headed south through Pulborough station. 66047 did the honours.

66047 heads the 6N32 10:00 Earlswood - Eastleigh East Yard through Pulborough station - 10 September 2023.

And here it is... 67006 heads the 1Z82 08:46 London Victoria - Chichester through the valley at Codmore Hill. 67021 was trailing. 8 September 2023.

Maybe a curious topic, however the village of Pulborough in West Sussex is having an open heritage weekend on 9/10 September. Relevant attractions are: Pulborough station tours, Heritage buses in operation around the village (ex-London Country RF (built in 1953) and a 1971 Southdown Leyland Leopard coach), Special services at the Southdowns Light Railway with visiting locomotives, The Scalefour Society are exhibiting their model of Pulborough station at the local primary school (perhaps the highlight?), There is even an engineering train scheduled to pass through the station at about 10:30 on the Sunday 😉 More details on the following link. https://pulboroughsociety.org.uk/heritage-weekend/

Looks like the Pullman is out and about this Friday. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U55317/2023-09-08/detailed Out to Chichester via Dorking and the Arun Valley, with the return via the BML.

The Liphook & District MRC are holding an open workday at the Milland Valley Memorial hall (our club's base) on Sunday 24th September. Various activities will be taking place including preparing our H0 layout 'Inspired by Friedrichstrasse' for its upcoming exhibition outing in a couple of weeks (which means there will be trains running! 😁). Our 00 team will be continuing work on the early stages of their layout 'Avington'. Entry is free and doors will be open between 10:30 and 15:30, with plenty of opportunity for seeing what we get up to, as well as a cup of tea and a chat! The venue is Milland Valley Memorial Hall, Iping Road, Milland, GU30 7NA. Although located in a small village, the hall has ample parking and is between the village shop and the local pub - so extremely convenient! https://www.liphookmrc.com/

377204 heads south towards Pulborough with the 1C32 13:05 Victoria - Portsmouth & Southsea - 28 August 2023

Funnily enough, just after I posted my comment I saw it leaving Pulborough. The hastily grabbed photo was blurred however! 🤬

That's where it is! I've been keeping an eye out for the illusive 377442 as it is the last 377/4 I do not have a decent photo of although I do have one from its 377/3 days). It seems to have kept itself mainly to the London suburban areas recently, I sometimes catch a quick glace of it on my commute.

Keeping with the theme, a chance encounter at Three Bridges about 10 minutes ago. 'Pride' 700155 and 'NHS' 700111 await their respective north-bound departures. A hastily grabbed picture on my phone as my south-bound train was in the platform (a non-distinct 377116) and about to depart...

That's the NHS unit, 377111.

The bus station is still there, along with the garage opposite.

I try (but not always successfully) to check RTT a few days in advance to see if anything is coming through. This working was on the timetable for about a week or so. Just as a heads up, the north-bound Belmont Pullman is due through Pulborough on Wednesday evening at about 19:15.

And here they both are a little further down the line at Pulborough...

There was plenty of class 66 action at Pulborough last weekend due to engineering works between Horsham and Crawley. Sadly a combination of rotten weather and insanely early running resulted in me missing all but one - the 6G13 19:00 Horsham - Eastleigh East Yard engineering service. Here is 66766 approach the foot crossing at Codmore Hill running 30 minutes early (some of the others were running about 2 hours early!) on Sunday 23rd July.

Progress continues on the fiddle yard and return boards, with the track laying due to be completed within the next month. Then to the wiring. The scenic work has started on the river-end return board. The main feature is a steel girder overbridge - a Kibri model. This will carry a twin track rail line across the main circuit. A second span is too be added to complete the bridge. Also present are two new sections of track. The middle track (with the pale underlay) is a dummy siding, designed to give the impression of being a headshunt for a large yard off scene. In addition is a siding (also a dummy) which is serving a factory unit. This has been set into a concrete hardstanding. The headshunt has the potential to double-up as a scenic programming track. The factory unit is a resin kit from Muellers Bruchbuden. https://www.muellers-bruchbuden.de/ There are also some concrete fence panels from the same manufacturer, which will be added to the perimeter of the factory site. Plenty of urban grot will feature in this part of the layout.