Claude_Dreyfus

Back to the 1990s for the next two, both featuring 08649 in different guises at Eastleigh. Not great, but these are scans from pictures taken with a fairly rudimentary camera! Probably circa 1993 Circa 1995/96. The withdrawn 33 languishing in the background was 33047.

A couple from 2005 featuring EWS red class 09s 09022 rests at Rugby on 16th July 09015 heads through Newport with a steel trip - 15th October

Sadly not a great picture as there was a lot of detritus in front of the locos, as well as a signal. 08511 and 08683 shunt 59003 at Eastleigh on 3rd September 2021.

A couple more from the Sussex archives... 66740 heads the 6G11 09:02 Eastleigh East Yard - Dorking across the Arun flood plains - 22nd August. Earlier that day 66130 headed north. I do not have the details of the working unfortunately.

Sorry, my post may have been a bit misleading (not intentionally I should add!). My photo was taken from the television. Sadly my name has never come up in the ballot... Like yourself, this is definitely on the bucket list!

Like many in the UK, this is something I have never seen, but will give it a whirl on the Tube of You out of curiosity. Funny how it is such a tradition on Continental Europe... Something else, but all the more recent, that has neatly slotted into the Christmas routine is the 'Bachelor King' - a Sky documentary about the King Penguins of South Georgia. Narrated by David Attenborough, it is well worth checking out if you have not seen before. Also worth catching on iPlayer is 'All Aboard - The Reindeer Migration'. I actually preferred mashed carrot and swede - having just made another match for New Years day dinner. Lots of black pepper required. In terms of today's tipple, we are very lucky to live in one of the country's top wine producing areas - producers such as Nyetimber are only about two miles down the road, Stopham is only a mile in the opposite direction. This time we have a bottle of Roebuck sparkling wine from the Upperton vineyard, less than a mile from where I grew up.

Talking about the New Year's concert, I am always impressed by the magnificent flower arrangements. Worth keeping a close eye on these...back in 2019 there was a guest appearance (grabbed a less than perfect photo using my phone, but it illustrates the point)! I wonder if there was a 'please explain' issued to the arrangers afterwards!

2022 was seen out with a glass of Glen Nevis, obtained from our summer travels (not the distillery itself, but from the nearby Morrisons. That counts as it is in the shadow of the Ben more or less by the entrance to the eponymous glen!). Most agreeable. 2023 is being seen in with Eggs Benedict and the New Years Day concert from Vienna.

'Young Sherlock ' as in 'Young Sherlock Holmes'? Not trying to be pedantic, because if it is, that that is a Christmas classic in the Dreyfus household. Normally a Boxing day fixture, with Die Hard being Christmas Eve and Star Wars on New Year's day (probably all three* Star Wars back-to-back)... * Engage controversy mode.

Class 70 action on the Arun Valley. 70817 heads north through Pulborough with the 6C03 08:53 Eastleigh East Yard - Tinsley Green engineers service - 3 December 2022. 70807 passes Clay Lane bridge with the 6C04 12:04 Factory - Eastleigh East Yard. 27th December 2022.

A few others taken on the same day - 23rd December. 66742 'Port of Immingham Centenary', heading the 6G15 10:42 Eastleigh - Wandsworth Common. A rather smoky 66035 was putting some effort into this train; the 6N35 11:47 Eastleigh East Yard - Clapham Junction.

Probably these two... Pictured on their way up to town on the Arun valley a couple of days ago...

It was a very popular route from south London to the coast. My mum recalls travelling down this way on day-trips in the late 40s/50s. At that time there were many watering holes along the route, most which have now gone. The one she recalls visiting is still with us, the Blacksmith's Arms at Adversane (a couple of miles south from Billingshurst).

Many of the roads in this area are not up to the current standards, although oddly enough the A272 in this area is classified as a trunk road - I wonder how many of those who classified it as such have actually driven it! There were recent discussions about making the A29 a trunk road as well. After being told by all and sundry that the council were all forms of idiot for even contemplating it, the idea was shelved; although I suspect not killed off entirely. Larger vehicles could go for the Amberley route. As you say it does involve the low bridge, as well as a rather steep climb up Houghton Hill. The main sticking point would be running the gauntlet of Storrington. A nightmare to navigate at the best of times. Any diversion via Petworth would involve the ridiculous excuse for a by-pass (or 'lorry route'). Basically they sort of upgraded a single track lane (Kingspit Lane) to the east of the town and added a coupe of extra passing places. Narrow, steep and winding, it is almost as unsuitable a route for lorries as taking them through the town centre! The A29 is still closed, as the ground around the slip is still unstable...not helped by the rain. On a more general point, it never ceases to amaze me how rural parts of West Sussex are, especially in the lee of the downs. We are only 50 miles from London, yet there are some very remote areas - try taking the A285 over the downs; 20 miles of nothing more than a small village and a scattering of cottages.

The end of the year has brought about some unexpected peace and quiet at Dreyfus Towers. A landslip has closed the main road through our town until at least next week. The ground is still unstable, so it may take quite a bit of work to fix. Nobody is hugely surprised, as you can see it is a narrow stretch of road, on quite a steep gradient. The cutting walls are steep and the matter has not been helped by the frequent pounding of heavy lorries - the road was resurfaced recently which sorted the ridiculous numbers of potholes. It is also the road from Dorking to Bognor, therefore one of the main roads to the south coast. Apart from some residential streets (already notorious rat-runs) and narrow country lanes to the east, there isn't any suitable by-pass for the numerous heavy lorries which use the road. They'll have to divert to the A24 or A272. Fortunately the slip was late last night and nobody was injured. The houses to the right are unaffected and the half-timbered job on the left sits on a substantial rock base, so secure enough. It does mean that there is very little passing us by - a temporary respite from the incessant traffic; this road runs right past our house...

Strictly speaking, the Nankai 50000 series was designed by an architect, who also designed station buildings. Some Japanese designs are truly 'out there'. The DF200 is certainly on my list, but they are hard to get hold of now... Here's to a re-release!

Spot on.

70807 passes Clay Lane bridge with the 6C04 12:04 Factory - Eastleigh East Yard. 27th December 2022.

Well Christmas day was rather pleasant. Just Mrs Dreyfus and myself, accompanied by a number of bottles of nice things and the television. Our usual Christmas dinner, served up on a platter...perfect for troughing... Nothing to watch in the evening, so dug out some Father Ted to catch with a rather nice glass of Oban whisky (purchased as a result of too many samples during the distillery tour - cunning sales technique, ply your visitors with the nice stuff to lessen the resolve in the shop)...

Not sure that would fit under the tree...

Realtime Trains have got it sorted for you!

I am fortune enough that Christmas is a low-stress time. Mrs Dreyfus and I try to get all of the shopping and everything sorted out well in advance, allowing for Christmas Eve to be spent on activities such as hunting out engineering trains passing through the area (see class 66 thread!) and watching Tom and Jerry. Christmas officially starts in a few minutes when I dig out Die Hard. 😀 I hope you all have a happy (and above all peaceful!) Christmas.

Plenty of class 66 action down here in Sussex today. Three trains ran through in the space of just over an hour from Eastleigh to engineering works in the Wandsworth/Clapham area. Sadly the weather wasn't great, but it got me out of the house for a while. First up is 66742 'Port of Immingham Centenary', heading the 6G15 10:42 Eastleigh - Wandsworth Common. The river is in flood, as usual for this time of year; a combination of recent heavy rain, the fact the river Rother joins the Arun just to the right of the picture and, despite this location being about 15 miles inland, the Arun still being tidal at this point. I then hastily made may way down to the field that can be made out behind the train for the next instalment. A very near miss. 66594 'NYK Spirit of Kyoto' heads up the 6Y90 11:16 Eastleigh East Yard - Wandsworth Common at Hardham, just as a southbound passenger train creeps into the shot. I left it as late as possible before pressing the shutter! 66585 trailed dead in transit. The lineside building to the right can just about be made out in the first picture (behind the 11th and 12th wagons). Finally I wandered off to my last location, another of my favourites; the footbridge just south of Hardham. A rather smoky 66035 was putting some effort into this train; the 6N35 11:47 Eastleigh East Yard - Clapham Junction. RTT stated that this had a timetabled trailing load of 2,000 tonnes. Not sure if it was quite that heavy, however there were some auto-ballasters at the end of the train which would no doubt have added to the weight. All-in-all a rather successful hour or so - three trains, with four locos from three different companies.

As you may well know, there are lots of those sorts of places. Even department stores have model railway sections...some pretty big. There are so many fascinating places to see and things to do there, last time we were there (2019) we spent a happy few hours in Saitama City (a few miles north of Tokyo) going around the bonsai museums and nurseries. Saitama City also has a railway museum. If you like a bit of sport and culture, then I can really recommend the sumo wrestling. Tricky to get tickets, but well worth it (both Mrs Dreyfus and I are sumo fans) if there is a tournament on. Oh yes, and for something really off-beam, there is the Parasite Museum in Meguro. Fascinating in a rather ghoulish way! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meguro_Parasitological_Museum

I would definitely avoid Tam Tam or Popendetta in Akihabara then. A really good selection of wares are available for the discerning modeller ..