The Stationmaster

While I'm not in the market for one it is fascinating to see what these boxes contain. Some f the contents hardly come as a surprise compared with availability of various past releases of models on Rapido's website. But there are definitely some real surprises in there, especially with the £250 box which seems to offer great value for money in the examples revealed so far.

From a quick scan down te RCTS lists it looks as if most of the post-war survivors had outside steam pipes although a number without a outside steam pipes survived in that state until wthdrawal in the 1950s. Conversion to outside steam pipes, with the related renewal of the cylinders, began in 1931/32 according to the RCTS lists but seems to have been done very slowly over the first few years. Virtually all of the engines (4300 -4320) with the original short frames/cab were withdrawn in the late 1930s but 4320 survived, in original form, until the beginning of 1949 while 4303 with outside steam pipes lasted until late 1952 At a quick count 55 engines without outside steam pipes remained in traffic after WWII with a handful making it to the early 1960s. A maximum of c.167 were running with outside steam pipes post WWII but of these 90 were converted post war including those donen in the 1950s; 25 of them had been done by the GWR prior to nationalisation. Thus in the GWR post war period the number with outside steam pipes a was c.102, including the ones converted in that period. So for post war GWR, by the end, those with outside steam pipes almost outnumbered by 2 to 1 those which didn't have outside steam pipes

DB BR103 Trix, still; available new from Gaugemaster - £475 Accurascale Class 92, if you can find one new - £280 less a few pence. So 195 quid for a pop-up Lokfürher aka Driver (and a metallised plastic body - but no 3rd rail shoes). PS I wouldn't bother with retractable 3rd rail shoes - the bloomin' things didn't every time they supposed to and they were out-of gauge on SNCF. The latter became so fed up with the shoes hitting things when they should have been retracted that at their boundary with Eurotunnel they installed concrete blocks , set to their gauge clearance, with the specific intention of 'removing' any shoes which hadn't retracted. Incidentally I've always liked the 103s so I have no bias against them although when I first saw them they were E03s and the very first ones had only just appeared that year.and were in special use.

There are plenty of published photos of Dean Singles in the vicinity of Teignmouth, mostly on Class A trains, and apparently at one time a couple were allocated to Newton Abbot. I'll have a look at Ahrons tomorrow and see if he has anything to say about them going beyond Newton towards Plymouth.

When the Cless 373 tests were carried the vertical movement of the contact wire after the first pan passed was found to be up to 6". And by the time tge second pan arrived the contact wire was usually still moving 3" 4" vertically. But on one test - when very rapid braking occurred it was still moving nearer to 6" and dewirement was very narrowly avoided. So a set (in GNER livery as was well know) was duly despatched to France for high speed testing and aerofoil tests which ultimately qllowed the sets t run at 125mph on the ECML.

The railways in. palestine and Israel havea very complex history with regaugings (from narrow to stanradrd on some routes, new construction to stnadard fa gauge and some of teh narrow gauge left. Originally French built and controlled the railways were run by the British during the Mandate period with lots of updating going on during that time plus they had been under British military controls at various stages during the two World Wars. After 1948 and the effective partition of not only some of Palestines borders with neighbouring states but also within the country as Israeli and Arab dominated areas split and changed with routes vanishing or becoming divided. Then to the modern IR situation with massive modernisation and infrastructure improvement. So there would have been early French operating practice succeeded by British Military Railway practice in places and then British management of. the network for over 20 years working to British practice but with a varied loco fleet. It must be very interesting putting together museum exhibits reflecting that but from what we've seen in the is thread the interlocking seems more represeentative of British practice than any other

Weather information can sometimes come at a price (especially if you thought that you weren't paying for weather information or pictures of aircraft at airports on the other side of the globe).

However for what amounts to a subsidiary movement with a smaller arm the usual cinvention is that irrespective of the 'left-to-right rule' the principa running arm is mounted at the top irrespective of teh direction of divergence signalled by the smaller arm. There is one example I know of ( on the ER, exGN section in Lincolnshire) where the subsidiary arm was mounted above the running arm - the only time I've ever seen a photo of such an arrangement Going back to the start I think a locking chart would still be a useful addition because it will show the locking which is required leading then to the diagram which shows how the requirement will be met. The example below is slightly different in that for space reasons the arm for the subsidiary routes has a route indicator but both of the routes it leads to are to the right of the running signalled route https://www.flickr.com/photos/68861278@N03/14786921808/

German headspan seem t be limited to the complex lower speed sections around big stations etc. And one feature I noted long ago on DB headspan (and might have changed?) is that the headspan wires are have tensioining arrangements.

An MGR was just finishing unloading at Didcot when something took place to block the line nrth of Oxford. Control did a bit of headscratching and agreed with The LM that the only way to get the empty MGR train back horthwards was via Reading, Acton and the WCML but nobody could provide any Conductor Drivers. A conversation then ensued between Reading Panel and the Saltley Driver to explain the situation and the problem with Conductor Drivers. The Driver told the bobby to hang on a minute and said he'd have a word with his two mates who were onboard to learn the power station layout. He duly came back on the 'phone and said no problem because between the three of them they knew the road all the way back to Coventry via Acton etc so no Conductors were needed - and off they went. to b ehonest sometimes I wondered to just what extent some men really did know the road. On an Inspection Special coming back to Swindon we had a Redhill Driver between somewhere on the Southern and Reading, via Acton. Once he got past Acton it became rather obvious that he didn't really have a very good idea so I sat up at the front end conversationally calling various signals for him and 'reminding him' about a temporary restriction of speed at Sonning Sidings - which he all too obviously didn't know about although it had been on for months. Back o a cmmon ast problem of Drivers who went overa road a handful of times and duly signed it but then kept it on their route card with no close questioning when they came to re-certify it. That was one of the main reasons for the Western moving to 'route norms' in order to ensure that Drivers achieved a set frequency working over every route they signed or attending necessary refreshers or having route refresher days in their link. And experience from back then is one reason why I still take lot of interest in Drivers' Route Knowledge and working over frequencies whenever I hear of incidents of - seemingly - this sort or the recent(ish) incidents on the ECML. It comes back to the human element playing a part despite any systems that are in place.

There has been a world of difference in UK ohle over the years with a whole series of BR 25kv designs leading finally to the headspan approach used on the GNML and the HEX electrification then to theh Swiss designed kit which seems to have become theh current standard as used on the GWMl and various other schemes/renewals since then. The best BR 25 kv overhead was that installed on the Styal Loop which had the best resistance to pantograph uplift forces but the design was then simplified for the rest of Manchester - Crewe in order to reduce the cost. In an odd twist the Styal Loppe was the only section of BR 25kv which could have coped with a Class 373 Eurostar running at speeds in excess if 125 mph. There are two big problems with the headspan method used on the ECML and elsewhere. Firstly it cannot cope with high uplift forces - as the Eurostar trials alarmingly revealed and which led to the BR pantograoh having to be altered to reduce the uplift force in order to allow the trains to exceed 100mph on the ECML. The other big problem with headspan is what happens when damage occurs as it tends to bring down the whole lot instead of affecting just one or two lines. And you have to close the whole lot to electric trains in order to repair it. The design used on the GWML, and increasingly elsewhere, is much simpler in terms of supporting the contact and catenary wires and tensioning seems to be far better with no use of weights but using tensioning reels instead. From observation contact wire movement certainly seems to be well controlled when trains pass at 125 mph - massively better than headspan - which to me indicates that the catenary is much 'stiffer'. There also seem to be far fewer weather related problems - if the overhead suffers damage in strong winds it seems to come from objects blown onto the railway rather than the wind directly affecting the wires. Hence the current work to replace the existin, complex,g fittings in the Paddington - Old Oak area with the current design. It will be inteesting to see what we get on HS2 where the overhead will have to cope with much higher speeds and presumably will therefore need to be sufficiently 'stiff' to cope with them.

The wagons would be sent where teh Stores Dept at Swindon said r they were to be sent. there was regular train of loco coal empties from the West of England to Soith wales (usually Rogerstone but at times if might have run to Pontypool Road. And similarIy I doubt it got to Laira off the GC viw Banbury in the first place. There would have been some cot logic in supplying Banbury with coal off the GC and don't forget that the Western - well into BR days - used different grades of coal for different jobs hence at large depots there was a 'passenger side' (or section) for coaling and a side (or section) for engines on other work. I've never been sure about teh story that Western engines were designed to bue rn soft Welsh coal because plenty of them in the northern part of the Company's area always seemed to have used coal from local pits. Don't forget that it cost the railway money to move coal and managing everyday costs was as much a factor in Churchward's and Collett's time as it was in BR days. But having said that the nature of certain South Walian coal, partiicularly from the seams worked in the Western Valleys was ideal for loco use because of good calorific value and low ash content. But I bet that sheds in the Cardiff Valleys Division used the slightly harder coal from that area instead of hauling it a couple of dozen, or more miles.

The Central Wales one was in my list of variants but it would be quite a challenge doing a mass produced r-t-r version I suspect due to the fineness of the parts when they are scaled down . The lack of early/mid 60s into the 70s surprises me too as it seems popular judging by the wider market. I expect that the 'prettier' and 'wilder' diesel liveries are likely to be far more attractive to many buyers. Hence they are the sensible way of bringing a new, long working life, model to market in order to produce an early return and get the development costs covered before going for more mundane liveries. Exactly so - there comes a stage where there are things which simply can't be done, or done at anything approaching an economic cost and marketable price. And if people want things like day or night headlights (so presumably they know when they are used, and not used) you are getting into an area which needs a lot more functionality beyond the around about a dozen basic variants of lights on a long working life diesel. So once again - if the technology is available - you potentially run into the cost and price situation affecting overall marketabiliity

If the gauge has narrowed that indicates to me that the rail fixings are already being squeezed and are under stress to such an extent that they aren't keeping the track to gauge. The answers might be as follows - 1. Relay the track with fixed radius curves which are designed and manufactured to stay to gauge/plus propv9de a bit of gauge widening (undoubtedly the best remedy even if it will be a pain), or 2. Try to remove some sleepers and replace with copper clad sleepers to which you can solder the rail using a three point track gauge give automatic gauge widening. Thus if you can gut away existing ballast and sleepersa n bit at a time you might improve. The proble with heating is exactly what are you going to heat and will that melt the fixings holding the rail or will the rail itself get hot and gp way out of alignment?

The 'strange yellow circle' is the yellow spot I referred to above - officially referred to as 'YELLOW disc'. Nothing strange about it at all - it was applied from 1937 (first published reference is dated 12/37) to 'new coaches being built to cross -country dimensions'. Vehicles so branded were allowed to work over all LMS main lines and various secondary routes etc; without restriction to the LNER; and on various specified SR routes. It is mentioned in the 1947 coach livery diagram in 'Great western way' but that does not appear to quote the date of its introduction. Yellow disc marking might later have been applied to some earlier vehicles?; it was also applied to Hawksworth passenger carrying stock except the 12 wheel sleeping cars. In some respects it was almost an opposite of vehicles branded with a Red Triangle which were not permitted to be worked off GWR lines at all (and in many cases were subject to restrictions, of varying severity depending on the vehicle length and width, within GWR territory). The marking does not appera to have been carried by steam raoilmotors but might not show on the type of film. The Red Triang/e marki would seem to have been introduced at some time between 1924 and 1935/6.

Could you define 'proper lighting'? I can immediately think - without thinking too hard - of around about half a dozeen different 'standrds' for lighting at the font end of an EE Type3/Class 37 running after dark plus, obviously, none at all at some periods running during daylight hours. And I can think of four different standards' in respect of red lights, or not, at the rear end of one on a running line. And there's also a need to mix the various differing front end standards with differing rear end standards. So you're looking for at least a dozen different 'proper lighting' standards over the service life to date of the locos plus you might, or might not, consider adding separate control of the lighting in the leading and rear cabs. Plus if really you want 'proper lighting' you also need some instructions to tell you - obviously with applicable dates for the detail conscious modeller- when things should or shouldn't be turned on. If I wanted an all singing and dancing DCC controlled anything I would hope that it would reproduce the lighting standard, or standards, which match its livery; I would have no interest at all in any standards which don't do that. So when A/S get round to that RSH built loco as delivered new to the WR it would be nice (on the non DCC version that suits me) that the headcode panel will light up at the end leading in the direction of travel (and even nicer to have a switch underneath to turn off the headcodes if I wanted to the job properly). The last thing i want on it is flippin' LED, or whatever, red tail lights. They would be totally irrelevant and useless - but if it's simpler for manufacture to include them it would be nice to have a switch to turn them off. That's my 'proper lighting' requirement, what's yousr?.

Not for me either, and, based on past experience, I'd be a tad concerned that it might be going to Margate. (Talking of which in times gone not too long past I wonder how soon it would have been before we started to see them coming from Margate?)

They definitely appear to be weights. They were first applied during 1926 (possibly even very late 1925 as vehicles were shopped??) and were officially brought into use from 03 January 1927 when the GWR introduced a new system for calculating the loads of passenger etc trains. They should be at diagonally opposite corners of the vehicle ends and were orignally painted (and still seem to have been still been painted onsome vehicles at much later dates. On Yellow Spot coaching stock photos indicate that the yellow spot was painted immediately next to the tare weight figure on the side nearer to the outer edge of the vehicle bodywork.

Formations were 100% dependent on the purpose of the train and what the customer require. But there was probably a greater variety of vehicles used in exhibition trains at that time as they weren't under central control.

But don't forget he wishes to show and illustrate the way locking works so separating various functions in the locking could be a lot clearer to someone with no knowledge. I think that makes a bit more sense for many viewers rather than than going in fora space saving layout of locking which might make it less easy to trace the various different functions.

Try this link (hoping it works) https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/westerleigh+oil+termnal/@51.5014256,-2.4474167,46m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

Quite possibly a Didcot man - they were just as 'keen' as Saltley although they didn't get as many chances but one of them did work a Liner train through to Parkeston Quay on one occasion! The SNCF equivalent I know of is Lille - they had one diagram which involved working a high speed freight to Lyon, lodge, work a TGV Lyon to Paris, cross to Gare du Nord and work a TGV back to Lille. I think Le Mans depot Drivers used to get around a bit as well - I had a cab ride with one of them from Le Mans to Paris and he was off on some other working before he got back to Le Mans.

It was - apologies for downgrading him. Although he'd retired by then he was asked to have a look at how the GWML scheme was being managed - he was seemingly not too impressed from what he told me.

It was the only one anybody in the S&T Dept went back to seek authority for further funds according to the Departmental ledger listing financial authorities. Whether any body in the civils sought any extra authorities I don't know as i only have the S&T Dept ledger. The main reason it was within budget was down to very good project and engineering management. The Project Manager kept a very close watch on physical progress including regular trips over the route to observe what was happening, and he knew exactly how to manage a large project. And the engineers applied flexibility and, for example - if necessary, made small amendments to the siting of masts as they went along without having to go through time wasting procedures before doing the job. Add in clever estimating and making use of existing financial authorities to do work when there happened to be room in those budgets and you had a well managed scheme. An example is that when KX suburban electrification reached it's intended limit there was still money left in the budget - so the Project Manage told the engineers to carry on erecting mast northwards until the money ran out. Alas the kit used wasn't exactly suitable for high speed main line electrification but it made it easier to get the scheme authorised GWML electrification in stark contrast was a project managerial shambles right from the start and with no flexibility given to contractors and an ibvious lack of detail attention from the management team.

But on the other hand there have been jobs which BR didn't pay for (aka 'free')that went haywire and were getting very close to going way over budget if someone hadn't stepped in and got them done properly. PS it might be amusing to add that one item of work on the 1892 narrowing of the gauge on the GWR exceeded the orginal estimate and had to go back for the authorisation of further finds. (as it happens the estimate was wrong because it had omitted certain things - like block telegraph)