APOLLO

Carnforth last day - 4 August 68, some newly named locos !!

A lot more last week photos on my Flikr site below.

As others have said, days I'll remember all my life..

Brit15

The USA Railroads named very few locomotives, and whole named classes were a rarity.

One railroad, the Frisco (St Louis - San Francisco - SLSF) named a fleet of passenger locos after racehorses and other famous horses of civil war generals etc, They were E7 & ED diesel locos. Names were painted on the cab. 

The E7's were 2000 - 2005. the rest are E8's. 

2000 Fairplay ...Racehorse whose fame was as a sire, sire of Man of War (Big Red)
2001 Ranger .... Col. Henry Lee's horse 
2002 Comanche .... only survivor at the battle of the Little Big Horn 
2003 Steel Dust ...Famous Texas horse of the mid 19th century
2004 Dan Patch ...Greatest harness horse in the history of the two-wheel sulky
2005 Winchester .... Gen. Phillip Sheridan's horse 
2006 Traveller .... Gen. Robert E. Lee's horse 
2007 Whirlaway .... 1941 Triple Crown winner 
2008 Messenger.... English race horse 
2009 Jet Pilot .... 1947 Kentucky Derby winner 
2010 Count Fleet .... 1943 Triple Crown winner 
2011 Gallant Fox .... 1930 Triple Crown winner 
2012 Flying Ebony .... 1925 Kentucky Derby winner 
2013 Sea Biscuit .... 1937 leading purse winner 
2014 Truxton .... Andrew Jackson's horse 
2015 Twenty Grand .... 1931 Kentucky Derby winner 
2016 Citation .... Triple Crown winner 
2017 Pensive .... 1944 Kentucky Derby / Preakness winner 
2018 Ponder .... 1949 Kentucky Derby winner 
2019 Cavalcade .... 1934 Kentucky Derby winner 
2020 Big Red .... Nickname for Man-O-War, a famous horse in the USA      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_o%27_War
2021 Gallahadian .... 1940 Kentucky Derby winner 
2022 Middleground .... 1950 Kentucky Derby / Belmont winner this name was copyrighted and was changed to Champion, Gene Autry's horse.

Not quite an LNER Pacific on "The Coronation" (or anywhere near as fast !!), but the Americans sure liked their "Streamliners" in the late 40's & 50's before the jet airplane took over.

I have a Rivarossi model HO scale twin diesel and train (but nowhere to run it these days !!) - A beautiful train indeed, she lives in a showcase in the dining room.

Brit15.

Lines in Lancashire

Ormskirk to Farrington Jcn

Rainford Junction to Kirkby

Bolton to Darwen (parts)

Kirkham to Blackpool South

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/govia-thameslink-franchise-chris-grayling-disruption-england-a8425216.html

Interesting.

Brit15

Try to "correct" Fred and you would have an ear full of basic Anglo Saxon delivered in a very broad Boltonian accent (or a clout round the lug hole) !!!!

I find this standardisation of spoken English a bit tiresome - talk as you naturally do / have done for many years - and that's it.

I took the girls for an open day visit to Lancaster University yesterday. One speaker (I think he was the head) came on stage, and immediately apologised for his Stoke on Trent accent - Why ? - he spoke perfectly understandable English.

(God I hate doing spell checks when I post here - in case I get detention !!)

Brit15

Found this on a US Railroad site

http://www.azfamily.com/story/38527214/federal-government-agency-interested-in-autonomous-train-potential

Brit15

I had a very enjoyable day.

And that is what railway modelling is all about.

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Anyone know the format / page size of these books ?

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Those old Jags certainly took some stick !!!

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Get thysen in speykin fettle fur't  Wigan exhibition - not long before it brasts off !!

http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect1.php?opt=dialect1

http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect2.php?opt=dialect2

Brit15

I have used this firm several times (via ebay) and found the sercice quick and the items of good quality and reasonable price.

My American O gauge signals came from them, pre wired complete with LED resistors fitted.

Brit15

I saw it (technology) all come into the gas industry when I started in 1969.

I remember the first office computer being installed around 1980, just having moved into our brand new office (Operations Control Centre no less !!), Used to input wages, I'll never forget the boss saying "one day soon you will all have one of these on your desk". That day came early 80's, and the office is now long gone, demolished & now part of the Royal Mail railway complex at Warrington.

I was involved virtually all my career in implementing new pipe laying technology & techniques. I've been involved with some fantastic machines / materials / pipe laying methods, along I must admit to one or two duds also. Funny thing was we never reduced labour at that time, work was piling in, Warrington new town was being built, lots of new housing and industrial estates, new pipes to outlying villages, miles of new feeder and reinforcement mains along with miles of old cast iron pipes requiring replacement.

We were never short of work in the 80's & 90's.

Wonderful days, wonderful people to work with, but glad I'm retired.

Brit15

Many, many years ago a mate bought (for £100) a tatty but serviceable Wolseley, a very nice car. A few months later, short of cash it was ""stolen"" and ended up burned out on a Wigan slag heap.

We guessed / knew what had happened, and used to taunt him that "Your in deep trouble mate, the Pope is looking for you, don't you know that burning a Wolseley is a cardinal sin" !!!

Happy, silly days !!!

Brit15

As I wrote earlier, it's more of a social problem than a technical one., and the advance of technology will never be stopped.

Question is do the top 1 percentile care about the other 99% - if the answer is no (as it seems to currently be) then there are huge societal problems ahead, especially in the developed world (i.e.here).

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Take your pick !!

(a bit RAF centric !!)

Good luck to England tonight - let's all see the ball FLYING to the net !!

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Duplicated - human error !!!!

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I avoid Heathrow like the plague, over complex and very stressful place, especially when changing planes / terminals with tight connections. I can only see it being worse with a third runway,

Off to Bangkok next week - Emirates A380 Manchester to Dubai, easy 2 hour change in a very nice airport to the onward connecting flight. I won't be buying any gold there (!!) but the chocolate camels they sell are a hit with the in laws kids over in Thailand !!!!

Brit15

Kadees are wonderful couplings, I've never had any problems with them, and modeling USA railroads they are prototype. I've had some problems with Weaver plastic knuckle couplers in that one or two have broken under the strain of a very heavy train going up hill or a starting "snatch" . They are easily replaced with metal Kadees.

For information USA O stock is not usually fitted with coupler pockets, just two mounting holes on the loco / car body. O scale couplers (I use 805 metal ones) come with there own metal pocket with mounting lugs ready to fit, though sometimes height is a problem especially with some makes of sprung bogies that ride high. Easily solved (usually) with a bit of packing under the couplers or adjusting car ride height.

Like Clive I leave my OO tension locks "as is" - though sometimes removing (or not fitting) loco front ones.

Brit15

The last several hundred years have not had the rate of technological / social change we have today.

It's more of a social problem than a technological one. How can quality of life be maintained / improve for the average citizen whilst implementing these changes ?

The short answer is it can't possibly be - so a race to the bottom (for most) or towards the top (a very small minority) is what we currently see (at least the start thereof).

Maintain the status quo ? - I honestly don't know.

Brit15

Locomotive weight, motor size (& power consumption), drive train, number of driven wheels are the main factors in haulage.

My main experience is with American O gauge. I have standard Rivarossi steam locos (0-6-0 & 0-8-0) with a small 1" dia motor, that have not much power even when weighted to just below stall. I have no other makes of steam loco for comparison though.

My new(ish) Atlas and Weaver twin motor diesels will pull your arm out of it's socket (and draw between 2 & 4 Amps doing it !!). Stick two of these on a long 20 odd car train and you have to watch the ammeter - just like on a real locomotive !!

On my OO layout, as others have often stated, it is again the diesels that out perform steam locos due to the conditions outlined above. I can though well imagine that Tony's (and others) metal kit built & weighted steam locos with decent size motors and good drive trains will out perform most, if not all RTR steam locos.

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Its called rampant unfettered capitalism / globalism.

We (well actually THEM - those who control) can do things today unimagineable just a decade or so ago. The pace of change is also ever accelerating.

Not a fan of it all myself, and I don't know many answers, but like dibber25 wrote I can foresee a whole new set of problems arising year on year.

Brit15

Dry leaves on the line !!

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I remember visiting Norman Wissenden's shop in Greenfield back in the late 90's. On a visit (I was working around Oldham at the time) I mentioned I modeled in both OO & American O scale, and was invited to view "upstairs". Upstairs was where Norman displayed his many kit built locos and stock for sale. Quality of construction varied widely, some very crude, some up to exhibition quality with a lot in between. The prices bore that out but the poor stuff to me was expensive. I remember seeing some of Coachmans work, couple of coaches & locos - yes - they were superbly built and finished - but too pricey for me !!

I eyed some American O scale freight cars and other bits'n'bobs that Norman could not get rid of quickly enough, some in kit form. I got those as a job lot for a song. He gifted me an unfinished but nicely made scratchbuilt in layered plasticard Southern Pacific observation car with no roof, which I have (almost) finished with an interior, roof and running gear. The roof was a sod - a length of stair handrail, lots of cutting, rasping, filing, sanding and filling but I got there in the end. I'll take a photo.

A true gent was Norman, always a cup of tea offered whilst viewing. It was a wonderful shop for bits and pieces, kits, RTR, and a vast book selection etc - lots of stuff hard to find now. Tony would have loved this shop (did you ever visit ?).

Norman retired around 2000 or so and an old couple took over - they were friendly enough but the business did not last long after. A shop much missed by me.

Brit15