John M Upton

...or indeed, a decent burial...

Anywhere is nicer than Margate. Brighton has a Lego shop but apart from that, the place really has gone seriously downhill in recent years, the place is an absolute mess and best avoided. Eastbourne is better, it has Train Times near the seafront.

...and after turning up at Littlehampton Shed in the middle of what should have been a twelve car formation and some early morning shunting later, 377302 is now tucked up for the night at the back of the shed: Whilst 377312 with 320 for company gets to spend the night out in the wind and rain.

Bognor shut all day yet again (not having much luck lately) meant stock all over the place being scrounged to run those trains which would have worked by those trains stuck down Bognor. So here we have a three car 377 going from Victoria to Southampton Central!

The Class 313 parts insanity continues... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367814458 Considering that there are four of these per unit times nineteen scrapped or about to be scrapped 313's, that means there is another 75 of these to come so hopefully by the time the initial lunacy has died down and the competition has spent all their pocket money for the next ten years, I can pick one up for a song... Mind you, some suspicious bidding and then retractions have occured on all four lots now. Can't help thinking there will be some non paying bidders on these.

Yet the corridor connections are factory fresh pristine!

Ah, but it does come with a signed Salvage Or Scrap thank you card!!!! Presumably this sort of "celebrity" nonsense attracts the same more money than sense loons who are going bat poo crazy bidding on bits of class 313 this weekend.

"Excellent boxed condition" apparently: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134645507907? Looks like it lost a fight with a nest full of angry spiders to me....

Well, the mad box seller is in Bridgend which is the right part of the country and the attitude (allowing for behavioural inflation) is pretty much on the mark so I think it may well be the same guy or at least one cut from the same cloth.

...and not many east of Plymouth by 2025 either....

I just checked out our box selling loony's negative feedback: https://www.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/feedback_profile/modelrailwaysales?commentType=NEGATIVE&user_context=BUYER Either this guy has some serious personal issues or not all his dogs are barking.... I have now added him to my Blocked Bidders list too!!

When are the next set of announcements due?

They definitely from 313's, it is Arlington at Eastleigh who are scrapping them who are selling the bits. Can't help thinking there is a lot of fake bids going in here with no intention of paying. I'll wait a few years until the buyers are desperate for cash and will take a tenner for them....

Want to buy a bit of 313? You will need deep pockets and have to fight you way through the scrum: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367814458?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367810344?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367821613?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

We have had drivers on Annual Leave get rostered work which has led to some amusing phone calls but to roster one who has actually retired is definitely a new one!

Thameslink services on the Brighton main line are now 100% self dispatch by the driver using DOO cameras, no involvement by platform dispatch staff whatsoever. Southern and Gatwick Express are still dispatched by platform staff at the usual key locations though.

They just finished spending five million quid on a brand new ticket office for Crawley. The paint isn't even dry and the poster has gone up announcing it's closure.... They tried the ticket office staff roaming the concourse with mobile equipment thing at some stations down here a few years ago with a proviso that they could return to the ticket office if needed, needless to say it lasted about a week... All the industrial action quite frankly is pointless now, they are just going to do it anyway.

Evidence for this claim????

This was this mornings entertainment at Barnham: Train Crew Depot door on the left there. Because it is directly over the Co-Op, the building had to be closed off until a structural engineer was dragged out of bed to give it the thumbs up.

Speaking of freelance interpretation.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145123424462 Decent effort to be fair but the difference between US and UK loading gauge would be an issue and I am pretty sure that the EMD GP40 began production long after the later emblem and move to green for diesels had occured.

If this obvious dealer paid twenty grand for that lot of scrap, I would be very surprised. More than likely he conned some deceased estate's inheritors out of the lot for a couple of hundred quid and then proceeded to gild the lilly assuming he would make a fortune. Unfortunately it is a job lot of Graham Farish OO, pretty much worthless!!!

Two hundred and fifty sheets with the postage for this pile of landfill?!? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265372181168

There is also the carriage shop at the Bluebell Railway (Horsted Keynes?) in an old Mk1 on the platform. Usually has a good selection of classic second hand items and reasonable prices plus an amazing selection of books, magazines, etc. You will need at least half an hour just to go through all the old books!!

Of course the big question is, will a 701 carry a fare paying passenger before the end of the year (whichever year that may be!)?