John M Upton
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Everything posted by John M Upton
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Through cunning and sneakyness, the horror that is the works Christmas doo has been sucessfully evaded for another year!!
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There is a music video from the 1980's that must contain the only known footage both interior and exterior of the experimental Class 210 DEMU in service. -
The Cassandra Crossing is just pure end to end unintentional comedy. Always bemused how the pantograph fitted red kitchen car manages to change direction between shots and then in order to save the 'A' list cast still alive, at the very end several carriages of unlisted extras suddenly turn up at the front of the train in order to be sent to their grisly deaths. Where as there were just three or four cars after the kitchen car where they seperated the train, all of a sudden there was something like nine or ten of the things!!! Also recall a bizzare WWII movie, fairly recent where the French Resistance proceed at night to sabotage the track in the days prior to the D-Day Landings in nothern France, thus stopping the passage of the German troop and supplies train headed by BR Class 9F with full BR tender crests and smokebox numberplate!!!
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Numerous episodes of Spooks feature shots of South Eastern and Southern services on the lines to the south of London Bridge (the production company's offices are adjacent to the line so presumably they just pointed a camera out of the window whenever they needed a rail view) indeed a couple of times we have notifications to train crew of the potential distraction risk of film companies making large explosions near the line which was usually them!! The former Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross also regularly crop up in Spooks and other productions having replaced Aldwych as the Underground filming location of choice. The Bourne Supremacy featured an entire sequence filmed in and around Waterloo Station which was filmed with the station open, all be it the end part with Waterloo Underground was again the platforms at Charing Cross.
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Lots of nice late 1970's railway stuff around London turns up in the likes of The Sweeney and also The Professionals. The former has the classic episode 'Stoppo Driver' where the opening scene with Ford Consul chasing blaggers in Mk II Jag seems to feature a lot of Clapham Junction including the old suspended signalbox. The Professionals has one episode where our two heroes, minus their Capris or Escort RS2000 are holed up in a safe house which is in fact a SR PMV converted into a mess van, the subsequent fire fight with the bad guys showing a very nice collection of mostly ex SR Departmental stock with some of the interior and close up shots of some of the lettering looking particularly useful for modelling reference purposes.
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Sick to death of having the so called festive season forced down his throat...
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CONVERTED-Hornby-MKIII-COACHES-FORM-NON-POWERED-DMU-EMU-UNIT-/160691631070?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item2569f7b3de Okay.... Starting at 99p which is more than its worth but you just know this one is going to get silly!!! :jester:
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Binmen have just turned up, right day and right time so no sign of any strikes around here!
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There aren't many Mk 1 Cortina's left that is for certain although it looks as though the DVLA computer as one more on it than actually still exists!! You could in theory I suppose purchase this 'car' and use it on a barn find Cortina that has lost its I.D. but something still strikes me as definitely not quite right here.
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Not model railways but can someone please explain to me this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1964-FORD-CORTINA-1500-DEUXE-V5-C-LOG-BOOK-AND-PLATES-SALE-/120819929087?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c216dcfff From what I can work out he is selling the registration log book V5, title and number plates for a car that is still registered with the DVLA yet it has been scrapped? Got to be something dodgy about this. How can you sell a car that doesn't exist????
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A "rare" monstrocity that I do hope is in fact unique!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Hornby-R2519-Weathered-Class-59-59005-Foster-Yeoman-Kenneth-J-Painter-Boxed-/380389054675?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item5890f458d3 That has to be one of the worst and most inappropriate weathering jobs I have seen in years. Even Hornby's infamous weathered Transrail 37 was marginally better than this!!
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The Royal Mail couldn't find a delivery in a Maternity Ward!!!
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Of course there is another possibility. Hornby may say 'stuff it' and shove the VEP moulds on the back shelf of the warehouse for a few years and forget about them. They did it with the Class 466 Networker, produced one batch that had some serious design issues and then did not return to it for some years and even then only with a few models (one of them a Modelzone job) and with a distinct lack of enthusiasm... We will know more on the 25th of December I reckon. If Hornby announce further variants of the VEP then they still have faith in the model, if no more announced then I would not expect to see them back for quite some time if at all.
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The 350/1's were fitted with shoebeams from the start and two units were even tested over SWT metals to get this facility certified. Later a small number of London Midland liveried examples worked for Southern on the Milton Keynes - East Croydon services during one of the DfT's great FCC Unit Farce Swap Cock Up's. The 350/2's I am led to believe do not have shoebeams.
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Certainly looks the part, can see this rather plain one getting discounted though sometime next year whereupon I would be seriously tempted to pick a couple up for repainting in a couple of what if liveries!! Also will do a SWT 450 if Bachmann don't announce one in the New Year (and I would be very suprised if they don't)
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400DCD was at one time shoved on a rather forlorn looking Vauxhall Astra Diesel estate that was the Chichester area bus controllers motor, then common sense saw it put back on a bus, all be it a National 2 which in turn lost its rather fun RUF number!! Southdown seemed to have fun with the Brighton LVO as they had fleets of DUF's CUF's PUF's, MUF's, RUF's and on some of the last Nationals ever built (and appropriate for the Sussex Coast) OAP's!! There was a bus company somewhere that farmed registration numbers on a driver trainer bus. It had its pre suffix year letter number taken off and received a 1962 'A' registration and they then proceeded to transfer the number off repeatedly onto various coaches unitl I think eventually the DVLA told them to pack it in!! If restoring an old vintage vehicle which has been off the road for a very long time, I believe the DVLA has a procedure which you can follow to regain its original number providing there is sufficient proof of original identity and it has not been reissued since.
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A bakers in Brighton had BUN5 on their van for many years and I have sometimes seen here abouts KGB1 which I was told (probably untrue) did belong to a Russian!! Also had the pleasure of having RR1 parked outside my house once about twenty years ago, a brand new Rolls Royce that was being photographed in a suitably rural location for their new brochure!!
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This fellow is a very regular visitor to the communal gardens of my block of flats: Some of the smaller birds have been a bit noticeable in the last few weeks by their abscence but I expect will soon be back, out in the nearby fields however visible from the railway line there has been a noticeable increases in very big birds in the area, kestrels, possibly buzzards, very big and brown anyway.
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Just seen the Marks & Spencer sickly and twee Christmas TV advert - Pass me a bucket as I want to throw up!!
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Sleepwalking more like judging by the spelling clanger!!!
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Just took a punt at a Rails of Sheffield Ltd Edn Bachmann 47145 and was astounded to get it earlier today for seventy one notes plus postage!! First real proper bargain I have had for a long time!!
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Reports are that someone has been going around the ModelZone branches and buying up multiples of this model, most branches seems to have been cleaned out with a day of them being delivered and they did not have that many left after pre-orders to start with.
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Taking another look they appear suspiciously like the Class 57 ones fittied to the first production run with the gauge on the far right hand end although at least not picked out in white this time!!
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Some retailers have been using the Bachmann catalogue images of the previous versions of the models with the new numbers superimposed upon them so a little care is required. Having said that I just cannot believe Bachmann have produced yet another banger blue 47 with the three part fixed roof grilles again!! There are still lots of unsold ones of the previous version floating around as many BR bluers want the later Serck version as it was far more common of course.
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An interesting end to the day. My train, my passengers and I were at Three Bridges, our driver was at Victoria. Whoops...
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