5944

Bit late and possibly a bit too far away, but the East Lancs keep the brake coach at the north end of the stock available for non-Santa passengers in December. Usually behind the steam loco, with a diesel on the rear to haul the train back from Rawtenstall.

That seems an odd stance for them to take. Pay £100-150 for insurance for the show, or run the risk of a dozen operators each charging £50 extra in expenses. I'd certainly think twice about taking a layout there. It's not just the show itself, what about during unloading or loading the van/car? Lots of handy, easily carried boxes full of expensive stock, and no control over who can access the area - see @Phil Parker's comment about getting stock stolen from the van.

A few years ago one was used on a diagram around Erfurt. I thought a trip behind it would be pleasant. I photted the inbound working, went to Erfurt station and saw it sitting in the bay with the stock awaiting departure, went downstairs to buy a ticket, and by the time I'd got back to the platform it had gone and a DMU was in its place! 😡

Indeed, hence why three of them were in the North of the country. Though a pair were built in Sardinia which does see snow in the winter, but not to the extent of Tyrol. No idea why turntables weren't used, they were elsewhere on the island.

Exhibit one - 27007 at the Mid Hants. Yes, it's a product of the Birmingham Rust and Corrosion Works, but there was absolutely no need to dismantle the loco to that extent. https://flic.kr/p/23FcWoz

Yet the BRB is free for holders of Bernese Oberland Passes! I bought a four day pass a few years ago and made about half a dozen trips to the top in that time. I think the pass was about CHF250 at the time, and the tickets were CHF80, so I basically travelled for free after the first day!

SABLE - stash acquired beyond life expectancy!

387208 is being overhauled at Hornsey at the moment and will be the last to head back. 387201 will be remaining with GN though to supplement the 387/3s when they enter service.

That's all I can really find as well, there's very little info in the usual places. There's a photo charter on the Monday with 23 058, but I can't find any other mentions of locos, timetables, etc. anywhere!

It's the wife's birthday next weekend. Unfortunately Rails have recently been putting a load of continental stuff up for sale, including a rake of three four-wheeled Italian coaches that I've been after for a good few years. Either I've not had the funds to buy them when they've appeared on eBay, they've been overpriced, or the seller hasn't been willing to post to the UK. Luckily, after a bit of toing and froing with offers, I've managed to get them. Long story short, will she be happy with an IOU for her birthday, or will this end up being one of my final postings on here?!

Sadly yes, depending what Flickr decide to do with legacy accounts. They were planning to restrict free users to 1000 photos and deleting any photos that exceeded that limit, but I think that has been scrubbed now.

I'm glad to see someone else has discovered Alessandro's excellent archive. Sadly he passed away a couple of years ago so no more updates. But there's so much stuff on there it takes ages to wade through it all.

It's a shame they didn't record a different haulier, then they'd be able to use the audio and visual of a Pacer running away and crashing through a set of level crossing gates...

60007's move from Crewe to Bridgnorth should feature next Wednesday, 25th August.

Rails' pricing can be very hit and miss. I've bought locos for £39 that would normally go for at least double that. One this evening I looked at was £109.50, minus the 15% brings it down to £93. The equivalent new is over £200, and it's not that much improved compared to the secondhand one Rails were offering. Some of their job lot stuff is keenly priced too, but you get an equal amount which is just a box of tat!

It kept me entertained for a few minutes earlier as well. I mean, £56 for a badly painted, partly dismantled, Hornby Dublo A4 (without tender), but at least the box is fair condition! You can get a decent model on eBay for £70.

Not eBay but... https://www.hattons.co.uk/868929/hornby_dublo_3211dublo_po13_class_a4_4_6_2_mallard_261_in_island_transport_livery_3_rail_pre_owned_noisy_/stockdetail Yikes!

£20 for a load of whitemetal N gauge loco kits. Just the one very bright photo on the listing that appeared to show a couple of 3D prints there as well. Turns out they were Asto-Cad C12 and K3 plus tender prints, about £50 plus postage and fees to buy from Shapeways. One of the whitemetal kits appears to parts of Graham Hughes J11. No tender but not too difficult to make one or just buy one from Shapeways. The rest of parts are Langley/PD Marsh kits - A3, B1, J94, L3. All in all, two complete bodies, two partly complete one, and a few other bits that can be melted down and used as ballast weights for the 3D prints!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354220032343?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=AM1z00iZR1G&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=dltlllrnrym&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Not so much madness, more "huh"? A double J72 Fairlie. Looks nearly done, but why?!

After a lineside fire near Sleights yesterday morning and the forecast 30 degree temperatures for the next few days, I wouldn't be surprised if the NYMR goes back to full diesel operation until Monday. At least KESR, GWSR, Epping and Ongar, Nene Valley, Watercress and SVR now all-diesel services until after the weekend, though the last three have steam operating within station limits. A bit of rain forecast in the southeast on Monday and Tuesday, though it remains to be seen how much.

There's been a lot of disruption the last couple of weeks after the derailment at Garmisch-Partenkirchen a two months ago. It would appear the sleepers have been identified as being defective and there's been a nationwide inspection of similar ones. https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/sleeper-inspections-lead-to-temporary-line-closures-in-germany/ Lots of lines closed, delays due to infrastructure up from 1.8% to 11.7% in June. Coupled with all the extra €9 passengers it's not a good time to be travelling over there.

That's a very impressive kit, and an absolute bargain for the amount of detail included. I stayed at Lochearnhead about 25 years ago when I was in the Scouts. It's amazing to think they've looked after it for 60 years in a couple of days, and that it only saw service for less than 50 years.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125441079412?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=D0W6n_e6SoG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=dltlllrnrym&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY 'Ow much?! The rest of his stuff is well over the top as well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125426722145?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=D0W6n_e6SoG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=dltlllrnrym&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY 10 Metcalfe kits for £150, or you can buy them separately from a shop for well under £100. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125422385068?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=D0W6n_e6SoG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=dltlllrnrym&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY 250 quid for half a dozen newish Farish Scenecraft building, plus a handful of 30 year old Farish plastic and stickers buildings. Ouch!

I had a ride behind the Dm3 in 2015. The Swedes weren't interested in haulage or chasing different locos, just there for a day out. Even so, it was amusing being in the front coach and every single voice was English!

Keep them coming please Corbs. I've only had the pleasure of visiting the country once, back in 2015 when the Swiss Krokodil visited as part of their 100th anniversary of electric traction. A lot of fun, and Gävle was a very impressive set up. I looked at going for the Kiruna iron ore festival earlier this month, but quickly gave up on that idea once I realised just how far north it is. Plus the missus would've killed me! A lovely country, I just wish I'd had been able to go for more than 3 nights. And I enjoyed the fact that in the supermarket in Stockholm Central station, bottles of beer were cheaper than bottles of Coke!