Swindon 123

Working the Albion tanks to and from Hereford, was always a favourite job of mine. I took a few photos whilst working on those turns, which has now been put into an album on Flickr, and can be found here. https://flic.kr/s/aHskzAGSEu In my day the loaded trains, bogie or 4 wheel tanks, were 60MPH, but empty 4 wheel tanks were restricted to 45 MPH, which used to annoy us if it was the empties back from Albion, as you ran class 7 instead of 6, so signalmen were less likely to run you in front of passengers when the margins where tight. Paul J.

Looking through Paul Bartletts photos, it appears they appeared in 1966 as air braked vac piped to Dia PC006A & B, later PC006E. See the photo in the link, (plus others). https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/apcmdepressedpcb They definately ran with the Cemflo's in small numbers, and are easily identified as they tower above the Cemflos. There is a nice shot somewhere in Dave F's thread of a train of cemflos with 3 PCB's in the middle of the train. To save you the trouble of of looking through the thread, they also appear on his Flickr site and can be found at this link. https://flic.kr/p/QheK1V Additional. Dave F has just added the photo onto his thread, and the photo can now be found here on RM-web. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-14th-september/?p=3299853 So in answer to your question, they could be found running at the end of steam. One thing to watch out is I think on these wagons the tank barrel diameter was slightly smaller than the later builds, but whether it is enough to notice on a model, I can't say. Paul J. Edited to add link to DaveF's thread.

This is what my EM conversion work looks like on the Barclay, with shots taken of the underside of the chassis, and a converted wheelset sitting on a length of C&L EM track. The wheels do end up being pretty much the same thickness as the prototype. Not much to play with. you can't afford to have any track wide to gauge. Paul J.

Yes corneliuslundie, the getaway is always a nightmare. Hornsey Broadway, and before that Wibdenshaw, was usually ready to be loaded in the van around 40-50 minutes after the end of a show. The biggest problem was usually getting the van into a position to be able to load it. We are usually on the road about an hour after show close, but we have managed to do it in unser an hour. a good regular team of minions is always an asset. Paul J.

The biggest time saving is not so much on setting up, but on the packing away. Set up still requires the 4ft sections of trains to be coupled up and in a lot of cases, a loco coupled onto a train, and checked to see there are no obvious derailments. This can take a good hour to achieve, but takes only one person to do, and can start almost as soon as the boards are erected, whilst the rest of the layout is being put up by the rest of the crew. Once the trains are all coupled up, they are given one run around the circuit, once the electrics are available, to make sure they are on the track, and the rest of the layout works. It is very rare for stock to derail after that first run. The real time saving is at the end of the show, as trains can be stored as soon as they have finished their last run. Usually one road on each circuit has a single long train running on it, which is the last to stop running. The storing trains part is usually done in the last half hour of a show, and can continue during the initial breakdown of the layout. When you consider there are 16 roads all 16ft long in the storage yard, that gives you a potential capacity of 768 wagons or 256 coaches, or a mix of the two, and that capacity is not enough when it comes to exhibition running, It would take a hell of a long time to take that amount of stock, out of stock boxes and put it all back at the start and end of an exhibition, not to mention the number of stock boxes required, and the extra space required for transporting them. Having taken layouts to exhibitions for 40 years now, it is by far the best method of taking large amounts of stock away, I have come across. But not everyone will have the space to do the same. Paul J.

After a bit of head scratching and some help from Mr Wibble, I have got my Hattons Andrew Barclay EM'ed. See photo below of it on its final test runs on Hornsey Broadway. It has lost its "Little Barford" name, and I modified the front wasp stripes by painting them out on the smokebox, so they are only on the tank front. it is now awaiting works and Nameplates from Narrow Planet, and will go into the weathering phase. More on how it was EM'ed can be found on the "EM70's" website at this link. http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb147.html Paul J.

I had forgotten about 03370 and 03371 in my original post, which also had black buffer beams with conical exhausts in later years although 03371 was fitted with air brakes by then, so not exactly like the Heljan model.. See links below. https://flic.kr/p/9JSkCM https://flic.kr/p/qA7DLm Paul J.

It was nothing that cropped up during my years working boilers, but like a lot of loco auxiliaries, it was likely to be powered by the auxiliary generator circuits, so no prime mover, no boiler. Except for a few exceptions, the batteries usually provided electric power to the lights and the start circuits/generator on start up. Some 47's they also ran the compressors to build up air before they could be started, 37's the lub oil priming pump ran, things like that. The only loco I worked on you could work anything else off the batteries, was a 33 which still ran the exhausters when the engine was shut down and the reverser in direction. Most loco auxiliaries didn't run until the auxiliary generator was producung the right power output. I do know that you had to shut the boiler down on a deltic, if running on one engine and the driver wanted to start the 2nd engine. Paul J.

Yes indeed rob D2. Blowers green will be there. some photos below of visits to Exeter and Burnham exhibitions. Paul J.

The conical or flower pot chimney on the 03's is pretty straight forward. Loco’s D2000 to D2032 (03004-03029) fitted with a conical exhaust. This batch also included Departmentals 91 & 92 later D2370 & D2371 and even later still 03370 & 03371. From D2033 onwards “Flower Pot” exhausts where fitted. A couple of these later loco’s acquired conical exhausts. (D)2162 acquired a dumpy shorter version which it kept as 03162 into preservation and 03129 acquired one in December 1979 at a Doncaster Works overhaul which it retained until scrapping. D2070 was also noted with a conical exhaust in industrial use at Queenborough. Paul J. Edited to add note on 03370 & 03371 into text.

I have just found the notes I made on my MP12 course, regarding assisted loads for diesel locos. They make interesting reading. These notes were made back in 1984, when we were still training on making your own train lists, without the aid of TOPS. The rules regarding company block load trains were slightly different, and with the introduction of the class 59, 60 and 66, some of the requirements were amended. With regards to doudle heading, and triple heading with 03's on the BPGV, it was all down to the HP required to get the train up there. Multi working on 03's had already been proven on the ER when it was mooted, and cutting down an 03 was easier than an 08, plus BR had lots of them around with not a lot to do. The one thing I was told to remember with unfitted trains, is that it was always at the drivers discretion to pin down brakes if he was doubtful about descending a train down an incline. Most didn't as it took time to pin them down and take them back up again, hence the occasional mistakes. Paul J.

Not true. With a class 66 the stopping force is in the train, as the loco brakes are not very good. We used to work the Dee Marsh steel trains with a mix of traction. sometimes a pair of heavyweight 37's or 56's would substitute for a single 60, simple because the load for a single 60, or later 66, was far in excess of a single 37/7 or 56, so two would be required. Even then the load would be kept the same as a 60, although in theory a pair of 56's could haul more, to keep withing the max weight limit of the train. A train would always be dictated by the stopping force available, be it an unfitted, partially fitted or fully fitted train. The first thing I would check on the drivers slip was the brake force. If i had a brake force of at least one third the train weight, I was confident I could stop it at any speed. in the case of the Burngollow tanks, when they ran empty, the brake force was almost the same as the train weight. They used to be dangerous trains to work, as put too much brake on, and they'd put you through the drivers window. With unfitted and partially fitted trains, an extra loco on the front would give you the luxury of more brake force, but then the powers that be might up the load of the train, so you where back in the same position as if you had a single loco. Paul J.

Buffer beam colour is always a difficult choice, as they could change over the years.. ie. 03017 with a black buffer beam, https://flic.kr/p/gtVXxQ or with a yellow buffer beam, https://flic.kr/p/yHdqRF 03022 was another one that couldn't decide on the colour. https://flic.kr/p/pFEruW with black BB. https://flic.kr/p/iiK3r2 with yellow BB. I must admit a Black buffer beam colour is a strange choice, as it is not as easy to paint a yellow buffer beam over black, as it is to paint black over yellow. Paul J.

Not quite as you requested, but a mixed 104-101 4 car set, with livery differences to boot. https://flic.kr/p/diXJUW Paul J.

Another example of a 4 car class 110. (well at least the power car this end is a 110). https://flic.kr/p/dmtHs6 Paul J.

With regards to photo 8, could it be Trent Junction. I know it used to be a very complicated set up, with a train just about ably to reach any direction, regardless of where it arrived from. Possibly a Derby to Derby test run. See this link, http://www.trentstation.com/ and look for the picture, middle left in the block of 6, the Class 25 on the North curve. If you look carefully there is a signal just visible above the 25. I think Photo 8 is a DMU stood at that signal. Paul J. I've edited this a couple of times as the link doesn't always work. You might get an error 404 come up, but clicking the "Otherwise, click here to be redirected to the homepage." does take you to the right page.

The wheel diameters quoted in my original post are the new as built size. As with all rail vehicles, tyre wear will play a big part in the actual size of the wheel at any one time, dependent on the amount of running done, and the number of tight curves the vehicle has to run through during its career. It quite often shows up in photos of trains in the differing ride heights, and therefore positions of a vehicles buffers relative to its neighbour. Whether a loco or vehicle is running on scrap size wheels later on in its career is dependent on a number of things, and although in later years locos would be withdrawn with scrap size tyres, this was not always the case, and some locos where withdrawn just because they were non standard, or had an engine defect, when the wheelsets were still good. Paul J.

Another interesting set of photos David, interesting more for their general railway detail content than any particular loco. Thank you for sharing. On the subject of particular locos, according to the 'Derby Sulzer' website, always worth having a look at when it comes to all things 24&5, the number position and arrow size on 25310, indicates a probably repaint at Crewe Works, which that particular loco visited in sept 1974. Link to 25310 loco history on Derby Sulzer here. https://www.derbysulzers.com/25310.html Paul J.

I bought a pack of thin multi-coloured tissue paper to make curtains out of. The orange colour seemed just right. Here are some examples. Some 101's on Wibdenshow, many years ago. A class 103 on Wibdenshaw, although I'm not happy with the look of the curtains. Paul J.

A slight bit of artistic license with the sequence there. Nice shot of a Brush 2 (31) Trip Cock isolating handle in the first bit. By the time I was going on there the sand towers, on the approach to the fuel points, where no longer in use. First port of call on arrival was the fueling point, where the incoming crew left the loco. Subsequent moves around the shed where by the Shed Movements Driver and D/A. If needing attention for repairs or exam, loco went into one of the shed roads, usually 5 or 6, unless the work was major. When ready loco would then be moved out to one of the outside roads, 7-11, unless a crew arrived to take it off shed. otherwise locos would depart from the outside road it was stabled on. The diagram below should help. Looking from the fueling poit towards the shed at Finsbury Park. Paul J.

To get on and off Finsbury Park depot required at least one reversal, and access from the north required two reversals. Movements off the depot required a reversal, unless departing north. If you look at my diagram below, all access on and off the depot was signalled by a Ground Position Light at red X in the top right corner. Paul J

D2294 may well have had a repaint at Queenborough, as it had red buffer beams there, but yellow buffer beams in blue with BR. D2294 in Blue with serif numbers, here. https://flic.kr/p/rs1CS4 Also see this link, (if it works properly?) which is a photo of D2289, D2294 & D2293 all in blue. https://picclick.co.uk/British-Rail-1960s-1970s-35mm-Colour-Slide-D2294-132702102402.html There was also a good colour photo of D2294 in the August 2004 edition of Model Rail. Paul J.

I will have to update the list, as I forgot to include D2294, for I have now come across photos of it in blue. Paul J.

There where two ways shown on diagrams for a driver to leave a loco, 3 I suppose if you include being relieved by another driver, although in most respects it was a paper exercise for the diagramming department, as most locos where left the same way irrispective of what the diagram said. You could be diagrammed to dispose of a loco (shown DISP on a diagram) or immobilise a loco (shown IMMO on a diagram). The difference between the two was the way you shut the loco down and the time it took. A loco that had been DISP, would have to be prepared (shown PREP on a diagram), which also took longer, whereas a loco IMMO was a lot quicker, and a driver would only have to mobilise it (shown MOB on a diagram). IMMO and MOB where generally used when a loco was only left for a short time. It was often found on diagrams involving HST's or if the loco was coupled to a train but not always.. Most diagrams had DISP when leaving a loco on a depot/stabling point. Nearly all the times you took a loco of a depot/SP, you where booked to PREP it. I have shown some of the diagrams we used to have a Kings Cross in the early 1980s, which show all 4 types of disposal/preperation variations in use. Instead or PREP, I have shown it as PL on my handwritten diagrams. Paul J.

Taw Valley at Bridgenorth, SVR, last thursday, 16-08-18. Paul J.