Andy Kirkham

Well that's left me a bit flummoxed. I might have to reconsider the chronology of a number of my pictures.

But give me still, to stir imagination The chiaroscuro of the railway station, W.H.Auden - Letter to Lord Byron

Thanks Neil. I can get a bit hazy with dates when they're not Kodachrome and so don't have a date stamp. If it's not 1976 then I think it must be 1975. Is that compatible with the state of the loco?

As seen here: BT16. A Class 33 propels its Portsmouth-Cardiff train through Stapleton Road, 1976 by Andy Kirkham, on Flickr although in this case the loco is propelling from Bristol to Cardiff

Looks promising. I'd really like to go. The last time I visited Blaenavon was in 1976, when I was rather firmly asked to leave the NCB premises.

Thank you Martin. A little gem that I had never heard of.

That looks delightful. Can you tell us where it is?

It seems to be almost a rule that that the nobility of England have a country seat that is nearly as far away as possible from the place named in their title, e.g. Duke of Devonshire - Chatsworth, Derbyshire Earl of Pembroke - Wilton, Wiltshire Marquis of Salisbury - Hatfield, Hertfordshire Earl of Egremont - Petworth, Sussex etc. (Unlike Scotland, where the Duke of Hamilton actually lived at Hamilton and the Duke of Atholl lives at Blair Atholl)

Nigel was still showing the Campelltown layout when I lived in Glasgow (I moved away six years ago). I saw it at local exhibitions at Cathcart and Hyndland. He was very friendly and I recall him reminiscing about his early days as an apprentice at NBL testing newly built B1s.

I've just been reading the new book Somerset & Dorset Swansong by Bob Bunyar. What I found the most interesting - not to say astonishing - is his recollection from February 1967 of 34057 Biggin Hill replacing a failed Hymek at Salisbury on a Portsmouth-Cardiff service and taking it all the way to Temple Meads.

My back garden abuts the platform of Redland station. However, thinking about it, the morning train probably won't be that noisy; it will be empty and rolling downhill through Redland

True, but I'm used to the sound of the DMUs; I'm wondering if the sound of the freights will be more intrusive.

Thank you so much. I think it shows up very well after all these years. I always liked the way those 1930s houses wound up the hill. I'm not old enough to have read this when it first came out, by the way, I think I picked up a copy second-hand.

I'm so glad someone else remembers this. It's many years since I saw the article but I seem to remember that although it mainly utilised R-T-R stock and kit buildings, there was a true-to-life feel about it that I seldom saw equalled. Unlike Frank Dyer's Borchester (as far as I am aware), this one was meant to represent Archers-Land, as it incorporated a branch to Ambridge

I see in Real Time Trains that the Severnside refuse trains are scheduled from April 11 to start running via Clifton Down. The first scheduled freight on the line for several decades, I should think. I wonder how I'll feel about them rumbling past my house at half past five in the morning.

Nothing wrong with that at all

I wasn't being tongue-in-cheek. To me, one of the chief pleasures of visiting a heritage railway is to sit on a station bench and contemplate the scene before me, imagining that I have been miraculously transported back to 1959, 1935 or 1910. Anything that doesn't fit the place or the era diminishes the illusion and my pleasure. I find the sight of a class 8 pacific on a branch line every bit as jarring as an austerity tank on a train of Mk 1s. If I had my way, preserved ex-GWR branch lines would be operated exclusively by panniers, prairies, auto-tanks and 2251's , plus any standards and LMS types (e.g. Ivatt 2-6-2s) that might be plausible, and perhaps a Hymek and (when it has been recreated) a D63XX. I well recognise that this isn't practical, and I don't boycott railways that have a flexible motive power policy - but subjectively speaking the experience falls short of my ideal.

Must go out to have a look.

Your suspicions about the double arrow are correct. This particular variant, with the single double arrow below the nameplate (instead of on the cab sides) was the final one, not introduced until January 1969. [edit] I just noticed I wrote "single double arrow", but I'm sure everyone here will know what I meant.

I think that was usual, if not universal.

I had an enjoyable day out to the SVR on New Year's Eve, and while looking round the displays at the Engine House was reminded of a seemingly obscure phase in the line's history - when the southern end of the railway remained open to serve Arley colliery until 1969. Are there any photos of this era? I'd be interested to see shots of, for instance a blue Class 25 with coal wagons crossing Victoria Bridge or rumbling through Bewdley station.

A couple on the Settle & Carlisle, Easter 1975 Distant freight train south of Horton-in-Ribblesdale, March 1975 by Andy Kirkham, on Flickr Class 50 beneath Pen-y-Ghent, March 1975 by Andy Kirkham, on Flickr

Do show us the others

A couple of weeks ago I was admiring a friend's model railway when I noticed he had a model of D864 Zambesi in its unique livery with brown-painted skirts. As shown here https://flic.kr/p/aBysaH I'd been aware that one of the Warships carried this style, but I couldn't have said which one it was. Then I thought Hey! I took a picture of D864 in 1970, and I went home to check it out. D864 Zambesi at Bath Road, 1970 by Andy Kirkham, on Flickr All these years I have supposed that the colour of the skirts in this picture is blue (albeit obscured by dust), so I concluded that the loco must have had at least a partial repaint late in its career to normalise its livery. However this afternoon in a bookshop I had a surrepticious browse through The Book of The Warships and checked out the page for D864. It states there that Zambesi carried its unique livery until withdrawal. I've had another close look at my picture and to me those skirts still look more like blue than anything else. What does the team think?

I remember from my spotting days at Temple Meads in the 1970s, seeing reference to the "Observer Traffic" - chalked on vans etc. Presumably the colour supplement of the Sunday paper which seems to have been distributed during the week prior to the publication date. I can't remember whether it was the SPV vans that were used for this traffic.