BR(W)

Bit like a Cornish summer, then . And thanks for all your tips and comments about Dapol's finest, they are appreciated. Cheers, BR(W).

Fresh brew? Hobnob? Luxury! No. For me, true authenticity can only be achieved perched, one sock up, one sock down, on the gunwale of a platform trolley, with slightly stewed tea in a Thermos (proper one - cream with red lining, cork stopper and a bit of greaseproof paper that all mums seemed to use to help the seal), and Fray Bentos corned beef and Branston Pickle sandwiches swaddled in yet more greaseproof. Crikey! What's that over there - can anyone see the number?... Cheers, BR(W).

Hello, Froxfield2012. I think you may have missed the qualifier in Stationmaster's reply: "...assistance where a falling gradient or level track is involved...". I think your photo shows an upgrade. Also, I believe other qualifiers may involve the train's passenger carrying status and its operating speed; the train in your photo is an empty stock one not timed at class A speeds. And, of course, there could always be special, local permissions - particularly in areas of high traffic density. Don't forget, the Great Western always entrusted its operating personnel on the ground a high degree of autonomy in order to keep the traffic flowing; this was also true on the Western Region of BR to a lesser extent, I believe. Cheers, BR(W).

Uprated MAN/Mirrlees units with new 'Swiger' (a Wabtec company) main alternator and traction motors? Cheers, BR(W).

Hello, Clive, and with apologies to GN. The track falls at 1 in 100 until about 50 yards into the tunnel where it ducks under the Regent's Canal. It then climbs at about 1 in 100 for well over a mile. Incidentally, one of the passengers killed that Sunday in February 1945 was Cecil Kimber who had been the Managing Director of MG cars from just after their 1929 move to Abingdon until 1941. Cheers, BR(W).

Didn't an A4 once slip to a standstill in Gasworks Tunnel, with the train then dragging the struggling, and increasingly desperate, engine and crew back into the station, building speed all the time until it smashed into the platforms with tragic consequences? And don't get me going on the Bulleid light pacifics - in fact, anything Bulleid. The TRPS trip of September 1963 springs to mind when 34064 slipped to a standstill approaching Shrewsbury and had to be rescued by (appropriately) a Mickey Mouse tank, station pilot 41209. The same engine then slipped to another standstill on the return journey near Wellington, taking over twenty minutes to get going again. Bulleid should really have stuck to designing patent clothes-hangers (Bulleid-Newsome) in my opinion. Cheers, BR(W).

Special 'all burnt out' edition? BR(W).

Hello, GN, all. You won't forget to provide roller-bearing-fitted brake vans to go with the 'Blue Spots', will you. Something I'd have probably overlooked. What's more, these may well have been dedicated to this prestigious, long distance flow (perhaps with a special inspection and maintenance regime), so I wonder if they were branded accordingly? After all, there's no point in having improved the reliability of the revenue vehicles only to have the brake vans' axleboxes bursting into flames! I've read an article about the Aberdeen-KX 'Blue Spot' workings (dep. just after midday, Deeside, arr. in the small hours, KX with a relief if required) which mentions that in the early 60s, vans (typically two, I recall) were marshalled behind the brake van for dropping off at 'Mac Fisheries' at Finsbury Park. Was this also the case in 1958, and, as pathing was tight, would the empties simply have been tacked on to the northbound service in a similar fashion? There was, I believe, an engine and/or crew change at Grantham (and at Doncaster, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Dundee, I think). Other Aberdeen fish traffic was shown as being containerised in 1963 - seemingly standard, 'BD' types on Conflats which may have usurped the traditional, dedicated wagons. I hope some of this has been at least interesting, if not useful. Cheers, BR(W).

With your moniker, surely you mean the NER C1? Shades of Benjamin Button. Checkmate. Cheers, BR(W).

And then there's old sump oil which seemed quite popular in the 60s, but as fewer people do their own car servicing these days, plus the increased mileage between oil changes (remember 5,000 miles, or even 3,000?), its availability for use as a wood preservative has declined: gone are the days of draining the hot oil into a container and then slapping it on your timber garage, it seems! Cheers, BR(W).

Hello, Steve, Stationmaster, everyone. There was a co-acting distant near King's Sutton on the down line with a sighting board for the lower arm; in the days of red distants, the upper arm was 5' and the lower one 4'. A later incarnation, with yellow arms of equal length, features in a superb 1961 image of the up CCE on the cover (and inside, of course) of Bradford Barton's "Great Western Steam in Action 4". The lower arm assembly appears to be the repainted original, but the upper is a 1930s-style enamel arm and spectacle plate. Now there seems to be a single operating rod run, but how the drive and articulation is arranged behind the lower arm is not at all clear, I'm afraid. But there may be a turnbuckle in the run above the lower arm suggesting that the upper arm's position could be adjusted once that of the lower arm had been set. Does that make sense, I wonder? Cheers, BR(W).

Real. Same with the Brits: although the problem was really the wheels turning on the axles leading to bent coupling rods (which is one of the reasons why later Brits had stronger, rectangular-section rods, not fluted). All to do with the hollow axles 'collapsing' slightly when the wheels were pressed on. Once the wall gauge of the axles was increased by boring out less material from the axle, and the machining and fitting tolerances sorted (especially for roller-bearing machines), the problem was solved. But it should never have happened in the first place. Along with other Brit design features such as regulators sticking open, tenders parting company with locomotives, broken piston heads (water carry-over from the steam intake), frame cracks around the hornguides, leaking 'cannon' axleboxes, draughty, dusty cabs, 'gutless' performance (for a modern class 7), etc., etc... Cheers, BR(W).

But surely that would deplete the ranks of competent operators even further? Mmm. Hang on a mo... OK, lads - form a queue. Cheers, BR(W).

About the 21st. January 1960 service hauled by 70052, I posted this on 1st. Feb. You may be interested: "It might be inappropriate to model this exact, doomed service as I believe that it may have been the cause of the last major, fatal accident on the S&C. It was the 21.05 ex Glasgow and, sensing something amiss, the driver stopped at Garsdale in the early hours of the 22nd. to examine his locomotive. He somehow failed to notice that major components of the right-hand slidebar assembly were missing and decided to continue on to St. Pancras. At Settle, the right-hand connecting rod, having been unrestrained by slidebars for some time, finally broke free from the piston rod and its little-end flailed the 'six foot' and adjacent down line on which a goods train was approaching. This down train was derailed and ploughed into the sleeper service killing five passengers." Depressing stuff. Cheers, BR(W).

Yet.

Hello, Jason, everyone. I reckon that, given 'all mod cons', there would be four connections to worry about: On the first floor would be the WC pan to the large diameter, vertical soil stack which vents a minimum distance above the eaves (say three feet or so). This would generally be a short, downward-angled connection of the same diameter pipe as the soil stack; The second, still on the first floor, would be the 1.5 inch outlet from the wash-hand basin, discharging into the hopper head; The third would be a similar connection from the kitchen sink on the ground floor; The fourth, in a household where tin baths are but a memory (unless for the purposes of forcing rhubarb, cleaning motorcycle parts, etc.), would be a 1.75 inch outlet from the bath, most probably on the first floor and discharging into the same hopper head as the wash-hand basin. And that, apart from rainwater goods (with a possible take-off to a barrel to water the aforementioned rhubarb), and assuming the household draws the line at a bidet, is it, I think! But your modelling is so convincing, that the above doesn't really seem to matter. Cheers, BR(W).

You need the left one topping up... Cheers, BR(W).

Steve, This thread exhibits some superb craftsmanship, and a wonderful insight into the real thing. I know that you've boned up about GWR signals, but may I just mention what I consider to be the 'signature' feature of GWR lower quadrants, that their maximum design drop was 60 degrees from horizontal, not the more common, paltry 45 degrees on lesser railways. To me, at least, this always appeared to imbue GW signals a deep sense of deference and respect for passing trains and seemed to be a metaphor for the sense of duty, care and courtesy which permeated 'The Firm'. Fanciful? Me? Cheers, BR(W).

'Struth, he's on a roll now. Keep it up, lad! Just a nudge towards the indigenous classes... and, job done! Cheers, BR(W).

...and lowered ejector. Incidentally, 70024 had the LM-type hand-holes in the deflectors, not the WR-type. But your knowledge of a steamer is seriously impressive. Weakening? Cheers, BR(W).

I think the gods may be trying to give you a nudge: "Vulcan", a Tayleur 2-2-2 ordered by IKB, was the first steam loco to run on the GWR when it underwent testing on 28 December 1837 at West Drayton. Now who would argue with the gods - or IKB for that matter. Steam - you know you really want to... Cheers, BR(W).

Copped the Whizzo and cropped the duff? Great snaps (shame about the modern 'street furniture', though!). Cheers, BR(W).

In much the same way that Clive Sinclair thought 'outside the box' to amaze and beguile us with the C5. (Runs for cover). Incidentally, the 28xx, 29xx, 40xx, 49xx and 68xx all have the same boiler, of course: the Standard No. 1. Now that's design engineering at its most innovative, simplest and best - and all those years ago! Cheers, BR(W).