Rugd1022

Some more nostalgia... The launch of BMC's new baby the Mini at Cobham test track on 26th August 1959, a brand new Austin Seven Mini 850 is put through its paces by one of the eighty or so journalists in attendance that day... One of the brochure shots for the new Mk2 Austin and Morris Mini Coopers and Cooper Ss which were launched in September 1967... From 'Motor' magazine in 1969, an ad for a couple of customised Minis... A Speedwell Morris Mini Cooper in monotone dark blue, quite unusual at the time...

Photo by Kevin Daniel : 50 045 at Plymouth on 18th October 1980...

The HST shed was closer to the mainline as I recall Jim. Never noticed the third man in Kevin's photo...!

I posted that particular photo in the Old Oak group and the names came back for the fitters, Hezron Peters in the cab doorway and Paddy Gaghan on the ground 😉. I still can't believe that so much of 'my' Old Oak has just vanished, it really was a magical place to work with some great characters, and lots of happy memories for me.

I took this shot of 47 143 at Old Oak on a rather gloomy 26th January 1983, no idea how much longer it lasted with the dominoes though... I have another photo taken that day showing four 47s round the table and one of them still has the dominoes as well, I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks Kevin - I spent quite a while enjoying your flickr pages the other day, so many of your photos brought back some very happy memories for me. I've posted a few on the Old Oak facebook page too (with credit to you of course) and they've been very well received by the mostly now retired train crews.

All of which makes me mighty glad I took lots of photos of the station when I was road learning Brum to Didcot back in 2007, managing to get photos of the canopies and other infrastructure with very few trains in the way. It's more like an airport now, never mind a railway station! The icing on the cake that day was the sudden appearance of 47 840 (nay D1661 / 47 077) 'North Star' moving light engine through platform 9 just seconds after I'd stepped off the Voyager from Brum, a nice little echo of the past before it was all swept away. I had planned to only go as far as Didcot but carried on to Reading for a shuftie and a pasty.

50 030 on the blocks at Padd in 1983...

Photo by Keith Wilde : 50 020 heads for Old Oak with a rake of empty stock while D1027 'Western Lancer' is about to overtake it on the down main, 18th October 1975...

Photo by Mike Mather : D3 'Skiddaw' trundles through Kegworth with southbound coal in August 1968...

Photo by 'Chris The Mighty Hood' on flickr : 25 068 on ballast duty in 1976...

Photo c/o Kevin Lane collection : D5322 at Dalnaspidal on 6th August 1966... Photographer unknown ; D5327 and another 26 at Glasgow Queen St. c.1970...

Photos by 'Chris The Mighty Hood' on flickr : 40 168 at Carlisle Citadel on 21st July 1984... D381 at Crewe in 1968...

Photo by Thomas Harper : 31 151 at Bristol TM on 24th February 1978... Photo by Steve Roberts : 31 218 and 31 191 at Bathampton on 20th September 1980...

Not an unusual location of course but I thought it worth posting this Adrian Vaughan shot to reiterate how fresh and modern they looked back in their day... The date is probably late '64 / early '65 as the new signal gantry for the forthcoming MAS scheme at the west end of platforms 4 and 5 can be seen behind the BP.