Rugd1022

Photo by Nigel Miles : Westbury, 1982...

Photo by Julian Ogle of Old Oak...

I was at Padd that day, just minutes after '41 came to a halt on its side, I was on the way in to Old Oak for the 06.00 shed turn on the tube from Hammersmith and saw the coaches skewed with some on their side as we pulled into Padd. When I got off you could hear a pin drop and there was still a fair bit of dust in the air. I made my way past the lawn to board the workabus where I found six other Old Oak lads waiting, there was much confusion on the way down to Old Oak and when we arrived the lobby was full of train crew booking on with nowhere to go. I can remember it as though it were only yesterday.

Up, Up And Away - Jimmy Webb / 5th Dimension

I was watching him in 'The Persuaders' and 'The Gold Robbers' the other night.... 95 is a good age. RIP.

Stray Cat Blues - The Stones...

I'd say that's about right - the OLE gantries have appeared bu the wiring isn't yet installed.

Just one point - they're 27s not 26s 😉.

I went over the affected line at Braybrook the other day where the TSR was raised to 40mph.

Yes - thanks for posting them, I still can't find mine! I'm still wondering if the train crew were Northampton or Wellingborough men, most likely the latter though.

Song Of A Baker - The Small Faces

Struggling to find them at the moment but I'll keep looking 😉

Photo by Rich Jones...

I'll dig them out later Andy and repost them - from memory they were taken by Northampton local snapper Bob Faulkner 😉

The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

Those relief Bobbies must have racked up some miles getting to and from the 'boxes on their patch - I know David Canning did in his trusty Austin 1100 down on the Berks & Hants. Pete 'Pinkie' Salmon was one of the highest paid relief men on the Midland, a local legend in the East Mids, he didn't half get about and worked as many rest days as possible to keep the job afloat. I posted some photos of him at Bardon Hill earlier in the thread - he was known for keeping the kettle on the go wherever he went and wearing cycle clips when riding one of his many motorbikes to work. He retired at 62 but came back for another stint, just to get away from his mother-in-law!

An old friend of Mrs.Rugd1022 once made her living by dressing as a late-ex nun...! Back to HS2...!

Always Coming Back To You - Scott Walker, from his 1967 debut solo long player...

Murder On The Dance Floor - Sophie Ellis-Baxter

Oh well if we're adding numbers into the mix... 😉

Might interest you to know that one of the Coleshill BR enamel running in boards is up for grabs next month... https://www.gwra.co.uk/nextauction.html

A couple of flies in the ointment are the level crossings all along the route and the deceptively steep gradient at Ridgemont, it's quite difficult for a freight to get a decent run between the two single line sections at each end. On many occasions I've set off from either end with gusto, only to be brought almost to a stand because the barriers are still up at each LC. The single line sections are frankly a pain in the Aris', the points at the Fenny end are 20mph and 15mph at the Bedford end, plus the very sharp curve up into St.Johns doesn't help. The loop at Forders is handy but doesn't seem to get used much. NR spent £35m remodelling and resignalling and it feels like it's gone to waste in a way.

D1022 was considered for preservation but the collision damage which caused its withdrawal in early '77 was found to be too much so it was rejected. Likewise D1000. I believe D1001 was also considered but it also fell by the wayside. D1015 was only saved by chance when members of the DTG happened to stop at Swindon and look in at the works (they nearly didn't get in) to find 'Champ' chalked up for the cutters torch, a last minute reprieve was granted and it was saved.