SouthernMafia

He did make a couple of quips, he was curious as to why it was 'Eight Hundred Thousand and Three', having had it explained to him that it was a Class 800, no. 3 he then said 'well why isn't it number 1?'

It ran down from North Pole via Paddington and Reading, so would have needed to switch over somewhere. It probably could have done it on electric but the planners just said let's remove the risk altogether (however small it may have been) - understandable as it's not every day HMQ goes on a GWR train and with the media and wider rail industry watching we needed to get it right.

Timings were intentionally slack to allow for anything unexpected, and in the end it ran early. The event was never about speed, it was about the 175th anniversary, with the added benefit of showcasing the new train. Ran on diesel the whole journey to reduce the risk of anything going wrong with a switchover, bearing in mind the 800s are still being tested.A very successful event and great to be a part of it.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U55324/2017/06/13/advanced GWR event tomorrow with second Class 800 newly vinyled in GWR Green with special decals and nameplates (think it's 800 003) Don't want to give away too much but I'm sure The Internet will allow you to put two and two together...

Whilst I'll also be waiting for clear evidence I've heard it from Hitachi that work has been completed to allow them to match an HST. On a catering note, there will be a full kitchen allowing the very popular Pullman service to continue at its current high standard. This will also supply the trolley service.

That certainly is interesting. I remember having a chat with my colleague about it a couple of months ago, so good to see its there but you're right it looks like it's the wrong way round!

Redbridge Wharf made a successful 'work-in-progress' debut at the Brockenhurst exhibition last weekend, and was well received by both punters and exhibitors. We met ex-workers and locals who knew the area well, all seemed impressed with how we had captured the location, and the interest generated by the layout as a whole. As with any debut show we expected problems, and we certainly got them! But a number of us were on hand to fix/alter/bodge whatever decided to stop working/do something completely different, and generally the layout ran well. As we were running it was difficult to capture photographs with moving trains in them due to the low level light, but some members did take photos of how we have progressed with the scenics, which still have a long way to go but we are starting to see the character of the layout develop. Lots to come away with from the show, but a hugely positive experience for the club and we look forward to taking it on the road again soon.

Nice build...surprised they weren't announced the moment you put the transfers on!!

Wow that is very impressive! My stoney fine sandpaper version will definitely be coming up in the future to try and emulate what you and Sevenoaks have achieved.

Likewise, I keep 'accidentally' buying things. If you can take as long as possible to send me my invoice I would very much appreciate it !! Just try to miss the Kernow 4TC release date as that'll be a £500 hit in the same week, doh!

..or perhaps because vinyl logos are a darned sight cheaper than cast ones!

Looking very nice. Need to preorder 4 but no space on the credit card this month, hopefully they take another month or two to arrive. With the 4TC due in "Summer" as well I think I'm going to have to start selling some limbs to pay for it all!

This was not a simple signal failure, there was a major technical fault with a signalling systems feed at Bourton. It kept tripping the system intermittently, resulting in numerous and unexpected Change of Aspects to various trains (one driver had two Cat B SPADs) The bidirectional reversible signalling simply could not be used. TBW was implemented, but as Paul says it took so long to get everything set up (17 points to clip and scotch between Swindon and Challow) because of a lack of staff, that by the time it was helpful they were using the signals again. All available buses were in use, but because of the sheer volumes of people affected this proved ineffective. If everything went wrong on the railway just in the week it would be much easier to manage the disruption. Unfortunately with the B&H shut, HSS West of Didcot was effectively paralysed. Factor in crew displacement and working hours it can cause huge headaches to then recover the service once the line is open again.

Pantograph lost just east of Tilehurst. MOM advises it was caused by pantograph being lowered too late before unenergised section onto Reading high level.

IET on 5X27 Wantage Rd to North Pole has lost a pantograph between Didcot and Tilehurst. Damage sustained to overhead line equipment as well. It appears no matter how robust and over engineered the OHLE equipment is, it can still get damaged.

5X27 Wantage Rd to North Pole has lost a pantograph between Didcot and Tilehurst. Damage sustained to overhead line equipment as well.

Very inspiring stuff, always enjoy reading your thread. Thanks for the tips on the road surface and lining, certainly helpful for my layout.

A major milestone reached for the club today with a successfull test outing to our local village hall for Redbridge. Generally all went well and this is the first time the entire layout including 6 daughter boards has been erected. Some more photos to follow: 5 weeks until Brockenhurst and still lots to be doing!

With Winchester club's Redbridge layout nearing its debut exhibition date, all work has generally been focused towards that. However, a nice bit of work that fits into both layouts is the signalling. I have been building the gantry for both Portland and Redbridge at the same time, although the Redbridge one is not quite finished to show fully. There are a few custom signals but most are Roger Murray heads we had from our old layout. I'm not a fan of the over-scale shrouds, but they do look good and they weren't cheap, so we may as well use them. I wanted to build my own position light signals, but couldn't get the shape right using brass, and it was very fiddly. 3D printing came to the rescue, and thanks to eldavo for printing these.These are the initial SketchUp CADs which Dave tweaked slightly so the printer could print them correctly: This is what was printed: After a bit of filing and priming into grey some micro LEDs were added. Minuscule things, I have very good eyesight and I could barely see them! Installed on the gantry: The single lens fixed red signal is scratch built from brass. This is the gantry that sits on Redbridge causeway, protecting the junction in the Up direction that crosses over towards Romsey. The fixed red signal allows a call on into the yard reversibly on the Down line, or onto the GPL on the Down line on platform 2. There is a stencil indicator, but not sure I'll build it, and certainly won't get it to work! It doesn't see use often, generally it will be a freight running wrong line from Totton into the yard. There was a test train recently that did it as well. Generally pretty pleased with how it's turned out, and it was a good proof of concept for Portland as I will need 4 Position Lights and 2 Ground Position Lights. Once this gantry is complete I'll post it in the Redbridge thread as we have quite a bit to update.

Class 387 operated services Paddington to Slough/Maidenhead from 21st May 2017. All 8 car 387. Maidenhead to Paddington • Dep 0625 Arr 0654 • Dep 0656 Arr 0746 • Dep 0733 Arr 0804 • Dep 0742 Arr 0819 • Dep 0842 Arr 0922 • Dep 0907 Arr 0947 • Dep 1818 Arr 1857 Slough to Paddington • Dep 0708 Arr 0746 • Dep 0751 Arr 0819 • Dep 0829 Arr 0901 • Dep 0851 Arr 0922 • Dep 0916 Arr 0947 • Dep 0943 Arr 1012 • Dep 1826 Arr 1857 Paddington to Maidenhead • Dep 1609 Arr 1642 • Dep 1642 Arr 1713 • Dep 1714 Arr 1802 • Dep 1742 Arr 1813 • Dep 1842 Arr 1914 • Dep 1912 Arr 1953 • Dep 1936 Arr 2000 Paddington to Slough • Dep 0909 Arr 0934 • Dep 1609 Arr 1633 • Dep 1714 Arr 1744 • Dep 1742 Arr 1803 • Dep 1842 Arr 1903 • Dep 1912 Arr 1939

Hmm I wouldn't be so sure about un-mangled edges: Clearly shown to be cut back. Few other phots. Thought this was interesting, there is a big focus on weight, or lack of it! The blocks the platform tops sit on are a composite, and ain't cheap! (I think they're carbon fibre - seen on the far right of pic 3) Yes those are polystyrene sheets going in underneath the new platform tops! I was also at SPM today and happened to pass this beast on my way out

It may well come to nothing, but clearly someone somewhere has thought about it otherwise they would've just asked for a 5-car to be done. Wait and see I guess. I would ask my colleague for a bit more detail but that would risk breaking rule 1 of working on the railway - don't tell em you're into trains!

Today at work (a certain TOC of relevance) my colleague was working on livery artwork for the Hornby model. The document he was working on contained a full 9 car set* Make of that what you will. *EDIT I hasten to add artwork images - not images of a 9 car Hornby model

Couple of bits, firstly the Mk2F RFB is now complete under the initial scope (ie make it look like an RFB) I may still work on it further, particularly looking at the roof which is often heavily faded/weathered. Also the '1' on the full window side are in the wrong place and are too small but haven't got round to changing these to the correct size/location. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with it. I've also been dabbling in signal gantry construction. This is the Up Loop Starter, which is near enough structurally complete, just needs a ladder, painting and signal (3 aspect with subsidiary position light and small stencil indicators)

That was a very frustrating article to sit through on South Today this evening, Paul Clifton at his best