highpeakman

Yes, if it travelled back to Parsley Hay, certainly. So, Yes, it could indeed (possibly) have worked on that section of the C&HPR itself. I need to check back in my books for confirmation but I think that section of the C&HPR closed after the Ashbourne line had closed. Happy to be corrected. Also, of course, it may have been doing some testing of the C&HPR from Parsley Hay back to Buxton but that would have been the later LNWR line into Buxton (the section to Dowlow is still in use) so that's another possibility I guess. Could be many reasons of course. Just my curiosity set me wondering if anyone knows.

Hartington was on the Ashbourne line that parted from the C&HPR just after Parsley Hay so no major gradients (as far as I am aware).

Good point.

Thanks. I was curious though as to what it was doing at Hartington as the line was due to close shortly and I would not have thought they would be track testing there.

I was looking through some photos of the LNWR line from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne and, in a couple of photos of Hartington Station, I was surprised to see a Railcar in the bay. I now understand it to be a Wickham type. See photos below. (I can't credit pictures as I have no details). I understand that most of the Wickhams went to Scotland so I assume this is the additional railcar that was always used as a departmental unit by the Derby rail laboratory and is now in preservation please (on the Lavender line I believe)? It is not in standard livery so I did presume it is that one at first but cannot be sure. I wondered what it was doing at Hartington. There is no information on the Wickham web site so I can only assume it was there as part of its normal work. However this line would be due for closure shortly so probably not track testing but I guess their work covered more than that. I was already aware that a Park Royal unit worked the Buxton - Millers Dale service for a time and had initially wondered if it was that one but, of course, the livery is wrong and then I found out it is a Wickham not Park Royal. If anyone knows the story here it would help to assuage my curiosity please. Thanks.

I would agree with your comments about the noises added to Railfan videos. However, as one who, over 40 years, has driven many miles across both the US and the UK (and Europe), I didn't come to the conclusion that US drivers are generally that stupid at all. Of course there are a few which we see on Railfan, etc but, percentage wise, I think I came across as many idiots in the UK as I did in the US. The driving style is very different to the UK however being generally slower and more relaxed with more people following speed limits more closely than in the UK. Typically not as aggressive "must get there quickly" as the UK. Watch the Ashland videos and see how the 4 way junctions work with people giving way on a first arrive principal - can't see that working in the UK. However that relaxed attitude does lead to other problems like allowing use of hand held mobiles and other distractions. It probably means that they sometimes do not pay as much attention as they should sometimes but, there again, I see that often in the UK as well. Perhaps a bit like the stereotype American as big, loud, brash. After 40 years of dealing with them I can say that I didn't meet many like that - some, yes, but I met a few like that in the UK as well. As usual, and with all nationalities, we tend to hear of only the loud ones and events that make the news but, for the most part, the everyday, normal people are no different to most places. Back to level crossings.

A little more research: GAINSBOROUGH AT WAR – THE THONOCK MINE FILLING FACTORY In November 1917 building started on a 149-acre site at Thonock for the National Filling Factory No.22. It was built to fill mines for the navy. By February 1918 the first “Sinkers” had been filled with 1000 lbs. of TNT (trinitrotoluene) and were sent to Portsmouth. By the end of the war, the factory had used over 2476 tons of TNT. The factory had reached full capacity just as the war ended but it went on for several more years decommissioning munitions and it was the mid-1920’s before the land reverted to farming.

Thank you for that. Yes, I live in the wider area and there are a couple of working pumps in the vicinity that have been there a long time although none, as far as I am aware, are rail connected. The relatively small amounts are collected in tanks and taken out by road I believe. They are trying to open more but facing opposition currently.

Thank you very much indeed for that. That explains everything. I had been searching for an "Oil Terminal" rather than just sidings. A WW1 munitions factory makes sense and explains why so much of the traces have disappeared. Thanks again.

When browsing through Railmap today I came across some sidings shown that I had not known about before. These were apparently for Thonock Oil Terminal. They were apparently situated on the line from Gainsborough to Barnetby and the site was on the north side of the A159 about 2 to 3 miles from Gainsborough. I have often driven down this road but have never seen any sign of this site existing so I am interested to know the story. Does anyone know please? I cannot find any reference to such a place when searching on Google however and cannot see any trace of there ever having been sidings in place on Google Earth. Early and later maps also show no sign of there having been a terminal except for one OS map (NLS Map site: OS 1.1m to 1.63k 1920s to 1940s). See picture attached. No other OS Maps on the NLS site, before those dates or after, appear to show the site at all. Given those dates on the map, was it a war time site? That might explain why it does not appear on other OS maps? Was it just a planned site that was never started/completed or has it just been totally obliterated? I feel the latter is unlikely but always possible. There were many other fuel (and ammunition) storage sites in this area owing to the number of airfields that once existed but traces can still be seen of most of those. However, as I say, at this site there appears to be no trace of any track works or remnants of any such works - storage tanks, roads, etc. I would be very interested to hear if anyone knows the story please? Thanks.

Very interesting to see but I was a bit surprised to see that many of the freight trains don't seem to be using the dive under route. Will that change?

An interesting selection of pre grouping wagons at the end of it as well with bricks being shipped out all over the country using the various railway companies.

A resurrection of this old thread as I have found some old videos of the brickfields which show the processes of brick making over the years - from the 20s to the 70s. The videos show the draglines, internal railways, chain driven truck systems, electric locos being used around the kilns and being loaded on to railway wagons for shipment. Absolutely fascinating contrasts from the earlier hand loading of bricks at every stage of the process to the final years of pallet handling. These videos are from the "Ampthill TV" site (a considerable collection of videos made over the years that will be of much interest to anyone who lived there, as I did, but probably not to anyone else) however i suspect the brickyards videos were official London Brick Company films made over the years. They are short and not high quality (only a couple have sound) but do give a wonderful glimpse of the process, machinery and variety of railway equipment used at Stewartby (RIP). Brickmaking at Stewartby 1980s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=241 1970s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=242 1960s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=242 1950s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=243 1930s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=240 1920s http://www.ampthill.tv/playvideo.html?id=94

Thanks for your comment. That's an interesting question and I have wondered about it. Does anyone know if the DJ body can be fitted easily to the Hornby chassis? However, while I would like to know the answer, the reason for the original post is that I would like to have a go at chassis building so I thought that using an RT chassis would be a way to learn and provide a solution to the DJ problem at the same time.

Thanks for your comments. All valuable information and guidance. Appreciated.

Mike Thank you very much indeed for your comments, pictures and guidance. Very helpful. I just need to take a deep breath and then plunge in with orders! Thanks. Don

I have a DJ models J94 which suffers from the dreaded jerking when running downhill on my rendition of "Hopton incline". I am currently considering whether to build the RT chassis and mounting the DJ body on it. I have purchased other RT items and have been very happy with them. This question is not at all about the quality of the RT product but about the suitability for someone who is inexperienced like me to assemble. I have never built a model chassis before so hope to use it as a first step and learning process in such matters. I am a reasonably experienced modeller but not in metalwork although I do have some practical experience of soldering. I have searched around on RM Web but cannot find any comments about this chassis but it would be helpful if someone could comment whether this is a good route to use for a beginner in chassis assembly. If someone could suggest a suitable motor/gearbox combination that would be most helpful as would a suggestion for the best wheels to use. A new venture for me so any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Just to say Thanks for all of your photos and reporting on this subject. Most interesting and I have enjoyed following this thread with the reports from all of the contributors. It does look like you can drive past that gate and bollard on Lincoln Road by just driving half on the pavement so makes me wonder on the point of the gate. Perhaps the photo doesn't give the correct impression of widths?

I noted a comment on Facebook a couple of days ago about this working which claimed that the 9Fs struggled when working this train up Stoke Bank and were beaten in timing by an A2/3. I am interested to know if this is true or "one of those stories". My initial thoughts are that the 9F should be superior as it had the power, speed capability and smaller wheels would, I would think, have given it an advantage with such a train. However I accept that my own knowledge on such matters is insufficient and I am curious enough to ask if anyone else knows about this? I have no idea if this was apparently a one off event nor know anything else about it.

Is it likely the up diveunder line will be brought into operation before the down line is installed or will the up be installed and the diveunder up and down lines commence operation together?

What was the original purpose of that platform thing attached to the wall above the canopy? I note it has gone in the most recent photos. Perhaps just part of a fire escape was one thought but probably anyone using it could have got straight onto the ladder anyway?

Thank for the links. Very helpful. But sorry, I should have searched online before asking. I just wondered if I had missed something on this thread, although I did look back, when it was being done on the up Stamford.

I'm going to show my ignorance now of the tracklaying process. I thought I had been paying attention throughout but there is something I don't think I have noticed being done, maybe I missed it when the up Stamford was put in place? When the track is laid and new ballast put down there is a point where the track has to be "tensioned" - is that the correct word? - i.e. all those kinks straightened out and pre tensioned to allow for temperature expansion. How exactly is that done? Presumably that will not be done on this new section of track until the rest of it, in the dive under, is also laid and connected at the other end?

There was no mention made of that when we made enquiries and I found nothing on line about it. One transport company just told us that if we wanted an HGV licence we would have to do it ourselves even though there was already a shortage of drivers. This was before Brexit, about 5 years ago when, I guess, it was cheaper and easier to employ European drivers. I have not looked around recently but reading comments above I do wonder if the industry is doing enough to attract new drivers into training even now.

I thought that this would be a good career move for my son a few years back but we found that obtaining an HGV licence was a major issue as we couldn't find any local transport companies willing to give any on the job training. They only wanted HGV licenced employees. So, while I was willing to pay for a training course for him, taking that course would have meant giving up the job he already had because the training period was so long plus he would have to travel a long distance every day to get to the course. As he had a young family he was unwilling to take the risk of losing the job he had. He has since got a job as a delivery driver for a car parts company so is now driving fair distances but in a large van. We felt, at the time that the transport industry wasn't doing enough to support and train new drivers and maybe that is still the case.