Tankerman

17 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Yes the effect of the 1929 Act was not liked by various GWR employees who suddenly found themselves working for 'bus companies - although they retained their GWR staff travel facilities.  A chap I knew slightly in Plymouth in the late 1970s had been what he always regarded as a 'victim' of that change and still considered himself to really be a GWR man almost 50 years later.

Not sure if I've posted this before. In the 1950's one of the older ticket collectors at Truro station had replaced at least one of the BR buttons on his coat with a GWR one. He always referred to the GWR as 'The Company' and considered the standards required by BR to be very much inferior to those of the GWR.

4 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

 

You miss the point.

 

Passengers HATE changing! - particularly when travelling for leisure or with luggage. This is backed up by copious amounts of research and is why back in BR days the once a day Brighton - Manchester train was well used even though it was much quicker (not to mention much more flexible time wise) to travel via London.

 

NSE were well were that passengers using the North Downs route to make connections with planes at Gatwick* was a profitable market to cater for - thats why NSE ditched the Reading - Tonbridge mod of operation in the first place.

 

Curtailing the service at Redhill would thus be commercial suicide bearing in mind the user base - its why their have been strenuous pre-pandemic efforts to increase the service frequency to 2tph to Gatwick and remove the lesser used intermediate stops to improve the offering.

 

(the pre pandemic plan was effectively a 2tph Gatwick - Reading semi fast service and a 1tph skip stop Redhill - Reading service to serve the rural stations like Betchworth.

 

*Its not just about planes, given the lack of a direct tube connection between Victoria and Paddington there is substantial traffic between places on the BML seeking access to the GWML at Reading. Although Thameslink has improved the situation a bit, many fast trains from Brighton and those from Eastbourne do not call at Redhill but they do call at Gatwick.

Not so much nowadays, but up to 2017 I travelled from Wokingham to Gatwick and return about eight times a year. Having tried driving via the M3/M25/M23, I decided to use the train. The first time I did it, not knowing the system, I had to change at Redhill with my heavy luggage. Once was enough! After that I always made sure I used the through train, as many other locals who also know about getting the 'wrong train' means having to change at Redhill, make sure they use the through train.

On 21/04/2022 at 11:39, Chris116 said:

I am 67 and my O level history was 1919 to the present day. Present day seemed to end around 1955 as far as the syllabus was concerned which was over ten years out of date at the time but the lady teachers stories of her sex life brought us right up to date!

That's interesting I am nine years older than you, at a grammar school from 1957 to 1962, and the span was from 1870, the Franco-Prussian war, to 1939. There was some coverage of the events before 1870 regarding the various states, which under Prussian influence, united to form Germany as a nation.

On 15/04/2022 at 20:23, Penlan said:

First on the Central Wales Line - Possibly LMS, rather than LNWR...

...... and then just outside Liskeard on the Looe Branch (From photo taken 50+ years ago by me)
 

There was a sign very similar to the second one, it had the additional text "and pin down the wagon brakes", at the top of the incline from Penryn at Four Cross near Penryn. This point was between the two road over bridges on the Truro and Falmouth roads. 

1 hour ago, brian777999 said:

Missiles have a use-by date ? How can you tell if they have ''gone off'' ? 😉

There is normally a loud noise and a burst of flame. 🤣

4 hours ago, MJI said:

I do have 2 x 45xx including the BR mainstay of 4566.

 

Only 1 D63xx so far, I think my other hydraulics are too big, and my other locos are too new.

 

All my WR DMUs are blue, blue grey or Choc cream.

 

The Swindon Intercity sets never made it down there.

When they were new, or virtually new, one of the Class 123 units appeared on the morning 'workman's' train, not specifically a workman's train, but most of the passengers were from Penryn going to Falmouth Docks, as I was at the time; for two or three mornings over a period of two weeks during the summer/early autumn of 1963. 

11 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

So do the police now investigate the gossip on social media instead of loooking at evidence and official complaints made by alleged victims?

No they just sit in their nice warm offices waiting for a report that someone has taken offence at what someone else has said, call it a 'hate crime' and make their detection figures look good.

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

You can't read it unless you live in the area.

 

I've just read it and I live near Reading, however I'm on the local Nextdoor group, perhaps that's why I could read it.

Quote "You really do deserve a holiday..!"  I can't argue with that.

11 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

Cruise control is becoming more of a standard feature these days. I use it all the time and it's perfect for dealing with speed limits through works sections. It is one feature that lets you concentrate on the traffic around you since you don't have to look at the speedo at all and your foot can be dedicated to the brakes.

 

Yours, Mike.

I had three cars fitted with cruise control before my present one, which doesn't have it. It isn't that much of a problem as most of my mileage is now local journeys, but when driving on motorways or dual carriageways I find that there is a tendency to check my speed at frequently.

Incidentally when i bought my first car fitted with it I was warned that cruise control should not be used in wet conditions as the traction control can cause the car to swerve if a tyre loses grip.

On 26/02/2022 at 22:49, PhilJ W said:

I first saw this in the early 1980's on a builders van in Slough, the company was owned by two Sikh brothers.

6 minutes ago, 47606odin said:

hi Keith.

 

I have purchased a C&L point kit to have a go at. Depending on how that goes, will depend on how far I go.

I understand the EM gauge society has had some track made for it by Peco, but I don’t now how freely available it is to society members, and I can’t use templot to work out components and track plan in the future 

Have a look at Wayne Kinney's thread on here about his new point kits for 00 and EM. I think they might well be the answer you are looking for.

Given the superb standard of this model and knowing the enormous depth of knowledge on here I'm hoping that someone will know if any AA20 brake vans were allocated to Truro in the 1950's/early 1960's. I can also see a market opportunity for the transfer makers in producing, either as ready purchase or to order, a variety of 'RU' locations for these vans.

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Too late for me I did that years ago.

Another example of the gravity shunt was Falmouth station where the arrival platform, which was also used for departures, was much longer than the departure platform.

From memory, it was a long time ago now, the departure  platform could just about take a pair of B Sets, but I'm not sure. At the back of my mind is the thought that part of the coach nearest Truro would be inaccessible because it was beyond the end of the platform.

Again, from fallible memory, the arrival platform could take the through portion of the SO from Paddington which varied between four and six or seven coaches plus a tender loco.

The two platform lines and middle siding had no run rounds. The run round loop was situated between the end of the arrival platform and the start of the single line to Truro. There were two methods of working from the arrival platform.

If the train was going to depart from the arrival platform the coaches were reversed into the side of the loop closest to the dockyard, the brake van brake applied, the loco uncoupled than ran back into the arrival platform, reversed across the pointwork onto the other side of the loop and the coaches ran by gravity back into the arrival platform.

If the train was going to depart from the departure platform the coaches were reversed into the side of the loop nearest the signal box, the loco again ran back into the arrival platform and the coaches ran by gravity back into the departure platform. This was the most common manoeuvre as any parcels or other items in the guards van could then be unloaded close to the station entrance.

I hope this has been of interest.

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

A perfect visual rendition of the bureaucratic mind.

49 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

 

We had a Yorkshire Terrier who could detect the arrival of the Postman at three hundred yards!

So did my parents, he didn't want the postman, he wanted to destroy the mail.

20 hours ago, alastairq said:

 

My first ship, MV British Hero, built Lithgows, 1954, scrapped in Spain, 1972.

 

On some of my subsequent ships, the 'ol' man' [master] had, in the ship's safe, sealed orders which were changed periodically. Known [unofficially] as DEMS orders. In times of emergency or conflict, these would be opened, and we would find ourselves,instead of being a humble civilian merchant vessel, we had become a part of the RFA.  This applied to most ships belonging to the BP Tanker Co Ltd, I believe?

One aspect of this was the insignia that the ship's officers & engineers [& Chief Steward, and RO] wore....Instead of the normal merchant navy insignias of the diamond loop, we had the round loop as per the Royal Navy. I was led to believe that this was due to becoming effectively, RFAs....and applied to many, [but not all?] UK based shipping lines. However, this was all a lot of years ago now, and my memory fades somewhat....

 

 

 

The photo and mention of the British Hero brought back a memory from my days as an electrical apprentice at Silley Cox's dockyard in Falmouth. We saw a large number of BP tankers, the general rule was that at any one time 50% of the ships in the yard were BP owned or long term chartered and they had their own stores building for major spares items.

In 1964 or '65 she came into the docks for a major refit which included conversion to Indian crew, which required the conversion of the crew cabins from single berth to twin berth. As she had been carrying 'clean' cargos such as petrol, she was gas free on arrival so went straight into No.4 drydock which was close to the workshops. 

For various reasons, which I won't go into, but included the fact that the Chief Cook had managed to wreck the galley and the beer had run out, the voyage back from the Persian Gulf had been a bad one. The British crew were, to put it mildly, not very happy. They handled the ropes to secure her to the bollards of the dry dock and then decided that enough was enough. They came off the ship with their baggage, which they put on the dockside, and headed for the pub just outside the dock gate.

Having more than made up for the lost drinking time they returned to the dockyard to sign off and collect their bags. Seeing the state they were in the ship's agent and the Captain decided to get them signed off immediately and order taxis to take them directly to Truro station.

When the first few taxis turned up they stopped outside the electricians workshop, just around the corner from the drydock and shouted to one of the electricians who was stand outside the door "Where's the British Hero?" This was answered by her crew almost in unison, who were waiting at the head of the dock, by "We're all f**king British heroes!"

1 hour ago, MarkC said:

Well said 

 

Here's another thought; if I have it right - and I think I do - 30,000 men and boys from South Shields went to sea in the MN during WW2. 10,000 of them didn't return.

That figure could be right as South Shields, and the Tyne in general, had a large number of seamen at the time. I have seen a figure for the total number of merchant seamen engaged during WWII as being in the region of 330,000 and the losses being approximately 34,000 dead or missing.

On 29/01/2022 at 11:14, MarkC said:

Some of the other books by Nicholas Montserrat, detailing his own experiences as an officer serving in sloops & then frigates during WW2, both in the Atlantic & on the East Coast convoys, also cover such things, occasionally in more detail. As the saying has it, war is hell (as graphically illustrated in the Laconia business).

 

To me, the unsung heroes were the officers & crews of the Merchant Navy. At least the RN could fight back...

Now almost completely forgotten by this country, without the sacrifice of the men of the Merchant Navy in WWII, Britain would have been defeated by either the end of 1940 or the middle of 1941 at the latest.

Much is made of the loss of pilots/crews of Fighter Command in 1940 and Bomber Command later in the war, however the crews of the Merchant Navy suffered losses of around 50% in both 1940 and 1941 and it wasn't until June 1943 that losses dropped much below 25%. 

That's not all that's been forgotten.

There was no phoney war for the Merchant Navy, the first merchant ship was sunk on the 3rd September 1939 and the last one on the 9th May 1945.

All of those crews, officers and men were volunteers, none of them were ever conscripted.

Around 45% of the crews, not officers, were what were known then as Lascars from the Indian sub continent, Arabs from such places as Aden and Hong Kong Chinese. They also sailed knowing the odds against them and died along with the others.

That the ratio of number engaged to the number of deaths was higher than that for the Army, Navy or Air Force.

Apologies if this reads as a bit of a rant, but I spent six years in a dockyard working alongside some of the men who had spent the war at sea and nine years in the Merchant Navy as an Electrical Officer. The seamen were Pakistani, the cooks and stewards were Goanese and the fitters/pumpmen Hong Kong Chinese. I thank God that it wasn't in wartime, but if it had been I would have happily sailed with them as a crew.

21 hours ago, Matt C said:

Advise to young son when caught short out walking the hills " Don't p1&& into the wind"  Advice ignored  and when admonished by the wife I refused to take responsibility for the blowback 

It was worse for the first trippers (first ship as crew) when they didn't take the same advice regarding their stomach's likely reaction to the first rough weather the ship encountered.

11 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

If in doubt and can’t make a decision; call a meeting and share the blame!

When all this 'hold a meeting' idea became popular in the early 1990's our regional manager at the time showed his opinion of the idea by having a poster printed and hung it on his office wall. It read "There is now an alternative to working, it's called holding a meeting."

5 hours ago, crackedmember said:

Its happened in this country too.  A Polish driver listening to his SATNAV turned onto the railway at Oulton Broad Level Crossing.  The road he wanted was behind the signal  box.  It was very bad weather, a gale, and to help things the street lights were not working.  He stopped with his front wheels on the ballast, just off the cattle grid.

 

It still took sevaral hours to get it removed

The same type of thing has happened twice locally, at the same level crossing, within the last few years. On both occasions due to the drivers apparently not being able to recognise the fact that a railway track has a somewhat different appearance from a roadway.

The right turn road junction is roughly 50 metres after the level crossing, the crossing is slightly higher than level of the road and has full gates in addition to the usual warning signs and lights. The first incident involved the driver turning on to the track in daylight in good weather, the second did have a couple of reasons why the mistake was made; firstly it was about 6am in twilight and secondly when the police attended the driver was breathalysed and found to be over twice the drink drive limit.

On 23/01/2022 at 09:03, kernowtim said:

An exhibition without any layouts, 

Would that not be a swapmeet/toy fair? Although some, like Sandown I went to in 2019 do have test tracks in operation. 

I Have attended the Ally Pally show a few times in the past and aspects of that reminded me of the old swap meets... 

As an aside Living in West Cornwall It always seems odd to me that Bristol is considered 'West County' when it is (by road) almost 200 miles North East of me! 

Quote "As an aside Living in West Cornwall It always seems odd to me that Bristol is considered 'West County' when it is (by road) almost 200 miles North East of me!"

I thought the same having been born in Cornwall and living there until I was in my early thirties. On moving to Maidenhead I realised that those who lived in the South East had a different viewpoint, in that they considered the West Country to start somewhere not too far west of Swindon and the Midlands to start somewhere not too far north of Watford.

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

And if the Civil Service was organising it there would be a shortage of one of the essential ingredients.