lmsforever

Good to see you supporting the local community bet there glad your about when needed the layout is coming on when you start building the fun will commence.

That was some journey for you but at least you had some nice stock to travel in .

Tonight I had to go out through Stoke Manderville and when I passed the works for our new bypass I looked right and was able to see the HS2 works where the Aylesbury Risboro line is being moved .I was able to see the earthworks and cranes as they built the new trackbed I have not seen this before so work is getting on also I had good view of the works outside Manderville and oh boy they have cut an enormously deep hole just off the road and is easily viewed .

I think most of the opposition to the works will go once we have our bypasses as these will be a big step forward as we will benefit from them and the line

Today I visited a meet the public event locally,as it was mid afternoon it wasn't to busy so I could talk to the reps and get answers.The railhead at Quainton will receive 1800 trains over the next three years saving many tonnes of lorry loads.Rail has been used to deliver other construction materials a total of 655 trains loaded with 1.1 million tonnes of aggregate thats a heck of road journeys not happening .The Thame valley viaduct has been started with all of the arch bases construction well on the way the actual viaduct is to begin in the autumn but there are a couple of major projects also starting. Just outside Aylesbury where the A413 is being diverted over the line this work will be completed by the end of the year and will be our way to Thame and all around this new work will many trees so it will be a pleasant place.Also there will be a start made on the bypass around Aylesbury and connection to the bypass to the Wendover Rd. The new line on the Aylesbury to P Risboro is to be moved where HS2 cuts across it and this work has new track laid and big earthworks have taken place and the new line should reopen early next year.Works at Wendover are progressing well with work on schedule so all in all we should see progress ,and I am now on the mailing list so updates will appear regularil;y.

When I retired fourteen years ago I thought what will I fill my days with .firstly an invite to join the local RNLI branch after the first meeting I found myself sales and speaker to tell people about lifeboats. Luckily my wife and a lass who already helped out made the sales stall an enjoyable proposition. Whilst I was having fun with the RNLI I had two footplate trips on the Chinnor line a gift from my wife again a very good thing to do and I became a member which I still am .Going to an event to look at what you could volunteer for on the railway.I nearly joined the signal dept but I met some of the guys from The Tuesday Gang and found my place on the line we did things that nobody else wanted to do.Cutting back foliage ,painting stations,redoing drainage systems.At Bledlow station we repainted the crossing gates the station shed ,weeded the platform and redug the run off for rain water.Oh and we relaid the road surface and received thanks from several locals who had to bump over the crossing.I did all sorts of work for nearly three years until arthritis in my hands I had to stop but my RNLI talks are still ongoing .Volunteering is a wonderful thing to do and if you have some time go and help out a group locally .

Have not been to Beamish for years good trip out bet its grown since the eighties ?

You make some very valid points but we live in a society that has access to a media that basically stirs up opinions against projects they do not think should happen ie rail investment ,they are even going against other public developments.HS2 is and will continue to be a contentious project it has been around a long time has upset many villages and towns all building up a wall of opinion against an otherwise important project. I would imagine many people in the corridors of power wish this line had never been planned our local mp is against the line and regularly makes statements as to what should happen without setting out what should happen to the works if abandoned as have many others. HS2 will be finished and then as it does its job will be used and forgotten by all the protestors as they will be protesting about something else .

Shame the company failed it would have been a good sales stream also like the livery.

All in all the future looks bleak for the UK new infrastructure will be very limited due to demands for cash from politically more acceptable organizations such as NHS ,education ,and others . This will cause problems in perhaps forty years when this country will need major works to enable movement and growth due to rising population and other factors. Overall we will have problems but who knows its a long way ahead and with our politicians who knows what will happen.

The old building at Carnforth is the very first signal cabin and its very unusual style ,is the visitor attraction still in place there?

I am begining to wonder if Euston will actually happen considering how the project is under so much censure ,who knows if the cuts will have to continue beyond when the construction work in London is set to commence. With all the demands on money being made HS2 is a ready made project to be further cut back and many people will be pleased to see it happen I can see billions going into the NHS which is a vote winner. So we can look forward to ongoning cut backs and high speed beyond Birmingham forget it.

The other weekend we saw David Essex who is 75 and he can still sing and gave us a fantastic evening

I like the barge the detail is amazing its making me think that perhaps if I ripped out a section of my layout a dockside scene could emerge .thanks for showing the build. Chris

April 4th Fairford Leys Centre Fairford Leys {outskirts of Aylesbury alongside works on HS2} there is a meet HS2 session 2pm to 6pm any one in Thame or in between also if you live near line going northwards . I shall be there about 4pm looking forward to asking questions.

Its good to see a new club and one that has produced a very nice layout ,good luck in the future and hope you prosper its great to see new people in our wonderful hobby.

Saw the 47 with the headboard last night coming out of the heritage yard and then passing through station on Crewe cam five.

Good to see a picture of Benfleet spent a great deal of my life there in the forties and fifties used to stay on the steep hill opposite the station and went for bus rides on Canvey Island happy days.The track laying at Laindon is very dated and shows how many men used to work on the railway always enjoyed watching trains from Fenchurch St hauled by steam not always tank locos sometimes Black Fives very boring now.

Why was the line to Aylesbury dropped ?

I delivered fish to Cardington when an American film company used one of the hangars as a film studio , the film was a cop show and they had US cop cars parked outside.Very friendly people the caterers especially went there several times always got a coffee and bacon butty .Anybody know what is happenning at Cardington now?

Unfortunately, politicians will always think they know best and look at the result this winter ,I have never seen the NHS as it is now and they put their noses into projects such as HS2 .Our local MP was shouting his mouth off about the costs traffic problems and will it ever run.Its a pity he doesn't take a look at the housing estates ,potholes and useless local councills but HS2 gains more notice from tv news . I doubt wether any new build line will replace the WCML and if Manchester gets its own line it will be a miracle given the pressures on money .Also dont hold your breath for a new approach in Westminster if a certain party gets in.Having lived through several years of this party I have realised that they start with brave ideas and in six months they are fighting each other and to hell with the people. Eventually the money will stop and we shall be left with a fast trip to Brum and then a pleasant jog along the WCML as things are now and whats the betting that Aviva will not be around then probably by this summer.

Brilliant vidio NR are really replacing everything fantastic.

2043 for trains from Euston that is absolutely crazy what will be our situation then this station should open with the rest of this benighted project passengers will not trave l on HS2 but will stay on the WCML .The only way that this will not happen is if all intercity trains are put on the high speed and knowing the DFT thats what they will do leaving many passengers no choice but to travel on local trains to Crewe for north bound and Rugby for Brum.All in all its going to be complete mess thank god I shall not want to travel then.

When Euston is mothballed there will have to be a security presence and that will cost money and are the tunnels to be constructed whilst the main terminus is gathering dust?