Peterborough North

[great northern]

A picture for Clive this morning.

 

Now, if I was clever like some of you are, I would have done things to this to make it look like the four or five unit train we discussed recently, but I'm not, so it is still Driver Curmudgeon about to terminate with a train from Louth. It's nice and sharp though.

 

While our attention has been elsewhere, a B17 has crept down the engine road, and is now waiting by the water tower.

No doubt because I am of a certain age, one of the reasons DMUs don't do much for me is that they resulted in sights like this disappearing from the railway.

[Clive Mortimore]

Being a lot younger I was brought up being told about the new cleaner diesels. On a journey to see my nan in Farnborough as small kids (me and me brother Steve) we would be dressed in our play clothes. Mum would have our smart clothes in a separate bag. The nice Rolls Royce engined DMUs we traveled from Bedford to London in were not that dirty, it was the EMUs out of Waterloo, there were still some of the Ducks favorite Bulleyed Spam Tins in service and they made everything dirty. Well on arrival at Farnborough we would be pushed into the ladies loos (we were under 5) and given a good scrub down and redressed in our smart clothes. So my memory of steam is not a romantic one.

 

I think the worse was touching something and then rubbing my dirty hand on my face........the dreaded licked hankie wash ........in public......      

 

 

Plus DMUs you could see along the track, even if it was where you had been out the back windies.

[great northern]

What next? The Up Fair Maid, and another Gateshead A4, this one rather cleaner, and has had its double chimney for over a year.

 

We also still have the Heaton A3 in the Down bay, so it's a good time to be spotting at PN.

Another twisted lamp.....

 

[Mallard60022]

Dirty Spams? Morty you rotter, I shall speak to you about that when I am awake.
P

Edited January 20, 2019 by Mallard60022

[great northern]

Another Class C, this time Inverkeithing- KX Goods. I have seen this referred to as the "Up Scotch goods", but it didn't seem to get the same elite haulage, so here is a V2 of typical run down appearance tackling the job.

 

Earlier, our man patrolling the Midland sidings got this tranquil view towards Crescent Bridge.

It's clouding over a bit. Maybe we are in for a spot or two of rain.

[great northern]

Dirty Spams? Morty you rotted, I shall speak to you about that when I am awake.

P

I'm very concerned now. What has caused Morty to rot? Is it painful? Can it be cured?

[St Enodoc]

I'm very concerned now. What has caused Morty to rot? Is it painful? Can it be cured?

DMUs and punk music. I'm afraid there's probably no hope...

[Clive Mortimore]

Dirty Spams? Morty you rotted, I shall speak to you about that when I am awake.

P

Mr Duck

 

I use to look at the Tri-ang catalogue and think they had got the colours of their big steam engines wrong, they had them in green including the boxy looking thing like the ones I use to see going to my nan's, Battle of West Country Class I think they were called. I say I thought they had got their colours wrong because all the steam engines (note I am not being rude and calling them kettles) were a very dark grey almost black. Where as the nice clean diesels were green.......well except those the (Great) Western Region painted very very incorrectly into Midland Railway Crimson Lake.   Now tell me about clean kettles?

DMUs and punk music. I'm afraid there's probably no hope...

Yeah!!!!!!

I'm very concerned now. What has caused Morty to rot? Is it painful? Can it be cured?

No chance, at least I hope not.

[Oldddudders]

DMUs and punk music. I'm afraid there's probably no hope...

No sympathy.

[great northern]

Being a lot younger I was brought up being told about the new cleaner diesels. On a journey to see my nan in Farnborough as small kids (me and me brother Steve) we would be dressed in our play clothes. Mum would have our smart clothes in a separate bag. The nice Rolls Royce engined DMUs we traveled from Bedford to London in were not that dirty, it was the EMUs out of Waterloo, there were still some of the Ducks favorite Bulleyed Spam Tins in service and they made everything dirty. Well on arrival at Farnborough we would be pushed into the ladies loos (we were under 5) and given a good scrub down and redressed in our smart clothes. So my memory of steam is not a romantic one.

 

I think the worse was touching something and then rubbing my dirty hand on my face........the dreaded licked hankie wash ........in public......    

 

 

Plus DMUs you could see along the track, even if it was where you had been out the back windies.

She just didn't want a smutty Clive, that's all. Of course she had no control over what happened in later life. And yes, I also got the licked hankie treatment.

[Richard E]

I think the worse was touching something and then rubbing my dirty hand on my face........the dreaded licked hankie wash ........in public......    

 

 

Plus DMUs you could see along the track, even if it was where you had been out the back windies.

Ah, yes, the hankie wash - brings back memories.

 

And, where I was, the DMUs almost always ran with the blinds down so it wasn't possible to get that nice view of where you had been, or if you were very lucky, where you were going. In one period of 6 months of commuting by DMU I recall that there were, perhaps, just three or four occasions where the blinds were up. Indeed there were times when you settled in and the blinds were up, as soon as the driver got in the cab down came the blinds - frustrating or what?

[jazzer]

Ah, yes, the hankie wash - brings back memories.

 

And, where I was, the DMUs almost always ran with the blinds down so it wasn't possible to get that nice view of where you had been, or if you were very lucky, where you were going. In one period of 6 months of commuting by DMU I recall that there were, perhaps, just three or four occasions where the blinds were up. Indeed there were times when you settled in and the blinds were up, as soon as the driver got in the cab down came the blinds - frustrating or what?

I remember that. What were the drivers doing , that they didn’t want us to see ?

[bigwordsmith]

The only time I ever travelled on the S&C we were in an old fashioned emu and i managed to grab a front right hand seat all the way from Leeds to Carlisle

 

At  Carlisle I mae a point of thanking the driver for leaving the blinds up - he smiled and replied "more than my life would be worth not to!"

[great northern]

Ah, yes, the hankie wash - brings back memories.

 

And, where I was, the DMUs almost always ran with the blinds down so it wasn't possible to get that nice view of where you had been, or if you were very lucky, where you were going. In one period of 6 months of commuting by DMU I recall that there were, perhaps, just three or four occasions where the blinds were up. Indeed there were times when you settled in and the blinds were up, as soon as the driver got in the cab down came the blinds - frustrating or what?

 

 

I remember that. What were the drivers doing , that they didn’t want us to see ?

I had the same experience most of the time. I always thought it was because most drivers were miserable *******, who just wanted to spoil kid's fun.  Similar goings on at Tamworth, where crew hung things over the cabside numbers of locos on the Birmingham - Derby line, and had a laugh when we showed we were annoyed.

[New Haven Neil]

Did it have big batteries, Smithy?

 

I know you meant DMU, but it was too good to miss.

[mullie]

Was it an EMU with two legs hence its ability to travel on non electrified lines? Perhaps it was shedded at (Rod) Hull!

 

 

Hat, coat............ gone.

 

Martyn

[bigwordsmith]

I hate auto correct, correct, correct

[great northern]

More dirty pictures tonight.

I am rather pleased to have got the gap between Spital Bridge and the roofs of the vans as crisp as this, because the colours were very similar. Another bonus point for extra lighting.

 

We haven't been under the roof for a while, so I'll put that right.

Those lamps are absolutely horrible, but glued on, I suspect.

[great northern]

The morning call from "BT", to tell me that my PC is spreading viruses all over the place, came earlier than usual today, so now I can get on with things. I took another picture of the V2 as it emerged from the gloom, but for me it is spoilt by the milk churns on the front. Why does the camera exaggerate these things so much?

 

Next in behind it was yet another Ivatt 4.

Never mind, there is a lovely old GN coach to gaze at as well.

[Podhunter]

> We haven't been under the roof for a while

 

The lighting is perfect.  It's usually rather gloomy under there.

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Podhunter

[Clive Mortimore]

The morning call from "BT", to tell me that my PC is spreading viruses all over the place, came earlier than usual today, so now I can get on with things.

 

 

Hi Gilbert

 

I hope you said "Good as it has taken me ages to write the program for them. By the way you might be using one of them, I hope this time I get my cut of the scam".

 

Now your shots of the under the roof, it looks like the geriatric wards I done my training on. Rows of people sat on benches with their feet dangling in mid air. Back in the bad old days patients were sat on chairs that were too high for them so once in the day room they stayed there. Apart form children and very short people, most of us when sat on a station seat have our feet on the ground. It is one of those things that I find many of us modellers don't see but having taken part in a campaign to re-educate nurses etc so that patients were sat on chairs that were suitable and they could get off I would like to educate us modellers as well. The worse type of chair was one called a Buxton Chair, their use is now against the law.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Clive Mortimore

[great northern]

Hi Gilbert

 

I hope you said "Good as it has taken me ages to write the program for them. By the way you might be using one of them, I hope this time I get my cut of the scam".

 

Now your shots of the under the roof, it looks like the geriatric wards I done my training on. Rows of people sat on benches with their feet dangling in mid air. Back in the bad old days patients were sat on chairs that were too high for them so once in the day room they stayed there. Apart form children and very short people, most of us when sat on a station seat have our feet on the ground. It is one of those things that I find many of us modellers don't see but having taken part in a campaign to re-educate nurses etc so that patients were sat on chairs that were suitable and they could get off I would like to educate us modellers as well. The worse type of chair was one called a Buxton Chair, their use is now against the law.

  I am always very polite. I just say in my best BBC accent. "No you are not. You are a scammer, and I hope you will get what you deserve in life". For some reason, the phone goes dead before I can say any more.

 

 We do have at least one person who could get her feet on the floor if she wished, but she has chosen to straighten her legs out for some reason. There is also a person who is indeed either a child or short, or possibly both. I've had no complaints from any of them, but that could be because they are glued to their seats.

[great northern]

The Heart of Midlothian is due, and swings under the bridge, to reveal Dominion of Canada for the umpteenth time.

Lamps OK, and pointing in the right direction, and even a headboard which is attached quite nicely. Things are looking up. I am old enough to remember 60010 when the bell was still attached, and even to a small boy it did look rather odd. Remarkablt clever, don't you think, to get that pole growing out of the top of the lamp with such precision. I've only just noticed it.

 

On its approach, the A4 has overtaken 90730, plodding along the Down slow as it has done regularly for years. Coal empties, of course.

[great northern]

Very strange. I couldn't type anything when I booted up the PC just now, but a restart has solved whatever it was, for the time being at least. I am now short of time, so....

 

I like this angle, even if I had to risk life and limb to stand where I did to get it.

 

60088 has backed on to the Heart of Midlothian, and sets off for home.

[great northern]

Three for the price of one tonight.

 

To do so though Book Law has to be partially obscured by a signal, which by the way does not lean at a crazy angle, whatever the camera may allege. Nor do I know why the first coach has a startling new livery, or even why I haven't noticed it until now. That is very strange actually. I don't think it can be a shaft of sunlight, as the angle is wrong. Very strange indeed.

 

Next train due was Friday only from Doncaster, which loaded to twelve cars according to the book. I managed to put fourteen on, but Green Arrow handled that load without the slightest difficulty.

The longest train to run on PN so far.