Upbech St Mary, Upbech Drove and Pott Row a journey through 00 and then into EM and 009.

[mullie]

A recent birthday involving a 6 and a 0 means the acquisition of books. Some good East Anglian tomes.

 

The slippery slope continues. 

 

 

[mullie]

A recent birthday involving a 6 and a 0 means the acquisition of books. Some good East Anglian tomes.

 

The slippery slope continues. 

 

 

[NHY 581]

Kent ! ? 

[mullie]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

Kent ! ? 

Just south of Essex,  the other side of the Thames.  Our first marriage home was in Essex but we could see north Kent.

 

Full of Colonel Stephens lines.

 

[GMKAT7]

Good afternoon Mullie,

 

Inspiration a plenty in Kent, such as the Sheppey Light, East Kent, Kent and East Sussex and the Hawkhurst branch.

 

I have recently acquired a copy of Railways of Arcadia by John Scott-Morgan, covering these and many more of the Col Stephens lines.

Only black and white photos but so much atmosphere and inspiration.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[mullie]

12 hours ago, mullie said:

A recent birthday involving a 6 and a 0 means the acquisition of books. Some good East Anglian tomes.

 

The slippery slope continues. 

 

 

Didn't realise it had posted twice, internet was playing up.

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Your reading tastes and writing skills are very good for someone at the 06 level. Congratulations on a another Birthday.

 

manna

[south_tyne]

17 hours ago, mullie said:

A recent birthday involving a 6 and a 0 means the acquisition of books. Some good East Anglian tomes.

 

The slippery slope continues. 

 

 

 

Many happy returns 🎉 🎈 

Some great reading material there @mullie. I hope it's only a temporary flirtation with Kent and that you're not leaving god's own country of East Anglia behind....

 

 

 

 

[mullie]

4 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

Many happy returns 🎉 🎈 

Some great reading material there @mullie. I hope it's only a temporary flirtation with Kent and that you're not leaving god's own country of East Anglia behind....

 

 

 

 

I live on a spectacular stretch of Dorset coast, but I just can't get East Anglia out of my system thankfully. 

Edited July 26 by mullie

[Oldddudders]

23 hours ago, mullie said:

Just south of Essex,  the other side of the Thames.  Our first marriage home was in Essex but we could see north Kent.

 

Full of Colonel Stephens lines.

 

And the cover pic is Cranbrook, where we lived for 21 years. 

[mullie]

38 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

And the cover pic is Cranbrook, where we lived for 21 years. 

We could cross the Thames at Dartford really easily 30 years ago so explored much of Kent including the coast. Places such as Canterbury,  folkestone, Whitstable and Herne Bay were good places to take the children for a day. SWMBO and myself explored a lot of the Kent countryside in the days when I owned a Land Rover and BC (before children) .

 

Living in south London whilst at University helped,  seeing all the place names as I travelled through London Bridge and Charing Cross.

 

I used to go to the grand prix at Brands Hatch too. I was there in 76 when Hunt won, was later disqualified but won the title. Used to take 4 hours to get back to Dartford after the race!

[mullie]

Let's see what's going on at the quay.

 

 

 

There has been some progress,  more soon  

[Oldddudders]

I was at that race, too! FIL was incensed not so much by the initial refusal to let Hunt start, but at the fracas that stopped the race almost immediately. He stamped his foot and called them a bunch of clowns. 

 

Kent is a lovely county, but is increasingly overcrowded, busy and a dormitory for London. Kent Coast Electrification started that in 1960/61, with sleepy villages suddenly becoming prime commuter territory, in what became known later as Sparks Effect. We moved to Cranbrook (actually halfway between there and Goudhurst) in 1983, and by the time we retired to France in 2004 the traffic along the A262 past our 1887 cottage had more than doubled.

[mullie]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I was at that race, too! FIL was incensed not so much by the initial refusal to let Hunt start, but at the fracas that stopped the race almost immediately. He stamped his foot and called them a bunch of clowns. 

 

Kent is a lovely county, but is increasingly overcrowded, busy and a dormitory for London. Kent Coast Electrification started that in 1960/61, with sleepy villages suddenly becoming prime commuter territory, in what became known later as Sparks Effect. We moved to Cranbrook (actually halfway between there and Goudhurst) in 1983, and by the time we retired to France in 2004 the traffic along the A262 past our 1887 cottage had more than doubled.

I think they let Hunt restart to calm the fans knowing they would disqualify him later. It could have turned very ugly. 

 

As electrification has spread across East Anglia a similar thing has happened.  Much of it is now under  two hours from London and there is the growth of places like Cambridge. Around 2004 we wanted a decent sized family home which wasn't really possible even on a fairly decent salary, which became a major reason for leaving the area,  something we've never regretted. 

[1466]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I was at that race, too! FIL was incensed not so much by the initial refusal to let Hunt start, but at the fracas that stopped the race almost immediately. He stamped his foot and called them a bunch of clowns. 

 

Kent is a lovely county, but is increasingly overcrowded, busy and a dormitory for London. Kent Coast Electrification started that in 1960/61, with sleepy villages suddenly becoming prime commuter territory, in what became known later as Sparks Effect. We moved to Cranbrook (actually halfway between there and Goudhurst) in 1983, and by the time we retired to France in 2004 the traffic along the A262 past our 1887 cottage had more than doubled.

Brands Hatch in the 1960s a time when the British GP alternated between Silverstone and Brands . I recall getting in Practice day for free! And watching Jackie Stewart drive  each Ferrari sports racers P3/4s in qualifying to great grid positions in the BOAC 1,000. And the 7 litre automatic Chaparral   With a great big moveable wing … wow !

[mullie]

19 hours ago, 1466 said:

Brands Hatch in the 1960s a time when the British GP alternated between Silverstone and Brands . I recall getting in Practice day for free! And watching Jackie Stewart drive  each Ferrari sports racers P3/4s in qualifying to great grid positions in the BOAC 1,000. And the 7 litre automatic Chaparral   With a great big moveable wing … wow !

The Grand Prix was also famous for the fact that the toilets were usually broken by about lunchtime on the first day of practice,  it was a standing joke and part of Autosports write up.

 

My first race was the race of champions at Brands Hatch in 1975 won by Tom Pryce, I would have been eleven.  I can remember the JPS Lotus, the Graham Hill Embassy team cars and whatever happened to the Shadow team? Later there were the six wheel Tyrells and the advent of ground effect cars.

 

Good times, always a long and great day out.  I went from 75 until the early/mid 90s. We stopped going because of increased cost and my older brothers having younger families and work commitments. 

 

Race day was very different in those days, a full day of racing and events from around 9am to 6pm. The airshow was great too. The Harrier low pass at Brands seemed level with us in the stands at Clearways. We didn't go in the stands every year and I only went in the stands once at Silverstone. 

 

 

 

There were occasional trips to airshows including Mildenhall and other events but that is another story.  Good times. 

Edited July 28 by mullie
Found Harrier photo.

[Oldddudders]

Which year was it that the low-flying aircraft draught caught one of the corporate hospitality tents and pulled it out of the ground? Substantial cheering from all on South Bank! Corporate, then and now, is a dirty word to many in sport. 

 

Mind you, at what must have been the 1978 race, we glimpsed George Harrison inside one marquee with a bald young man. The latter turned out to be Gunnar Nilsson, Lotus driver, mortally ill with testicular cancer, which claimed him not long afterwards. 

[mullie]

9 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Which year was it that the low-flying aircraft draught caught one of the corporate hospitality tents and pulled it out of the ground? Substantial cheering from all on South Bank! Corporate, then and now, is a dirty word to many in sport. 

 

Mind you, at what must have been the 1978 race, we glimpsed George Harrison inside one marquee with a bald young man. The latter turned out to be Gunnar Nilsson, Lotus driver, mortally ill with testicular cancer, which claimed him not long afterwards. 

It may have been the Harrier that took the roof off, it made some very low passes. 

 

My eldest brother later went, invited by some corporate friends, he didn't enjoy his day as much as when we all went. We watched with alarm,  the spread of the hospitality buildings.

[mullie]

A J15 is seen at Drove with the six wheelers.

 

 

Some running repairs are being made to the platform fence but the staff responsible have been missing for months. Meanwhile, some wagons are being worried at Upbech St Mary.

 

 

These will be the last steam age photos for a while as the time period has moved forward to 1963.

[31A]

Just catching up; been away on hols!  Just to say, those "East Anglian Steam Gallery" books (and there was another similar series) are well worth collecting with some fascinating photos not published elsewhere, and reproduced very sharply and in large format, ideal for picking out details.

[mullie]

18 minutes ago, 31A said:

Just catching up; been away on hols!  Just to say, those "East Anglian Steam Gallery" books (and there was another similar series) are well worth collecting with some fascinating photos not published elsewhere, and reproduced very sharply and in large format, ideal for picking out details.

I first found them in a small bookshop opposite Billericay station and acquired quite a lot of them. Over the last few years I have been filling in the gaps.

 

We will be going on hols soon, a smartphone is a great way of keeping up with RM web and the various other things I listen to.  I never go away without phone,  kindle and headphones. 

 

I always carry headphones,  listening to music,  far more important than TV.

[mullie]

It's now 1963. The recently weathered and detailed type 2 was on the goods at Drove station. 

 

 

[mullie]

Some progress on the OKE trackwork . First it was all sprayed with Tamiya primer.

 

Then the sleepers on the standard gauge were loosely masked so the track sides and chairs could be sprayed Tamiya red brown, also the narrow gauge. NG point blades were masked where necessary .

 

 

The sleepers on the standard gauge were then washed with black ink, trying to get the effect of well worn occasionally used track. A dry brush of silver mixed with grey was applied. 

 

 

The NG sleepers were coated with grey/brown gunge with talc, they will eventually be buried. 

 

 

All rails have since been cleaned, test running next before ground cover starts.

[wiggoforgold]

When you mask before spraying the red-broen do you spray both rails at once or one then the other? What tape do you use?

TIA

Alex

[mullie]

1 hour ago, wiggoforgold said:

When you mask before spraying the red-broen do you spray both rails at once or one then the other? What tape do you use?

TIA

Alex

I use Tamiya thin masking tape  for the points, DIY tape for everything else.  I focus on one rail but using a rattle can there is inevitably overspray. The aim is for a light coat.