TheSignalEngineer

Over the holiday I actually got an advert for some railway modelling stuff. Today, after recently posting a picture from our latest bike ride I got an advert offering me rides dates with single lady cyclists

Are you talking about the train behind 46140 (top) or 46141 (middle)?

I didn't think the cream van had roof vents Those 3 pairs are more like a 42ft GUV.

I was on a special from New Street. The Midland Compound piloted in 45548 on another incoming train and I cabbed both. I was on the next platform when Mallard came in and saw it ready for departure double headed with the Compound.

My Dad's job in the Fire Brigade meant that holidays were on a roster, 12 men on the watch, two weeks each in summer meant that holidays started around Easter and finished in September. Occasionally it was possible to swap with people who hadn't got children and didn't wanr to go in the main six weeks but in 1958 we were stuck with the first two weeks in May. Waiting at St Austell for the Wolverhampton train an Up Paddington (The Riviera?) came through at speed with D600 up front. It was my first main line diesel other than the LMS and SR prototypes. Other 1950s trips included round trips over the S&D in 1953 and 1955 complete with trip to Swanage in Malachite Green stock. In the 1956 I was probably one of the few left who managed to do all three Barnstaple stations on one train, Ilfracombe to Birmingham calling at Town, Junction and the reversal at Victoria Road. Another visit I remember was in 1954 being taken to the Birmingham New Street Centenary, with 46235, LNWR 'Hardwicke', a Kirtley 2-4-0, two Royal Saloons and Edwardian LNWR and Midland coaches.

According to Google the photo used to be on Flickr and was captioned as being Basingstoke. The photo seems to have been removed from Flickr now.

Last day of the year so we went for a bike ride from Stalybridge to Diggle. Weather good enough for a picnic overlooking the reservoirs above Delph. My normal bike needs a service so it was my trusty old Trek taking the strain today.

End of year bike ride today included part of the Micklehurst Loop and Hudderfield Narrow Canal. This is the old Millbrook Goods Shed near Stalybridge and the remains of the coal conveyor to Hatrshead Power Station at Heyrod. The picture was taken from the canal towpath. It's 40 years since the power station closed and 55 years since the goods shed was last in traffic.

They did play together in 1958 http://www.englandfootballonline.com/MatchRsl/MatchRslAm2.html

2 x 22 doesn't equal 44. D6300 / D6303 leaving St Austell for Penzance, 1959

It got a few scars when it was involved in a runaway in Birmingham in 1965. I've got six boards and can't keep those aligned 100%. How about a bottle of Tizer and a bag of crisps? Or a bike, possibly a Raleigh Chopper?

Thought the Scottish loco could be a bit of a blind alley as I saw one heading south at Mitre Bridge in the late 1980s.

Two Streaks at Stratford-upon-Avon? Surely not, but it happened in 1986

'One size, fits nobody'

Summer 1950, New Street platform 3, age about 2. 'Uncle Bill', a Monument Lane driver, was married to ny great aunt. We were about to go on my first train ride other than as a baby, to visit a wartime ATS friend of my mother who lived in Sussex. Dad took me to New Street to see a train he knew Bill would be driving on the excuse of familiarising me with the surroundings. I was lifted onto the footplate and up to pull the whistle. Unfortunately I don't know what the loco was but from the cab layout I would guess a Black 5 or Jubilee. The first loco I can positively identify was spamcan 'Yes Tor' which would have been at Ilfracombe in the early 1950s. I also remember being at Plymouth North Road at about 5am on an overnight train from Wolverhampton in 1952. While we were there I remember seeing two highly polished green engines running light. First rolling stock I clearly remember riding in was in Southern Railway green livery on the Swanage branch in 1953. Non-railway but still on rails I remeber riding the 'Lickey tram' from Birmingham to Rednal. The route closed in July 1952.

Not footplate but when I started on the S&T I worked with my grandad. Friday lunchtime ritual was to boil dirty overalls on the cabin gas ring in a bucket of washing soda. Before we left they would be rinsed and hung up in the cabin to dry. A clean set would go in the bag for Sunday. They very soon became pale blue with repeated boiling.

Yesterday I got ads for single ladies and beds.

For those who started when BR still operated ships 'To Continental Port,' was a useful destination. Combined with an obscure station in north-west Scotland it covered most of BR and any continental seaport served by Sealink. When I went on an unplanned journey I would carry single tickets something like Continental Port to Kyle of Lochalsh, Kyle of Lochalsh to Penzance, Penzance to Pwllheli and Pwllheli to Continetal Port. You could show a valid ticket for about 90% of BR with a combination like that.

Think I will pass on that one.

Giraffes were probably subject to a special charge as an Out of Gauge load.

Or to use my Grandad's rule. "I've got two eyes, one for my safety and one for the job". He survived WW1, the Birmingham Blitz and almost 49 years working on-track.

Little else can be done in the way of preparation for the descending crowd tomorrow, so I'm going to award myself a large measure of red falling-over water and adjourn to the Railway Room for an hour of 'loco testing' (aka playing trains) ready for the boys to have a running session. Merry Christmas all in case I decide on a refill and fall asleep early.

Not an infrastructure item, but sorting out stuff for table laying tomorrow I found this. Becoming an antique on two fronts, loco and branding.

Yay! After a quick call in Tess Coes for half a dozen perishable items last night whilst out running an errand it was decreed this morning that 'Enough is Enough, we are not doing any shopping today.'

I'm not up with current policy on power supplies but in the early days of my signalling career, pre-electronics except for a few discret component systems for ancillary equipment, the policy on major electrified lines was a local mains supply, a second supply derived from the incoming supply to traction and a diesel generator with a 30-second auto changeover. As equipment on smaller schemes became more electrically based and the power requirement outstripped a simple battery supply I was involved in developing inverter based standby supplies which could support a small signal box for several hours. Later as electronics became more widespread (and fussy about what they were connected to) we moved on into conditioned supplies which in theory at least should be continuous and at a constant voltage rather than the 10% tolerance used on a straight AC feeder.