TheSignalEngineer

In 1964/5 it worked through Water Orton on at least 4 dates. The one you saw in 1969 may have been when it went to Tyseley Open Day.

At least it's not the Flying Moneypit, although it did visit New Street at least once after Alan Pegler bought it. I missed that time and don't know the route, but in March 1964 it did pass Water Orton. Here it is heading to the Camp Hill line at King's Norton on the way back from Cardiff to Retford. Flying Scotsman at Kings Norton (pjs,0615) by Geoff Dowling, on Flickr I was on the platform just out of sight. It was very cold and trying to snow. Last coach is the Devon Belle observation car.

A quick Google threw up this from Gloucestershire Railway Memories on Cheltenham spotting notes from the time of the Big Freeze "1V70 8.20am Newcastle – Swansea pass 1.59pm 'Jubilee' 45573 'Newfoundland'. A3 Pacific 60084 'Trigo' of 55H Leeds Neville Hill brought the train into Birmingham New Street." It was a time of grab anything in steam. The site has reports of Kingmoor Black 5s and Newton Heath Scots turning up at Cheltenham on trains from Leeds. We didn't have much on that direction in those days, and most of it used the Rugby - Peterborough line, changing engines at Rugby. B1s did come into the Midland side regularly in summer, particularly on the Cleethorpes run. May be a working that used ER and SR sets on alternate weeks. I think there was a Bradford - Poole that would fit the bill. 555 was a 'K' 3-set of Mk1s, originally on the Kent Coast but transferred to Waterloo - Weymouth c1961/2. It has a Maunsell coach as a strengthener and a Maunsell set behind it. Eric

Crewe Works was one of the first places to use open hearth furnaces on an industrial scale. Later it was updated to two electric arc furnaces. It produced many of the castings the LMS needed for other departments, not just locos. In the early days it even rolled its own rails.

Quite possible that some of the metal was used in new castings as there were a lot of steam locos being cut when the diesels were being built there.

Crewe used pretty much everything metal from locos they scrapped even if they did enter through the building known as 'The Melts' and come out via the steel foundry. (OK I'm outta here quick. 🚪🚴‍♂️)

I remember meeting Rev. Awdry operating his original layout at an exhibition at the Birmingham and Midland Institute in the early 1960s. Nice to see the surviving one still running.

We got pulled up if we referred to a neighbour by their first name, or even worse nickname. That is except for my grandma's neighbour who would come out and sweep the shared path when you had used it. We called her 'Old Fusspot'. Mom said "it's Mrs to you". As I ran off I shouted "OK. Old MRS Fusspot". No more was said.

In the 1960s I used to go to two yards with signalling maintenance. They both had a set of iron ramps which went over the rail. Hook a chain to the wagon and the 08 and it would be back on in a couple of minutes.

Likewise. About £60 for fuel and parking, not to mention six hours fighting the traffic rather than being able to use my travel facilities. My modelling budget can be better spent. May just have to use the time on progressing my Limo cab Fowler Tank from the stash as I now have a donor body and transfers.

Checked those out, there's only one that would get me there before Saturday afternoon. It leaves our nearest coach station at 23.50 on Friday night and drops me off in Birmingham some time after 3am. The return trip is similar, dropping me off about 20 miles from home with the first available connection enabling me to get home around 8.45am on Sunday. Normal train journey time home station to Birmingham International is sub 3 hours, in fact I think the fastest connection is 2 hours 25 minutes. In good old BR days I could commute to our office in central Birmingham in two hours door to door, having breakfast on the train and reading up on the work for the day ahead at the same time. Meeting minutes and briefing notes for office circulation were prepared on the train home.

They're going to make a proper Palethorpes Van. It's a dead cert because following my recent work on building an SR Banana Van and LNER Hopper Wagon I've just done the chassis building for two of them and am about to start the cut'n'shut of the bodies. I know it's true because I have form in this direction with the Limbach 94xx, Pillbox brake, Plate wagons, coke wagons, SR 8-plank open............etc. They still haven't caught up with me on LMS Vestibule stock, although there is a nice P3 one in the Coronation Scot stock which was a conversion of a standard version......meanwhile......🍺 o'clock calls.

I was intending going on Saturday but Public transport constraints would probably involve leaving on Friday afternoon and getting home on Sunday teatime. Using the bus would mean leaving home at 9.45pm on Friday and arriving back at 10.45am on Sunday with two nights trying to sleep on the bus and any convenient bench. It would also cost about £51. The nearest hotel I could find was a doss house in Saltley for well over £100 if I go by train. To get a full day there by car would mean about a 14 hour round trip with 25 litres of diesel and the car park charge, plus I would be good for naff all on Sunday. Sunday by public transport is a non-starter as I can't get there before lunchtime. I did (tongue in cheek) check flights but would have to do Manchester - Fraggle Rock - Birmingham - Dublin - Manchester at a cost of £500. All very annoying as I can usually get to Birmingham International by 9.15am and have a good train to get me home by about 9pm. Think I may have to resort to following on the internet, doing a bit of modelling and perhaps spend the money saved on an extra bit of railway equipment.

Or outside 3rd rail set track

That would be pretty close to Irish P4 gauge.

Slightly OT but Lunar had a different meaning on many USA railroads. It was commonly used as a restricted aspect. Red and Lunar together is usually proceed with caution to next signal being prepared to stop short of any obstruction. Very similar to Red and Cats Eyes for Calling On in the UK.

Correct

Warm white would be incorrect for most types as the glass of the white aspects was pale blue, which gave what is known as a Lunar White aspect when placed in front of a paraffin flame or incandescent electric lamp. It is sometimes combined with a white coated element known as Flashed Opal glass which is an opaque white colour in daylight. This is the glass that was used in oil or tungsten lit stencil indicators. This demonstrates the difference between a Lunar White aspect in the ground signal and a stencil indicator with just a flashed opal front. This was taken in 1972. Certainly was almost all position lights when I was a lad. That gradually changed on the LMR when I was in the drawing office 1970s/1980s. We slowly migrated to using a main aspect for moves straight to the running line in the normal direction of travel. The initial criteria we used was the distance to the next signal. If for instance the next signal was in sight when the whole of the train had crossed the points and was on the main line then a position light was adequate. If the train could get to the place where it was out clear and permitted to accelerate then a main 3 aspect signal would usually be provided. There were a few instances where a 4 aspect signal was necessary.

I'm not sure of the exact dates but I think all of the Birmingham works had stopped town gas production by 1974. The sites stayed in use for a long time for storage and distribution of narural gas, so much so that Windsor Street gas holders have only been dismantled in the last couple of years.

Probably the reason why Saltley preferred the 3F to the 4F for its banking turns. Thrash for a few minutes between Landor Street and Bordesley or Camp Hill then roll back to the Pilot Siding at Washwooh Heath to get on the back of another train. Plenty of time to get the fire in order and boiler back up to full pressure even though the grate was smaller.

A big change came with MAS in 1969. We took out most of the Refuge Sidings on the Midland lines worked by Saltley. Miles run per engine hour on the coal trips increased by about 50% as they couldn't be shunted for other trains to pass. The signalman could see the whole picture only let them out when they could run straight to the next yard or loop without delaying a passenger train. Add in MGR working and the picture had changed completely. For our Didcots which started as 30 wagons in the days of Class 47s you dropped one into Bordesley Up Goods. It was let out behind the express and in front of the stopper. The latter wouldn't catch it before Leamington due to 8-10 station stops. Loads increased with a signalling tweak I did which meant you could regulate a train so it didn't get stopped on the rising gradient at Leamington then the introduction of classes 56/58/60. I think we were up to 42 or 45 MGR by then. We even modelled doing 60MGR from Washwood Heath to Didcot with two 47s in multiple, but route constraints and terminal arrangements were too expensive to overcome for producing a robust timetable. You needed to be able to get a clear run from Small Heath to Banbury and Banbury into the power station for that.

I understand 4F grate 21 sq ft. 8F grate 28.5 sq ft. 35.7% more fire bed to keep happy?

No, the ones on Kingsbury Branch. Daw Mill largely took over from them when the second shaft was sunk at the end of the 1960s and the drift was added c1983. Incidentally before closure Daw Mill held the record for the highest annual production at a UK coal mine.

The trip in question was doing about 15 miles on the flat from colliery to gasworks with about 30 16T minerals and booked about an hour, most of which was spent tailgating the one in front on a Permissive Goods line. Next time I rode on it after steam finished we had real overkill - a 47 with a similar load and schedule.

Loco size is a case of Horses for Courses IMHO, being an infrasturcture man. In the twilight of steam a Saltley fireman remarked to me "all we get now is 2-8-0's when a 4F could **** the job"