TheSignalEngineer

Colour Rail pictures of 9710 Dated 7th April 1963 at OOC Same side at OOC dated 27 August 1961

It's a 'monument' for measuring the rail levels and position relative to the platform.

The signalling was replaced by British Pneumatic Railway Signalling Co. when the station was rebuilt c1901, so no signal wires would have been there, only cables and air pipes. The company was something to do with J P O'Donnell who was a big name early in the history of signalling. He was associated with Dutton, worked (IIRC) for the L&Y and LSWR, and was part of Evans O'Donnell at Chippenham which merged with Saxby & Farmer later becoming part of Westinghouse Brake and Saxby Signal Co.

Very interesting to se it from the perspective of overseas visitors rather than with someone's local prejudices. I had to save the whole page when I found it. Regarding 9710 it entered traffic at the end of 1933 so would be due for shopping c1941, also it was noted at Swindon Works in May 1949 and a repaint wouldn't be a priority then. The next reference I found was Caerphilly Works in 1961 which is probably where it got the late crest.

I still regularly have online updates from two people who were in my primary school class in 1955.

9710 also appears in Colourrail dated 1961 with shirtbutton but by 1963 it had the BR late crest.

I wonder if this is original or whether the paint has work off? About 3/4 down this page https://www.bundesbahnzeit.de/seite.php?id=619

Not on the loco but there's a picture on the 53a Models Flickr site (John Turner) showing an LMS 5-plank at Harborne in pre-1936 livery. The loco in the picture is in BR livery and worked on the line between 1952 and 1961.

There's a picture on the web of a 97xx condensing pannier still with shirtbutton emblem showing in 1960.

Many years ago I was on a meeting at Derby Research and was taken for a look around afterwards. The APT people were testing windscreens and told us that they tried firing bricks at them at 150mph but the brick disintegrated. They found the ideal projectile was a frozen chicken.

I was scanning old slides recently and came across some of my 21st birthday party. Besides all but two of the older generation having gone there were two cousins and at least two of my schooldays friends no longer with us. Then I realised that the youngest person on there was 53 last month.

My second guess was probably more likely for it being cable hangers. The only wires around would be from the GWR box which IIRC was only bay platforms. Need some photos of the LSWR installation to confirm.

It's up against another spigot or nail at the bottom. My guess would be there was a piece of wood nailed on with signal wire pulleys or they held cable hangers.

The instruction to use crimson and cream from Riddles was dated 13 January 1949. Lancing turned out coaches in green until February, whilst Swindon's first use of the new livery was around the beginning of May 1949. LMS coaches built in 1948 and early 1949 were painted in lined maroon without LMS branding or crests. Painting and then touch up and revarnish cycles varied between companies and type of stock typically between 7 and 10 years for a full repaint. This led to some coaches going straight from Big 4 liveries to BR maroon and on the Southern region going straight from pre-1948 Malachite to 1956 BR(S) green. I travelled in a green coach in July 1955.

This goes back just before the blue era but the vans were still around a few years later. Cravens Class 129 plus Fruit D and an LMS CCT (Parkside PC33 for the kit) https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrcov3771.htm

The only time I got a few bruises whilst cab riding was in a Class 313. I was checking through the DC Lines before handing back on the day of the SSI commissioning in 1988. Running at 45mph through Carpenders Park we hit a redundant tripcock arm which had been missed by the recovery gang in the dark. Opening the air pipe in those circumstances leads to quite a rapid deceleration.

A bit like some of the H&S rule, wearing a hard hat whilst doing something which involves hanging upside down is not that easy even with a chin strap.

Cosiest cab ride I had was on a small shunter at Coventry. One was used with a medium goods wagon for moving parcels between the platforms and parcels depot in the 1960s. The AWS had failed on CY37 approaching the station on the Up Main. We put the inductor and tools on the wagon at the old loco shed behind Coventry PSB then set off along the Down Main. Besides the driver we had a Traffic Inspector to supervise the movement as the only way back was wrong line. From the S&T there were the shift technicians from Coventry plus a lookout and two of us from the gang to help with lifting the kit off the wagon and fixing it down, a total of seven.

I've only ever stayed three nights. First two at East Birmingham, later inappropriately renamed Heartlands. Place was dire, couldn't get out quick enough. Other occasion I paid for a minor surgical event at a hospital in Solihull. Food was good. Arrived at 1330, shower, ECG, order meals for next 24 hours, preped, to theatre wing at 1600, came round about 1800. Watched TV news then had fish supper. Surgeon came to see me at 1200 next day and told me to get dressed and ask reception to fix me a taxi home. Had to do it a bit slowly as lunch was just coming along the corridor. Yes, spotted that when I checked the picture. Couldn't see why they were made so long. They more than go round my legs let alone his, in fact you could probably tie his legs together with them. Little one has a different brand and they have perfect length straps. They will get modified during the winter.

I missed the first hour because of watching a match live. The clubs around where my grandchildren live have been running a series of matches for the youngsters over the past few weeks. Tonight both of the boys were playing for the under 11 team, Thomas making his hard ball match debut despite being only eight years old. He bowled the second over of the match, a wicket maiden, then when he came back for his second over took another wicket for three runs. Both wickets were clean bowled. His older brother then finished off the innings with a C&B then one bowled through the gate on the last two balls to finish with two wickets for one run off his two overs. Both teams of 8 per side bat for the same number of overs irrespective of wickets taken and get runs deducted for wickets lost. The boys batted last pair and went in just two runs below target. After their four overs they ended up 15 runs in front. Next pair preparing to bat.

IIRC the insides of vans and guards compartments were usually painted pale grey in that period.

If you remember you probably didn't enjoy them.

We've been to three NT site recently. Only partly open at the moment but things are improving.

I think at the start Oxford thought they could get away with something looking similar to the prototype as in many of the Hornby/Dapol cheaper offerings from old tooling. They came a bit unstuck with the 7-plank which is a minefield anyway as traders/collieries came and went or changer ownership. Then most had some kind of on-site repairs by either the owner, local C&W or repair contractor. By BR times few would be in anything like original state. The LNER Cattle Wagon was another faux-pas, basically using the 9ft underframe from the 7-plank which meant that the version produced was virtually extinct by the time BR came about. Then there was the use of the same design for both sides when it should be a mirror image. Fortunately a scalpel and some Evergreen with a bit of filler and weathering can produce a decent model for a reasonable price. I paid about the same as a Parkside kit for mine The tank wagon does seem to be an improvement on the early offerings and is still a good price compared with the superannuated Bachmann version

I've repeated random blackouts on two occasions on my desktop. It originally came with 7 and has migrated via 8 to 10. The monitor dates from about 2003 but worked perfectly with another machine. The first time turned out to be the heat sink on the graphics card fan clogged with dust. It was stopping air circulation and as the card heated up it would shut down. The second time the fan was clean but when I was checking all of the connections l noticed some contamination and pitting on the pins of the psu input. I cleaned them with emery board and IPA and changed the mains lead. Two months on and no repeat so fingers crossed.