TheSignalEngineer

My Great grandfather who lived to 96 was a signal installer and Lineman at New Street for over 40 years. My Grandfather with whom I spent my first six months at work was on the signal department for 49 years including 20 years as Lineman at Proof House. He lived into his 80s, having survived being wounded whilst serving in the Rifle Brigade at Aubers Ridge.

c1964 I took this remarkably similar photo. I must have been standing a few feet further from the platform end. No branding visible on the tanks but this is a blow-up of them.

Hopefully so Andy. My Dad made 90, his Paternal Grandmother 88, Maternal Grandfather 96 and Aunt 102. On Mom's side she was just short of 89 and some of her ancestors made high 80s in times when life expectancy was under 50. Eric

Well, I can emerge from the damp yesterday having completed a second orbit on the mortal coil since joining the Coffin Dodgers League, those who have survived beyond the allotted span. Much better weather today but the Woodhead area is besieged by Twitchers. A Bearded Vulture has taken up residence overlooking the upper reaches of old line. It's only the second time one has been recorded in the UK. I've not spotted it yet but know where it is supposed to be hanging out. It will be pretty obvious if I see it flying around as they grow up to 4 feet long with a wing span up to 9 feet, probably the largest wild bird to visit Britain in recent times. No wonder the local cat population seem to be keeping a low profile.

I'm not a cat person, especially when they keep digging in my veg garden, but have noticed they have been keeping a low profile recently. Perhaps it has something to do with the Bearded Vulture which has taken up residence just up the road on the Woodhead line.

8125 was outshopped in June 1939 I understand.

Another good collection of pre-nationalisation photos is this one https://railphotoprints.uk/p693470659 Unfortunately no colour but a wide range of locos in various conditions. If you google Railway Photograph Collection you will find several more

Try this website, you will find plenty of pictures from pre-grouping to the end of steam. https://warwickshirerailways.com

For events of all kinds to restart will depend on a number of factors, not least when the venues themselves will be in a position to reopen. They have to be confident that they can cope with the flow of people through the hall, toilets, etc without affecting their other core business such as schools and sports centres. Then there is the question of catering, currently non-existant at most venues, hotels for exhibitors and transport difficulties for tjose reliant on buses and trains. The planning cycle for events is long and the financual commitment up front can be onerous. Don't forget that most exhibitions are organised by clubs who depend on the income for financing their day to day activities such as club rooms. I had some involvement in an event a while ago where we were inviting interest from traders and exhibitors 15 months out from the date. Provisional booking of the venue had already been done by then and non-returnable financial outgoings started several months out. I would not personally want to be involved in planning any event due to the worries involved and am greatful to those willing to take it on for my enjoyment.

The Class 128 services around the Black Country had some interesring tail loads. Spotting at Snow Hill we called the early afternoon arrival from Wolverhampton 'The Dustbin' as it used to pick up a lot of traffic from the Beldray factory at Bilston. This was largely direct deliveries for the mail order trade consisting of ironing boards, garden incinerators and of course galvanised dustbins. If a 128 was not available the replacement was a Prairie tank with a BG and one other bogie van. I posted a picture on the Traditional Parcels Train thread of 4555 in full Great Western livery working this train at Snow Hill during its sale for preservation. There was a 128 working from Wolverhampton to Dudley which took the Palethorpes six-wheeler on the Cardiff circuit back to Dudley in one timetable. The LMR services on the Coverntry, New Street, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley runs which included Class 129 workings also had loco hauled trains often up to about three bogie vans or equivalent. Motive power over the years I saw them varied from Stanier 3P tanks, Fairburn and Stanier 4MT tanks, Ivatt tanks and Ivatt 2MT tender locos. Vans used included almost anything from any Big Four company to BR with 4, 6 or 8 wheels and vacuum brakes. In cold weather a goods brake was included so the guard could keep warm.

The Stones Ventilators are available from Guy Rixon's Shapeways shop. I sketched them up based on a drawing in a Jenkinson book and some photos I took at York. The main problem is that the Comet etches all seem to have different size holes so it was a case of filing them out to slot the vents in. They have to be printed with some depth as they are too brittle otherwise. I will write up a workbench series on the LMS Vestibule set when I have posted my last Replica / Bachmann Period 1 cut'n'shut, the D1755 BCK which is sitting waiting for the photos to be added. The late 1950s excursion set came about from pictures found when looking at a book by Roger Shenton called Changing Tracks. I noticed the make-up of the specials to Dudley Zoo which I use as an excuse for running a few Rule 1 locos. It now consists of a P1 two-window brake, P1 two-window open, P2 large window open and P3 brake from Comet sides on RTR donors along with a repainted Replica P3 open. There's one more Replica coach in stock but it's future use has yet to be decided. Eric

Using an editing programme it is quite easy to change the blue wall to grey by reducing the blue saturation to the minimum value.

It seems a long while ago now since getting some tips from Tony on layout coaches built up from etched sides on RTR donors. Lockdown has given me a few hours to finish off two more for my excursion set of LMS Vestibules. Firstly a D1746 BTO, based on the batch built by Leeds Forge in 1925/6. These were an all-steel coach identical in layout to the Period 1 wooden bodied coaches built in-house. The underframe is qiute different being trussless and the roof has raised overlaps where the steel panels were rivetted together. The model has Comet sides on an Airfix BTK body, Airfix chassis modified with Comet bits and a spare Dapol Period 2 suburban roof. The second is a D1807 Period 2 single-window TO. Again it is Comet sides this time on an assortment of bits from the oddments box starting with a Dapol suburban body and roof plus Airfix chassis. Gangway connections and additional underframe bits were Comet. Interiors were cobbled up from Replica Mk1 SO parts I had lying around. The Stones Ventilators are based on a sketch I sent to Guy Rixon who converted them to a 3D Cad for printing by Shapeways. I will add a bit to the appropriate thread for these when I get round to it. Eric

I'm not sure of the exact location, but from information put out by the press it appears to be by Carron Wood. If so there is a forestry track shown on the map which is only about 30 yards from the line around there. I think the start of it is visible at the left hand edge of the picture of the ambulances parked up being put out by the BBC.

Thanks Just the hint I needed to put 2 and 2 together. The updated version of 'Historic Carriage Drawings' which I had forgotten about has drawing of half a side each of the Leeds Forge and Cammell Laird versions showing a battery box. It is looking from the other side to the Leeds Forge photo, so boxes on both sides it must be.

I'm currently building a an LMS Period 1 All-steel Open Brake Third to D1746. These were built by outside contractors, probably to test what was available on the market built in modern styles at the time when in-house construction was still traditional wooden bodies. The particular one I am working on was from the batch 20 made by Leeds Forge under Lot No. 181 in 1926. These were numbered 9800-9819 in the 1932 renumbering scheme. Bodywork from Comet sides on an old Airfix BTK and Dapol suburban roof was not a problem and it is sitting waiting to be mounted on a chassis. Now comes my problem:- The Comet instructions for the underframe don't match up with the only picture I can find which is coach 7670 which became 9816, in Jenkinson and Essery's LMS Coaches , An Illustrated History amongst other books. The Leeds Forge underframe was truss-less. The side in the picture shows a battery box, but contrary to most LMS stock the other side also looks to have a battery box instead of the small regulator box. Does anyone have a photo or drawing which conclusively shows what is in the middle section of the underframe? Thanks for reading this. Eric.

My D120 BY(P) took a test run on the Dudley Parcels today. Just waiting for a delivery of pipes and a bit of paint touch up to finish off.

Derek Lawrence models had a label on at least in later years and much of Larry's painting work carries his signature and a date e.g. 89-XI underneath.

Silverdale were on standby at Lancaster as the local crews were already out on other jobs according to the Facebook post linked in the OP.

Harris's book LNER Standard Gresley Carriages has a drawing of D282 in the section on passenger brake vans, page 179. The roof, sides ends and underframe match the picture in the OP. Text in that section refers to the 52'6" vans having 8' bogies.

On a much bigger scale, at Rugby just before electrification I can remember there still being a notice on the up platform to the effect that drivers of engines from 'foreign' companies must put a water ticket in the box when filling up.

Just when you can't find it, Robert Carroll links it in another thread. Can't get image to show from my phone, go to other topic and follow link there.

Thanks Robert. I was looking for that picture last week in relation to another discussion and couldn't find it.

D284 had straight roof ends, not curved down.

I was doing bucket & sponge duty for our office football team one night. A player got hit squarely in the crown jewels by a free kick and collapsed to the ground. I ran onto the pitch brandishing one of those pain relieving freezing spray cans. When he spotted me approaching he got up and ran off as if nothing had happened.