Steam, Diesel & Electrics

On Saturday 21st I took a trip up to Coventry for the Electric Railway Museum as I am a fan of EMU's

Before I left I found out there was to be a steam special heading through my home town of Reading hauled by Tangmere. My normal location was Sonning Cutting but I realised the sun would be right in my face so I went to reading West. The sun was still strong but I managed to get some shade from the high trees.

The it was off to Coventry, the museum has a few open days every year and it was many years since I last visited and I knew a lot had changed

One of the stars of the show is the LMS 503 unit, restoration has started on this after many years

Another unit which is in dire need of attention is the 4SUB part of one leading car has been spruced up but thats all.

I know I sound critical but the practical approach would have been to save one unit restore it then move on to the next, but unfortunately most of their units came up for disposal all around the same time so all funds had to go into save whatever they could

Another unit which needed attention was the 2 EPB, as they didn't have the resources for the job a local graffiti was used to paint a mural on the side, I know a lot of people won't like it but it give the unit a little bit of protection until its restoration time comes around

Another unusual unit is the 501, these look the same an an EPB but were shorted for working on the North London lines, many platforms were short and this was the maximum size unit which could be accommodated. it is only in the last couple of years the platforms were lengthened for the new generation of trains

The group are most proud of the pair of Clacton Units, these are the last remaining ones of their kind and are in excellent condition 

Afterwards I headed over to Northampton where they have two line the first was the Northampton Ironstone Railway Trust and the second was the Northampton and Lamport Rly 

Sadly both were not in operation but the NIRT was totally closed so I could only manage a few shots over the fence

They seem to be a tiny site but it is full of EMU's including a rare Double Deck unit (sheeted over in the background).

No work has been carried out on these units since they were preserved almost 20 years ago and are just rotting away and taking up valuable space.

Personally I think whoever owns these vehicles should transfer them to the Electric Railway Museum where they can be cared for

The N&L was totally different even though they were closed the people on set let me look round with pleasure.

There they had a couple of main line diesels 31289 and 47205, the 31 needs a body refurb but work has happened to tart it up a bit but the 47 is in stunning condition I think it must be ex works

More shots of the can be seen on my Flickr site

10 Minutes in Reading

On July 7th I heard there was a couple of special coming through Reading so living just down the road I just had to pop down.

Britannia class 70017 Oliver Cromwell was booked to come through so I thought as I havnt seen it for a little while its worth a shot.

Also the Hastings Diesel Unit was due in just as Cromwell departs, so this means I have to give priority to one or the other.

I knew the Hastings was due in on platform 7 but I didn't know which platform Cromwell was headed so I tried to find the best place to catch them both which isn't easy as the station is undergoing a major rebuild.

Then a station announcement came saying it was due on platform 10 which was the other side of the station so I got in position to get shots of it coming in.

Fortunately it came in a minute or so early which gave me chance to get a couple of shots then dash over the other side for the hastings unit.

As the steamer was pulling out I could see a slim strip of yellow in the distance which was motor car 60016 "Mountfield" 

There are currently 3 operational Hastings Motorcars and 60016 has been painted with a full yellow end which a small number carried in the late 60's.

Unfortunatly there was a First Great Western HST in platform 8 blocking my view but after a little bit of cursing it cruised out exposing the full length of the platform. 

As it rolled in I managed to get shots of all 6 vehicles in the formation, and as it was only in for 3 minutes I had to dash down the platform to get shots of it departing.

So Happy with my efforts I wandered back over to platform to wait for my train back to Reading West as the heavens opened so I was thankful of the shelter then there was an announcement saying to stand clear of platform 9 as a non stopping train was coming through.

I though this would be a freight hauled by the regular 59's or 66's but instead it was a 67 hauling the Orient Express Pullmans.

Well you can't win them all but I got some good shots of Cromwell and the Hastings which you can't beat for 10 minutes work

Oliver Cromwell sitting under the new station complex at Reading

The hastings unit lead by 60016 alongside platform 7

1938 Stock variations

Last week I visited the Isle of Wight for a day riding on heritage trains, the steam line and the old LT 38 stock.

Its a few years since I visited and the fleet has had an overhaul and repaint back into original LT colours.

When I went back through my photo collection I realised I had photographed most of the livery variations used on the 38's so I thought I would post them here

The original Livery with the window bars painted cream, many of the last units used on the Northern Line also had this livery variation to mark the end of service

This is the preserved Unit seen in 1996 at Cockfosters Depot

This is the more conventional livery seen on the vehicle preserved at the LT Museum at Covent Garden

Some units were used by the engineers and received yellow livery

This is the weedkilling unit which was taken out out service a couple of years ago but still survives at West Ruislip Depot

And now for something completely different, The tunnel cleaning train.

A heavily converted 38 stock has been turned into what is basically a giant vacuum cleaner.

Like the weedkiller was withdrawn a few years ago as the job is now done using a few modified wagons.

These are the last 38's still owned by the Underground

The Isle of Wight

 When the 38's were first taken over to the Island they had been given a full overhaul at Eastleigh and recived Network South East Livery.

When the NSE livery was getting a little shabby it was given a pale blue with dinosaur graphics, as many dinosaurs have been found on the island over the years.

For me personally I didn't like it and it cheapened the look of the classic 38's

Bringing us up to date is the original livery.

A few years ago the the Dino livery faded rather quickly and one set was painted in London Transport red allbeit with a yellow warning panel to comply with todays regulations.

It was planned for the fleet to have different liveries from various companies I.e. Southern and BR but this never emerged and the lot were pained LT red 

One unit which was never mentioned on the Island was the spares train.

The Idea was if a spare body shell was need they had two to chose from but these were stripped for spares in 1991 when the fleet was reduced in size. 

A bit of a sad ending is unit 001.

When the fleet was reduced by half in the 90's the best vehicles were kept and the rest were kept for spares.

001 is seen in the grave yard having been partially stripped of spares and was later cut up

A plethora of Pecketts

Over the last couple of months I haven't had much opportunity to get to preserved lines due to the extremely wet drought we have been experiencing.

Many of the lines I have visited have been the smaller ones who run "Industrials". For me I love to see these locos running and are just as interesting as the big main line steam engines, but most of the locos I have been seeing are Pecketts

The first I visited was the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Line, they dont have any steam of their own but do hire in a different loco every year.

This years loco was Peckett 1859 'Sir Gomer'.

I have a bit of a personal attachment with this loco as I remember seeing it run at Mountain Ash colliery  when I was a kid in the 1970's.

Also I was involved in the restoration of it at Cardiff before the then owning group then moved to Barry.

  

Another line I visited was the Bristol Harbour Railway, I was so impressed at my visit in the winter when nothing was running (see previous blog) I had to go back on an operating day.

Sadly the drought conditions ment I got drenched but the  dockside cranes made a brilliant backdrop for steam.

This line may only have one locomotive Peckett 1940, as it is a council run attraction but it is well worth a visit especially if your thinking about modelling an industrial railway.

Another place which had Pecketts was the National Railway Museum

The first running was 'Teddy' No 2012 this is claimed to be the smallest standard gauge steam loco

The second Peckett at the event was 2150 also known as the 'Mardy Monster'.

This is the largest and most powerful saddle tank locomotive in the UK.

I remember seeing this loco dumped at Maerdy Colliery in the 70's (also not two spellings of Maerdy, on the loco it's spelt the english way), back then the loco was in a condition where it could have come out of Woodhams so it's good too see it up and running.

For more of my pics of these lines and other events I went to where there are no Pecketts have a look at my Flickr site

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris_adams/

Bristol Docks

A few weeks ago I went to Bristol and it was getting dark when I ventured down to the dock area.

As I'm currently planning my model railway I'm currently on the look out for inspiration and the dockside gave me lots of that.

Four of the old cranes have been saved along with the  railway line, have you ever wondered how you can utilise the old Airfix Dockside crane kit well heres how.

Even though im not planning a dockside I am planning an industrial section so bits n pieces will be used.

Hope you like the photos and I hope you can get inspiration out of them too. 

Happy New Year

Happy New year to everyone in cyber land 


The last few months due to lack of time and even less funds I haven't had any time to do any modelling whatsoever, as far as photography is concerned i aint done much of that either.
I have been sorting out some of my pics what I took in 2011 and used them to update my Flickr site 
I tend to put the miscellaneous and ones which for some reason never made it on to Flickr on my site at this time of year, it  makes up for lack of up to date photography.
To find my pics click the link 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris_adams/


Hope you like them 

Army Shunter

I popped into my local branch of Model Zone today and having a look at their limited editions I noticed a bright blue & red 08 diesel shunter.
Realising they had modeled one of the Longmoor Military Railways shunters I thought it was worth a second look.
the main draw back is the model is an 08 where as the LMR had Class 11's. Whats the difference I hear you say, well from a modelling point of view the main difference is the cabinets on the running plates are different apart from that its minor stuff like lights etc.
So after weighing up the pros and cons I thought there isn't any class 11's on the market and it would be a big job to convert an 08 so I thought what the heck and parted with my cash

This will go well with an old Dapol Austerity I have which is in Army Green, a few years back Hornby released an Austerity in LMR blue but the shade was well off so I never bothered getting one.
I wish the industry would think more about producing non main line locomotives as there is so many interesting prototypes out there.
This came at the right time a I have been thinking of modelling some army stuff for a while.
I have noticed at many preserved railways there are always a few ex army wagons most commonly warflats and warwells which are normally in use carrying track or boilers and stuff like that.

You also see many box vans on railways like these the top is at the East Anglian Railway Museum and the bottom is a pair at Didcot. All these vans are Ex LMS so repainting ready to run stock should be ok.