Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 21, 2018 23:38:56 GMT
I can't seem to find the technology thread you mentioned with the pictures of the model railway? I have been staring at a screen with deadines most of the day so I think I've just run out of brain function, but if you could humour me by telling me which section it's in, I'd love to take a look! Hi, its in this off topic section, technology 1960s to 1990s, starts with phones. The loco in the foreground is an 8F, by the way!
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Post by Gene Hunt on Feb 22, 2018 6:40:57 GMT
I can't seem to find the technology thread you mentioned with the pictures of the model railway? I have been staring at a screen with deadines most of the day so I think I've just run out of brain function, but if you could humour me by telling me which section it's in, I'd love to take a look! Hi, its in this off topic section, technology 1960s to 1990s, starts with phones. The loco in the foreground is an 8F, by the way! Here you go Bols. Model Railway Post
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DI Alex Drake
AWOL
Quite frankly, your guess is as good as mine.
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Post by DI Alex Drake on Feb 22, 2018 10:00:12 GMT
Hi, its in this off topic section, technology 1960s to 1990s, starts with phones. The loco in the foreground is an 8F, by the way! Here you go Bols. Model Railway PostGod, I'm being spoon-fed by both Sam Tyler and the Manc Lion how ever will I live this down? I have to say with a few hours sleep behind me, it's now painfully obvious where that thread should have been. Sorry! Thanks Guv, and Cartman - I'll reply over there!
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Villain
Director
Nine Elms, 1970, looking for the loot...
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Post by Villain on Feb 22, 2018 12:24:05 GMT
Cheers Villain, talking about 37s, I remember a thread on a railway forum by a driver and he rated them as the best loco he worked on. From memory, he didn’t rate class 40s, said they were overweight and underpowered, preferring 47s. Is the Lickey incline in your territory, by the way? 1 in 37 between Bromsgrove and Blackwell On steam, the driver I used to know liked the Ivatt class 2s, and 8Fs but they didn’t get any of those until very late in the steam era, the L & Y section seemed to get the stuff that other parts of the LMR didn’t want, WD 2-8-0s were common there and were notoriously rough and noisy, I am just about old enough to remember watching them shunt Radcliffe Goods yard when I was about 7 or 8 Happy days! Yes, the Lickey is on my route card on the route from Brum down to Gloucester, last year I was down there quite a bit working engineering trains on the new track layout and station. The bank itself is a corker, as you say 1 in 37 and is the steepest mainline gradient in the country. Going up it with a heavy load you need a good run up and greens all the way but on one occasion before it was resignalled the signalman at Gloucester panel hadn't pulled off the all the way up, the signal at the very top of the bank was still red. Even so, to keep the momentum up I was still on full power but only doing about 20mph, if I had shut off power and had to stop I'd never have got going again without assistance from the banking loco at Bromsgrove, luckily that day he pulled off just as I was approaching the AWS magnet about 200 yards short of the signal. Going down the bank with a heavy train tends to concentrate the mind, even more so on a wet or frosty rail. If the signal at the bottom just before Bromsgrove station is at danger you go over the top at about 20mph with the brake half way in, however gravity and physics take over and push you downhill with rising speed, you have to balance the braking very carefully to stop the wheels picking up and sliding by the signal. I do like working down this route though, especially if I'm routed via Droitwich Spa and Worcester Shrub Hill as they still have their manual signalboxes and BR Western Region semaphore signalling intact. I can understand why that driver liked the 37s, they're good grafters and mostly very reliable. My favourites that I've worked on are the Class 50s, with only fifty built I got to drive the whole class and always enjoyed thrashing them which they seemed to thrive on. They're not very comfortable though, 47s were much better for that although were very draughty in Winter, sometimes we used to wrap our legs in black bin liners to keep the draughts out! 31s were ok but too heavy and underpowered. Classes I've worked on and driven are 08, 09, 25, 31, 37, 40, 45, 46, 47, 50, 56, 58, 60, 66, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87 and HSTs. Villain (with apologies for derailing the thread... )
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 22, 2018 13:43:45 GMT
Thanks Villain, three groups of people I always find interesting to talk to are railwaymen, busmen and wagon drivers. I suppose a lot of the dud locos, such as the NBL type 2s, Claytons and Metrovicks had long gone before you started.
The Lickey used to have its own dedicated loco to push trains up the bank, an 0-10-0, called Big Bertha, later a 9F.
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Post by Sam Tyler on Feb 22, 2018 14:19:21 GMT
Back onto the topic of top work days: Many years ago and employed in the best job I've ever had I was working out on various sites around the Isle Of Wight. Many sites meant working outside and were located adjacent to or very near the beaches so the opportunity to go for a dip in the briny of an (often extended) lunchtime was never missed. If it was school holidays I would often also knock off early to meet my wife and kids at the nearest beach. Those were the days! Sam.
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