Arisaig station (the one before Mallaig) is the most westerly in Britain, only about 18 miles east of Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point of the British mainland.
Of course the LNER did go to the most easterly station: Lowestoft Central.
I see Clun Castle is due to pass through Oxfordshire in May. It's coming down from Birmingham, on its way to Plymouth and London, via Bristol. Mentioning it here in case anyone is interested in seeing it as it goes on its merry way.
Anyone interested in signalling?
Yesterday I was walking along an old canal in Romsey, Hampshire, having dropped off Mrs Vole at the theatre.
I stumbled across Romsey Signal Box -a wonderful working museum manned by volunteers who just love sharing their knowledge of all things signalling!
Their website is easy to find if you would like to see what they have.
British railway signalling is a fascinating subject indeed, though AFAIK there are now very few *traditional* semaphore signals and/or signal cabins left, other than on heritage railways, of course.
At the end of 2022 there were 237 signal boxes still in use on Network Rail that date from before 1948. Only around half of those control semaphore signals, but it's still a significant number, down from around 20,000 a hundred years ago.
I remember my delight, a few years ago, travelling from Harrogate to York and finding the line controlled by semaphores (and with a couple of old-fashioned level crossings as well). I think that's all changed now.
At the end of 2022 there were 237 signal boxes still in use on Network Rail that date from before 1948. Only around half of those control semaphore signals, but it's still a significant number, down from around 20,000 a hundred years ago.
This company https://www.pcrail.co.uk/ produces signalling simulations you can play with. I favour the heritage series, but be aware that they are serious thieves of time.
Thanks for the link @Sighthound - I'll check it out later, bearing in mind your Solemn Warning (which is applicable to most things related to railways...).
Looking at their website, I see that one of their latest heritage series offerings (labelled as very difficult !) is based on The Town Of My Youth (1950s-60s), so that might be an absolute must.
Meanwhile, my Tolkien-inspired Buckland Railway has just taken delivery of a second 042 tender engine (from the Dwarves of the Iron Mountain) in the form of the Hornby 00 scale model of the Liverpool & Manchester's Tiger.
It differs considerably from its sister (brother?) Lion (I have the Rapido model), but is a delightful thing in its own right. I hope that someone will soon produce some generic 1840s coaches, wagons, and people!
The slippery slope into N gauge continues at pace. I have sold almost all my OO* and now have a Grange, Hall, Manor, Dukedog, 2884, and 64XX for a putative junction station and engine shed based somewhere in 1940s south Birmingham.
Sort of a what-if the North Warwickshire line had been built about 40 years earlier, and instead of stations at Yardley Wood and Hall Green the GWR had built a junction station between the two, with a branch through Moseley to Edgbaston cricket ground.... (which would have been either Cannon Hill station or Balsall Heath).
Of course in reality they didn't, and Tyseley provided the MPD, but this is my world.
*I kept a few items for the club's GC layout, and also my Mid Suffolk bits and pieces for that slow burning diorama based on Mendlesham, but the overwhelming majority of stock has gone.
Have you visited the revived Middy at Brockford? Well worth a visit.
There are a few remnants of the old line in situ but you have to look for them very carefully: bridge abutments near Debenham, and a platform (usually covered in farmyard muck) at Aspall & Thorndon, although that may have gone. Mangapps Farm in Essex has the old Horham station building (not in situ of course!)
Have you visited the revived Middy at Brockford? Well worth a visit.
There are a few remnants of the old line in situ but you have to look for them very carefully: bridge abutments near Debenham, and a platform (usually covered in farmyard muck) at Aspall & Thorndon, although that may have gone. Mangapps Farm in Essex has the old Horham station building (not in situ of course!)
I'm the most armchair member of the Middy possible - I pay my £15 pa or whatever it is for membership, but I've never been within 30 miles of that part of Suffolk!
We used to live in Ipswich, so it wasn't far. On my last visit (c.2016) I was invited to ride on the footplate of the Cocjkerill vertical-boilered Tram Engine - yay! With us was a lady who, the previous day, had been firing a 9F on the North Norfolk line - quite a contrast!
The Mid-Suffolk lends itself to modelling, especially perhaps the bit(s) that were never built or completed. What might Debenham Station have looked like, for example, had it been open to goods and passenger traffic? Might it have survived even further into BR days than the Laxfield section?
It differs considerably from its sister (brother?) Lion (I have the Rapido model), but is a delightful thing in its own right. I hope that someone will soon produce some generic 1840s coaches, wagons, and people!
Its sibling Lion gets you around the gender issues.
It differs considerably from its sister (brother?) Lion (I have the Rapido model), but is a delightful thing in its own right. I hope that someone will soon produce some generic 1840s coaches, wagons, and people!
Its sibling Lion gets you around the gender issues.
So it does!
As to people, there are HO scale figures in 19thC dress (not necessarily correct for the 1830s, of course) by various European firms, and I'm keeping an eye on Mr E Bay's Magickal Interweb Emporium for examples.
Meanwhile, lineside and footplate staffing is provided by the Wardie Brothers - Jed, Ned, Ed, Ted, and Fred - all in their obligatory moleskin trowsers, but at least the Hornby Era 1 locomotives come with a rather well-dressed crew. No sign of the white fustian overalls (clean every Monday) prescribed by the early Great Western rules...
There's a company called Modelu who do Victorian figures. 3D prints. They are, however, reassuringly expensive, or they are in 7mm scale. Quality, though, is excellent. They produce them in almost any scale that anyone is likely to use.
There's a company called Modelu who do Victorian figures. 3D prints. They are, however, reassuringly expensive, or they are in 7mm scale. Quality, though, is excellent. They produce them in almost any scale that anyone is likely to use.
Thanks!
Yes, Modelu produce some vey fine 00 scale figures, but alas! they need to be painted, which is beyond my capabilities these days.
Some of the European firms (Preiser, Noch etc.) do ready-painted H0 scale figures from various periods, though not many from the 1830s and 40s. They would be quite OK with the small Era 1 rolling-stock, though, and my mission for tomorrow is to have a trawl though eBay to see what's on offer...
Having been a working member (footplate crew) on Another Great Little Railway a fair few years ago (my last visit was in 2006!), I would recommend it. Living rather a long way from Wales, Mrs BF and I used to make a full week of it, that being the most we could manage at one go.
I don't doubt that more working members will always be welcome, and I guess that goes for most Heritage Railways.
Having been a working member (footplate crew) on Living rather a long way from Wales, Mrs BF and I used to make a full week of it, that being the most we could manage at one go.
Of course Wilbert Awdry ("The Thomas the Tank Engine Man") was a volunteer in the early preservation years ... his wife got rather fed up of being dumped on the beach with the children when he went to play trains.
P.S. Excellent colour photo on the back cover of this month's "Backtrack" magazine, taken on the very first day of preservation-era running in 1951.
Having been a working member (footplate crew) on Another Great Little Railway a fair few years ago (my last visit was in 2006!), I would recommend it. Living rather a long way from Wales, Mrs BF and I used to make a full week of it, that being the most we could manage at one go.
I don't doubt that more working members will always be welcome, and I guess that goes for most Heritage Railways.
I'm 3.5 hours drive away and went up in the morning in time for the first train, stayed overnight then came back to Mrs B and the children. I think I could make it work, but would probably have to be odd days here and there rather than a week. So probably guarding the museum or cutting the grass. The Talyllyn do seem remarkably receptive to finding people something to do if they just turn up.
Having been a working member (footplate crew) on Another Great Little Railway a fair few years ago (my last visit was in 2006!), I would recommend it. Living rather a long way from Wales, Mrs BF and I used to make a full week of it, that being the most we could manage at one go.
I don't doubt that more working members will always be welcome, and I guess that goes for most Heritage Railways.
I'm 3.5 hours drive away and went up in the morning in time for the first train, stayed overnight then came back to Mrs B and the children. I think I could make it work, but would probably have to be odd days here and there rather than a week. So probably guarding the museum or cutting the grass. The Talyllyn do seem remarkably receptive to finding people something to do if they just turn up.
3.5 hours isn't so bad - it used to take Mrs BF and I most of the day to get to the Welsh border!
Having been a working member (footplate crew) on Another Great Little Railway a fair few years ago (my last visit was in 2006!), I would recommend it. Living rather a long way from Wales, Mrs BF and I used to make a full week of it, that being the most we could manage at one go.
I don't doubt that more working members will always be welcome, and I guess that goes for most Heritage Railways.
I'm 3.5 hours drive away and went up in the morning in time for the first train, stayed overnight then came back to Mrs B and the children. I think I could make it work, but would probably have to be odd days here and there rather than a week. So probably guarding the museum or cutting the grass. The Talyllyn do seem remarkably receptive to finding people something to do if they just turn up.
3.5 hours isn't so bad - it used to take Mrs BF and I most of the day to get to the Welsh border!
Agree, I’ve got no excuse not to really. Also managed a crawl around St Cadfan - Tywyn’s CiW parish church, all sorts of interesting things in there
I can sympathise with Mrs Awdry. The beach at Tywyn is pretty bleak , or was in my day.
It's actually quite nice now - as long as you face it and not the colony of static caravans. The promenade was litter and detritus-free, the beach looked clean, the sea was pretty clear and I saw dolphins frolicking about 500 yards offshore. This was last Friday. Also, in the town, not many boarded up shops and plenty of independent businesses. I wouldn't go so far as to say it felt prosperous, but it certainly didn't feel like the town was on its uppers either.
To be honest, there are worse places to have been last week.
On a slight tangent, though related in that it's a stop on a pleasant coastal railway route, if you want beaches that have changed out of all recognition in the last couple of decades, then I can point you in the direction of Seaham Harbour.
In my 1980s childhood, visiting relatives, it boasted three collieries and one of those nice aerial ropeways to drop the slag out at sea. On stormy days the tide came in black.
In my 1990s teens doing a geography project on the impact of the end of the coal industry, the town was pretty-well boarded up, and the beaches were filthy.
Now, when the sun shines it's really very nice indeed. A lot of money has been spent in Seaham. Maybe some of the improvements are superficial, but they are improvements.
Came across this very satisfying Yorkshire Dales Model Railway on YouTube.
Enjoy!
Good videos - thank you for posting. I especially like watching the Crab - always one of my favourites.
On a different topic, I recently had my first trip (among numerous others) on the reincarnated Borders Railway. We only went as far as Galashiels, having been warned that there wasn't a pub in Tweedbank for lunch, but it was a beautiful trip with a frequent fast service through an area that was once familiar. Not much chance of getting a North British Atlantic recreated for it, though.
A fond memory of the Talyllyn Railway: Many years ago, we took my family on a trip on the line. On arrival, we found Sir Haydn heading the train. (This was after the early Tom Rolt years, and the track had been attended to, so this loco could be used.) My young daughter, aged about 4, and brought up on the Awdry stories, noticed there was water dripping from Sir Haydn's cylinder drain cocks. She trotted over to it, patted a buffer, and said 'Never mind. little engine, don't cry. You'll be all right.' And indeed it was a good trip and a fine day. ('Aaah', everybody.)
A fond memory of the Talyllyn Railway: Many years ago, we took my family on a trip on the line. On arrival, we found Sir Haydn heading the train. (This was after the early Tom Rolt years, and the track had been attended to, so this loco could be used.) My young daughter, aged about 4, and brought up on the Awdry stories, noticed there was water dripping from Sir Haydn's cylinder drain cocks. She trotted over to it, patted a buffer, and said 'Never mind. little engine, don't cry. You'll be all right.' And indeed it was a good trip and a fine day. ('Aaah', everybody.)
Take the Welsh Highland Railway, starting from Caernarfon. You may just want to do the short trip to Beddgelert - it's the better half IMO. We did it last year and came back by bus (which for us was free).
Lovely. I hope it will spend some time in earlier liveries. I am not sure that early BR really suits it, though this is always a matter of personal preference.
Lovely. I hope it will spend some time in earlier liveries. I am not sure that early BR really suits it, though this is always a matter of personal preference.
I’m not a southern expert but I’m not totally sure they could without it being a pastiche - what they’ve built is a Brighton Atlantic in 1950s condition/configuration. I know there was work done to change the boiler pressure between build and British Railways for starters
I love Brighton Atlantics - despite it being totally wrong for all my railway interests and indeed these days the wrong scale altogether… I do have a lovely 32425 Trevose Head in BR early crest black in OO - magnificent
I have Bradley's books on LBSCR locomotives, so will check as to what modifications were made over the course of the lives of the Atlantics, but it's perhaps worth pointing out that only Very Senior Citizens will now remember any earlier livery (Southern green, whether Maunsell or Bulleid), and the BR lined black suited them well IMHO.
A remarkable achievement, and a welcome addition to the list of *new* or *replica* locomotives. What next, I wonder? I guess there are a few in the pipeline, so to speak.
The replicas of very early locomotives are Fun, albeit perhaps not always entirely accurate, and I'd like to see one of the Middleton Railway rack-and-pinion engines of 1812 - the first to be commercially successful, working for about 20 years. They were 4 feet 1 inch gauge, and the engines built for Wylam Colliery by William Hedley in 1813 (Puffing Billy and his siblings) were 5 feet gauge, working until as late as 1862.
Comments
Of course the LNER did go to the most easterly station: Lowestoft Central.
Smart engine, though, even if it is Great Western. GW engines always look thin and half-starved to my eyes.
I'll let meself out.
Yesterday I was walking along an old canal in Romsey, Hampshire, having dropped off Mrs Vole at the theatre.
I stumbled across Romsey Signal Box -a wonderful working museum manned by volunteers who just love sharing their knowledge of all things signalling!
Their website is easy to find if you would like to see what they have.
https://romseysignalbox.org.uk/
British railway signalling is a fascinating subject indeed, though AFAIK there are now very few *traditional* semaphore signals and/or signal cabins left, other than on heritage railways, of course.
More than I thought - thanks for the info!
Looking at their website, I see that one of their latest heritage series offerings (labelled as very difficult !) is based on The Town Of My Youth (1950s-60s), so that might be an absolute must.
Meanwhile, my Tolkien-inspired Buckland Railway has just taken delivery of a second 042 tender engine (from the Dwarves of the Iron Mountain) in the form of the Hornby 00 scale model of the Liverpool & Manchester's Tiger.
It differs considerably from its sister (brother?) Lion (I have the Rapido model), but is a delightful thing in its own right. I hope that someone will soon produce some generic 1840s coaches, wagons, and people!
Sort of a what-if the North Warwickshire line had been built about 40 years earlier, and instead of stations at Yardley Wood and Hall Green the GWR had built a junction station between the two, with a branch through Moseley to Edgbaston cricket ground.... (which would have been either Cannon Hill station or Balsall Heath).
Of course in reality they didn't, and Tyseley provided the MPD, but this is my world.
*I kept a few items for the club's GC layout, and also my Mid Suffolk bits and pieces for that slow burning diorama based on Mendlesham, but the overwhelming majority of stock has gone.
There are a few remnants of the old line in situ but you have to look for them very carefully: bridge abutments near Debenham, and a platform (usually covered in farmyard muck) at Aspall & Thorndon, although that may have gone. Mangapps Farm in Essex has the old Horham station building (not in situ of course!)
I'm the most armchair member of the Middy possible - I pay my £15 pa or whatever it is for membership, but I've never been within 30 miles of that part of Suffolk!
https://eveleighcreations.com
I think other models have been made.
Its sibling Lion gets you around the gender issues.
So it does!
As to people, there are HO scale figures in 19thC dress (not necessarily correct for the 1830s, of course) by various European firms, and I'm keeping an eye on Mr E Bay's Magickal Interweb Emporium for examples.
Meanwhile, lineside and footplate staffing is provided by the Wardie Brothers - Jed, Ned, Ed, Ted, and Fred - all in their obligatory moleskin trowsers, but at least the Hornby Era 1 locomotives come with a rather well-dressed crew. No sign of the white fustian overalls (clean every Monday) prescribed by the early Great Western rules...
Thanks!
Yes, Modelu produce some vey fine 00 scale figures, but alas! they need to be painted, which is beyond my capabilities these days.
Some of the European firms (Preiser, Noch etc.) do ready-painted H0 scale figures from various periods, though not many from the 1830s and 40s. They would be quite OK with the small Era 1 rolling-stock, though, and my mission for tomorrow is to have a trawl though eBay to see what's on offer...
I don't doubt that more working members will always be welcome, and I guess that goes for most Heritage Railways.
P.S. Excellent colour photo on the back cover of this month's "Backtrack" magazine, taken on the very first day of preservation-era running in 1951.
I'm 3.5 hours drive away and went up in the morning in time for the first train, stayed overnight then came back to Mrs B and the children. I think I could make it work, but would probably have to be odd days here and there rather than a week. So probably guarding the museum or cutting the grass. The Talyllyn do seem remarkably receptive to finding people something to do if they just turn up.
3.5 hours isn't so bad - it used to take Mrs BF and I most of the day to get to the Welsh border!
Agree, I’ve got no excuse not to really. Also managed a crawl around St Cadfan - Tywyn’s CiW parish church, all sorts of interesting things in there
Hehe...part of it was via the M25 and the M6, driving along which at times was about as quick as shuffling on one's knees...
It's actually quite nice now - as long as you face it and not the colony of static caravans. The promenade was litter and detritus-free, the beach looked clean, the sea was pretty clear and I saw dolphins frolicking about 500 yards offshore. This was last Friday. Also, in the town, not many boarded up shops and plenty of independent businesses. I wouldn't go so far as to say it felt prosperous, but it certainly didn't feel like the town was on its uppers either.
To be honest, there are worse places to have been last week.
In my 1980s childhood, visiting relatives, it boasted three collieries and one of those nice aerial ropeways to drop the slag out at sea. On stormy days the tide came in black.
In my 1990s teens doing a geography project on the impact of the end of the coal industry, the town was pretty-well boarded up, and the beaches were filthy.
Now, when the sun shines it's really very nice indeed. A lot of money has been spent in Seaham. Maybe some of the improvements are superficial, but they are improvements.
Enjoy!
Good videos - thank you for posting. I especially like watching the Crab - always one of my favourites.
On a different topic, I recently had my first trip (among numerous others) on the reincarnated Borders Railway. We only went as far as Galashiels, having been warned that there wasn't a pub in Tweedbank for lunch, but it was a beautiful trip with a frequent fast service through an area that was once familiar. Not much chance of getting a North British Atlantic recreated for it, though.
Wow! What a beauty!
A lovely story - thanks @Eirenist.
Lovely. I hope it will spend some time in earlier liveries. I am not sure that early BR really suits it, though this is always a matter of personal preference.
I’m not a southern expert but I’m not totally sure they could without it being a pastiche - what they’ve built is a Brighton Atlantic in 1950s condition/configuration. I know there was work done to change the boiler pressure between build and British Railways for starters
A remarkable achievement, and a welcome addition to the list of *new* or *replica* locomotives. What next, I wonder? I guess there are a few in the pipeline, so to speak.
The replicas of very early locomotives are Fun, albeit perhaps not always entirely accurate, and I'd like to see one of the Middleton Railway rack-and-pinion engines of 1812 - the first to be commercially successful, working for about 20 years. They were 4 feet 1 inch gauge, and the engines built for Wylam Colliery by William Hedley in 1813 (Puffing Billy and his siblings) were 5 feet gauge, working until as late as 1862.