Recent content by ChiefPlanner

Back in the 1980's I stayed with a friend on the Upper West Side in NYC and explored the city and especially the Bronx - not a problem anywhere and the subway was fine , provided one kept a slightly more wary approach. Mayor Koch was in charge then - determined to clean the city up - especially...

From my experience as an operations manager , we slowed right down to about 3 miles per hour to avoid a dog - which then continued to move in front of the 313 , horns did nothing , so in the end I nipped out - caught the mut and held him till the train had passed and re-boarded via the Guards...

Back in the day - RT issued a list of "permitted routes" for steam - including oddly the Watford DC lines ! - I was advised not to even consider it ! (Bedford - Bletchley was included and it all went badly wrong for delays etc .......for reliability purposes a handy RES 47 was "borrowed" which...

A pair of Bletchley's finest 117's came apart one dark morning , running ECS , around Tring. Not bad as it had come off the depot !

Overnight on business in Cardiff so I rose early and went to check on the 0600 Carmarthen - Waterloo at Central - maybe 60% loaded and the train all but emptied there and a few got on. I dare say the ORCAT's share was welcome to W&W , - bit of a hard job for the traincrew though ......no time...

They loaded very poorly - a waste of valuable resources !

I have a class 117 DMU mounted blind box at home (gifted when I left North London Rlys) , so I can amuse myself by putting up various destinations (not always served though - such as Ealing Broadway) , quite like Camden Road or Euston. There is a "catch all" of "Special"

47111 was the victim - the first main line loco I drove (up the headshunt at Canton as a student on a visit - the driver who showed us round fired her up and we all had a go under his keen eye ! - top man that)

These were as a result of aspirations to connect into pre-HS1 services into services for the Channel Tunnel , though they developed some commercial traffic non Tunnel related ! (Wales and West as they were seemed to like them !)

From memory , the train was re-marshalled at Crewe , with a portion detached and a section from Liverpool to Glasgow attached. Unfortunately the "new" section was hooked on , not with a proper Freightliner short green strengthened coupling but a passenger red coupling was used. Train stopped at...

Fair to say that the riding quality of a standard brakevan on a main line could be diabolical , especially if there was a driver keen on making home. Comfortless - rock hard "padded" seats and a bare hook to hang a bardic on for illumination , often dirt from the coal fired stove with sometimes...

Even the Ipswich Yard to West Bank RCT was worked by a double manned 08 with a CAR brake van , some times a brake van which had strayed far from it's normal and legal home , and had both a guard and a shunter. Loadings could be heavy - my record was no less than 25 loaded FFA amd FGA wagons when...

Apologies - photo nicked from somewhere in my enthusiasm to illustrate a temporary fix for Freightliner - note they are old school "bottom lift" domestic FLL containers - presumably long since scrapped or ended up in non railway use. !

Colchester - Stratford light engine 08 (overnight) - was I am told , a very tedious job ...........from Ipswich , even more so. Well into the 90's the re-allocation of loco power was done by 222 Marylebone Road until sectorisation ,hence often movements of power around the UK before any major...

In "theory" in the back cab - often , in the front.