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Mid 1990’s was a very bad time for the Oak - there had been massive staff reductions on the maintenance side (hundreds were made redundant) and the train crew weren’t faring much better. Mid to late 1980’s would be better for jobs.

That’s rewriting history. There was no “interest” in the 175 units until the DfT said the HST’s had to go and the 175 units became the only units that could replace them. The decision to junk the 769 units had been made before then, as part of a previous DfT cost-cutting exercise.

Melton Street ran beside Euston on its west side. Home to TSSA HQ for many years. Melton House was/is on Clarendon Road, Watford. It has been converted into a Holiday Inn.

The Looe branch was already closed, due to flood damage on the 18th December, iirc. The Environment Agency and NR have been in discussions as to what needs to be done and it isn’t expected to re-open until the end of the month, at the very earliest. Recent weather hasn’t helped the situation.

DP2 was so liked on the GN. It was reportedly very quick off the mark. The cl.50 was a great loco for powering passenger trains but the cl.47 was more of a true mixed traffic loco and much cheaper to maintain. In a mad moment, I would have liked to see the cl.50 allocated to the ER. The KX...

There are plenty of mentions of passengers in the Avanti submission. Both Avanti and NR stressed the need to run this train as ECS if the rights were not granted. The ORR missed this, having been seduced by the “firebreak” argument. The ORR doesn’t employ clerks to process track access...

They didn’t go ECS (or “cars” in GE speak) up or down the whole of the GE main line. The train working was very economic!

The Lea Valley line was WAGN territory and timetabling was tight on that section so, although it was looked at in Anglia Railways days, it wasn’t a runner. The 170 units were ordered not only for the through services but also for the half hourly Norwich’s. Hence the buffet and guards office...

Certainly for regular services (same for Finsbury Park) but if you need to do it in times of perturbation you could. Really, you want to keep services moving through this whole area of North London, not terminating services at intermediate stations.

No, it was poorly planned. I remember one Sunday block in HST days where it was co-ordinated with 6 car 313 shuttles running Moorgate to Finsbury Park, ECS to Harringay flyover and back to Finsbury Park and then pass down to Moorgate. The idea was to have cross platform interchange at Finsbury...

The stadium has been used by other teams since. It is probably the best condition land they own!

I know about the inter family issues but wasn’t going to mention it on a public forum. It’s been a problem for a few years now, according to my contacts. Ken’s death has tipped the balance. I feel very sorry for the employees.

It’s the death of Ken that has led to this. He has been keeping the business going but it’s been hard going for the past few years. The family now obviously want shot of it and have appointed administers to dispose of/liquidate it. The land will be valuable, even if part of it will be sold as...

Ward’s at Ilkeston are still very much in business and are currently disposing of 455 cars (coming in by road from Derby).

Which also is wibble. I was involved in discussions to acquire new 180 units for another TOC and electric transmission was not on offer. The choices for me were 22x with electric or 180 with hydraulic. Back to the original question. WR had 684 type 2 to type 4 diesels delivered new. Once steam...

The original plan for the first Derby lightweight units was that they, as coaching stock, were to be painted in blood and custard livery, just like the GWR railcars were at the time. However, they were then classed as “motive power”, so they were painted from new in green livery. Subsequent DMU...

It isn’t an error. Lumo requested the paths but NR has managed to get them in earlier than anticipated. An application to the ORR will be made shortly.

There is quite a lot of history on the web, if you know where to look. After the building above ground finished being a sub station (over 100 years ago), it was used as a film studio eventually being bought by Gainsborough Studios. Many famous directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, worked...

The contract, which you can see an old copy of on the DfT’s website, has an availability element and a KPI element, the later being points based. The financial payments are done on a periodic, not daily, basis. There is no, I repeat no, opportunity to withhold any payments whatsoever. The...

1980 is my nomination. All the cutbacks from late 1980 to the end of 1982 date back to BR financial crisis of late 1980 and the serious stuff started from then. It was just over two years of absolute restraint, scrapping and ripping up or closing of everything that wasn’t deemed necessary.