[43006]

Good afternoon (well, it was when I started this!)
I'm 43006, an Ivatt 4MT (and NOT an HST power car), with a 50% chance of being already preserved at Haverthwaite! As you will have noticed, I've a lousy sense of humour!

To translate this garbage, "O.F." are the initial letters of 2 words that rhyme with "cold start" and Auld Reekie is an old nick-name for Edinburgh, where I live, though I'm not a Jock.
I chose 43006, as it was one of the loco's that pulled my school train from Seascale (just south of Sellafield, on the West Cumbrian Coast Line) via Sellafield, and the long-closed station of Beckermet to Egremont. It was nearly always an Ivatt 4MT that pulled us in the morning, tender first. 43006 and 43106 were the most common, and 43106 has been preserved. I THINK it used to be at the Lakeside Railway in South Cumbria, but it's now at the Severn Valley Railway. The loco on the way back was nearly always a 'Black 5', the one on a Friday was always a stranger to the area. On the only time they put a diesel on (a Met-Vick Co-Bo, D5706?), it broke down at Sellafield. One day, they put a 'Brit' on it! - 'Morning Star' if my memory serves me right. I was in 7th Heaven! This magnificent beast that used to haul crack expresses in the 1950's was pulling MY school train in 1966! Just before all steam was withdrawn, they put on 3x2-car Derby Units (we called them 'Bug-Carts'), in the range 790XX (Motor Brake Second) and 796XX (Driving Trailer Composite). However, my interest in Railways waned a bit when steam went.
It was seriously re-kindled from 2001-2004 when I lived and worked in Stanmore, North London. As well as returning home to Edinburgh every 2 or 3 weeks up the ECML, I made full use of the London One Day Travel Card, travelling on nearly EVERY public railway line within the 'GLC' areas, including Amersham & Chesham. This included the W&C, the DLR and the Croydon Tramlink.

My principal interest are timetables, particularly GNER, Virgin (XC and WC), Hull Trains, GCR (whenever they decide to get going), MML and GWR. I am in the process of trying to re-write ALL their timetables into CLOCKFACE format, without venturing towards a 'taktfahrplan'. To do the job properly, I need accurate train timing information, and I can only get that from a document that the public can't get hold of, and that's a WORKING TIMETABLE. To that end I'll be starting another thread, as soon as I can find the right place to put it! If there's anything of that you don't understand, let me know.

Any questions???

43006