Mixed Traffic

pines express from Doc Sleaze on Vimeo.
It's a bank holiday and all sorts of things are going on right now, but I decided that I'd just stick to the trains today.  This time around we have a mixture of freight and passenger trains, not to mention a mixture of motive power.  First up is a BRCW Type 3 diesel (what we nowadays call a Class 33) on an unfitted freight train.  The loco is an old Lima model which, to be honest, I'm surprised still runs.  It isn't terribly detailed and growls noisily when it runs, but nonetheless it captures the character of these workhorses, which served BR (SR) faithfully for forty plus years.  Passing the freight train as it sits stopped at a (currently non-existent) signal in the station, is rebuilt Merchant Navy 'Clan Line', hauling the diverted  'Pines Express'.  The loco is my venerable Wrenn rebuilt Bulleid pacific which, over the past couple of months, has had a lot of work done on it to return it to service.  It is seen here before the latest work, which involved reverting the loco-to-tender coupling to its standard configuration - the closer coupling it still has here is what contributes to its sometimes jerky and hesitant performance.

The coaches behind it are another rake of Trix BR Mk1s.  As noted before, these are slightly underscale, thanks to Trix's insistence on equating '00' gauge to 1/80 scale, rather than 1/76, like everyone else.  As long as they aren't run coupled up to correct scale coaches, however, the difference really isn't apparent.  The final train on view is a parcels train hauled by JA class Electro-Diesel E6001 (what we'd now call a Class 73).  This is another Lima loco, of later vintage to the Type 3, recently returned to service after repairs.  In contrast to the Type 3, the body detailing is fantastic - it is probably one of the nicest models Lima ever produced, (a version is still available from Hornby).  As the layout has no third rail, we have to assume that it is hauling its train using its auxiliary diesel engine, rather than on full electric power.  The train behind it is a mixture of Triang-Hornby, Lima and Mainline.  As well as the trains, parts of the newly laid storage yard, already filled with stock and locos, can be glimpsed in some shots.

This particular collection of motive power (not to mention the presence of the 'Pines Express' on part of the Waterloo mainline), would place the period at around 1965-66, when all three locos could be seen running in these versions of their liveries. (Both the Type 3 and the JA - introduced in 1959 and 1962 respectively - were originally painted all green with grey roofs, the yellow warning panels being added in the mid-sixties).  Finally, for what is worth, the real E6001 and 'Clan Line' still exist and run to this day, (although E6001 now has a different number).