Doncaster Blues

Welcome to Doncaster Blues.  This site shows the latest developments on my model railway and builds on that which can still be seen on www.freewebs.com/doncaster.  The railway is the same, but the trains which run on it have changed.  We have reverted to the railway of my childhood (a sure sign of middle age, I fear); noisy big diesels and grimy rail blue reigns supreme.

It is, of course, easy to romanticise the railways of yesteryear; indeed, doing so is the basis of an entire industry within our hobby.  However, in researching this new project I was struck by the sheer range of trains running over the network and the comprehensive service offered by BR.  The service may not have been so intense, but you could turn up at Kings Cross in the middle of the night and jump on a train to the north.  You may have had to share your accommodation with mail sorters or the next day’s newspapers, but the railway was open for business.  Then there was the optimism of it all; InterCity 125 was ushering in a new era of speed and comfort.  The marketing department was actively selling its image of speed, comfort and modernity whilst the operators were doing their part to ensure the reliability of a timetable which included some truly staggering end-to-end timings.  Whilst my wish to include the Deltics keeps the layout pre-1982, and so ahead of the fastest East Coast IC125 schedules, we still had the Flying Scotsman, and several other trains, sweeping majestically through York non-stop, and there were regular direct trains from London to Hull and Cleethorpes.  Every year, the new timetable (in May, rather than December) brought pride in shorter journeys and occasionally the operators would lay on a special train with the specific aim of breaking a record and gaining publicity.  Over on the Western Region the timetable included regular runs which would make today’s travellers, crammed into their garishly refurbished Mk IIIs, weep.  When did the privatised railway deliver passengers to Reading in 22 minutes, or Bristol Parkway in 65?  Didcot in 31 minutes or Exeter in 115?  Sadly, the answer is never.  And nor does there appear to be any enthusiasm for such timings.  These days, it appears to be all about CO2 emissions and ticket barriers.  Important perhaps, but not something I am enthusiastic about recreating in OO.

I do hope you enjoy your visit.  As always, I’d love to hear from you about your thoughts, so please feel free to email me with any comments you have at thepm@dircon.co.uk.  Excitements ahead include the introduction of IC125 later this year (when Hornby bring out their much-awaited new power car) as well as a re-engining project for my fleet of underpowered and slow Bachmann Deltics.  So, watch this space.
  

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