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Nice one Bamber

This is the tunnel which enters from the south under the end of Thurland Street.

I remember travelling on a train under this small opening at the end of Lincoln street.

The row of buildings on the bottom was the ABC clothing warehouse up stairs.

Me mam would take me there for trousers. I would watch the trains from above.

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More can be found at http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk

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VERY COOL!

To me it looks like an ideal plan for some ambitious model train nut! Almost makes me want to do it myself!

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VERY COOL!

To me it looks like an ideal plan for some ambitious model train nut!  Almost makes me want to do it myself!

A friend at Linby built a layout based on the Vic', some years ago...

Around 60' in length, as I recall. With all point and trackwork in place; its straightness, and tunnels both ends, makes it straightforward in modelling terms.

Clearly, had to be at 'ground level' for visibility...no point building it in a hole :rolleyes:

It was in 'N' gauge [half the usual scale] and was eventually sold for £10,000K +.

Cheers

Robt P.

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  • 1 year later...

Was going to say must have had a big room! then I saw n gauge, even so I worked it out to be 11 ft in that with longest platforms around 6ft, once was offered scale model of new basford station, trouble was the builder more interested in reality than model railways as he built it as he saw it ie sidings ripped up and platform buildings demolished!

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Can anyone remember the sound of the famous 'Tin Can' in Thurland Street tunnel.

We used to go regularly trainspotting at Grantham, catching the train from Vic. Initially the trains were hauled by ex LNER V3 2-6-2 tanks, they had a hell of an accelaration and speed, I recall hanging on for grim life in that tatty old non corridor stock that they used to use. Later on the trains came through from Derby Friargate and were hauled by grimy LMS Moguls, then towards the end it was diesel railcars, though you had a good view at least.

Sorry, I digress. In the middle of Thurland Street Tunnel was a 'thingy', we never worked out what it was. As you went through the tunnel, from whatever direction, a clanging noise would start up, getting louder and louder until it went by your window and the sound dissapated. We used to hang out the window to see what it was, but in the smoke filled blackness you could see nowt. It was obviously a warning system for track workers and I was told it was simply an old tin can on a stick that banged against the carriage bogies, an unlikely explanation, but does anyone know any different.

I recall a record that they used to play over and over again on Saturday Morning Childrens Favourites with Uncle Mac. In this record, and I would love to know who it was by, the chap made all sorts of verbal train sounds including the famous tin can noise in Thurland Street tunnel, it wasn't directly referring to that one, it was obviously a national tunnel warning system, he made the suggestion that it was a tin can on a stick, a joke on a record that I heard from other sources too.

Why wasn't the system adopted for the nasty and sulphorous Carrington Street tunnel, or any other tunnel for that matter, considering all my railway trips in that period, I only recall ever hearing this in Thurland Street tunnel.

Just a little aside. We used to go to Derby Open Day every year, trying to catch the train back to Notty was always a nightmare. My late, great, resourceful dad came up with the cunning plan of catching the train from Friargate instead, via a trolleybus trip too. What a fantastic idea, instead of cramming into a packed 3 car diesel from Derby Midland we used to board a steam hauled empty returning excursion from Llandudno instead, always hauled by a Class 5 steam loco.

One year, we entered the infamous Sherwood/Carrington Street tunnels and the lights had failed, for some reason too, all the windows were open, remember those things with the leather straps that were a nightmare to pull closed. It was horrendous, the train was travelling very slowly and we were subjected to totall blackness and choking fumes, I was probably about 12 at the time and terrified, you can't imagine what it was like. I do remember arriving in the platform at Vic though and seeing a GCR Director class parked up in one of the platforms, it made me feel better.

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Can anyone remember the sound of the famous 'Tin Can' in Thurland Street tunnel....

What a great memory!

I also recall the Thurland St 'tin can', and the way it faded, and echoed, as the train went further in to the tunnel.

IIRC, the late Peter Handford had a recording of it on one of his early Transacord LP's - again without any explanation as to it's source.

My GC journies of the 50's were either to the ECML Mecca at Grantham, or on the 'Cutler' down to Rugby for either the Midland Station wall, or the infamous 'Birdcage' bridge.

The 'Cutler' trip usually involved a rush down to the Leicester booking hall for the Leicester - Rugby ticket portion, merely to save a few pence, whilst the A3's were changed on the train. Usually made it back to the platform with seconds to spare!

Great plan of your Dad's to come back from the thronged Derby Works Open Day via Friargate.

I remember cycling there once for the event...never repeated the stunt!

Cheers

Robt P.

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I used to work on the district heating system that fed Victoria Centre and St Ann's, the main pipes from the old boots power station run through the thurland street tunnel and although not strictly in my job description I used to go down the tunnel on pretext of inspecting the mains, there were around 1980 2 cast iron signal lights high up in the tunnel, a red one and a green, originally these had been oil lamps, the green one actually had a almost blue lens which with a yellow flame showed green! I "liberated" the green one, (the red was broken) it was very rusty but you could still make out "GNR" on such and inside was a pot type bulb holder, as per the old outside loo's, and a still working household size bayonet type bulb stamped "British Railways" however such was 12 volt, for years I had such mounted on our house wall, but poverty forced it's sale! I related this tale to a St Ann's resident who was a track maint man in early BR days and how told me of another worker who was hit by a train in the tunnel and literally lost a leg! he says they later found such and buried it under the ballast in the tunnel! He did survive so it was not his ghost that was sounding the tin can warning! Incidently according to Whitakers Almanac in 1938 622 were killed on the railways, 30 were passengers 210 suicides, 4o were killed at level crossings and the rest, all 342 were railway staff, If those figures seem high 8,172, REPEAT 8,172 killed on the roads the same year!

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Hi firbeck

Was the song about the train on Uncle Mac's program, The Runaway Train by Michael Holliday? There were a few train songs around, at that time. Puffing Billy was the theme tune to Children's Favourites I think. Also, The Railroad Runs Through The Middle of the House. and my favourite Coronation Scot.

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I know which ones you are talking about and it was none of them, I've been sitting here singing along to their little tunes. I shall have to do a bit of research and find out which one it was, quite frankly it was a narration by some bloke with a typical BBC voice, but who was damn good at making train sounds, he could do anything and make it sound convincing, though, many years on, it might sound appalling to our ears nowadays.

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Firbeck, that sounds so familiar now you mention it. I seem to think I've got that on tape, I'll have to sort it out.

I've tried every means possible on the internet to find that bloody record but I can't.

Help me Obi One Kanobe, you're my only hope.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Firbeck.

I thought I had the recording you mentioned, searched high and low, and it ain't here. So called on my eldest brother, who most likely would have given me the recording, as he copies all sorts of stuff for me. He can't find it, but knew what I was talking about. The man who did the train noises is Reginald Gardiner, the recordings are called 'Trains' I googled it, and found a website where you can listen to his recordings. It is

mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/sounds.html. Reginald Gardiner was born in England in 1903 and made his name in over 50 Hollywood films. He died in 1980 in California. So now ya know!

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I'm utterly overcome, I just listened to it, God knows when I heard it last, it still cracked me up.

What particularly made me laugh was the reference to the French Engine at Calais, I had the same experience at Boulogne, I was only a kid at the time but my experience must have been primed by that record, I even have a photo of the event, when I finally get to grips with Photobucket, I'll publish it.

I didn't realise that the man had featured in such a big way in Hollywood and in some notable films too, he was even in the Monkees TV series!!!!

If you ever get the chance, watch him in 'Clippers of the Clouds', it was an American/Canadian wartime propoganda film, made before the US joined in the war and starring James Cagney. The thing is, it was shot in colour, it's probably the only record of famous British aircraft such as Battles and Blenheims to be seen in colour. What a man, I had no idea.

Thanks for your research, I owe you a pint, something of my childhood now stored in this electronic thing that in the days when I used to listen to this record would have been the stuff of science fiction.

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Sophisticated Cinderhill ladies don't drink pints :Fool:

Cheers

Robt P.

Would that be Cinderhill in Northern Arizona Injun country, you'd be surprised what those damned Apaches like to shove down their necks, it used to be Kimberley Gold, but I hear that a raiding party led by Red Sleeves is on it's way to that pesky Greene King brewery at Bury St Edmunds, lets hope they do us all proud before the white eyes intervene.

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Can I just point out that I am in Navajo and Hopi country! I think the Apache's are further south [well, we have an Apache County dahn sahf anyway] As for the pint, substitute a nice glass of Hock or somesuch German wine, and I'm there.

Glad to be of assistance Firbeck, it was bothering me not finding it for you. I can sleep at night now!

By the by, we do have a Cinder Hill around here, also Sherwood Forest estates with names like Friar Tuck Rd, Robin Hood Rd etc. Whodathunkit.

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  • 2 years later...

I was landlord of the Thurland Hall pub on Thurland St from 1986 until 1992, We had a deep cellar and then 2 floors of caves below that cellar. The caves were WAY old, and were bricked up in parts, where they had originally gone under Thurland Street, to link, presumably with the cave network under Nottingham. We found hay and straw down there, perfectly preserved, which the experts said belonged to the time when Charles I lodged there, with his entourage of several hundred men and horses.When they did the "cut and cover" tunneling under Thurland St, the Victorian brickies must have thought "...f***g 'ell, not another f****g cave - Brick it up Harry and let's get on".

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Welcome Mik

You would be landlord there during the time I frequented the place.

Search here "Thurland" for more Mentions of the Place.

Are you fron the Enid Coleman Family?

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  • 9 years later...

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