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Moving Pictures


Mikkel

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blog-0278309001389727503.jpgIt's been a while since we have heard from the Farthing Station Weekly Discussion Club. Fortunately, the Club continues to meet on a weekly basis to discuss worldly matters.

 

Recent debates have included the Zulu rebellion, the eruption of Vesuvius, Einstein's theory of relativity, the California earthquakes, the invention of flight, Gandhi's philosophy, the discovery of the South Pole, and the scandalous defeat to South Africa by one wicket.

 

As always, proceedings are headed by Station Master A. Woodcourt - a resourceful if somewhat cautious man, who not only bears a striking resemblance to the present King, but also plans to surprise everyone by boarding a boat to Brazil after his retirement. But that, as they say, is another story.

 

And so, to business:

 

 

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Click for video: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/train-moving-through-station-aka-railway-train/query/railway

 

 

 

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Click for video: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/railway-accident/query/railway

 

 

 

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Click for video: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/speed-and-safety/query/railway

 

 

 

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Click for video: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/shunting-horse

 

 

 

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Pendon video (1958): http://www.britishpathe.com/video/hair-thatching/

Other model railway videos (1930s-1950s): http://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/model+railway

 

 

 

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PS: Those rude comments about other companies do not reflect my personal opinion - I'm a great fan of the LSWR and LBSC, but I can't help it if the GWR staff at Farthing are a bit patriotic!

 

 

Edited by Mikkel

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The Pathe films are well worth a watch. I swear, human beings were built rather differently in those days! As for the commentator's voice...

 

Thanks,

 

Tony.

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Hi Tony, yes it's amazing how it all seems like another planet, even if it's not so long ago. I've spent hours watching the Pathe clips recently, so thought I'd share a few here.

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A strange moment when in the Pendon video, the commentator proudly states "The overall scale of the viaduct and the train is one centimeter to the foot, or one seventy-sixth of the actual size." Um... does this mean I've been scaling things wrongly all these years?

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Ha! I hadn't noticed that. I'm sure there will have been audible sighing among the Pendon modellers when they heard that statement!

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Hi Mikkel,

A beautiful collection of pictures.

As you can understand the movies of "The shunting Horse" and "Hair thatching" are my favourites.

Nice to see Mr. Roye England working on the Pendon layout. The quality of modelling he achieves in 1958 is still of the highest quality and level.

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Mikkel,

 

What a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a few minutes - watching these bygone images which are so inspirational.  I particularly liked the first two videos, they show many details that were commonplace in the early years of the 20th century.  Also it illustrates suitable modes of dress that I for one need to try to replicate to give my layout that Edwardian flavour (not easy to do in 2mm scale - I have some Prieser people to which I need to add long milliput dresses to and give almost everyone a hat of some kind) 

 

Thanks very much for posting!!

 

Ian

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As Ian says, "a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a few minutes."  I loved the "wheeled advertising hordings" in the first clip at 1 minute 12 seconds, something I'd never seen before.  There's so much detail just crying out to be modelled, thnks for sharing it! 

 

Dave

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These videos are a mine of information for modelling. 

 

On the Glasgow film, I noted that a very high proportion of the traffic was flat-bed carts. They all seemed to be travelling near the kerb, whereas larger wagons seemed to use the centre of the road.

 

The man with the hand-barrow seems to be keeping up a good speed!

 

Apart from the trams, there seem be very few carriages for people.

 

Mike

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Hi Mikkel,

A beautiful collection of pictures.

As you can understand the movies of "The shunting Horse" and "Hair thatching" are my favourites.

Nice to see Mr. Roye England working on the Pendon layout. The quality of modelling he achieves in 1958 is still of the highest quality and level.

 

Hi Job, yes I can see why you like those, just the period for you and the careful attention to detailed buildings! It is amazing that the Pendon work of the 1950s still stands as some of the best railway modelling can offer. Apart from their skills, perhaps it is also because they invested the time: In those days, I expect many modellers did not spend or have the time to model to that degree.

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Mikkel,

 

What a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a few minutes - watching these bygone images which are so inspirational.  I particularly liked the first two videos, they show many details that were commonplace in the early years of the 20th century.  Also it illustrates suitable modes of dress that I for one need to try to replicate to give my layout that Edwardian flavour (not easy to do in 2mm scale - I have some Prieser people to which I need to add long milliput dresses to and give almost everyone a hat of some kind) 

 

Thanks very much for posting!!

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian, well I already look forward to seeing those 2mm milliput dresses, sounds like a task that requires a peaceful state of mind! I agree about the two first videos, they really set the scene for the Edwardian modeller (although they tend to show mostly the better off city people). I especially like the second one with all the horse drawn vehicles, and how both the horses and the carters seem to be doing it all in "automatic" mode without needing to think where they're heading.   

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As Ian says, "a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a few minutes."  I loved the "wheeled advertising hordings" in the first clip at 1 minute 12 seconds, something I'd never seen before.  There's so much detail just crying out to be modelled, thnks for sharing it! 

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave, I hadn't even noticed those hoardings. That should be fairly simple to model. But I suppose they are big city stuff?

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These videos are a mine of information for modelling. 

 

On the Glasgow film, I noted that a very high proportion of the traffic was flat-bed carts. They all seemed to be travelling near the kerb, whereas larger wagons seemed to use the centre of the road.

 

The man with the hand-barrow seems to be keeping up a good speed!

 

Apart from the trams, there seem be very few carriages for people.

 

Mike

 

Hi Mike, interesting observations. Perhaps private carriages/cabs were outcompeted by the trams? Or most people simply couldn't afford them? They are sometimes seen in station forecourt photos from Edwardian times, but there are rarely more than one or two.

 

I've tried to spot railway company vehicles in those two videos, but so far haven't seen a single one!

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Thanks Mikkel. I do like the shunting horse. Something that is sadly missing from our layouts. It is obvious that the horse knows what to do and needs minimal direction.

Roye England I can remember cycling out to Pendon over 50 years ago. Roy would explain his methods he made it sound easy but ...

Don

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I am.pleased to report the shunting horse has been purchased for Diddington, the field is ready by the engine shed and I have been studying the video with aa view to building the stable.

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Thanks Mikkel. I do like the shunting horse. Something that is sadly missing from our layouts. It is obvious that the horse knows what to do and needs minimal direction.

Roye England I can remember cycling out to Pendon over 50 years ago. Roy would explain his methods he made it sound easy but ...

Don

 

Oh you are lucky, just the words "cycling out to Pendon" sounds attractive for a Dane - let alone doing it 50+ years ago. And getting instructions from Roye England can't have been the worst source of advice.

 

Yes the shunting horse is an unfortunate silent absence from our layouts. But a difficult one to deal with.

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I am.pleased to report the shunting horse has been purchased for Diddington, the field is ready by the engine shed and I have been studying the video with aa view to building the stable.

 

Great, nice to see someone doing something about the shunting horse issue. And Diddington seems to be just the right kind of layout for it. Will be nice to see the stable, with your skills it can't go wrong.

 

On the subject of shunting horses I still have this set of Geoff Stevens figures that is part of his "horse shunting" set. I wonder though how many people were actually needed for horse shunting, seems to me from the video that one man was enough?

 

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Although not moving pictures I think they good be of interest: http://www.britishdrivingsociety.co.uk/images/History%20gallery/pictorial_history.htm

I don't know of you knew them. They are a little bit down on the page: two GWR Parcel Vans 1910 no. 68 and 287.

 

And this one would be a great treasure in your goods station I believe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal/4931679775/

 

Happy modeling.

 

Hi Job, thanks for that. I had seen a couple of those but one of them is new to me. The last one is fantastic, isn't it? I actually used that photo to experiment with the loading of my 5 ton vehicle, as seen here. But as you can see it uses up an awful lot of goods!

 

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Well you've done it again Mikkel.  A thoroughly enjoyable blog and a very pleasant half hour journey through history - thank you. Those old Pathe clips remind us that nothing really changes - the humdrum going about our daily business - it was the same for them as it is for us.  It's a comfortable continuum and long may it last.    

 

That clip of Madurodam Model Village in the end link completely blew my mind away.  To think it's still going strong after all these years and I think a future visit is definitely on the cards.  The opening shot had me convinced that it was a real street under a deep blue sky until the real sized visitors appeared looming above it.  It very much reminded me of the many trips to model villages on the South Coast of England when I was a child and also of a much loved program on the telly at that time - 'The Land of the Giants'.  That coupled with growing up near a railway line has had an obvious influence on why I've returned to railway modeling.

 

You really are a master of hooking people's attention and holding it.  Brilliant stuff.

 

Mike

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Hi Mike, yes the daily humdrum isn't too bad really - but it's another thing that's difficult to capture in models, I think. Although it helps to avoid clutter, have people in relaxed poses and avoid dramatic cameos (such as skulls emerging from packing crates!).

 

I've never visited Madurodam, but it's typical of the Dutch to go one better than the model village in Legoland here in Denmark! (Danes sometimes compare themselves to the Dutch but it's a hopeless case, they're just so much smarter and more worldly than us. Not to mention the football. Better that we just stick with trying to compete with the Swedes and Norwegians!).  

 

Funny you mention how model villages shaped your modelling interests. As a boy I spent hours in Legoland just watching the model villages, drove my parents crazy! The Land of the Giants, haven't heard about that, must see if its on Youtube. 

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Hi Job, thanks for that. I had seen a couple of those but one of them is new to me. The last one is fantastic, isn't it? I actually used that photo to experiment with the loading of my 5 ton vehicle, as seen here. But as you can see it uses up an awful lot of goods!

 

 

 

To use less loading materials I think I can use the trick I described in the answer in my blog entry Whisky boxes 2.

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Hi Job, thanks for that clever trick! The horse drawn wagon will be visible from all sides, so I am not sure if it will work there, but I can certainly use it in some of the corners of my goods depot behind other crates. I have a whole page of notes on ideas for goods, all coming from your blog!

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Must be quite an early use of the word robot, The film must be mid 30s I suppose with a GWR roundel, and the word was only coined in 1920.

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Well that lead me down a rabbit hole regarding the origins of the word robot. Apparently from Karel Capek's 1920 play "Rossum's Universal Robots." I wonder if the term was used by the GWR or just the film-maker. 

 

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Source: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/speed-and-safety/query/railway

 

Edit: No mention of robot in this 1936 discussion of the GWR ATC system by GWR Engineering Society.

 

 

Edited by Mikkel
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Some excellent film clips there Mikkel. 

 

All this sorting out of blogs brings up some real gems. 

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