IWCR

I think Wells first railway enamel signs made were for Smallbrook Junction on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway installed prior to opening in 1991. Pete

A local line to me had a number of small stations without any fixed cranes for handling heavy items. They did however have a small traveling crane, if required this had to be booked the day before and was worked down as part of the pickup goods, presumably being collected the next day. This practice probably ceased in the 1920s as road transport took over much general goods. Pete

Mine is now working OK as well. Running Vista and Firefox Pete

I have had this problem on my home machine (still running Vista). Was working until a week or so ago, will try again when home to see if it is now OK. Pete

Such water tanks often did have a lid, this would be just two or three pieces of steel angle or similar across the top supporting with wooden planks. A hatch was fitted at the point the ladder goes to for access. Over time the hatch could be missing along with some or most of the boards. Pete

Yes Compressed Air Engine. This sort of air powered engine was used to drive Torpedoes. Pete

Recently an Ad has appeared right in the middle of the home page covering much of the information. Clicking on the close cross kills it but also kills the home page which reverts to whatever topic entry I last looked at. This is bloody annoying and like some posters above makes you anti whatever the ad was for. Pete

In the garden last monday and heard a Buzzard sounding rather unhappy, looked up as it was getting closer to sea a young White Tailed Eagle flying over at about 50' being chased by the Buzzard, it was twice its size and wasnt taking a lot of notice. First one of these ive seen, though they have been releasing them locally (Isle of Wight) as part of a scheme to re-introduce them. The Buzzard is also a young one and seems to have established its patch here over the last few months. Pete

THe various companies used the cardinal directions, ie "Southern", "Western", "Eastern" icorporating "London" into the regions names could mislead some thinking it was just covering an area of London itself. The LMS used the names of regions, no risk of any misunderstanding here retaing the London part of the name. Pete

Re Lorry on Pedestrian crossing. Hazards on, back doors open and tail lift down, driver / load not in sight. No other vehicles parked nearby. Empty parking area approx 100 yds away, otherwise double yellows both sides. All other traffic on his side would also be at fault as they were squeezing past him through the crossing which is a no overtaking area, this was into the stream of incoming traffic going the other way. This was outside a residential property and nowhere near any shops etc. Pete

Major hold up on the way home yesterday, caused by a HGV making a delivery blocking one side of a busy main road during rush hour. The road has double yellows both sides for most of its length. The lorry was actually parked on a pedestrian crossing, not just the chevrons but right across the walkway. Pete

The 2cnd Amendment could be applied as it was when it came out. Yes you can have a firearm, but only a muzzle loading musket or pistol. Pete

All of us know about Lighthouses on the coast, what is not so well known is that by the 1930's a system of Aerial Lighthouses also existed, these were inland and were for the use of aircraft, they would have operated as required during the early days of WW2 and were largely removed during the war having been superceded by radio beacons, some could easily be moved, indeed I have seen one version for airfield use which was a Lighthouse optic mounted on a Bren Gun Carrier chassis. The last operational survivor is at RAF Cranwell. Pete

Lighthouses were normally off however they would be lit under instruction from the admiralty when required, for example when a coastal convoy was passing. Also the light character shown would be changed, the convoy etc would know what this would be, the enemy with pre war charts would not. Pete

Centre of gravity looks rather high and turntable pads on the trailer not very wide. The load was tipping and turning the trailer over before the straps let go. To big a load to deal with the uneven road. Pete

Wall Lizard, very common in Ventnor, for a long time it was not certain they were introduced as they have been known here for well over a 120 years. Now DNA tested and they match lizards from the Naples area hence proved as a Victorian introduction. Pete

Correct Shingle. This was used until the end of steam. The Island had 2 sources of ballast. The first was shingle dredged from the approaches to Bembridge Harbour, this was a continuous exercise to maintain the channel, the harbour was railway owned and they had a steam crane with grab on a barge for this work named "Ballaster". This was also the reason that the old timber ballast wagons lasted until the end, an attempt post war to replace then with steel hopper wagons failed due to rapid corrosion from the salt water soaked stone. The second source was flint stone which occurs within chalk, much of this was from Shide Chalk Pit and ballast wagons were kept and loaded in the sidings adjoining Shide station. The Steam Railway (and Island Line) now use much better quality ballast brought over by road from the mainland however Shingle is still used on the IOWSR within station areas to maintain the original appearance. Pete

At Keighley I think a problem may have been that the station platform and track used was still BR in the early days. This may have precluded the use of 4 and 6 wheelers into the station if BR wasnt happy for their use. Also as stated earlier there would be very few 4 / 6 wheelers about at that time in an acceptable condition for passenger use. Pete

The coloured glass is on the signal arm itself. Signal lamps only need clear glass front and back. It is placed into a fixed lamp casting attached to the signal post which has a lens forward to align with the signal glass and a small bullseye lens to the rear for the backlight, (allows a visual check that the lamp is lit). Clear glass on all 4 sides would allow the lamp to be placed in the casting without any need to ensure it is in any specific alignment. Pete

He did, he pulled over and stopped. Probably expected the train to move over and go round him. Pete

I am fairly sure there was a Southern Railway rule that the vehicles after the brake were not to exceed 8 axles. This would allow 2 bogie vehicles / six wheelers or up to 4 four wheel vans. Obviously these would have to be fitted. Addition: The preserved van at the IOW steam railway is the correct type of LBSC van but is not an island original (none left), one side is lettered in the "Fish" livery, the other in the standard goods markings. Pete

These situations are always difficult. Any rare item (such as these) should be restored. However it needs the finance , location and personnel to do it. For an individual this is a big ask unless they are relatively wealthy, it is also hard for owners to accept that this is actually now beyond them and it is better to allow the item to move on, (for these specific vehicles this has been accepted). For a preserved railway stored stock such as this without a realistic future and not really relevant to their operation or museum is a liability and a waste of vital siding space, many railways are in part responsible for this themselves in allowing such vehicles to be brought onto the site in the first place, however much of this was in early preservation days when there was a need to grab anything potentially useful. These can be restored and I hope they do find a suitable home, scrapping would be unfortunate, once something like this is gone the opportunity for its preservation is over. For common vehicles this is not so relevant and the loss of some could be beneficial (parts recovery). My local railway is now underway with the restoration to operational use of a carriage which has been on site stored for 46 years, this is a very rare vehicle and of relevance to the locality, it meets the collecting policy and will be a useful operating vehicle when complete, its time has now finally arrived. On several occasions in the past there was pressure to dispose of it, fortunately this was resisted. This vehicle would have been of little interest to anyone else in its condition and disposal would have meant destroying it. The 2 LSWR bogie carriages would not fit the collecting policy for this railway (which has more than enough future projects anyway) but there are other locations where they would be very suitable but it will need a realistic restoration proposal to encourage such sites to accept them. Pete

The FYN goods brake probably went in 1927, it was grounded at a location with other vehicles withdrawn at this time. The IWC (ex Midland) brake was rebuilt with a second balcony for ballast work, this would be the most likely van used. At Brading you can justify pretty much anything, much of the older stock being withdrawn at this time was worked to St Helens Quay for breaking up, potentially some interesting trains reversing here. Pete

Any sign of fixings on the timbers? Is there a nearby lifeboat station? One possible is there was a vertical mortar tube fixed to this which would take a rocket. Used to launch maroons (basically a large fire work) for a lifeboat call out in the days prior to pagers & cell phones. Two maroons were launched in succession hence possibly the need for two blocks. Pete

The Penzance photos is as stated above of the former Trinity House Buoy store. The Buoys were moved by hand propelled rail trollies across the road and out onto the dock arm to be loaded onto the Tender. The Buoy store closed in 1989 however the rail link was by then disused with Buoys being moved by road trailer towed by a mobile crane. After closure the store was a Lighthouse museum up till 2005, I seem to recall seeing a rail trolley with a Buoy load on display. Pete