Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, grahame said:

 

Obviously to quickly pass through and get away from Woking fast.

;-)

 

 

Odd, isn't it, how a railway enthusiast's perception of a place can be very different from others?

 

Take a place near me, for instance; Grantham. According to one 'official' guidebook, it was once described as the 'most-boring town in the country', its only 'claims' to fame being the birthplace of Isaac Newton and Margaret Thatcher (at the moment, there's a discussion about what to name a proposed new bypass - 'Gravity Way' or 'Thatcher Way'. How about 'Deltic Way'?).

 

Personally, I quite like the town; it's convenient and the inhabitants are friendly. Not only that, though as a railway location it's a shadow of its former place (even though the station is much cleaner), it once was home to an MPD housing some of the finest steam thoroughbreds of all time. Graham Nicholas and his mates have produced a remarkable model of it. 

 

 

 

How could any place which once witnessed scenes like this be described as boring? 

[Tony Wright]

5 minutes ago, Jeepy said:

The line speeds through Woking are 90mph on the down fast and 100mph on the up fast..... I'll bet that used to rattle the canopies somewhat!! 

 

Regards, 

 

Jim. 

The Bulleids certainly did Jim,

 

Particularly as the respective fast lines had platform faces (still do). 

 

I assume the line speeds were the same in the days of steam? Watching a rebuilt 'MN', non-stop, with whistle howling certainly suggested that!

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

[LNER4479]

4 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Grantham. According to one 'official' guidebook, it was once described as the 'most-boring town in the country', its only 'claims' to fame being the birthplace of Isaac Newton and Margaret Thatcher

Depending how pedantic you want to be, it's even more boring than that - Newton was educated at Grantham (King's School), but was actually born near Colsterworth, five miles to the south.

 

But - yes - a fantastic railway centre. Why do you think I chose to model it?! A junction station, goods yards, trains terminating, top link loco depot, loco changes ... it had it all, yet in a relatively compact space that makes is potentially modellable - and exhibitable - compared to other centres like Doncaster, York, Newcastle (Crewe, Carlisle) etc.

 

Nonetheless, as I often say to folks, the footprint we've modelled it in is about the correct footprint for a true-to-scale model in N gauge! 

[richard i]

Some show and tell for the modelers on here.

I know I don’t post work as often as some. My modeling moves forward at a slightly glacial pace. 

It is not BR era, nor is it ECML and it is not GWR which you might think at first glance. It is a GCR Parker luggage composite in livery for 1904-10. It is one of five for that livery of which two are at this stage. 5 others are almost at this stage in the previous French grey and brown livery. They have white roofs at present so are holding back from showing their faces. 
these still need the solar painting finished with the brown and gold panel. I am looking to make a transfer for that. Then I need to make an interior for each carriage. 
i have set the plan at having 7 rakes of carriages rather than the 40 plus of the likes of Grantham as I only have one lifetime and all have to be built. 

[westerner]

How could any place which once witnessed scenes like this be described as boring?

 

Because not everybody is a train spotter or interested in railways????????????

[john new]

14 minutes ago, westerner said:

How could any place which once witnessed scenes like this be described as boring?

 

Because not everybody is a train spotter or interested in railways????????????

And even if you are interested in railways the railscene in a specific place can become more boring/interesting over time depending on your particular likes. Ignoring summer steam (when it is again allowed) Weymouth, my nearest station, has less variety now than it did when I moved down here in 1986. The York area where I moved from, conversely, probably has as much variety for the contemporary viewer in today's railway than it did then (1986); differing liveries, stock types, freight etc. I don't find it as interesting but that is down to my personal interests, not lack of variety.

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by john new
Removing an errant full stop!

[FarrMan]

26 minutes ago, westerner said:

How could any place which once witnessed scenes like this be described as boring?

 

Because not everybody is a train spotter or interested in railways????????????

Even if you are, what you see 'every day' is not as interesting as somewhere railway related where you have never been before. I might find the electrics at Woking interesting, though probably not for long, whereas the Kyle line and Far North line trains or Inverness station would be a bit boring. Even Garve station with a bit of time to explore could be quite interesting.

 

Mentioning Garve, can anyone think of anywhere else where a road bridge has been replaced with a level crossing?

[Bulwell Hall]

7 hours ago, grahame said:

 

There's a Martian at Woking: 

 

 

In the road behind the sculpture used to be a model shop (now closed) and at the bottom by the white van is a Maclaren's office building where I had my covid vaccine jab a couple of months back. Behind the photographers position is a replica of one of the cylinders (that landed at nearby Horsell Common) and in the paving is artwork of the bacteria that killed the martians. But I remember reading a guide that condemned Woking saying that the best place there was the station as it offered many other destinations to escape to.

 

And, like others, I found English literature a bore at school. The only two books I remember were William Golding's Lord of the Flies, probably as a result of a school trip to see the film, and Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. Unfortunately the film of that came out too late for the school work/study. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah yes - but where is the Pizza Express....?

 

And when I was working I used to have business at the the Surrey Record Office in Woking and on one occasion - once the meeting was over -- I took a drive out to Horsell Common just to get a feel for the place!  I rather enjoy visiting these places with literary connections and last year - when the lockdown had eased - I was on a drive through the Cotswolds and saw a sign for the village of Slad. I couldn't resist taking a diversion and calling in to The Woolpack - as immortalised by Laurie Lee in Cider with Rosie.

[gr.king]

17 minutes ago, FarrMan said:

Mentioning Garve, can anyone think of anywhere else where a road bridge has been replaced with a level crossing?

 

Sort of. At Ulceby, in North Lincs, the original level crossing in the village was eventually closed because, by the late 1960s, the disruption to the greatly increased amount of traffic on the main Doncaster- Scunthorpe - Immingham (docks and refineries) road over the crossing was becoming a problem. A flyover was constructed instead, supposedly as a temporary measure but I think it remained in use for about a quarter of a century before Ulceby was eventually by-passed by the A180 dual carriageway and A160 link to Immingham. In due course, the flyover was closed and demolished, its place taken by a modernised level crossing.

[drmditch]

3 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

Depending how pedantic you want to be, it's even more boring than that - Newton was educated at Grantham (King's School), but was actually born near Colsterworth, five miles to the south.

 

Ah - I wonder if there is a gravitational relationship between switchback roads, putting roundabouts in, and taking roundabouts out?

(A question for friends of the A1 - the road that is, not the locomotive!)

[Anadin Dogwalker]

6 hours ago, grahame said:

 

Obviously to quickly pass through and get away from Woking fast.

;-)

 

 

A local resident once wrote a song about Woking: A Town Called Malice by The Jam. Great bassline by Bruce Foxton. I occasionally visit Hobbycraft on the east side of town (either there or Crawley); the immediate area is a bit of a dump but the route in from the south is as pleasantly leafy as anywhere else in Surrey.

[Bernard Lamb]

Grantham.

The only time I have visited the town was about five years ago when I went there for a funeral at the crematorium. The train journey from London and back was excellent, the walk to the crematorium was interesting and the place itself was rather smart. We went to an old pub in the town centre and enjoyed a good meal after the service. Not the most memorable town that I have visited but by no means the worst.

Bernard

[Northmoor]

Living quite local to Woking I can confirm it's a bit nondescript but I've known much worse.  Like a lot of towns in SE England, it has grown enormously in the last century, especially in the last half century.  At least it is known for something (even if that's fictional) and exploits it with sculptures.  Farnborough is known internationally for being an important part of the history of aviation, but for many years, the local council were resistant to putting replica aircraft on roundabouts, because "They didn't want the town to only be known for that".  Most places would kill to be known for anything!  In the end the main replica was funded by a private group.

The description of Grantham is quite common in travel guides, guides to foreign countries even more so.  There is one particular series famous for being very dismissive of anything "popular" or more expensive and implying unless you do such-and-such niche/slumming activity in the country, you haven't really experienced it.  I remember the story of one travel writer (and they were believed to be far from unique in doing this) who wrote travel guides about other countries, then visited them - for the first time - on the royalties.

[Barry Ten]

2 hours ago, Anadin Dogwalker said:

A local resident once wrote a song about Woking: A Town Called Malice by The Jam. Great bassline by Bruce Foxton. I occasionally visit Hobbycraft on the east side of town (either there or Crawley); the immediate area is a bit of a dump but the route in from the south is as pleasantly leafy as anywhere else in Surrey.

 

And I've twice been stood behind Paul Weller in airports.

[Doncaster Green]

2 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Grantham.

The only time I have visited the town was about five years ago when I went there for a funeral at the crematorium. The train journey from London and back was excellent, the walk to the crematorium was interesting and the place itself was rather smart. We went to an old pub in the town centre and enjoyed a good meal after the service. Not the most memorable town that I have visited but by no means the worst.

Bernard

My parents used to live in one of the villages just up the A1 from Grantham and, thus, I have been to the crematorium twice, but both times in one of the funeral cars.  But if memory serves from the station to the crematorium is quite a trek.  You would certainly need a good meal after that walk both ways!  Was the pub the Angel and Royal?  I’ve had a few nice meals in there over the years.

 

John

[Bucoops]

12 hours ago, gordon s said:

I've never learned to cook, as a loving mother and wife who loves cooking have always looked after me. One year I thought I'd make a Christmas Cake just as a challenge. As an engineer, I thought I'd just read the recipe and job done.

 

First step was to "grease and line a 10" cake tin". With what? I guessed whatever substance was required would be found in the kitchen and not the garage, but that was the first of numerous questions from someone who had never had to cook.

 

Of course many more questions followed and I got there, but I soon realised instructions always assume you have some experience and understand the basics. Clearly kit building is no different.

 

I think this video sums up what you are saying about instructions perfectly.

 

 

I used to love reading. My favourite author was Alistair Maclean, but I also had plenty of time for H G Wells and others. I never could stand Shakespeare however. I read Douglas Adams' Hitchikers series (A Trilogy in Four Parts) in one sitting once - well, lying on the bed. About 800 pages.

 

Alas when I started work, reading took a back burner, then faded out altogether. I do read the odd non-fiction book but couldn't tell you the last time I read a novel.

[robmcg]

23 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Having dyslexia I found the 26 symbols use to represent sounds very confusing. Not helped by being shy as small lad so reading in class was a dreaded experience. In turn this put me off reading unless I had to. Reading non fiction became easier as I went through school, mainly because the subject matter was full of facts which I absorbed like a sponge. Reading fiction was a chore, especially when it was a book we had to read. I think the only one I enjoyed at school was Kes as I could relate to the theme of the story. Macbeth, what a bore and what was Shakespeare on when he wrote it , David Copperfield scared me, one the story line and two how hard it was to read, another work we had to study was Under Milk Wood, sounded great when the teacher played the record of Richard Burton reading it, made no sense to me when I tried to read it.

 

I don't have a book phobia, as a teenager after school I would cycle to the town library and sit in the reference books section with my note book copying down information on artillery guns, tanks etc  some I can still remember. I still do not read fiction, but I really enjoy a good story when I hear a book being read on radio 4. 

 

John Le Carre reading 'Smiley's People' is absolutely brilliant,  and I've heard Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas's  'Under Milkwood', and like you in my youth I spent hours in our large local library absorbing facts about, in my case, photography, cars, ships, or whatever my passion was on the day. 

 

Speaking of photography, again, I think Tony has made a good choice for his camera gear with a 45MP full frame Nikon Df, apart from its bulk, as he points out, and an array of top lenses.  In the search for equivalence in results, but for much less money, I have yet to strike the full-frame camera and lenses  ...   but will win in the end! I am stuck rather with Canon equivalent cameras, by no means bad, I just prefer the controls and 'logic' of their system, but the search continues.

 

I must ask Tony, was the Deltic photo at Little Bytham a 40mm micro cropped?

Edited March 31, 2021 by robmcg
addition

[jrg1]

1 hour ago, Doncaster Green said:

My parents used to live in one of the villages just up the A1 from Grantham and, thus, I have been to the crematorium twice, but both times in one of the funeral cars.  But if memory serves from the station to the crematorium is quite a trek.  You would certainly need a good meal after that walk both ways!  Was the pub the Angel and Royal?  I’ve had a few nice meals in there over the years.

 

John

The Angel and Royal-many years ago we used to regularly go to the Medieval Banquets there-a terrific night out in a great pub.  Nothing at all boring about that.

[96701]

My favourite author is J P Donleavy. who also wrote plays based on his novels, one of which was The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B that me and Jen were lucky enough to be able to see with Billy Connolly playing the part of Beefy. It was his first acting role, and he really captured the essence of the character.

[Bucoops]

Thinking about Richard Burton and HG Wells, nothing beats lying on sun loungers in the garden on a clear night with meteors forecast and Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds playing next to you.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Bucoops

[Northmoor]

I got into John Wyndham as a teenager and while I've only read two, my collection of his novels is expanding so there are now quite a few on my "to read" pile.  His style of science fiction set in the present day (mid 20th Century in his case), with a "what if science allowed this to happen?" scenario, appeals to me.

[Tony Wright]

9 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

John Le Carre reading 'Smiley's People' is absolutely brilliant,  and I've heard Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas's  'Under Milkwood', and like you in my youth I spent hours in our large local library absorbing facts about, in my case, photography, cars, ships, or whatever my passion was on the day. 

 

Speaking of photography, again, I think Tony has made a good choice for his camera gear with a 45MP full frame Nikon Df, apart from its bulk, as he points out, and an array of top lenses.  In the search for equivalence in results, but for much less money, I have yet to strike the full-frame camera and lenses  ...   but will win in the end! I am stuck rather with Canon equivalent cameras, by no means bad, I just prefer the controls and 'logic' of their system, but the search continues.

 

I must ask Tony, was the Deltic photo at Little Bytham a 40mm micro cropped?

Good morning Rob,

 

I must ask Tony, was the Deltic photo at Little Bytham a 40mm micro cropped?

 

From memory (it was taken a while ago), 55mm Micro, tightly cropped. 

 

I suppose that's the advantage of the full-frame camera. An image can be cropped without losing much in the way of definition/quality. 

 

A favourite lens is an 18mm- 35mm zoom, always set on 35mm. For overall views, it is brilliant, requiring no cropping. 

 

 

Full frame, with the image size reduced and saved as a jpeg for posting on here. 35mm at F29. Focus point, the footbridge. 

 

 

Same lens, same settings but cropped top and bottom, though full-frame width. Focus point, third carriage.

 

 

Again the 35mm, but more cropping to get this track-level view. Focus point, the centre signal. The background is just beginning to 'go'. 

 

 

60mm micro at F32 (or thereabouts). A little cropping, but the depth of field is slightly more-limited. That said, this lens is biting-sharp (expected, for the price!), and I don't mind the background being slightly 'fuzzy'.

 

Clever photographers, of course, succeed in getting great depth of field by stacking. Though the process has been explained to me (by a very-patient Andy York), I'll never get it, nor, do I believe, need it with the kit I've got.

 

The 'downside' of how I photograph model railways? The cost of the equipment! Were I to replace everything I've got with the very latest Nikon equivalents, I'd need somewhere in the region of twelve grand! I should point out that much of what I use was obtained second-hand. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

[PupCam]

  Posted on wrong page!

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by PupCam
Deleted - got my pages mixed up!

[bbishop]

My favourite fiction author -  C Hamilton Ellis.

 

Bill

[Compound2632]

On 30/03/2021 at 19:54, Clive Mortimore said:

Like you I am a lover of the products of Derby be they the artistic beauty of Johnson or the purposeful lines of the Deeley/Fowler era. 

 

I make no claim for glamour when it comes to the "late Midland" style - it's the sheer unpretentious ordinariness of a 2P or 3F that I find appealing. I'm a disciple of the cult of the ordinary.