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Edthefolkie

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  1. I've had the Finale for a while now. Just as good as the others. The only problem I can see is that the whole lot are liable to pull the sitting room down! 🙃 One strange thing in one of the Finale volumes - there is a photo of more or less the last rites at Nottingham Victoria in 1966. It was practically identical to one I'd taken on the same day (see below), but better. It was by a gentleman who I didn't meet until years later in London - he happens to be associated with the er, MNA. Several of us have been getting together in Derby 2 or 3 times a year, and said gent turned up for a flying visit, between trains, at the most recent one. Er, I had to buy him a beer straight away... Truly, the steam community is a small world.
  2. I bought it from The Titfield Thunderbolt online shop (where else?). It's absolutely marvellous. I've been interested in Pendon since the late 50s/early 60s when word started getting out. In 1967 I managed to visit with my good mate David - we had hired a Mini and photographed Barry, Mountain Ash, the Corris, Talyllyn, Festiniog, W & L and the KESR. When we arrived at Long Wittenham, Roye and Paddy Burridge were running the show. Roye was very welcoming, showed us round, and he and Paddy, Dave and I had a good chat. Roye was exactly as portrayed in the book - a dreamer in a way, but very practical about Pendon. Paddy was more combative. He and Roye carried on a friendly argument during our visit, which was extremely amusing Many years later my wife and I were near Long Wittenham so naturally I said "You've got to come to this place" - and of course It was closed. But she's now seen the colour pics in the 2nd edition and can't believe that the models are in 4mm scale. Somehow, we have to re-visit.
  3. Mine arrived this morning. Superb! Only looked at Volume 5 so far - took me back to 1965 or so, when shots from some of the gentlemen involved appeared in Railway World most months, thanks to Mr. Gifford. At the time it was all a revelation to me, because not only were the shots very imaginative, but also RW's paper quality (and Colin's oversight) was better than the Railway Magazine's. One of the best things about this set is that lots of negatives have never been printed before, but this has now been remedied. And now on to the last set, hurrah - I think I'm going to have to underpin my foundations though
  4. Errr...taken at Rhyd Ddu, WHR on 4 May 2019...….TWO Fairlies.
  5. Since all 00 model locos sold by Hattons are more or less 4' gauge, I guess we might as well close our eyes to generic 4 wheel coaches behind them! Anyway, might encourage a bit of model bashing as in days of yore. (NB if any newbies read this direct from watching the Great Model Railway Challenge, don't worry. All will become clear )
  6. It's my understanding that Ian Allan doesn't now exist as a publisher. Crecy Publishing has taken over their titles. Since the 3 volumes of "Great Central" were published between 1959 and 1965, I would have thought that it'd be a big task to reprint them. And would it be financially viable? Better to have a look on Abebooks or similar!
  7. Mine turned up on the button today. Brilliant, well worth the delay (the printers were told it wasn't quite good enough). Nice to see that sort of attention to detail - when one compares these with certain well known I*n *ll*n photo books, it's quite a contrast
  8. Just ordered it (the book, not a Bedford OB) - thank you Simon. Time for Evensong...….
  9. Sorry to start another thread about railway crime novels, but I must recommend Andrew Martin's Jim Stringer books. Mr. Martin's dad was a career railway manager based at York which I would think was distinctly helpful - and not just the free travel..... The books in order are as follows: 1. The Necropolis Railway 2. The Blackpool Highflyer 3. The Lost Luggage Porter 4. Murder at Deviation Junction 5. Death on a Branch Line 6. The Last Train to Scarborough 7. The Somme Stations 8. The Baghdad Railway Club 9. Night Train to Jamalpur I was first turned on to Mr. Martin by the Necropolis Railway book - extremely atmospheric. He's got better as he's gone on, and in my probably biased opinion he's a better stylist than Marston. Would be interesting to see if other RMWeb denizens have read his stuff. By the way, he has done the odd railway programme on BBC4 if the name sounds familiar.
  10. I don't want to get into contract law, charities, Citizens' Advice bureaux, personal details etc., but I can assure you that the whole thing is a team effort; that Mr. Wilkinson is an extremely real person; that he's working very hard on these books with people like Mr. Hale and others well known in "the fraternity" who I don't really want to detail; and that for what it's worth, I've known him for 40 odd years, and another team worker for nearly 60 years. I've put my money down with no hesitation, as have several of my immediate circle. I believe that this is a publishing event on a par with "Decline Of Steam", that the reproduction and binding will be of really good quality, that nobody is going to make their fortune on this, and that the project will be a great tribute to Paul Riley and others who are no longer with us. Maybe I should also mention that I've had nothing to do with the project myself. My only problem is where the hell I'm going to put the books!
  11. A friend has been working on at least one of Paul Riley's photographs for this set - I think the books are going to be a "must have". Well, I've put my money where my mouth is! The website has some samples of the shots, which are superb.
  12. "Never Again" is now up to 4 volumes plus slipcase and in theory will surface in June 2018. Apropos of the MNA, a belated "congratulations" to LNER4479 for the little scene involving RDU 290, Mr. Riley, and other ne'er do wells. Which one's Ian Krause by the way? An MNA video exists, some of it from the 11th August 1968, which is one of the funniest pieces of tape I have ever seen - unfortunately I returned it without copying it and the old friend who lent it has, I hope temporarily, lost the flipping thing.
  13. Ah, A3s on two cylinders. Back to three cylinder locomotive failures thank the Lord! I have a personal interest in all this. The missus, self, and another couple were supposed to be on the Ynys Mon Express last Saturday, with rides on the Festiniog, WHR and two buses plus some cakes. And I'm a Tornado covenantor! I have every confidence in Messrs Allatt, Bunker-James, and the rest of the A1SLT. The trip has been rescheduled for 29th September so things are looking a bit brighter. I can only echo somebody earlier in the thread - "Give us some money!" I mean, the P2 isn't ready yet so we're a bit stuck........
  14. Bernard, thanks a million for posting those wonderful photos, both Mr Cruickshank's, and Mr. Granick's. Thanks also for the exhibition report - your shots are great - I must try to get down there before it closes. I've always been a fan of Dan (!) - right back to the days recorded in those shots. I don't know whether I misremember this, but I'm sure I first heard about him because of the 144 Piccadilly business - 1968/9? Anyway, ages ago. Been reading his Spitalfields book recently and about a fortnight later discovered Mr. Granick's wonderful Kodachromes. I'm still kicking myself over not getting more shots of London in the 70s - 5 or 6 of us, mostly rabid steam fans and photographers, lived in a flat round the corner from Portobello Road. There was a stone sink half way up the stairs which was used as a darkroom on occasion. Sammy the landlord, one of the Windrush generation, sold the house for about £10k in 1972. Even then the odd Ferrari was moving in. We did manage some photo trips in between work and girl/steam chasing - a few round Ladbroke Grove etc., just one to the Isle of Dogs, can't remember the others. I will have a word with two of the chaps on Thursday, one of whom has scanned thousands of his Kodachromes including London's railways. His shots always knock mine into the long grass. Another of the chaps has dropped off our radar, but as he used to work somewhere near Broad Street and sometimes took his camera in, he must have some good shots. Anyway, thanks to everybody who's posted on this subject. Really, one of the most interesting reads on RMWeb for ages.
  15. My missus bought me the "Pride of Sussex" P for my birthday. I did specify that one because a friend and I came upon it at Robertsbridge in 1967, when we were doing a massive trip round Wales and the south country in a hired Mini. I now have to think what to do with it! It's such a beautiful little thing that it needs a context - I may try a mini diorama with a background of Hodson's Mill. Maybe a couple of dirtied down vans too, but I really haven't got the guts to weather the loco into the state it was in at the mill. I also don't think I'll add the large lump of timber which was held on by the rear lamp irons in one shot. I suspect it was in use as a chock or a sprag!
  16. Thanks for posting that - I'm really grateful. I did see a couple of the photos on TV and of course completely forgot about the book. I've now ordered it! Around 1974 I worked at Spillers in Croydon with the computer mob. We sometimes borrowed Burroughs' own systems at their offices at Bell Lane, round the back of Liverpool Street, and I spent a few nights working there. There was a coffee stall which did fantastic bacon rolls - the place was frequented by taxi drivers, and anybody else having to work nights, including us. The stall was run by a big guy who had a speech impediment - I think he was a former boxer. The poor old drunken guys in the area used to make a fire practically up against the back door of the office and occasionally there was a bit of a punch up. They were nearly falling over anyway but I did see one roll into the fire. I thought after four years in the Smoke I was used to it, but I wasn't. I should have taken the old Pentax down Spitalfields while I had the chance, but I'm no Don McCullin or for that matter David Granick.
  17. Sorry, resurrecting this after nearly a year...... The strike and associated delays at Hemel Hempstead were summer/autumn 1973. At the time I was sharing a house in Wembley with a number of gricers, one of whom was once on the periphery of the notorious Master Neverers Association. He put a lot of film through his cameras and along with the rest of us, was in confusion about what to do about our exposed Kodachromes. Somehow, we found out that the German plant was best for processing our slides - and conveniently the address was on the insert which came in the yellow box. We also found out that processing was still free. So we trusted to fate, stuck the film cartons in the normal yellow paper bags, added adequate postage for the Federal Republic, and crossed our fingers. They all came back OK, taking about a fortnight, which was par for Hemel Hempstead in normal times. The slide mounts were still cardboard, but slightly different. The actual results also seemed slightly different - still obviously Kodachrome, but a bit richer somehow. We were really chuffed, especially as a couple of the films were of "Leander's" first rail tour at Chinley and Sheffield. Many years later, I realised that this situation was the first crack in Kodak's dominance, at least in the UK. Hemel Hempstead was never the same again - they were always chopping and changing the boxes, slide mounts and apparently processing soups as well - also care was not always taken to keep slides clean. So when Fujichrome came along, we all slowly changed. Kodachrome was the better film, but Fuji hyped up the yellows and therefore the depth of colour. Not that it matters now of course!
  18. I must compliment everybody who has contributed to this thread - I learned a lot. Incredible how erudite modellers are. Well, not incredible - I always knew! Our family's brand new council house was an end one of a block of four, which we moved into seven years after WW2 - I had spent my first five years in a Victorian terraced house with parents, grandparents and elderly uncle. The house was a new world for Mum and Dad - built to Parker Morris standards, pebble-dashed, Crittal windows, enormous front and rear gardens, two toilets, coal store, also a little downstairs "outhouse", actually a room integral with the rest of the house, but reached via an outside door. The latter was my Dad's bolthole, bike/mower store and workshop. I never managed to colonise the loft with a model railway but there was a lot of space! Not really mentioned on here was the snobbery which existed about council houses, even in the 1950s. There was still an echo of "Why give (give??) them these big places, they'll only keep coal in the bath". But in those days there was a really good community spirit on the estate. Everybody worked together, all the kids went to the local primary schools, some like me made it to grammar and independent secondary schools. The rot of course set in later - subsequent housing was built to a lower standard, and even later many of the houses were sold off; we'd better not go into all that. I just wish I'd bought ours!
  19. I don't really want to stir this up again, but Coopercraft/Mailcoach/whoever had a stand at Nottingham yesterday. About two ex Slaters kits there, everything else etched. I was going to raise the subject of my payment being taken via the website and goods not being supplied (well over a year ago) but life is too short and I've had a bypass - I get quite annoyed enough when Trump pops up onscreen, thank you. Just don't be fool enough to trust anything on the Coopercraft website, eh? In the end I bought the NELPG 50th anniversary book from the Book Law stand instead. Subsequently I enjoyed the story of a bunch of chaps and girls, collectively resembling rather dirty Marvel comic heroes, who managed to buy and restore several locomotives, do up several more, run railtours, keep a preserved railway in locos, and hold down jobs at the same time. There may even be a moral somewhere
  20. I remember the ads for the Rolla Controlla, and I think I saw one demonstrated at one of the Central Hall exhibitions. Never seen one with the top off, so thanks for that Gordon H! The motor looks like a standard bought in item, the sort of thing found on good turntables and maybe tape recorders of the Fifties and Sixties. They were engineered to run quietly for obvious reasons. I did a quick Google and a W A Rollason came up in connection with light aircraft servicing in the mid Fifties. I wonder? I am unsurprised at anything of this type these days, after finding out that Alan Sugar used to hawk reel to reel recorders round North London! All sorts of little engineering/electronics works around then.
  21. Derek, just been reading all of this thread. Absolutely wonderful. Cheered me up no end as amongst other stuff I had a heart bypass last year and I get cheesed off occasionally. Serendipity must have struck - I went to the Derby show on Saturday, which inspired me to examine the contents of a large box from the loft. I found 2 Midland locos in it which I didn't know I had - a Ratio Johnson 2-4-0 and a K's 2F. Both half assembled, some painting done. Plus a double frame 0-6-0 which is in a bit of a state after 40 odd years. Even a Ratio clerestory and some Kitmaster coaches. Couple this with the recent purchase of an NRM Compound (new, £30 off!) and I think the good Lord is telling me something (apart from "don't start all that again, especially with K's kits!"). Thanks again for the thread and especially the wonderful photos which are extremely inspirational.
  22. The name K's certainly brought back a few memories, mainly of swearwords. My first kit apart from Aifix or Kitmaster was the double frame Midland 0-6-0. When I assembled the business bits I found the axles and bearings bound in the frames, causing the motor gear to slip on the axle! I had the temerity to pack the chassis up and send it to Keysers, I think then based in Willesden, with a modest note of complaint - I didn't know any better. Anyway I got the box back with a dismissive note, probably from "Pop" Keyser, on the lines of "Don't know what you mean , it's just a bit of schwarf (that's how he spelt it), have got a file to it". Well, that was me told. But considering the damn thing was about twice the price of a Tri-ang engine....!! I did assemble it and got it working quite nicely. I found the huge box containing the loco and about 200 other bits and bobs in the loft last week - if I can make the thing photographable I'll put it on the thread. I suspect half of it will be missing after 50 years though.
  23. Hi David, very nice shots of Derbyshire stations. Sad to see Alsop en le Dale going up in flames in 1969. Around 1962 my alma mater Nottingham High School (the Gormenghast on Arboretum Street) used the station as a geography field study centre. The buildings were used as a dormitory and I think a kitchen. I don't know if they rented it from BR or the National Park, but it looks like the Tissington Trail put paid to the buildings. After a very long hiatus (like 50 years??!!) I've re-established contact with a couple of "geographical" old fellow pupils so I will ask them what happened. Certainly the school had enough cash to buy the buildings......
  24. I haven't read all the IT related replies about all this, but some of them ring bells for me. I've been retired for some years now but used to have to look at automation products which our (financial) firm needed to tie together about 30 disparate systems. We had merged or taken over several other organisations. At one site there were hordes of people supporting mainframe IBM kit which didn't and couldn't talk to the different kit at our end, 100 miles away. Phone calls and bodge-ups (kit bashing?) allowed it all to sort of work but we needed a product to join all the dots and remove the necessity for specialists. Naturally they turned to consultants (no names, but by God did they know how to use mobiles, take notes and submit expenses claims!) So the consultants presented us with about 12 products from large and small European and US software vendors. All of them said that their product was the canine's gonads. NONE of them could actually interpret and action alerts between three or four different systems. One (we were already using one of their products) could do a bit of the job, and after a lot of brain bursting effort we actually had something which would tell us when a file turned up from the remote site - and similar basic stuff. Now this was 15 years ago, and things have moved on. My employer was hoovered up by another bank around 2008. All in the past. Am I bitter? - no, but I still have weird dreams! But if Hornby, who had already suffered the disaster of their Chinese manufacturer going off into the sunset, got into a situation where some ERP/ERM salesman and a bunch of consultants had sold them a complicated fix which didn't work at first go (or probably fifth go), I can understand recent events. As jjb1970 says above, you need much more than the software solution - you need all areas to buy in to new ways of working. I could go on but don't want to lose my nice pension!
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