Peppercorn

That's a humdinger of a photo!

Hey! I'm prettier than ol' plain jane....

Simmering in shed, an every day story of railwayfolk...

Me, too. There was steam at a factory about half a mile away, but I only took one photo of it.

"He who hesitates is lost" goes the old saw. I've hesitated about posting this; I'd be interested to know what you think, good rmwebfolk. Cliff

I'm learning to paint, so, Peter, you've given me the idea Cliff

Well, Bluebottle, I was brought up in electric territory in North Kent, and it wasn't until I reached my teens and got access to a camera that I was able to get out and see some steam. I could easily have crossed to Essex on the Gravesend- Tilbury ferry, but, instead, me and a friend went to London, fare around 10/-. We firstly went to the big termini where I took the most appalling photos, some of which you've seen. We then adventured out a bit and found Willesden, Old Oak, also Clapham. It was only in May '64 that I got to go on a railtrip, possibly many of others on this forum were on it - hauled by Flying Fox to Doncaster thence to Darlington by Flying Scotsman. And saw lots of loverly LNER locos. My affection for AHP came later with the reading of "Thompson and Peppercorn - Locomotive Engineers" by Col Rogers, where AHP comes over as areal, live human. I still find it slightly incredible that, after working for a martinet such as Sir Nigel, and a - well, I don't know how to term him - Thompson, that AHP was known as 'Pep' to those who worked for him. He was clearly a very self-effacing man who I admire greatly. And I do have some photos of his wonderful locos, not many, and I'll scan them in due course, once I've got the neg. However, like many others, I just love steam. It took me a long while to come to terms with dieselization, so conservative am I, that the only photos of them that I have are relatively recently made. Ditto electric, but - and speaking as an electrical engineer - I've always had a soft spot for electric locos. Here's a Peppercorn for you (I've really overcooked this. I'll repost when I've done the job properly - its scanned from a scratched photo, Bluebottle, so I need to scan the neg.

This was an attempt at a creative photo. Waterloo, '67. Class 2 tank. Taken with a 35mm camera - I owned a Yashica J then that I'd bought second hand.

Another poor photo - one of my first taken with a Kodak box on 120 (or was it 620?) film. This is Gannet at Kings Cross autumn of '63

I think you're probably right, bike2steam, as I went up to Willesden a couple of times around then.

An everyday scene on the Midland mainline - this is near Milton Ernest last summer. I think it'll be electrified, which will make photography a bit tricky. Unless you're photgraphing OLE, of course.

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this photo, which shows an 8F hard at work in what could be termed a typical everyday scene on the steam railway.P*** poor photo, I'm afraid, but it does, I think, manage to convey the atmosphere of the time, which was late '63. Given today's working environment where PPE is - rightly - demanded, it's interesting to see the various workmen apparently wandering around in raincoats, any headgear being a cloth (or similar) hat Cliff

Feeling cranky....

"Make way, make way, I'm comin' in...."

Just thought I'd add another electric, DB class 112 a couple of years ago, at or near Dormagen. Oh, and while I'm at it, one from Weimar two years ago. Just thought I'd add another electric, DB class 112 a couple of years ago, at or near Dormagen. Oh, and while I'm at it, one from Weimar two years ago.

I came across this photo of the local Bedford St Johns to Bletchley train, a couple of winters ago. Love the snowplough.

Here's one I took a long time ago. I was trying to create a shot - and did - but it's rather bad than creative, but, nevertheless looks a little creative. For the life of me I can't remember where or when.

Black 5 near Haworth a couple of years ago

How about a couple of class 90s? Both at Ipswich in 2009

]Make sure you allow enough time for the auto functions on the camera to work. As a supplementary, make sure you're tall enough...

Und jetz, von Deutschland, ein Klasse 110 (Osnabruck, but can't remember the year, likely mid to late 80s)

"Garn....giss us a kiss...." (Tilbury one 21st November, late 80s I think)

"Hello, there. Aren't I the pretty one?" (Tilbury 21st November ....but can't remember which year, but I think late 80s)

Ivatt class 4 from way down low

Am I allowed this one?