eastglosmog

A paper on the problems of the Torside dam may be found here: https://britishdams.org/2008conf/papers/Internal erosion/P 17 Gardiner Final.pdf Although he had problems in the Longdendale Valley, Bateman became a very successful dam designer, being responsible for over 40 large dams, more than twice as many as any other dam engineer in the Victorian period. The techniques of engineering large dams were very primitive in the mid nineteenth century and the problems not understood. The Longdendale dams were one of the projects where Bateman learnt the problems and how to remedy them, making his later projects more successful. As an aside, it was Bateman who realized that sticking rain gauges on roof ridges gave false results, enabling him to disprove the widespread early nineteenth century idea that rainfall is less on highland than lowland.

That blackbird sure is pushing his luck again:

Its not just cows, all the litter is dangerous to wildlife in general: https://www.aiwc.ca/wildlife-and-litter-dont-mix/

Often followed by a third line "and Zorro destroys!".

One of the more persistent offenders around here are rail travelers who throw their used tickets anywhere (including my front garden). As the tickets are supposed to remain the property of the railway company, I am often tempted to charge GWR for the cost of removal! Very few tickets around at the moment, of course.

Looking on Old maps, it appears that the bridge replaced a foot crossing that was slightly further north, sometime between 1869 and 1897 (probably when the platforms were extended southwards over the location of the foot crossing). Probability is that the bridge is a railway responsibility, as it is not a new route.

On the theme of this thread (and on a railway theme, too). In case anyone thought littering was a recent issue, here is one from 1959 https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-i-am-a-litter-basket-1959-online We are a messy lot.

Disturbing reports of how much litter was left behind on Dorset beaches over the weekend https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-52890608 Selfish behavior and dangerous to wildlife.

Just heard on Radio 3 "Faint heart in a railway train", words by Thomas Hardy, arranged by Muriel Emily Herbert.

There is always "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.

Be prepared - Tom Lehrer

No , he only named 2 manufacturers - Bassett Lowke is spelt with two t's, Basset is a dog!

To be fair to the seller, I believe "Special Clockwork" is a description applied by Bassett Lowke to a series of locos with a "Special Clockwork" mechanism and does not refer to the state of the model!

Gates of Babylon - Rainbow

Rivers of Babylon - Boney M

I'm walking backwards for Christmas - The Goons

If anyone is interested, Radio 3 is doing a "Slow Radio" programme at 11:30pm this Sunday (31st May) traveling on the Flying Scotsman (that's the loco, not the train) from Manchester to Carlisle. 60mph is a bit slow for the FS, I suppose!

Nos. 3 & 4 are of the Owenascaul bridge just east of Annascaul on the Tralee and Dingle. No.6 is by W.A. Camwell, is near Camp (T & D) and dates from 29th April 1938, published on the front page of May 1939 Railway Magazine (and also in Whitehouse and Snell, Narrow Gauge Railways of the British Isles, which is where I got this info from.) I suspect No.5 is also a W.A. Camwell photo of similar vintage, probably the same place and train. Edited to add: Indeed they all might be W.A. Camwell photos, as No. 4 is also a W.A. Camwell photo of Spring 1938 (info from David Rowlands, The Tralee and Dingle Railway, where the photo appears). And again: Photo Nos. 1 and 2 must be before 1939, as the passenger service stopped that year

The gradient profile changed quite a bit during the life of the line due to the activities of the NCB and its predecessors. Settlements of 6m or more altered the gradients quite a bit.

Measuring off of Google Earth Gorebridge on the Borders Railway (2015) is about 2.9m wide.

Defying my old cat again!

According to Realtime trains this service (the 11:12 on 16th May) "Starts as Class 80x on diesel, changes en route". Into a Class 166?

This blackbird is going to end up in a cat if it does this too often - fortunately my cat is getting to old for this kind of thing. I had even been out and shooed it away, but it came back!

The slow train - Flanders and Swann

Bridges and tunnels were often built from what was available from the cuttings. The station buildings could easily be built of something different. As an example, Charlbury station on the OWW has a stone built rail bridge over the river east of the station, a brick built road bridge over the railway west of the station and the station buildings are of wood (as was the goods shed). The signal box was brick and wood. Also, remember that station buildings were sometimes rebuilt, Moreton in Marsh, for example was originally wood, but was rebuilt in brick by the GWR. As the stone available from cuttings sometimes proved not to be very durable, stone built bridges could often end up patched with brick - there are several examples on the OWW east of Charlbury.