Allegheny1600

Whilst attempting to research a station and railway line near to me that had closed in 1968 and was demolished in about 1973 and subsequently built over, I quickly exhausted all of the usual internet possibilities and had to start learning how to do (is ???conduct??™ the right term?) research ???properly???. I realised that I did not know how to do this and promptly used the internet once again to try and teach myself how this was done!

An interesting idea that I found was ???how do I know what it is that I don??™t know - if I don??™t know what ???it??™ is, then how can I look for it?!???? Right now, I??™ll admit that I did look at some pretty ???academic??™ websites and they can take a bit of reading through!

Anyway for us railway modellers/historians, it should be fairly simple - 9 times out of 10, (like myself) we KNOW there was a station/line/depot at such and such a place and from there, it shouldn??™t be too hard to work out to a reasonable degree of accuracy the trains, locos, stock etc that worked at that place in that time.

In case any of you are interested, here is one of the sites I found helpful with regard to the definition of research, how to use it and what to do with the research when you have it: http://www.wsu.edu/~...e/research.html

As I say, this type of website does take a bit of reading through and in itself has nothing to do with railways at all! However, it does show a clear scientific or academic way of approaching the subject of research, sifting out the ???chaff??? and being left with good reliable information.

I??™ll just recap here the processes I went through ???on-line??™ to try and dig up information;

Google (or your other favourite search engine!).

Wikepedia.

Flickr (or your other favourite photo site!).

Line society (a lot of pre-group and the ???big four??™ railways have their own society/s - you just need to know which line your subject was on!)

The HMRS.

Local newspapers.

Local government/administration departments.

Local town/village sites.

Historic local industry sites.

???Disused-Stations??™ is another useful site I found.

Online search for books pertaining to your subject area - quite often there is enough of a description of the books contents to tell you whether this book is worth pursuing or not.

A question on the RMWeb itself.

Online Maps.

Pretty much all of these kinds of websites have a ???search??? facility to help you find what you are looking for (when you know what that is!) and they will even tell you if you are being too specific or vague - helpful!

The process of sifting through all these websites can be quite time consuming but at least, it??™s free and you??™re in a warm and comfortable environment. However, if you still cannot find (sufficient) information, like me - then it??™s time to go out and get dirty, cold, wet and possibly, spend money!

Well, I am now at that stage - all the above searches having come to very little, even throwing up confusing information(!). Hence the need to be able to sort out the ???chaff???.

Here is a list of what I plan to do next;

As the man in black said, I plan to ???walk the line??™! I did do some ???walking??™ last autumn but I??™m not doing that again until the weather warms up a bit! Seriously, winter time is a good time to do a ???railway walk??™ (where you can!) as the weeds and other undergrowth etc have died back - allowing you to see that bit more clearly and giving you easier access.

I??™m going to make up little ???postcard??™ sized adverts asking for help with information, photographs, reminiscences etc and ask local newsagents, chippys etc to put them up for me. This usually costs about 50p per week (if charged at all!).

More searching at the local library/local studies library and nearby public records office will no doubt have to be undertaken.

Finally, pleas in the local paper/s should help bring some more information out of the woodwork.

As I start to get out more, I will post further details of the fruits of my labours - of course!

In the meantime, can anyone else on here assist with ideas of how to go about gaining information, please?

Oh! and the station I??™m researching?

Lowton St. Mary??™s junction station on the former (isolated) Great Central (MS&L) line from Glazebrook C.L.C. to Wigan (central) and St. Helens (central).

The branch from Lowton St. Mary??™s to St. Helens was built by the Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway in 1895 whereas the (main)line to Wigan (central) was built in 1879 by the Wigan junction Railway. However another source says the line was built by the Wigan Jct., & Strangeways Railway under the supervision of the Wigan coal & iron company. Whomever did build it, it became part of the Great Central proper in 1906, the St. Helens line closed to passengers in 1954, the Wigan line lost it??™s passengers services in 1964 and all traffic ceased in 1968, with demolition of St. Mary??™s coming in 1973.

A fair bit of the track beds remain however even though the station site has been turned into an industry - as I gain more knowledge, I do find this line most interesting - I suppose that is what research is all about!

Cheers and thanks for reading,

John E.

Edited to add map information.

Sorry chaps, can't help myself - simply HAD to post this one!.................

A big city-slicker lawyer went duck hunting. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing. The lawyer said, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going to get it."

The old farmer replied, "This is my property, and you are not coming over here."

The angry lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the country and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we settle disputes in these parts. We settle small disagreements with the 'Three Kick Rule.'"

The lawyer asked, "What is the 'Three Kick Rule'?"

The Farmer replied, "Well, because the dispute occurs on my land, I get to go first. I kick you three times and then you kick me three times and so on back and forth until someone gives up."

The lawyer quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the attorney. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy steel toed work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick to the midriff sent the lawyer's last meal gush'n' from his mouth.

The lawyer was on all fours when the farmer's third kick to his rear end, sent him face-first into a fresh cow pie. The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and dragged himself to his feet. Wiping his face with the arm of his jacket, he said, "Okay, you old fart. Now it's my turn."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Nah, I give up. You can have the duck."

Tee he!

John E.

This..................is just a joke...................honest!!!!

A blind man walks into a bar, makes his way to a bar stool and orders a

drink. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender.

"Hey, You wanna hear a Liverpool joke?"

The bar immediately falls absolutely quiet. The man next to him says,

"Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair that you

should know five things.

Number One. The bartender is a Liverpoolfan with a baseball bat.

Number Two. The bouncer is a Liverpool Fan

Number Three. I'm a six-foot-tall, 175 lb. Liverpool Fan with a black

belt in karate.

Number Four. The man sitting next to me is a Scouser and a professional

weightlifter.

Number Five. The man to your right is a Scouser and a professional

wrestler.

He concludes by smugly asking, "Now think about it seriously, mister.

Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "Nah,

not if I'm gonna have to explain it FIVE TIMES!!!."

And i live only a few miles away!!!!!

Cheers,

John E.

Hi Robin,

No problem, mate!

Bits to add are front screw coupling, front NEM pocket and brake rigging for loco & tender and tender vacuum pipe.

Coal load is removeable AND there is even a coal "spill" for the tender footplate.

Haulage wise, she'll take a rake of 7 Bachmann Mk1's up my grades of 1 in 36 and around my curves, some of which are down to 2nd radius! In fact, now she's run in a bit more, she'll probably handle 8 with comfort - thats not bad, eh?

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I'd buy it again, any day!

Cheers,

John E.

John.Any chance of some photos and a review over/after the Christmas period for those of us waiting for the GW version plase.

Hi Robin,

I had just done a thorough review of the model and was uploading my last pictures when the web/forum went down - grrr! Rather than attempt to write all that again (perhaps i should have done it in word (& saved it!)), here are my pictures at least!

A single word review for you: SUPERB!

I have just been notfied by Hattons that the Pete Waterman Collection Castle "Earl Cairns" is on its' way to Switzerland . I wonder if it will be in GWR or BR Livery? According to Simon Kohler's reply to my e-mail it will be in GWR liver, the photograph of the loco on Hattons' website is not the model, but a photo of the locomotive in BR days

 

I await my parcel with interest

Hello iL Dottore,

"Earl Cairns" is in early BR green livery - that is with the original BR crest!

HTH,

John E.

Picked mine up from Arcadia models in Shaw - she's a beauty!

It's the Pete Waterman model of 5053 "Earl Cairns" but now shes all wrapped up for Santa!

Cheers all,

John E.

Hmmm.....

We could be in for some interesting times then (fingers crossed!).

What say, reliveried & re-engined class 60's working alongside British loading gauge Siemens or Vossloh diesels..................

Perchance to dream!

John E.

P.S.

Relating to class 59 vs class 60, don't forget that the first fleets of class 59's were very small indeed, given localised work (out & back), not 24/7 AND they were given very close monitoring by GM-EMD staff. "molly-coddled"? - Hardly, not with those sized stone trains BUT certainly very well looked after. If the class 60 had been given that kind of treatment, i'm sure they would be in fine form today.

One here from my good lady - she likes to invent her own "funnies" as she thinks mine are awful(!).

What do you call a (Nazi) with a funny face?.............

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Herman Gurning

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Sigh! - get's coat and leaves.......

JE

Ah, so it looks like I might actually be getting a 2010 release rtr loco to go on the 2010 Challenge layout (or that I'll need to get the layout done to go under the loco ).

You and me both, Mike!

I wonder how many others will do the same as us, hopefully lots of people though not neccessarily for a challenge layout!

Cheers,

John E.

Well, Hurrah for Heljan!!

I'll have two in TTG and one in Blue, please!

I hope they wait until 2011 before they (or someone else!) does the class 16.

Cheers,

John E.

Well,

Having never posted in this thread before, i'll give it a bash.

Currently (but not at this time of night!) "Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses" by Rolf Stumpf - how many have heard of HIM, i wonder? That's one for the Alcohaulics!

Otherwise it's quite likely to be something by Jethro Tull.

Cheers y'all,

John E.

Hi there,

Thanks for posting these, it looks an interesting layout that is coming along nicely - love your RS's and your Rio Grande F-M!

Very nice "Gulf" tank wagons too - i've never seen them before, may i ask whose they are please?

Cheers,

John E.

I'm definately more of a "night owl" than a "lark" - this thread had become "ER/is that the time"(!!!!!) on the old site! Perhaps it will again?

Liking the new site: WELL DONE to to Andy and everyone else involved.

Cheers,

John E.