Andy Kirkham

Sorry for the confusion: the picture I first referred to (early 1900s from the Portishead book) definitely does show a saddle tank; but that is not the picture I posted.

Found it!

Pictures of trains on the Harbour Lines are very rare indeed, but there is one in Reflections on the Portishead Branch by Mike Vincent. It shows a saddle tank on the quayside line with some open wagons behind and a shunter's truck in front, and I should say that it is probably adjacent to the building marked Store on the map. The photo is dated "Early 1900s". So yes, this suggests that locos were used on the Wapping quayside lines. Interesting that the map shows mixed gauge track. As a child I was taken for walks along the dockside at Canons Marsh and I remember seeing wagons on the quayside but they were always stationary. I was disappointd never to see operations on the quay but I daresay these walks were on Sundays. I remember a grown-up pointing out capstans and explaining that they were used for moving trucks. Nevertheless I have seen a photo online (which I can't now locate) showing a panier tank on the Canons Marsh quayside.

It must help that the fares on the line haven't gone up for years. £2 return to Clifton Down from any station on the line, even without a railcard.

I spotted a new development in the Clifton Down shopping centre today: a departures board for the adjacent station. It might act as a bit of outreach to those who frequent the area but are only vaguely aware of the railway and where it goes.

Do you know any buildings that look as if they ought to have been stations or other railway strauctures? I give you this rather grand terminus (Midland Railway I fancy) facing on to Park Place, just off Bristol's busy Queen's Road. In reality the former Roman Catholic Pro-Cathedral, never completed due to subsidence and shortage of funds, derelict for many years, and now being converted (inevitably) into flats Had it really been a railway terminus, it could, just conceivably have been connected to Clifton Down by means of some hefty civil engineering and a swathe of demolitions through genteel Clifton, and offered direct cervices to Birmingham and Bath via Ashley Hill Junction and Kingswood Junction.

Heaven 17 doing a cover version of John Shuttleworth's Dandelion and Burdock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRgEZsAMrwI

I've seen pictures of LMR 2-6-4Ts on the last leg to Birkenhead

I was on Raasay in 1976, at the time when the Island's economy was at a low ebb; much of the island was owned by an absentee landlord who blocked development. Raasay House, the laird's mansion, was derelict and it was easy to break in and browse the books in the library. There was also a derelict house near the pier, which had been the mine manager's residence. I made my way inside and went up into the attic. There I found a plan of the mine drawn in coloured ink showing the progress of excavations. I rolled it up and took it with me. Unfortunately I lost it on the way home - probably left on the train when I changed at Birmingham New Street.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I felt it was worth sharing these pictures of royal occasions. It's interesting to see how routine it was to erect "Potempkin stations" at every stop on a royal visit, and how the Royal train was used to reach quite minor places such as Grampound Road, Henwick and Treharris https://www.licensestorehouse.com/steam-museum-of-the-gwr/royalty-royal-trains/

Here's an image which almost deserves its florid description: https://www.licensestorehouse.com/steam-museum-of-the-gwr/locomotives/steam-standard-gauge-king-class-locomotives/king-george-v-plymouth-c1930s-20358651.html

Blimey! The Editor's Comments are enthusiastic and no mistake: "This extraordinary milk tank represents an era when craftsmanship and innovation were at their peak. Its sturdy construction and elegant design showcase the expertise and attention to detail that went into its creation. The glass lining adds a touch of sophistication...."

How is the ballast loaded at Lowestoft? I don't see on Google Maps any evidence of quayside railway tracks

At the Swanage Great Globe

Perhaps those men who had already used the pithead baths and who were clean; alternatively those who were on their way to the baths and were dirty.

One view of retirement: Who remembers yesterday’s footballers? Who remembers even the famous ones – the ones with the hacienda-style house, the Merc and the wife that’s a genuine blonde, the ones who get to partner fat comedians on the TV golf? They slip the mind as soon as they stop playing. Pampered swaggerers, they strut the floodlit pitch for the last time, salute the fans, and disappear down the tunnel. Suddenly they find it’s colder there, and they don’t feel so tall, and no one applauds; there’s a faint smell of p*ss and Ajax, a forty-watt bulb overhead, and a concrete floor underneath. No grass any more: if you fall, this time it will really hurt. And that tunnel is the rest of your life. From Putting the Boot In by Julian Barnes (writing as "Dan Kavenagh")

I'm sure I remember people referring to "The Concorde", as if there was only one of them.

I think the point is that there's nothing novel or interesting about fitting each of two engines with three cylinders. On the other hand fitting six cylinders to a single engine requires the designer to completely re-think the mechanical layout of the engine.

Although Chapelon designed a six-cylinder machine https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/160_A_1

I came across this on Yoube the other day and was particularly enchanted by the first minute "A Short History of America" (anyone know what the music is?) This reminded me of something similar in a book I have by a rather different artist. I'm sure they will be appreciated by those who model the urban scene with a historical sensibility.

According to this: https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/The_Peckett not without easing some of the curves to accommodate the long fixed wheelbase

And another rarity from the same collection as above These are from a place called Edenfield. Anybody know anything about the place? A nice one of Welshpool Torside Reservoir Scropton Sidings: 3ft gauge mineral railway at Hanbury Hill , Staffordshire Engine shed at Scropton

From the A J Powell collection, presented by Andrew Lance

It would have been good if they'd purchased the Leek & Manifold locomotives in 1934.🙂

Monarch had been sold to the W&L in 1966 when the system was still in full swing, so had evidently been written off as a white elephant by Bowaters quite early on.