Rugd1022

Vladek Sheybal was cast as a doctor in 'UFO', slightly against type but still with that sinister vibe he so often gave on screen. See also : George Murcell, often cast as a Russian, Eastern European or occasionally South American in numerous ITC series and the odd film... Roger Delgado, the go to actor for a middle eastern sheik and fabulous as the original Master in Dr.Who... Derek Newark, a regular ITC supporting actor when a bit of good old fashioned British thuggery was needed... Oh, and talk of Peter Salis in 'Last Of The Summer Wine' reminded me that he played a sinister villain in an episode of 'The Persuaders' before landing the part of Clegg!

Photo c/o GWS collection : Reading in 1958 with members of the CMEE Department, l to r : Don Flook, Jack Dowsett, Ken Gibbs, Horrace Rhodda (possibly related to veteran Old Oak driver and ex- Arnhem paratrooper Jack Rhodda), Fred Kitchen, Dennis Norris. Behind them is ex-1908 built Steam Railmotor No.93, rebuilt as auto trailer 212 in 1935, retired into departmental service in 1956 and renumbered 0799014.

Photo by John Atkinson : 33 038 at Bristol TM in 1986...

Photo by Michael Mensing : Bescot's D8137 on a local tripper at Wednesbury on 19th September 1969...

Photo by Roger Wainwright...

Photo by John Goodale : St.Pancras in 1982, probably just as many of us here would like to remember it, with 45 135, 45 116 and 45 121 in attendance...

Photo by Peter Parnell : Newton Heath in 1968..

I'm sure I read somewhere that he'd passed away - hope I'm wrong!

Photo by John Goodale : now preserved on the Glos & Warks line, here's 47 105 at CF Canton on 17th December 1982... And at Cheltenham Racecourse in April 2005...

Photo by David Malpas : D6507 at Dorchester South in 1967...

We've had the 'bus on the bridge with a train passing underneath', how about the reverse...

That brief snippet of the BR Standard is taken from John Slesinger's fantastic 'Terminus', filmed at Waterloo!

Probably household coal bound for Acton Yard, and the 47 looks like 089 'Amazon' with its chipped nameplate where someone tried to 'liberate' it, 081 'Odin' was the same on one side too for a while.

I doubt it, but I rather like the idea. When De Tomaso stepped in and saved Maserati from the brink in 1975, he started 'de-Citroenising' the Bora, Merak and Khamsin models almost straight away and got Giugiaro to design the Quattroporte III which had no Citroen content at all. It would be rather ironic if Stellantis reversed it!

Some French railway footage in this clip from a 1967 Yves Montand film called 'Vivre Pour Vivre'...

The Swimming Pool - Michel Legrande, title track from the film soundtrack of 'La Piscine'

Whilst perusing the t'interweb for Maserati Biturbo stuff this week I came across a few interesting bits and bobs...

A genuine 'wow' looking at that - I can almost hear it coming towards me, passing through the carriage washer at Old Oak on its way up to Padd with a rake of empty Mk1s... wrong number for an Old Oak machine of course but you get the picture. Fabulous!

Nothing will really change 'on the ground', it's another Labour pipedream which won't really go anywhere. As a railwayman, a former Labour voter and a member of a trade union which used to be the most militant on the planet I ought to be onboard with it, but I still don't believe a word of it. Starmer is as deluded now as he was the day he became 'leader'. It'll no doubt keep the already converted onside coming up to the election, but I'm not convinced at all that it will improve the railway as a whole, either short or long term.

Photo by the late and much missed John Vaughan : 31 412 trundles along the down ECS line towards Old Oak on 3rd May 1980...

Are You Experienced - The Jimi Hendrix Experience...

Pretty Flamingo - Manfred Mann

I presume this is one of Roy's - my all time favourite Airfix kit... Did he do them all or were other artists involved?

I came across these recently whilst looking at historical FIAT stuff...

A couple of recent finds while looking for other Italian stuff...