Category: Historical

Marylebone station anniversary #2

December 17, 2020

From the 1950s to the end of the eighties. BR 45292 at Marylebone in April 1948, on what is possibly a Manchester express. Note the lower quadrant signal midway on the platform! It can also be seen in the picture featuring the women porters. Source: PicClick (The page in question has now been deleted and…
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #2

November 17, 2020

This is the second part of the planning/construction of the Shinaksen. Its straight in to the history! The construction of the Shinkansen would require enormous investment, some thought it would be as much as 200 billion yen. A significant proportion of the funds would have to be raised from banking institutes. In 1959 the Minister…
Southwark’s deep level tube shelter

November 4, 2020

‘The Deep’ apparently was the nickname for the Southwark deep level bomb shelter sited within the City and South London Railway’s former tunnels between Borough and London Bridge. The other end of this section at King William Street too was a bomb shelter however it was totally unconnected to Southwark’s thus the section of the…
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #1

October 26, 2020

Writing a comprehensive history upon the origins of Japan’s Shinkansen is a large project indeed – and few in the English world have sought to undertake such a task with the exception of Dr. Christopher Hood who is an expert on Japan and has penned a notable history of the Shinanksen. I’ve only read the…
Rails to Ilfracombe #2

October 15, 2020

This week is the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Barnstaple to Ilfracombe Railway. This opened on 20 July 1874 and shut for good from 5th October 1970 – the last train was actually two days earlier on the 3rd October – an eight car DMU forming the 19.55pm from Ilfracombe to Exeter carrying…
Rails to Ilfracombe #1

October 4, 2020

Trains do indeed still cross the River Taw in many places, eleven times this happens in fact. However a twelfth crossing was the biggest of all – and the one trains just do not use anymore. Yes you guessed – its the Ilfracombe line’s stupendous cast iron viaduct at Barnstaple. That was a rarity in…
Tinpot Railways – Morecambe

August 24, 2020

I wrote about the truncating of the terminus at Morecambe a couple of months back as part of my Tinpot Railways series. That was a great disappointment for me because at the time – which was 1994 when the change-over was done – I was surprised to find upon arriving at the town we were…
MILW picture gallery #2

June 29, 2020

The second part of this special gallery of Milwaukee Road scenes! Most are from Flickr pools – and not even featured on Google’s pages. Many fascinating pictures – and great photographers who captured these scenes! Drummond between Deer Lodge and Missoula. One of the few stops on the Rockies division to retain semaphore signals. Source:…
MILW picture gallery #1

June 22, 2020

I thought I’d do a gallery of Milwaukee Road scenes! Most are from Flickr pools – and not even featured on Google’s pages. Many fascinating pictures – and some very lucky guys who captured these scenes! The eastern terminus of the 438 miles of electrification at Harlowton. Large marshalling yards and locomotive depots were found…
Tinpot Railways: Terminal decline #3

June 15, 2020

We continue with our investigations into what could be said to be the ‘public sphere’ or perhaps the British consciousness in terms of its railways. The grand modernisation schemes and rationalisations of the sixties and seventies were really nothing more than contrived schemes to give the motorist a better deal. And its how we ended…

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