HPMRS RAILDATE 22 Feb 07

News

RAILDATE: the weekly newsletter of the Hursley Park Model Railway Society: http://www.ibmhursleyclub.org.uk/ss/hpmrs/

A LITTLE EARLY THIS WEEK - A BIT OF VACATION COMING UP!

NETWATCH

Brian Robertson is slowly building a website based upon official railway documents that will paint a picture of the state of British Railways in 1960. The site will eventually include the following: - A page devoted to every section of line on British Railways in 1960 - Every station, junction, signal box, etc listed - Distance between locations - Number of running lines - Opening and closing dates of lines and stations - Links to maps of each station as at 1940(ish) - Lists of depots - Lists of locations of steam cranes and other emergency equipment - Lists of private sidings that existed in 1904 and 1956

There is a lot yet to do and many pages are not completed, but Brian has made it "live" because he thinks, in all probability, it will never be properly finished, so people might as well watch it being built. Even if he complete the stuff listed above, he believes he would probably find something else he would want to add!

http://www.conceptcrafts.co.uk/britishrailways1960

Personally, I have a slight concern that there will be (maybe already is) a proliferation of such sites, with potentially a lot of duplication of information and effort, which, as Brian admits himself, may never be completed. The ideal would be something like a Wikipedia for railways - one place where everybody could deposit everything they know in a common format, rather than myriad places where various individuals have had a (potentially over-ambitious) go. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.

Work is now underway to transform Darlington Railway Centre & Museum into a world-class visitor attraction. The £1.7m refurbishment consists of three projects, the first of which is to re-tile the roof of the Grade II listed Victorian station building at North Road in the town. Staff are also gearing up for the second project, which will see internal works carried out, such as upgrading of the reception and shop areas and the installation of new heating system and fire alarms. As part of the refurbishment the Ken Hoole Study Centre is moving to a new location within the building, to provide better facilities and access to the archives and collections. The study centre will close on 9th March to allow staff to move more than 10,000 items in the museum's archives and collections. The volume of work involved in this and the need to protect the items in the collections while the refurbishment work is done, means the study centre will be closed for around a year.

The museum itself will also close after Easter for 12 months to allow the refurbishment to progress. While it is closed, staff will be progressing the third project in the museum's transformation - to research the new displays and source artefacts and information. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6378339.stm

For more information about the museum go to: http://www.drcm.org.uk

A couple of podcasts to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the head of British Transport Films, Edgar Anstey: http://www.bufvc.ac.uk/podcast

Interesting images of New Holland Pier: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=9304

Northumbria Rail Ltd: http://www.northumbria-rail.co.uk

Preserved shunters: http://www.preservedshunters.co.uk/psh_intro.php

The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: http://www.lincolnshirewoldsrailway.co.uk/

A collection of Swindon drawings: http://www.champwilde.f9.co.uk/gwdrawings/

Various websites all covering the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire: http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/links/index.php http://www.flickr.com/photos/loose_grip_99/sets/72157594332894726/ http://www.gcrleicester.info/ http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/pages.php?enum=LE124&pnum=0&maxp=16

http://www.15c.co.uk/leicester%20GCR.htm http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lner/construction_birdcage.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_Central_railway_station

An interesting (if fairly random) round-up of one family's railtours by bike. Contains information on how to cope with a bike on a train: http://www.zen70752.zen.co.uk/bat/out/index.htm

The International Stationary Steam Engine Society http://www.isses.org

A cracking place to go if you're local and have an interest in the history of flight... or just local history - Solent Sky (formerly the Southampton Hall of Aviation): http://www.afm.ses.soton.ac.uk/solentsky/index.htm http://www.spitfireonline.co.uk/

Nick Wheat tells me that the London Camera Exchange at Southampton is having another "Pro Show" with cut-price sensor cleaning while you wait and the chance to see the latest kit, accessories, training seminars, etc. Wednesday 28th March - Southampton Novotel: 11am - 7pm http://www.lcegroup.co.uk

IN THE NEWS

Four in East Coast rail shortlist: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6378159.stm

Rail works to improve performance: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6382231.stm

Council rejects £300m depot plan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/6377813.stm

"Daddy Long Legs" model on show: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/6369651.stm

Rail chief to be quizzed on Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6371929.stm

Fire at Ruddington museum: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6381741.stm

Trabant anniversary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6381759.stm

(Spotters: Richard Buckby, Neil Kearns, Ralph Rawlinson, Glynn Waite, Nick Wheat, Reg Nerps)

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See Mainline Steam Tours page for up-to-date info on many of these tours, and others, often with timings.