HPMRS RAILDATE 12 Apr 07

News

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

Internal edition. Not for further distribution (see note at end).

NETWATCH

Mumbles Railway personal glimpses from HPMRS member, Lawrence Hanney:

Thanks for the links to the Mumbles RAILWAY - never tram! (Editor's note: humble apologies to anyone offended by my referring to it as a "tramway". I should have known better, but I'm afraid I just picked up the BBC "headline" without thinking!) Interesting - it's a pity that one of the BBC websites chose to show a picture of a restored Swansea tram, which is nothing like the Mumbles railway BTH cars correctly shown elsewhere. I used to travel on these on a Friday afternoon in the late '50s when going to my aunt's for tea, and here are a few personal reminiscences:

- Superb views of the whole of Swansea Bay from the upper deck - Doors at each end of each car but on the landward side only - A weight suspended over the stairwells below the pantographs that used to go up and down as the pantograph followed the rises and dips in the overhead wires between the poles - A Mumbles train racing a Central Wales one (the tracks ran parallel for the first few miles out of Swansea) - In bad weather and a high tide, waves sometimes up to the height of the cars - A powerhouse half-way along containing rotary converters which used to supply the 660V dc to the whole line. It is still there at Blackpill and used for cycle rental in the summer - In more recent years, superb views of the whole of Swansea Bay from Verdi's Cafe, which is an Italian glass box built near the old trackbed to the pier at the Knab Rock!

Swansea and Gower are still worth a visit! And I might have some black and white photographs, but unfortunately if I do they will be in a remover's warehouse in Eastleigh!

Lawrence and Melissa have been out and about, and went to the Crofton Beam Engines over Easter. They recommend it as an excellent place to 1) See some genuine engineering history in action - one of the beam engines is the oldest working one in steam in the world! 2) See HSTs whizzing past at pretty close quarters 3) Watch boats going up and down the canal locks 4) Walk to a Windmill if you go on Sunday afternoon, and look around that 5)Just sit in the sun and relax! The website is here, which also contains the steam dates: http://www.croftonbeamengines.org/openingtimes.html

Issue 57 (April 2007) of "West Somerset Express", the unofficial online newsletter of the West Somerset Railway is available here: http://trainsferriesbuses.co.uk/westsomersetexpress.htm

Barry Emmott has launched another of his Majorca Railways newsletters, containing many of the photos he took at the end of January and beginning of February: http://mysite.freeserve.com/MajorcaRailways/Newsletter.htm

Barry is also working on a page of clippings taken from digital newspapers and translated from the original Mallorquin: http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/bazzastuff/VEU_Compilation.htm

If you are interested in Majorcan railways, you can join the Majorca Railways group on Yahoo. To subscribe, send a message to: MajorcaTrains-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Mike Morant has been developing his Fotopic site for 3 years, and by its third anniversary, it had received 250,000 "hits". To commemorate this event, Mike has assembled a collection of 51 images that are almost purely Southern related: http://gallery62603.fotopic.net/c1245519.html

Andrew Stopford's Lost Railways of West Yorkshire site: http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/

Gorton Locomotive Works: http://gorton-tank.com/

Dukinfield Carriage & Wagon Works: http://www.greatcentraldukinfield.co.uk/

After a 3-4 year absence due to many factors, the website formerly called southernrailwayuk.com has been relaunched. It can now be found at: http://www.rayngeyard.co.uk/

At circa 1000 pages and approaching 9000 individual images and other files after 3 years worth of updates, there should be something there to interest pretty much everyone.

Waterloo signalbox, among many featured on a site dedicated to Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Co Ltd miniature power lever frames: http://www.wbsframe.mste.co.uk/newsite/Waterloo.html

92 Squadron is back! The protracted repairs are now finished and she is resplendent in a new coat of paint: http://www.92squadron.co.uk/pics/lge/p021.html

Digital Archives now produce a CD of Ordnance Survey 1st-edition maps for 1869-75 for Flintshire and Denbighshire. It contains all the six-inch maps of the counties, supplemented by the 25-inch maps for the towns and other built-up areas. The latter are reproduced in colour. Access is via an index map, and you can zoom in to any magnification and print out any selection. Maps of Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Manchester and London are also available: http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

90-95% coverage of out-of-copyright 1-in OS maps: http://www.npemap.org.uk/

Reviews of feature films that include railway scenes: http://www.worldrailfans.org/Articles/General/RailwayMovies.shtml

Bill Bedford has updated his website: http://www.mousa.uk.com

A small company in Melbourne, Australia that will produce transfers to order - Brunel Models (John and Mary de la Lande). Mary does the transfers and John the 'mechanical' items. Mary will use artwork provided or produce it if required. They make and supply lots of other items for modelling and have a computer laser cutting service. Worth browsing their online catalogue particularly as the A$ is so cheap: http://www.bdsonline.net/brunelmodels

A celebration of Scammells: http://freespace.virgin.net/scammell.man/

Oxford Diecast are launching a 1/76 range of commercial vehicles of the 1950s/60s - 12 types, 36 liveries: http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk

A petition about Britain's historic ships and transport heritage has been launched on the Prime Minister's website. It calls for the Prime Minister to give proper recognition to Britain's transport heritage by giving it adequate funding, resources, protection and recognition, and specifically requests that the Government builds on the success of the National Register of Historic Buildings and Sites by creating a similar statutory national register protecting Britain's mobile transport heritage: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/historicships/

IN THE NEWS

Class 442s find a new home on the Gatwick Express: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6524763.stm

Network Rail radio masts: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/6513703.stm

Rail disruption hits after Easter: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6543285.stm

Rail disruption in South Wales: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6542545.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6545951.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6547079.stm

Falmouth branch might get more trains: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6545483.stm

Rail crash historian makes appeal: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/6545071.stm

Skye Ferry service: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6518543.stm

French take train speed record to over 350 mph: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6521295.stm Video (in French): http://www.lexpress.fr/info/quotidien/24hvideo/france.asp

Eurostar service cuts: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6520691.stm

Rail company's Chinese trains bid: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6548471.stm

(Spotter: Neil Kearns, Reg Nerps)

TV and Radio

Events

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