Locomotive “La France”
Bought by the Great Western Railway (GWR) for comparison. . . . . . French-built de Glehn 4-4-2 Compound “La France” arrived in pieces at...
F W Hawksworth
The Great Western Railway’s last Chief Mechanical Engineer. . . . . . . . Frederick William Hawksworth was born in Swindon, Wiltshire on...
Still Steaming
The legacy of GWR CME Charles Collett. . . . . . . . Looking at the locomotive designs of Charles Collett, it’s amazing how many of them...
Archibald Sturrock: Locomotive Engineer
Innovator responsible amongst other things for warm feet and hot footplates. . . . . . Born near Dundee in 1816, Archibald Sturrock...
Antiquity and Preservation
How some historic locomotives escaped scrapping while others survived as replicas alongside the originals. . . . . . . . . In January...
G J Churchward: Influential Locomotive Engineer
George Jackson Churchward CBE, JP, M Inst C E, M I Mech E, (31st January 1857 to 19th December 1933) was born at Stoke Gabriel, Devon....
Great Central
The Great Central Railway and Sir Edward Watkin. . . . . . . . When sitting down to write these posts, sometimes there is a dilemma...
Horace Gamble (1922 -2021)
The story of the late Horace Gamble, Leicester railway enthusiast. . . . . . Browsing through the latest railway literature to arrive via...
The redoubtable Captain Tyler
The Board of Trade Chief Inspector of Railways, Captain Henry Tyler presented his annual report for the previous year in 1874. During...
The North star
The continuing theme of railway pub signs in the Friends’ “Review” magazine reminded me about one example – “North Star”. This picture...
Harry Walker 1918-2018
The life and times of the late Harry Walker. . . . . . . . Harry who? you might ask. I had the pleasure of recording an interview with...
Signalling - a cinderalla subject
Railway signalling is perceived by many as a Cinderella subject but in the early 90's the National Railway Museum in York had a surfeit...