Category Archives: Ferroequinology

A Brief Potter

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John

Bus with fold­ing bike to Tad­caster — Wharfe reas­on­ably full, but not excess­ively so.  Off along the lane to Bolton Percy — peace­ful Autumn coun­tryside, very quiet, few birds along this stretch.  Fine col­ours in the hedges, par­tic­u­larly birch.  Bolton … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Turmoil and Tranquillity

Posted on November 7, 2008 by John

No, not my account of every­day life at num­ber 70, but a reminder that there is a fas­cin­at­ing exib­i­tionat the Queen’s House, next to the National Mari­time Museum, Green­wich.  The exhib­i­tion is called “Tur­moil and Tran­quil­lity: the sea trhough the … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Norway Neglected

Posted on October 19, 2008 by John

Hor­rors.  After spend­ing two weeks in the coun­try, back in August, not a single word has been said. So — a major task here. Ferry from New­castle to Stavanger / Ber­gen.  This is such a won­der­ful way to start a hol­i­day … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Between the Gare Du Nord and the Gare de l’Est

Posted on October 3, 2008 by John

Two sta­tions in Paris, about as far apart as Euston and St. Pan­cras  From Eng­land, you arrive in the far corner of the Gare Du Nord — a little enclave behind bar­ri­ers to pro­tect GB from unchecked for­eign­ers.  On par­al­lel … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Loading Gauge

Posted on July 24, 2008 by John

If we hadn’t been so parsimoious when we built our rail­ways, and only left enough height for a man with a top hat to stand up in an open third class truck, and only made our car­riages as wide as … Con­tinue read­ing →

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1968 and all that

Posted on June 8, 2008 by John

The National Rail­way Museum means well, bless its heart.  Hop­ing to make a little money, no doubt, from folks who had not a lot to do at half-term, they set up a 1968 nos­tal­gia fest. (40 years on from the … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Cross Country

Posted on April 20, 2008 by John

Well, can’t really fault York-Exeter return on the same day by Cross Coun­try. No more than 2 minutes late in either case, though helped of course by the gen­er­ous amounts of recov­ery time / sta­tion stop that are now allowed. … Con­tinue read­ing →

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By Train all the Way (and back)

Posted on April 13, 2008 by John

York to South­ern Ger­many. Leave York 08.12, arrive Ravens­burg, nearly at the Bodensee, at the other side of which is Switzer­land, at 21.07 same day. Everything on time, too, at least until we got to Stut­tgart, where everything was run­ning … Con­tinue read­ing →

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York Literature Festival

Posted on March 11, 2008 by John

Back in York, we have been hav­ing the York Lit­er­ary Fest­ival, which is def­in­itely not a fest­ival any­thing like Edin­burgh, though I under­stand some Edin­burgh Fringe events also get audi­ence num­bers in the neg­at­ive if you dis­count grand­par­ents, WAGS. High­light … Con­tinue read­ing →

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Ah ! Paris !

Posted on February 16, 2008 by John

Well, actu­ally, “Brrr  Paris”,  in that there was an extraordin­ar­ily chilly little wind whist­ling up the Seine and round the Tuiler­ies and up and down the steps of the Metro (of which more anon). Eurostar did its bit very nicely and … Con­tinue read­ing →

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