IrishRover wrote:Wow, another facet to the MGJohn enigma - expert lepidopterist, raconteur, wise old motoring codger and now this!
Seems like you've kept the trainspotting secret til now! Transport enthusiast does sound more socially acceptable though, especially if you think about cars instead. But now I'm wondering if I'd be able to explain why how I feel about cars is any less sad than how some people feel about trains.
I don't get the appeal of standing in a cold urban station waiting to see train number 17910 when it looks exactly like trains 1 thru 17909, but looking at the
picture Skatiechik posted of the train winding through the mountain I can definitely appreicate that (I'm now replacing the picture of the 2008 Dodge Challenger with it as my desktop background).
Anyway, that is interesting John and I never knew about the Rover trains but of course thinking about it now it would have had to have had freight trains like this. I hear the freight train is much more efficient financially and environmentally friendly than road transport btw.
That is a very good photograph of a photograph. I'm very impressed in fact! But don't you have a scanner?
Hi Colin, How's those old Irish Rovers going...
What's a scanner by the way? I bought one of those new fangled mobile phone thinggies the other day ...first mobile phone - hey I've arrived in the 20th Century ... make that 21st ...
Transports enthusiasts - the seeds of my lifelong interest in certain things were sewn by those experiences which influenced me in my early childhood days back in the 1940s and 1950s.
Growing up in impoverished Britian a few years after the end of WWII, most ordinary folks hardly had a two pennies spare to rub together so school children with even less had to look elsewhere for entertainment. Even if you had some spare cash, unless you had 'coupons' you could not even legally buy a bar of chocolate. In many towns and cities then alongside the railway lines you'd find schoolboys watching the trains go by .... free entertainment ..... and they were much more entertaining then. I clearly remember that field (now a mobile home site) alongside the High and Low level Tamworth stations full of boys playing football - dozens of them - the game stopping when something interesting passed through. Remember, there was little else to do.
When I think about that and compare it to the lifestyle of my children who in comparison had wealth and possessions far beyond my wildest dreams then, I wonder if they are better off. In some respects yes ... but, would I have swapped with them if it were possible ... no, not at all. In many respects they've missed out. However, they do have all their teeth and no fillings....
When my family moved to Gloucester in 1951, I was pleased to learn I had relatives who actually lived in a big house on the Aerodrome of the Gloster Aircraft Factory in Brockworth on the outskirts of the City. In fact several relatives actually worked for Gloster Aircraft Company. On visits aged about ten, along with my six year old brother, we were encouraged to go for a walk there and we soon ended up in the final assembly hangers where Gloster Javelins were being prepared for their maiden flights. I climbed up a trestle and put my arm inside a cannon hole in the leading edge of the delta wing - nearly got it stuck - but, we were not disturbed and the place was deserted. Considering this Aeroplane was the Nation's number one all weather fighter at the time - 1952 - security was non-existent. Imagine that happening today ..
We also entered a huge corrugated barn structure tucked away in the corner of the aerodrome to discover a Gloster Gladiator in pristine condition. On another visit, that glorious little bi-plane was being prepared for a flying anniversey demonstration at Farnborough or someplace and my brother and I witnessed that 'dry run' aerobatic shakedown flight prior to the plane leaving for Farnborough. A breathtaking performance with just two little boys as spectators. Oh yes, nearly forgot. Because of its remote location and difficulty of access, a biproduct of Brockworth Aerodrome was a natural Nature reserve. There were several bird species and one rare butterfly present in the 1950s. Now it is a thriving, expanding and busy Industrial estate. I'm told one of the large complexes there produce body panels for Honda at Swindon.
I soon made some fine friends at my school in Gloucester. My classmates had not experienced such a 'funny' London accent and I was asked to talk so that they could listen to my funny east ender accent ... Communication was a whole different ballgame in those days. BBC was staffed 100% with plummy accent types unlike media today ... thank God. My junior school was right next to Gloucester Railway station. Refurbished Locomotives Ex-Works were put on 'running in' duties for the short trip to Gloucester from Swindon. They would wait on the London Road Railway Bridge in full view of the school playground for a few minutes before reversing to the Horton Road sheds where they were turned on the turntable. Swindon were turning out Brand New Standard Class Steam locomotives at that time too and Britannia Class on running in duties were a frequent sight. Must have seen all the Swindon Built Britannias one by one as they left Swindon. Some drivers would let you hop on the footplate for a trip up to the sheds and back.... health and safety - wossat then? ..
One of my new Gloucester friends told me that for 6 pence (2.5 pence currently) you can visit the Locomotive works at Swindon on a Wednesday afternoon for a guided tour. I had some of that several times. Unforgettable stuff.
So 'transport enthusiast' please young Irish fella me lad .... otherwise you may be labelled ...... car spotter ...
Train Spotting: To a certain extent is a harmless substitute for man's deep rooted hunting instinct.. I can understand this although in my case, rare species of wildlife satisfied that instinct in me. Still does. So, hunting down that elusive last locomotive number by devious sleuthing, exciting trespassing and not to mention travelling all over the beautiful country in the pursuit ...... is no bad thing in my books... Harmless and a nice way to get to know your own country. Plus, no Foxes, Birds or Badgers are shot or killed in the chase ... Although as a schoolboy, I did do a little 'rough shooting'. However, I got to the stage whereby everything I aimed at I hit and that soon becomes boring.
So, next time you see an anorak on a lonely platform with a notebook, be thankful he is not employed elsewhere like trying to nick your nice Rover Turbo...
......Arrrrrggghhhhh.........
