Christmas 2010. Santa specials From the snow on the track you'll gather it was before trains started running that day. 
For gins Sian Foggy Sue and any other... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
For gins Sian Foggy Sue and any other closet enthusiasts. Signal man's eye view.
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fenbadger
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41 Replies
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I love it very atmospheric more please !!
Thanks my friend
gins
Your wish is my command, bot not too much at once. You've already had one. It was Jack looking out of the end of a coach. He came everywhere with me and behaved remarkably well for a JRT. Very good at finding discarded sausages under seats
Part of the Orient Express "the Northern Bell" visited us once and gave me my first taste of real Scouse. Chef was a true Scouser AND PROUD OF IT 
One of my earliest memories, before health ad safety, Was visiting my grandad at Stourbrige railway sheds where he worked.and being taken for a ride on the footplate in my grandads arms. I was even allowed to pull the cord and toot the whistle. The ride took us into the sheds, onto the turntable. round in a circle and back out again. I loved every moment of it. sue
fenbadger in reply to
Me jealous.
Oh Sue how wonderful so you can recall the smells and the noise ! 
Proper trains, like the ones that run on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Pickering Whitby then in land lovely!
I was lucky to travel on the Orient Express sheer wonder
xgins
Wow, I love that, you're a very talented photographer Paul, which station is it please ? Is it the Watercress line ?
Foggy x
Indeed. Ropley. More interesting because there are more movements. Though Medstead is my favourite and Alresford next.
Glad you like it.
steam trains have always meant grandad and hollidays in the times when every body had the same two weeks and getting a seat was a miracle . Mom and Dad sat on the cases in the corridor. brother and I sat on the floor. Grandad had a moterbike and side car. So he and gran would meet us there.Thus my love of trains and camping. As for the Orient express it has fascinated me since reading Agatha Christies `Murder on the Orient express` So I would have loved to have been with you. hugs sue
A question for Paul. I have a tea spoon that came to me from grandads, I always had the idea that it had something to do with railways It has WPR stamped on it . Any ideas? sue
fenbadger in reply to
Give me time. Sounds like it. The "R" is most likely "Railway" of course. Any chance of a photo? coat of arms or anything?
The initials suggest it's pre 1922. So it's worth looking into and treasuring.
in reply to fenbadger
sorry Paul no coat of arms or any thing. It`s just a plain silver spoon
fenbadger in reply to
Any northern connections? All I have so far is Whitby and Pickering Railway and
Wemyss Private Railway (Fife) Both might have issued commemorative cutlery
in reply to fenbadger
No idea, It doesn`t look like commemorative more just an ownership stamp.
The only thing we could come up with was The western Pacific Railway. In Canada.... 
Lovely photo Mr Badger
Steam trains always reminds me of Grandad and holidays too. My mum was born and grew up near Ravenglass where the Ratty is and we have family gatherings where we all travel on the Ratty and have a picnic at the end of the line at Dalegarth and then travel back. I love it
Many childhood and adult memories
xxxsianxxx
fenbadger in reply to
Lovely. I'm jealous now
in reply to fenbadger
Oh! you should go it's wonderful
fenbadger in reply to
Bit beyond my budget these days 
in reply to fenbadger
aw there's a youth hostel type place somewhere along the line which has the log cabins and camping and the Ratty isn't too pricey
fenbadger in reply to
Getting up there is. There's camping Barn at Dent on the Settle and Carlisle. Bit pricey though. £800 off season. We've just built a small chalet village for the Watercress Line.
Wish I still had my caravan and a car to pull it. £1 a night in a farmer's field and no noisy neighbours Lapses into nostalgic reverie
in reply to fenbadger
yep!
you could get a disability railcard and get a wheel chair. get a friend to go with you as your attendant and they get the discount too.
In fact you can do that without the railcard and still get the same discount if you stay in your wheelchair for the journey
Mdaisy in reply to
Here's the link to the website about help with Disabled Passengers;
nationalrail.co.uk/stations...
Emma
fenbadger in reply to
That would be fun. I'll go when there's a train replacement bus on
One day I AM going on . the severn valley railway. The price has always put us off,
in reply to
Went on that as a small child and one of memories is of my dad shouting at my brother to get his head back into the train.................... there was a bridge coming! sorry tunnel
Again, also beautiful my dad's neck of the the woods
Sue the orient express is as . Wonderfully Decadent as you can imagine. Delightful staff always polite and smiling non of them were obsequeace just fun. The food was a wonder as we're the cocktails. Then there was the train. The countryside. I could go o. An d on and on. Next
Dr time come with me. We could all go xgins
Fantastic idea we could hire the whole trian and have a fibro club cracking good time.
fenbadger in reply to
Idea for next playtime? Then we could choose where we go and change our minds en route
in reply to
boing boing boing!!!
I remember going to Ilfracombe, before the Beeching cuts as a small child. Apart from the wonderful smell and the rhythmic sounds of the wheels on the tracks, my biggest memory was sticking my head out of the window and yelling from soot in my eyes. There always seemed to be a problem of windows open or closed, naturally the ladies didn't want any sooty marks on their dresses but everyone else wanted fresh air.
They were different times, passengers would go up to thank the train driver, then be lost in a swirl of steam, the ladies wore gloves, boys in short trousers, little girls with frilly knickers and men in caps or hats, usually smoking a cigarette or pipe. It seems incredible a weeks worth of family holiday clothes were carried in one or two brown hard cases, placed on the netted luggage rack above your head. Can anyone remember the lovely seaside posters and pictures in the compartments?
Why did the journey always seem so slow going and so fast coming back?
For those who are too young for such happy memories, the film A Brief Encounter sums it all up.
Happy times,.
I've cycled some of that as far as Braunton past the Search & Rescue station. No soot or smuts then.
A friend of mine used to get Jackie comic in the 60s and says she can remember an article on "how to travel by train for girls" One of the tips was "Don't wear a white dress" I bet it would be hilarious to read it now
All aboard the Skylark! (Or was that a boat?).
I love Steam, it is so Alive. Being old enough to remember mainline Steam trains brings back memories of being on holidays and waking up to the sound of shunting in the local yard.
Took my son to the Watercress line for his 5th birthday . Unfortunately he didn't enjoy it much as he was developing Tonsillitis, poor lad.
