Category Archives: Prototype

Round the Underground on an Engine – Fred T. Jane

Posted on March 16, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

I have hi-jacked this fascinating article from the Basilica Fields blog.  I think I am OK to reproduce it in full, as Adrian writes: “During the 1890s, The English illustrated Magazine published a series of illustrated articles by Fred T. … Continue reading →

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Ilfracombe 1972

Posted on March 11, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A family holiday on Exmoor in 1972 led my father and I to the abandoned ex-LSWR, ex-SR station at Ilfracombe.  An interesting two platform station at the end of the double tracked branch from Barnstaple, the station had heavy traffic … Continue reading →

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And Vienna, 2007

Posted on February 25, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

And so to Vienna.  It was really too hot to wander around hunting trams, but I did get a few shots….

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Prague trams, 2007

Posted on February 23, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Another batch of photographs.  In 2011 I went on a study tour of Prague and Vienna (I did pay for the privilege!), looking at flood defences and hydropower schemes. I was delighted to have a hotel room in Prague overlooking one … Continue reading →

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West Highland Railway, 1975

Posted on February 14, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A long day down in the UK West Country yesterday, looking at computer models of flooding in the Somerset Levels.  So I’ll post some more of my old holiday snaps!  I hope to post another traction design article in a … Continue reading →

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Black Swans? Dispatches from the front line of climate change.

Posted on February 9, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

It seems there are three things not to talk about in polite company – politics, religion and climate change. I can’t be that polite, as only politics is off limits…. However, this article gives a good history of the Dawlish … Continue reading →

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Somerset levels, February 2014

Posted on February 7, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

The damage to Dawlish is a bit of a side show to the ongoing flooding of the Somerset Levels.  I did learn last week that ‘Somerset’ is a derivation of ‘Summer Land’ – in days gone by people only lived … Continue reading →

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Dawlish flooding

Posted on February 5, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

The latest gales and high tides have wrecked the iconic ex-Great Western Railway line along Dawlish Warren and the seafront of Dawlish town.  It’s a far cry from the usual picture of GWR Kings and Castles on a sunny summer’s … Continue reading →

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Severn Valley Railway, 1971

Posted on February 2, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A few more snaps from the Bartlett archives.  These were taken on a school railway society trip, I recall.  Again this was the early days of preservation.  A lot of my film was taken up with the carcass of 70000 … Continue reading →

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The (very little) night mail

Posted on January 31, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Fascinating article from the BBC on the Post Office Railway (otherwise known as mail rail).  This driverless narrow-gauge line carried mail for over six miles from sorting office to sorting office under the streets of London from 1927 to 2003. That fount of all knowledge … Continue reading →

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