A treasure trove of old railway pictures


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I have struck upon a little gold mine for Nottstalgia's railway fans; photo albums published by a chap called David Ford, comprising pictures taken by his father in the 1940's - 1960's and by himself in the 1970's/80's. Lots of stuff from all over the UK but plenty from the East Midlands, including some interesting ones of the early preserved GCR.

Some of the older ones sre not of the best quality and have deteriorated with time, but there's a veritable cornucopia of memories for you in here. And thanks to Mr. Ford for publishing them.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf2009/sets/with/72157632973221514

Enjoy!

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What a long-shot! Last night I saw a picture of a B12/3 at Nottingham Victoria in a 20yr old Steam World magazine and determined to see if there were any photos of a B12 at Nottingham on the internet. I have just this minute come off DavidWF's site in order to post the Web address here and lo! Scriv has done the same - talk about coincidence! Some great shots on there too.

When I saw the name DavidWF I wondered if it might be our own DavidW.

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Phew, what a collection! I clicked on 'Nottm. Midland in B & W' and almost the first photo is Bob Revill & Dvr. Adrian Rowe on a 3f at Basford. I fired for them both in later years, when I mentioned to Adrian that I had a 3 year old son he made him an 'engine' out of scrap bits, a yard long, sit in the tender, pram wheels & cotton bobbins for chimney & buffers! he thought it was great but it was b----y tiring pulling him around the yard in it.

Ouch! the sons got a bus pass now!!!

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  • 1 year later...

Had another look at this collection of photos and found some great shots of Daybrook.

 

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  • 5 months later...

 One for the railway buffs; found it on YouTube.

The shed is 9A Longsight, and  the Jube is Sarawak

 

 

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Nice one Chulla, 10 years before my railway time! 10 hour shifts & 'disposing' of the engine was the norm. in those days but a pity the 'preparation' of the engine wasn't shown as it involves the driver squeezing up to oil the inside motion. I could be wrong but I think the LH side rod should be @ 5 oclock, the RH rod would be @1 oclock to put the 'inside' bits forward to allow the driver space between the firebox/ashpan & the bigend etc. Still a tight fit and woe betide the cleaners if the driver got dirty! A standing joke was if the driver had a bit of a 'belly' and got stuck the fireman would shout 'hang on I'll bring her forward half a turn', it made for a very quick descent!

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Good little film.  Thanks for the link Chulla.  The guy on the opening picture looks like my late uncle Arthur.  I doubt that it was, but he was an engine driver when I was a kid.  I thought he was ancient, but he was probably only in his forties or fifties so he could have been driving back in '38.

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Here you are Albert and Loppy. My God, just look at the labour, time taken and working conditions. No wonder we have diesels nd electrics.

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See the palatial accommodation of the shed booking clerk? Straight from a 30s Ealing film.

Interesting to see what happens in the unglamorous down time, breathing all that dust. The controlled cooling period, never heard of that before but obvious when explained and I guess it was still a hot task working in the firebox. And the job titles were certainly unambiguous.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Another interesting old film about trains. Note the hump-shunting early in the film. The marshalling yard is said to be the biggest. Toton was said to be the biggest, so is the yard shown Toton?

 

 

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I think it could be Whitemooor near March in Cambridgeshire, as the first locomotive shown on the left is possibly of LNER origin.

I'll watch it a few more times, and try and get a better view.

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Thought so. Thanks notty. I couldn't discern much detail on my iPad, but the coaling tower looked familiar.

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I enjoyed watching that film and I particularly like the phrases "British workers,British engineering and British steele" something rarely heard of in todays world

 

Rog

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What amused me was the scene where a trip-hammer is clouting a large red-hot forging, and the man standing close just leans back and squints when the hammer hits. No safety glasses in those days. Note that all the men were old or near old. Could this be that all the younger men were in the forces? Did anyone identify the type/class of engine being made?

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Crewe or Doncaster I think, but the class eludes me.

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Don't think the reason was all the young men were in the forces,these older men were highly skilled and that took years of learning and experience and most of what they was doing was by eye,no digital thermometers to let them know when the steele was of the right temperature,perhaps the younger men were in the background doing some menial task and learning the trade from very bottom

 

Rog

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Have to agree Rog, some of the skills shown there were top class, love the guy who carries his folding slip gauges in his pocket to check his clearances, and to use a drop hammer like that must have took years of practice and learning.

 

Chulla I don't know where you keep finding them but thankyou.

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