Jobsworths on the Railway!

[firbeck 860]

I'm going to be cantankerous and defeatist again!!

There's a bit of a problem with some railway authorities with regard to taking photographs at railway stations. I buy Railway Magazine every month, it's a good read for both ancient and modern traction and also for finding out about steam trips. They've been running a campaign for a while now called 'Iron Curtain Britain'. It would seem that some 'jobsworths' on stations are paranoid about security and are taking matters into their own hands. Some of the stories that the magazine have published are appalling, one young kid was dragged off and frisked for taking a picture of the railcar he'd just got off from his holiday trip, and he was with his parents. People ejected from stations just for having a camera with them, so many stupid stories.

Railway Magazine have had the matter raised in Parliament and investigated the legal aspects. I gather that as long as you are'nt interfering with railway operations and are only taking pictures for personal use, they can't stop you, and that an information sheet has been distributed around the transport police accordingly.

However this won't stop some ignorant official from messing you about, legally or not, imagine Duchess of Sutherland thundering towards you and this dickhead shoving his hands in front of the lens, it's been known to happen.

I would advise you if you have a minute to nip down the station today and check with the powers that be, they actually have no right to stop you, but it's worth making sure that they are aware of the rules now, rather than with minutes to spare before the train arrives.

The staff at our local mainline station at Witham are a bit funny and have bothered people before, I go to a small country station down the line which is run by a really nice bloke with lots of enthusiasm, but even so, I always check with him first.

Lucky sod, I haven't seen a 'Semi' on the mainline since the early 60's.

Incidentally, did you know that it's sister engine, Duchess of Hamilton is at Tyesley being returned to it's pre war streamlined condition, though I gather that the price of steel is slowing things down a bit.

[plantfit 7,634]

Ayup all,

Most railtours have regular stops for "photo shoots" so no problem there, also, railway stations take up a very small part of the rail network leaving the rest quite accessible for taking pictures, ie; level crossings, bridges, and the many trackside footpaths that would be impossible to police by the railway KGB, in the stations you can take a picture of a lump of steel and iron but at the track side you can take a picture of a living breathing snorting live steam loco, that's what I think anyway

Rog

[firbeck 860]

Quite right, but Beefsteak said he was off to the station, I wouldn't be surprised if he's mates with the staff, but you never know. It's more fun to stand on a station platform and watch these things hurtle through, apart from the noise, it's the reaction from the public that crack me up.

I went on a trip from Bishops Stortford to Ely and back, A4 Sir Nigel Gresley to Ely and A4 Union of South Africa back again. The return was supposed to follow the normal London electric service train, but the enthusiasm of the footplate crew to 'go for it' persuaded the powers that be to let us go first, and go for it they did, big time. When we got to Cambridge, and I was hanging out the window all the way, you could see the platform was full of people wanting the train to London, did they not suspect that this smoking monster was not their train, not a bit of it, they all stepped forward expectantly, at which point the crew really opened it up and hung on to that glorious chime whistle, to see all the numpties jump back was quite hilarious.

Another time they held a Steam Fest at Cambridge station, they ran a shuttle service from Stansted Airport which used a 1960 Glasgow Blue Train electric unit, the last of the class before retirement, all the crew wore period uniforms and the destination boards were wound up to read Glasgow Central. On the return journey we were waiting to leave Cambridge and extra staff had to be drafted in to persuade people that it was a special train and not going to Liverpool Street, some of the indignant rows were beyond belief.

[mr rob t 11]

i've got a few pictures of the Duchess Firbeck. I'll have to ask the better half to post em on here. I only live 25 yards from the track that she uses (Midland Rail Centre). Quite often she is right outside the back door waiting for the allclear to join the mainline for one of her trips. If you heard the noise she makes when she's letting off steam you`d realize its a pain in the backside sometimes.

[mr rob t 11]

But when all is said and done she is one hell of a beautiful looking lady. Much nicer to look at than the Scotsman imo.

[rob237 89]

But when all is said and done she is one hell of a beautiful looking lady....

Duchess or 'better half'?

Cheers

Robt P.

[mr rob t 11]

I shall treat that comment with the contempt it deserves. lol. Do you work for the local rag Robt P.? You've edited my words to make it look bad, not that i can fault you though !laughing!

[rob237 89]

Do you work for the local rag Robt P.?

The Sun...until I fell out with Rupert...

Cheers

Robt P.

[firbeck 860]

Lets thank Butlins for the fact that both these Coronation Class Pacifics, as well as Princess Margaret Rose and Royal Scot have survived. If Sir Billy hadn't purchased them and displayed them in his camps in the early 60's we would have been sadly lacking in our railway heritage.

Nottingham City Council were offered Pacific 'City of Nottingham' on it's withdrawal, 1964? Unfortunately they decided that they had nowhere to put it and went for the simple option of it's nameplates instead, pathetic. Don't you think it would have looked cool sitting on the old tramlines in Parliament Street bus depot.

I recall working at Butlins Minehead in 1969 and poor old Duchess of Hamilton was looking sadly neglected and covered in seagull crap, Butlins had the foresight to realise this and presented them to preservation groups in the early 70's, without them and Dai Woodham, places like Butterley probably wouldn't exist.

I'm afraid I'm not a great fan of the Midland Railway Trust. Originally it started out as a great project involving Derby Council, rolling stock was stored in sidings north of Derby Station, but the line through Butterley was never going to expand anywhere, it goes a short distance from nowhere to nowhere and will never be any different, they should never have allowed the A38 to cut through the formation, but just like the destruction of the runway cut by the M11 at Duxford, the local authorities, as usual, can't be bothered to make a stand.

I always thought that they should have put their efforts in at the beginning to re-opening the Wirksworth branch or better still Peak Rails original intentions of linking up Matlock with Buxton, had that been the choice of maximum effort several years ago when a site was established at Buxton and much of the infrastructure was still intact, imagine would could have been achieved by now, Duchess of Sutherland blasting up Monsal Dale rather than pottering about at Butterley sounds a more mouth watering prospect.

[Beefsteak 305]

I remember the "Royal Scot" at Butlins Skegness cirrca 1964 , once again I shall have to delve into my mums loft for the pictures ,IMMSC it was painted Maroon.

[firbeck 860]

I remember the "Royal Scot" at Butlins Skegness cirrca 1964 , once again I shall have to delve into my mums loft for the pictures ,IMMSC it was painted Maroon.

It should be running again shortly, I wonder what colour it will be next, strange, after all these years we will have two Scots on mainline duties, Royal Scot and newly restored Scots Guardsman, in BR green by the way.

[mr rob t 11]

well i never thought i'd say this but i agree with you firbeck. I don't know if you've been to EMRC recently but my guess is you would not find much has changed. They have about half a dozen projects on the go at any one time and never seem to finish one of them. They get half way through, get bored and then start something else, i've seen better looking bombsites to be honest. The Princess Margaret is also based there and is another asset wasted.

[firbeck 860]

I gather that the NRM has a couple of engines on loan there and want them back. One, a 4F, has been lying about in bits for years with nothing done to it, the other is one of the original MR locos, they're probably worried about what might happen to that.

My brother lives just down the road but he has little enthusiam for the place either, we went a couple of christmases ago and weren't impressed, on our trips into Ripley, we prefer to go to Anchor Stores, it seems more organised.

We have the Colne Valley Railway just down the road, a small unpretentious railway, built up from nothing and only half a mile long. The trouble is, they've built loads of sidings and filled them with junk, they have no acccomodation under cover and the place looks a mess, it's a similar story also not far away at the East Anglian Railway Museum, a place full of ideas when I moved down here, but since stuck in a time warp in a station yard, full of the same rotting carriages that were there 30 years ago.

I's not always the same though, I think that the North Norfolk Railway is stunning. It wasn't much to shout about 30 years ago either, but they've shown what can be done, proper engine sheds, lovely stations and fantastic engines. They've just finished a large brand new carriage shed at Holt, they didn't mess about either, it seemed to go up in a few months, and it's properly finished, landscaped, the lot. They are now about to relay the level crossing in Sheringham over the winter and reconnect with the main network, steam running all the way down to Norwich is a mouthwatering prospect, and you just know they will do it, they have the drive. Considering that this railway is in a comparatively isolated spot with only one main population centre, Norwich, anywhere near, they've done wonders.

[firbeck 860]

Beefsteak should be back from the station now, unless he's handcuffed to a luggage trolley, c'mon Beefsteak, lets hear all about it.

[Beefsteak 305]

You stop over quoting the previous post and I will !!