Recent content by mickpop

Time to come out of cryogenic suspension. I've renewed my passport having discovered that I only had one page left - too many bloody Indian visas! Got the 48 page version just to be on the safe side.We had dinner with my brother and his wife last week and she made the mistake of asking me where...

I was mightily impressed at the Autumn SVR steam gala to see notices requesting those with trackside passes [and therefore 'hiviz' jackets] stay away from those areas where ordiinary members of the public would be taking their photos. This is a particular problem when trying to get a shot of a...

I have a particular grouse about those video photographers who demand a person free arc of 90 degrees or more in front of them so they can pan round- usually impossible to achieve in most locations. 'Forming a line' used to be an unwritten rule for years but sadly standards have fallen. You...

Sadly there are no steam hauled trains on the national network, ChinaRail, but they were extensively used on industrial and 'local' railways. I think the latter are run by municipalities. Some of the systems are very extensive and among the most famous are the deep opencast coalpits such as...

As resident steam nerd I should have mentioned earlier that there is 'proper' steam in the Balkans as opposed to 'heritage' lines. Several coal mines in Bosnia operate ex-German 'kriegslok' 2-10-0s and also some six coupled tank engines that resemble the US Army locos of which the Southern...

I only know the aforementioned gentleman from the IRFCA forum. He is much venerated on there, possibly because he is/was one of the few non-Indian based members and posted a lot of steam era photos on their gallery. Interest in railways as a subject in its own right ,as opposed to its function...

Sorry - I've been asleep! Although no Eurosceptic I prefer the steam loco logo although I don't propose wearing the T shirt for the full two weeks - only for publicity shots and posing for GQ magazine.

Correct!

Sorry, forgot about that. I have a picture somewhere of a Dholpur based tank loco on a standard gauge wagon in Gwalior station, no doubt en-route to works. Of course we, in the past, [we being the Welsh to be more specific] had the possibly unique situation of 1' 11.25'' inch gauge wagons...

Got my usual copy this morning in Cheshire complete with extensive coverage of the England - Sweden game in the sports section. Are you saying there was no sports section at all or it just lacked the footy report?

Sorry - meant to respond to Mark's original post but got distracted. Yes there are certainly narrow gauge transporter wagons to carry standard gauge wagons. I think there are a couple of photos showing this on my Zenfolio site [see below]. The line from Oschatz to Mugeln used them and certainly...

I'm not convinced there would be much demand for a Bidston - Shrewsbury service. I live on the English bit of the Borderlands line and my impression is that users from Neston/Heswall/Upton tend to travel to travel in the Birkenhead/ Liverpool direction for work and shopping plus a small volume...

A cross country service?:D

The Vatican does have its own railhead - two 300m tracks provide access to goods and occasional papal specials. I seem to recall seeing a very recent reference to one of the latter, presumably using stock and motive power from the Italian state railway. I suppose I could try to blag my way in on...

QUOTE=scotsman;1095586]Was at Beattock summit 1315...started three lineside fires en route As did 5043 at Shap on Saturday - anyone bet against a steam ban?