AI-generated (not entirely realistic) railway images

Sun Chariot · 21 Jul 2026

D6130 said:
Great photos....but presumably 'OK residents' is a typo for 'UK residents'!

OK = Oklahoma state.
UT = Utah, TX = Texas. CO = Colorado. And so forth.

OT (not a US state!) I travelled that corner of OK, during my US overland trip across OK, TX, NM, UT and CO. With a brief foray into Juarez, Mexico's drugs (and murder) city, the other side of El Paso, across the Rio Grande.

And - no photos used for these compositions. It's just mere words into all my prompts.

RailUK Forums

D6130 · 21 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
OK = Oklahoma state.

Ah....every day's a school day!

Sun Chariot · 22 Jul 2026

A good time, a darker time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2026 ==

Truth is stranger than fiction.
Another railway forum shows genuine photos of wonderfully-named Edwardian companies. I pay homage to their stock.
I wonder if the coal company traded in any other parts of the network. Perhaps our historian @Topological knows?

Ashley Hill · 22 Jul 2026

Getting messages the old fashioned way, no texting then!

I have a GNR telegraph instrument and they are not that big, but Gemini will not reduce its size in the render.

Sun Chariot · 22 Jul 2026

Ashley Hill said:
Getting messages the old fashioned way, no texting then!
View attachment 208075

I have a GNR telegraph instrument and they are not that big, but Gemini will not reduce its size in the render.

Superb!

I have visions of someone carrying one on board a train and, when they are asked for their ticket, they point to the wooden telegraph instrument box and reply: "My ticket's on this but it's dead, I can't get it to work."

Topological · 22 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
A good time, a darker time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2026 ==

Truth is stranger than fiction.
Another railway forum has unearthed genuine photos for two wonderful companies. I pay homage to their rolling-stock. It was real.
I wonder if the coal company traded in any other parts of the network. Perhaps our historian @Topological knows?

Seeing both the W B Dick and Company ILO Lubricants tanker and the Cock Tugs open wagons on the same sidings was a rarity, but I found I had also captured the potential for an overlap amongst my past and present series.

Back in the 1960s the docks around Cardiff were very busy. There was ample work for the tugboat operators. Inspiration for the use of local liveries by FirstBus was found in the insistance of naming the Screwtug after the city in which they were operating. There are pictures out there of the Liverpool Screw Tug option, but here we see they had tailored their offer to the Cardiff market. I do not know if a Barry Screw Tug is an option. Here, the Academic has parked up strategically behind a giant coal hopper and is off to see what services can be rendered. However, with Anika walking along the dock...

We can only assume that all of this was innocent. There are ample railway workers about. There does seem to be a sniffer dog at work on the crate near the crane. Perhaps there is more trouble brewing... Plenty of wood in view too.

Fast forward to the present day and the scene is very much changed. Attempts at creating a leisure destination have brought Pullers with their Pulled Pork Promotions to the docks. Pullers attracts a crowd who might also be seen in W B Dick and Company's ILO Lubricant premises. It is unclear when Dick & Co entered, but the wood is gone. A bit early for clubbing.

If those wagons could talk...

Sun Chariot · 22 Jul 2026

Rich historical tapestry, as always, @Topological 8-)

I mooted if they'd ventured farther south than my old image's location of Cockermouth.

Topological · 22 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Rich historical tapestry, as always, @Topological
I mooted if they'd ventured farther south than my old image's location of Cockermouth.

They made it to the mainland side of Hong Kong. Sadly, all traces were blown away by the broader redevelopment of the waterfront following the closure of the old airport site.

Mong Kok these days is a very different place.

NorthKent1989 · 22 Jul 2026

Here in a parallel universe where in 1986, shortly after NSE was formed, London Underground decided to focus on a more robust frequency for the Circle line, and the Hammersmith & City branch of the Metropolitan line.

The Metropolitan main line from Baker Street to Uxbridge, Watford, Chesham and Amersham was siphoned off to Network SouthEast, in addition the Metropolitan NSE service took over operations to Aylesbury, leaving the neighbouring Chiltern lines to focus on lines to High Wycombe and Banbury

Sun Chariot · 23 Jul 2026

The underground train theme continues.

An unexpected "find": of the August 1898 opening event of London's Waterloo & City Railway. The gent in foreground, I can only assume, is the thus-named*.
It is fact that these trains were built by Dick, Kerr & Company.

*Juan Koff-Koch, a young man of Teutonic-Catalonian descent, lived in Louisach Valley** , near the Austrian border in southern Germany. Juan escaped his native country in 1891, to avoid his military conscription***.
Arriving into England, Juan Koff-Koch soon commenced a Kerr apprenticeship. That same year, he met and fell in love with the owner's daughter, Spermintrude Kerr. The couple married; Juan adopted the Kerr family name.

** Famed for its vulgar-sounding 5840ft (1780m) mountain.

*** Germany was, at this time, involved ih the Bafut Wars (it is in modern-day Cameroon), between the troops of the Fon of Bafut and German-backed troops of neighbouring fondoms (chiefdoms).
January 31, 1891, German-led armed men attacked, burnt and destroyed the town of Mankon (ally of Bafut). Warriors from Bafut and Mankon attacked those same men, on their retreat and inflicted heavy losses. This was the Battle of Mankon.
Juan's school book sadly contained two typos; and he went through life thinking of heavy losses at Wankon because the condoms weren't used.

Topological · 23 Jul 2026

Those images are magnificent. I do think that you would be brave to get all of that back story into a post. But it is entirely credible that Germans would invade places. It is also credible that spelling mistakes happen.

At least there was no AI in those days to mess things up

Sun Chariot · 23 Jul 2026

Topological said:
Those images are magnificent. I do think that you would be brave to get all of that back story into a post. But it is entirely credible that Germans would invade places. It is also credible that spelling mistakes happen.

At least there was no AI in those days to mess things up

The mountain, its location and elevation are real.
The tank wagon and lubricant company were real; and it's a real photograph.
The 1891 battle and the concurrent war was real.
My 1983 school history book contained the typo of Mankon. Cue giggling amongst 13 year-old boys. The memory stuck.

Topological · 23 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
The mountain, its location and elevation are real.
The 1891 battle and the concurrent war was real.
My 1983 school history book contained the typo of Mankon. Cue giggling amongst 13 year-old boys. The memory stuck.

I would have giggled about Mancon, but perhaps would not have imagined:

Sun Chariot · 23 Jul 2026

Topological said:
I would have giggled about Mancon, but perhaps would not have imagined:

View attachment 208137

Was that Burnage suburb's answer to Manchester Central station?

Topological · 23 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Was that Burnage suburb's answer to Manchester Central station?

It was indeed a Burnham initiative to persuade the civil service to move to Manchester. The intended venue was London Paddington, but these are not entirely realistic so elements of Darlington sneaked in.

Some Bristol exiles are getting ready to head home from the village.

Sun Chariot · 23 Jul 2026

Maybe they'll pause at The Flailing Arms (on post 1443), as GWR services pass by it.

Topological · 23 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Maybe they'll pause at The Flailing Arms (on post 1443), as GWR services pass by it.

A different group, but certainly Mancon attendees made it to The Flailing Arms

D6130 · 23 Jul 2026

Topological said:
It was indeed a Burnham initiative to persuade the civil service to move to Manchester. The intended venue was London Paddington, but these are not entirely realistic so elements of Darlington sneaked in.

View attachment 208142

Some Bristol exiles are getting ready to head home from the village.

A right hand drive 158....whatever next? :lol:

Topological · 24 Jul 2026

D6130 said:
A right hand drive 158....whatever next?

The Village is a funny place. I try not to go too often.

Indeed on one of my more recent trips to the village, these 350/2s were my traction for departure. They will be welcomed at Northern if you know what I mean? The Mancon crowd have stepped off their yellow bus as a group at dawn to check out the current state of the 350/2 fleet in Long Marston. Despite many an argument over who can pretend they are driving the bus from the top deck, there is no blood spilled on the track or otherwise.

Presumably, the DfT are now on a war footing when it comes to railway news. They obviously do really care what you believe.

Sun Chariot · 24 Jul 2026

A healthy Teu tonic. The seminal DB 103 class; my memories and photos of them in Bavaria in 1990.
Al-pine scent. Swiss network, with the quintessential Re4/4 + Re6/6. Those cement wagons were used on the Gotthard line

Topological · 24 Jul 2026

Some might say that Switzerland has some of the most beautiful lines in the world, go tell that to the man at the Cromford Line

The Cromford Line even has its' own branch of the Flailing Arms.

Sun Chariot · 24 Jul 2026

Genius
I notice that sunshine follows thunder.
It was years after I bought the CD single, that I discovered its cover photo was at the morning glorious former Cromford station.

Good to see no window bars, only Flailing Arms bar.

Topological · 24 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Genius
I notice that sunshine follows thunder.
It was years after I bought the CD single, that I discovered its cover photo was at the morning glorious former Cromford station.

Good to see no window bars, only Flailing Arms bar.

When deciding which t-shirt to buy last year it was quite an easy one. I thought I would be clever and wear it to a meeting about focus groups, but then realised that unless you recognise the station the webcam only picks up the Oasis and that does not really help. Sometimes my genius just does not get appreciated :lol:

Meanwhile, our Mancon friends are wondering what has happened to the Cromford-Cromwell Crompton railtour. Seems a last minute traction change occurred. It should be here now

Sun Chariot · 24 Jul 2026

That loco's steam is just for show as, due to the emissions regulations, she's electric.

Topological · 24 Jul 2026

Sun Chariot said:
That loco's steam is just for show as, due to the emissions regulations, she's electric.

The best thing about a yellow bus is that you can avoid the family full of eccentrics who are crowded around the toilet on the Voyager and the dozen cousins who are crowded into the old shop with their phone speaker blasting out.

The reputation of the Voyagers and CrossCountry has made it far beyond Manchester, they are loathed All Around the World.

Sun Chariot · 24 Jul 2026

There is a corner that is forever German.
(The DB branded 66, the enthusiasts' VWs, wheat beer. Only the famous Swiss mountain pass dares to differ.)

Topological · 24 Jul 2026

I cannot comment for the kids, but I would rarely be seen there. Thinking too much about that pub may also be why kids are seldom seen.

The Mancon crowd were also not to be seen near that little Germany. Perhaps when the boys have finished taking their photos, they will be off to build a rocket. Hopefully, they will spare the lippy kids. One day...

Sun Chariot · 25 Jul 2026

Rare visitors.
The "future of Britain" seemingly uses this railway route more often than the trains do.
(The scene imagines two lines diverge behind this viewpoint; with the bracket in foreground sited for better sighting, along that line occupied by the class 33.)

Ready to depart.
(The scene imagines that BR ran a sporadic service to Hythe. Here, the returning service awaits passage over Marchwood Main Road level crossing and to its next stop at Totton.)

Not all CIGs are bad for you.
(The scene recalls NSE livery transition period, when classes 421 and 422 ruled the Portsmouth Direct Line.)

Proceed at Caution.
(The scene recalls boat train services into the Eastern Docks at Southampton. That flagman shouts at an impatient person trying to 'beat' the moving 08. Some things don't change...)

NorthKent1989 · 28 Jul 2026

My Metropolitan line bring taken over by Network Southeast timeline continues

Sun Chariot · 28 Jul 2026

Homecoming.
(The young boy-in-arms is the right age for the late Chariot Senior - assuming this is a short leave in 1942-43. Chariot Senior's own father was, however, RAF.)

The Great Eastern Way.
(1948-49, the B17 sporting British Railways apple green, the B1's still LNER lined black. Some freshly-painted Stanier P3 carriages behind those LNER (GE) teaks.)

The last climbs of The Alps.
(Final years of BR operation between Alton and Winchester. "Hampshire" has 2Hs.)

Fleeting glories.
(The classic location of Copenhagen Tunnel, Holloway, with classic - but brief - ECML motive power.)

Alterations, altercations.
(Spare a small thought for fellow passengers. Perhaps those two fancy-dress partygoers will help this chap. Assistance is lacking in the queue for the next rail replacement bus...)

AI-generated (not entirely realistic) railway images

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