Photo Album-England
York, Yorkshire
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In September 2002 I accompanied my wife Jean to a Nursing
conference that she had helped organise in York. Whilst she was busy conferring,
I was out with the digital camera, surprise, surprise. First call was the Rail
Museum, still free. Most middle aged men such as myself remember travelling on
steam trains; myself in the early 1960's as I was working in London and taking
my dirty washing home to mum in Colne, Lancashire!
The journey from London Euston to Colne Lancashire took as much
as eight hours, starting off as a twelve carriage train from London Town, and
finishing its marathon in Colne station at 1130 pm with the guard turning off
the gas lights one by one as I (often the only passenger by that time) left for
the mile and a half walk to my parents in Cottontree. Oh dear, I'm getting
"clogs nostalgic!"
The first call in York's splendid museum was good old Mallard,
the first and only steam train in the world to exceed 126 miles per hour. What a
fantastic achievement for British engineers. And it still looks as amazing
today, static, as it must have done tearing down that East Coast line at over
120 mph in 1938.
Just occasionally, I feel patriotic. Isombard Kingdom Brunel and
his amazing bridging and tunnelling achievements and Mallards record breaking
speed run are two of those.
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Isn't she just gorgeous? Sleek, shining, gleaming in a sad
museum sort of way. The firebox long since cold and lifeless. But the
sheer size and beauty of her carcass captures my imagination, for sure.
This plaque on the locomotive states that Mallard did indeed
reach 126 mph, albeit briefly, in 1938; 6 years before I was born.
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These were the controls, the dials that captured her
progress. The noise and atmosphere must have been unforgettable. She towed
a dynamometer car behind, in which all the accurate measurements were
made. |
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Somewhat more in my own youth, the English Electric Deltic
Diesel locomotive was a classic of its own kind. I will admit to having no
knowledge of trains, but still find it a moment to remember when standing
alongside such a splendid piece of engineering. |
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This amazing loco was made in this country
for the railways of China, where it spent it's working life. China gave it
back to our National Rail museum, where it was lovingly restored. It was
physically too high and too wide to travel here on the standard gauge (4
feet 8 and a half inches) rail for which it was built, so had to come by
road |
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Now this was a different kettle of steam. Built to compete
in the all important Rainford trials of 18__ it looks rather sexy in its
yellow livery. I think. |
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The lighting and the fact that the wheels are moving on this
exhibit capture much of the atmosphere of steam. |
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Just a few front ends... |
Looks a bit royal, don't you think? |
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As I walk up Cathedral Street, I see the first glimpse of
the Minster, lit with the late afternoon's sun.
The following morning, I see it from a different
viewpoint. This is a montage of two pictures. See if you can see the
join... |
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The Shambles is what tourists head for first of all,
overhanging shops, mostly of the craft(y) kind. |
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I thought that this was rather sweet: early morning and
pigeons gathering together for warmth on a roof near the river. |
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The walls, the walls, you must walk the walls to get an
overall impression of York from the P.O.V. of a Roman Sentry. |
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Not entirely complete, they do take you around the city
in a more ordered and civilised way than roads and their attendant street
furniture can ever do, |
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