A bygone era

N, HO and O gauge

Sorting through stuff during Ali's Major Spring Clean I uncovered the above remnants of a bygone era. My own N gauge Treble-O-Lectrik by Lone Star which would be collectors' pieces if only they were in good working condition. The next by Triang and KitMaster both from my father's extensive railway room layout. And finally a piece of Lima O gauge stock which I think my father had purchased for a future but was never-to-be outdoor layout.

My parents had invited a young man A to Sunday tea. He was the son of the lead elder in my parent's church, and would in due course go on himself to become the present lead elder. He is also a major character in another story. Oh, cruel memories! Now my father often sneaked off to the the railway room of a Sunday afternoon, much to the chagrin of my mother who thought Sundays should be family days, and I would shortly follow suite and so we would be entrenched until my mother called up the loft staircase "tea time!" But on this occasion it would not have been decorum to so disappear - instead my father asked A if he would like to come and see the model railway. A declined. What an anti-climax! What a revelation into the mind of this young man - I mean, who, in their right mind, would decline such an offer? What a recrimination on church leadership! Did this mean you could not reasonably be a model train enthusiast and a fully committed Christian 100% for God? At the time the choice was obvious for myself. Model trains ruled, OK?

And, just to prove that I do not spend all my time side-stepping figuring how to pose the continuation of my Gunpowder post, here's the lake looking downstream from the Blessington bridge, the photographer having been conveyed there by his trusty bicycle.

 

I like this picture

Sci-Fi stories about time travel are often unsatisfactory and yet the concept is curiously attractive. But we can sort of time travel back by looking at photographs.

I like this picture - it brings back memories of posing for it whilst feeling the warmth of the dog beside me and the roughness of the bricks under my legs, and anyway it is a great photo - does that make me a narcissist?

Sadly the colours have faded - I was in fact wearing a light blue jumper and the sky behind was largely blue. I've tried adjusting the colours but cannot get it quite right.

The location was our "top garden", the one with the swimming pool (to the right) and my workshop (on the left).

I use this picture as my avatar for various computer apps so I get to see it daily. And sometimes as I look at it and dwell on times past I remember that my father, behind the camera, was also looking and it makes me wonder - and this makes my heart lurch - how much did I disappoint him in later life? Doubtless he appreciated my company in the railway room, the things I used to invent, my success at Oxford and getting a job for the BBC, my falling in love and marrying Ali. But then more and more of my time and devotion was spent on church things and with my own family and, when my mother died, he began to spend more time at the W's and for both these reasons we got to be with each other less and less.

If I could live my life over again many things I would not change - but I like to think this I would change - to spend more time and talk more with both my parents. To be an encouragement to them particularly in their later years.

Rhaetian Railway

I grew up loving railways. My father's railway room and going to school on what is now the Watercress Line might have had something to do with it. I could have been a train driver, or maybe the surveyor who decides the optimal route as a track traverses mountains - or involved in signalling. Witness the episode in which I incised cuttings in my parent's lawn for my Lone Star track, or the complex signalling system I created in the railway room, or imaging myself a train whilst running around the playing fields during the lunch hour at school. One of my main doodle types when I am bored in meetings is to create railway systems. You can see that I am kind of soft in the head about railways.

Die cast Lone Star track and rolling stock

This locomotive I christened "Bournemouth"

and this one "Swanage"

Along with bricks of various kinds and Meccano (I still have and cherish my father's Mecanno set) these Lone Star models were amongst my favourite toys. I do not know why I named one locomotive "Bournemouth" and another "Swanage" but to this day if I hear of or read either place-name I am immediately presented with a mental image of the corresponding Lone Star avatar.

But I digress. What caught my eye today was this travel feature about the Rhaetian Railway. Wow - this is a railway and a half and how I would love to have the money and time to waste to navigate the whole length of it. Google Street View have imaged some of the track - possibly the first and only "Railway View"!

The track gauge is 3 ft 3³⁄₈ in  as opposed to standard gauge of 4 ft 8¹⁄₂ in.

Here's a short video I found...