Alan Edwards and his wife Wendy, both Life Members of the Railway, visited the Tanfield Railway recently, where he photographed the No. 178 running around the 1030 train from Andrews House. "The tracks were so overgrown with weeds, it looked as if the locomotive was running through a field."

Those Unsung FoSP Workers

 

Summer Festival Details Set

Close to the Edge 

All Weld & Good

(From The Argus , 6 June, 2014) The oldest surviving electric railway in the world will get a £1.5 million makeover.

The Volk's Railway, which runs for a mile along Brighton seafront from Palace Pier to Black Rock, was the first public electric railway in the country when it opened in 1883.

Over the years volunteers and council staff have worked to keep the railway running.

But with time inevitably taking its toll on the landmark line, Brighton and Hove City Council and the Volk's Electric Railway Association have secured £1.54 million of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to rejuvenate the attraction and create opportunities for education and community involvement ...

Click here for the whole story.

The British Postal Museum & Archive

 

The HLF grant also is a major vote of confidence in the BPMA's plans for a new, national museum. The Postal Museum will chart almost 400 years of Britain's social, communications and design history through the postal service. In addition to a permanent museum dedicated to the stories of Britain's postal past, the BPMA plans to open parts of the unique Mail Rail system to the public for the first time in its history.

 

Used to transport mail across London for more than three quarters of a century, new trains will carry people, rather than post, through a section of the original tunnels before exploring an interactive and atmospheric exhibition in the Car Depot at Mount Pleasant, where train maintenance was undertaken throughout the railway's life.

 

Food for Thought

Good Showing

A Trip Down Memory Line: Armagh Accident Remembered with Statue




















 

As railway workers and/or enthusiasts we should remember the dreadful Armagh, Northern Ireland railway accident of 1889 (125 years ago), one which led to the statutory provision of the continuous brake on passenger trains and absolute block working, with train movements controlled by signals rather than the time interval system then in use. These innovations represented major steps towards safer working practices.

In this accident , a stalled, overloaded, and underpowered excursion train--full of children--was divided on a gradient. The section going forward bumped into the vehicles being left behind, and without proper braking systems, they ran away disastrously back down the gradient, colliding with a following train on an embankment outside Armagh.

The sound of the crash was heard all over the city. More than 80 were killed and many hundreds were wounded in Ireland's worst rail disaster. The sculptor of a recently unveiled memorial (Rory Breslin of Mayo) has reminded us of the human story. The excursion was a large and popular Methodist church family outing, from Armagh to Warrenpoint (a distance of 24 miles), which lost many of its youngsters, signified by the young girl with bucket and spade depicted in the sculpture.

By Neil Cameron

Coverage from the Belfast Telegraph and the Northern Ireland News Letter .

Art Trail Opens in East Grinstead

(From the East Grinstead Courier ) A trail of contemporary art is being installed at 14 locations across the town this week to bring a touch of the Tate Modern to East Grinstead.

The installations will form one large trail or two smaller ones (depending on how far you want to walk) showcasing work by artists who either live in or have connections to East Grinstead.

Named Townscape, it is the first project of its kind in the town and its success will influence whether it could become a regular feature ...

... The trail has been funded with a £25,000 grant from The Arts Council and will be open to the public until November 30.

Locations include The Bluebell Railway, East Grinstead railway station, L&G Café and Suley's Café on Railway Approach, Threadneedles and The Bookshop on the High Street, and Chequer Mead ...

For the full story, click here . 

The art trail website and site information can be found here .

Statue of Plastic Surgeon Pioneer Sir Archibald McIndoe Unveiled

(From The Express, 9 June, 2014) BADLY burned Second World War veterans today joined Princess Anne to pay tribute to the pioneering plastic surgeon who saved their lives.

The men Sir Archibald McIndoe dubbed his Guinea Pigs applauded as the Princess Royal unveiled a bronze statue of him treating a badly wounded RAF pilot.

It is situated in East Grinstead, West Sussex, just a short drive from Queen Victoria Hospital where he made his name.

The statue was sculpted by Martin Jennings whose father Michael was treated by Sir Archibald after being badly burned when his tank was hit in 1944.

Sir Archibald, a New Zealand-born surgeon who died aged 59 in 1960, developed new plastic surgery techniques and also cared for the psychological damage of burns injuries by making his patients face the outside world.

They were given such a friendly welcome by the people of East Grinstead in West Sussex that it was hailed as "the town that didn't stare" ...

The complete story can be found here .

Aron Stenning took the above photo from the footplate of U-class No. 1638 on 31 May.

A lovely set from Dave Ryding.

Rail Ale and Jazz photos by Neil Ball.

John Sandys' galleries from 02/06/2014 and
05/06/2014 .

Derek Hayward has added to his 2014 gallery , plus view his complete Edwardian Weekend gallery here (and see his photo below), and his " People " gallery has also been added to.