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Mark Thompson's Recent Activity

  1. Mark Thompson liked Breva's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

    I like the choice of brick - the colour is random. It would look like a new house in a housing estate if all the bricks were the same.

    Jun 10, 2025 at 10:59 PM

  2. Mark Thompson liked Miff's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

    Very impressive - a new landmark building for Robertsbridge and a great facility for the railway. But it also somehow reminded me of this: "I suppose you know what we mean by a station, it has a corrugated roofing; it is not a Clapham Junction"...

    Jun 10, 2025 at 10:59 PM

  3. Mark Thompson attached a file to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

    Just returned from a couple of pints at the George. Snapped this on the way in, with the entrance canopy formwork now almost complete: [ATTACH]

    20250610_175833.jpg Jun 10, 2025 at 8:58 PM

  4. Mark Thompson replied to the thread Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

    I was just recounting on another thread, that when I was 9, my dad took me on a trip to the Isle of Wight on PS Ryde. We travelled on the tram, then, like the Ryde, in its very last weeks of operation. Both were memorable experiences, so for me,...

    Jun 10, 2025 at 11:17 AM

  5. Mark Thompson replied to the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    We can be so thankful that they did things like this for us, as it was the end of an era for many things. That same trip also saw us on the Ryde Pier tram, which also must have been in its last weeks of operation. I remember looking down into the...

    Jun 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM

  6. Mark Thompson liked johnofwessex's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    My father took me on the Bristol Queen and I can just remember watching the engines and sailing down the Avon Gorge. He thought that my brothers and I should 'experience' things Funnily enough he wasnt really interested in ships, the only trip...

    Jun 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM

  7. Mark Thompson attached a file to the thread Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

    The Ryde Pier tram and trailer takes its first trip to Smallbrook: [ATTACH] https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1208297744424722&set=a.760159079238593

    Screenshot_20250609-203029_Samsung Internet.jpg Jun 9, 2025 at 8:33 PM

  8. Mark Thompson replied to the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    I wasn't handed a shovel on PS Ryde, but as a 9-year old who was fascinated by what I saw, I did find myself invited onto the engineers bridge, being told which lever to pull, in answer to the telegraph. Amidst a gently moving backdrop of...

    Jun 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM

  9. Mark Thompson liked johnofwessex's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    In their later years when they were on special trips, anyone who showed more than a passing interest in the machinery of PS Ryde or the Humber Ferry steamers was in danger of bneing handed a shovel & told to get on with it

    Jun 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM

  10. Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    Relative to the boiler - so the back is closest to the door. (But when they first get on an engine, it seems everyone gets it wrong - so first time you say to a green cleaner “put some in the back” it goes wanging down at high speed to exactly...

    Jun 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM

  11. Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    Hopefully the original photographer (Brian Dandridge) won't mind me sharing this photo from yesterday - all nicely under control with the Maunsell set (3687 leading) and Obo, approaching Kingscote. [ATTACH] Tom

    505111101_24530521599883517_3987085620858184279_n.jpg Jun 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM

  12. Mark Thompson liked dan.lank's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    I’ve had a couple of third man turns on it now, and my all round experience of footplate work isn’t enough to compare it to other locos - but I concur with Tom’s comment about the cab! There’s basically nowhere to stand - if you’re behind the...

    Jun 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM

  13. Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    I think I've had 8 days on it, totalling 306 miles which I think all but 22 I've fired. I've not driven it yet! One of those was the half trip to Horsted for familiarisation, so really seven full days. As @andrewtoplis says, it's not really...

    Jun 9, 2025 at 7:57 PM

  14. Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

    2 updates today on the Robertsbridge main building, with the canopy formwork virtually complete platform side, and well advanced over the entrance: http://rvrailway.blogspot.com/?m=1

    Jun 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM

  15. Mark Thompson liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

    There has been a fair amount about the rebuild of Platform 1 in the winter 2024 issue of Bluebell News, and also online - this page gives a good overview: https://www.bluebell-railway.com/horsted-keynes-platform-1-and-2-refurbishment/ AIUI, the...

    Jun 4, 2025
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