Mark Thompson's Recent Activity
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Mark Thompson liked Breva's post in the thread GWSR General Discussion and Operations.
You might like to know that our infrastructure blog has resumed publication. The latest one is here: https://bridgestobroadway.blogspot.com/2025/06/cheltenham-racecourse-bridge-43-works.html (ignore the web adress title, that's historical)...
Jun 12, 2025 at 3:48 PM -
Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.
Ah, that warm, analogue sound you can only get from old measurements!
Jun 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM -
Mark Thompson liked James Hewett's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.
Or indeed (subject to correction) - 3 miles, 4 furlongs, 1 chain and about 2 rods (which I guess is the way they'd have measured it at the time of construction - using real chains too) - Mr H. I think I still have one somewhere.... James
Jun 12, 2025 at 12:53 PM -
Mark Thompson liked Ben Jenden's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.
66502 has also bought down the ballast I'm assuming that NR has given to the railway following a previous news story elsewhere a few weeks ago as part of R200. Probably part of said agreement was for a loco as part of the private event. Win win
Jun 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM -
Mark Thompson liked mikehartuk's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.
The architectural style of the new station building at Robertsbridge is designed to follow the same style as the Colonel's station building at Tenterden - including the 'corrugated iron' roof covering. The roof covering we used on the toilet...
Jun 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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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 -
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 -
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]
Jun 10, 2025 at 8:58 PM
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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 -
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 -
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 -
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
Jun 9, 2025 at 8:33 PM
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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 -
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 -
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
