Railways and People

Some people obviously aren't bothered and some are - 26/4/80

 

Can't see Gil Favor or Rowdy Yates, must be off camera?

 

You're giving your age away now

 

Time for a spell of cricket during a quiet moment at what was a paradise of steam, Malakwal, Pakistan in 1988.

That demon bowler is the late Pete Skelton.

Peter

 

Forty odd years ago I worked for a chemical contract blender and filler in Oldham as Technical Manager. As such I was required to go to the quarterly sales development meetings of one of our customers in Blackpool. I would present the 2/3 new products from the last meeting, give product demonstrations and generally help work the product up into a saleable material. This included naming it. Anyone who has used industrial service chemicals will often be puzzled by the often strange names of them. The process was usually 3/4 people around the table (including my good self) coming up with ideas.
One such naming of a cleaner took the form of - "Well it certainly lifts the S***T off quick", it got the name SLOQ.
The said customer had a good account in the Midlands called Landrover, supplying many chemical products into several of the assembly plants. The rep in control of the account came back one day with them asking for a leather cream for the new top model Range Rover, application to all leather seating before dispatching the vehicle to hit the trail (groan!).
I left the company in Oldham 22 years ago and joined a sales outfit that is now in Burnley, to change them into a contract manufacturing company, shades of my previous incarnation. This has been very successful and has involved absorbing several other chemical sales outfits along the way, including the above said from Blackpool.
As a result, I now manufacture the product I developed over forty years ago, we now have the same rep servicing JLR, and it goes on a much wider range of all their vehicles. Come full circle.
Guess what we named the product forty odd years ago, because we all liked the program? Yes - RAWHIDE!!

 

Fitter at work:-


Splitting a valve head from its spindle with no burning gear to heat it up first - just an improvised brick "furnace". Rawalpindi shed, Pakistan, 1987 with four SG/S 0-6-0s under repair. Even large running sheds like this still had very rudimentary maintenance facilities right up until the end of steam.

Peter

 

Is that a hi vis waistcoat?

Sent from my SM-A105FN using Tapatalk

 

One for Tom - Sheffield Park, 1983

At the risk of going way off topic, who can see the livery error on the Adams Tank.

Peter

 

Things appear to be going backwards...

 

Indeed. The cycling lion should be facing forward.

Peter

 

I thought this was going into the caption competition with the answer being "You are right, there was a rake of carriages here, wonder what could have happened to them."

 

I think the livery error is to have painted it in BR livery at all

Tom

 

Voltaire!!

 

I'll disagree with you there Tom - to me she looks good in whatever livery you care to paint her.

Peter

 

I prefer my memories of seeing the Adam’s Radials on the Lyme Regis branch.

 

Deleted

 

Having battled through drifting snows in Glen Lochy, 37112 has arrived in Oban with the 08.20 from Glasgow Queens Street. With the West Highland over Rannoch Moor blocked by snow and the 1984 SLOA AGM train stranded in Fort William, a well known senior BR manager is seen striding down the platform with the local traffic manager arranging for the SLOA passengers to be conveyed back to Glasgow and points south, only a day later than intended.

Mon 23/1/84

Peter

 

West Somerset Railway: Driver Andy Palk and Fireman Damien Moore awaits the first departure from Bishops Lydeard of the season.

 

A gratuitous mug shot.....

One of the lads atop the hill yesterday at Medstead & he'll probably kill me for posting it!!

 

I can't see any scratches......