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Sir Keith Park

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by shedbasher, Jun 29, 2012.

  1. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    Martin - agree the name came about because of the casing. However this is the first time I have met a challenge that rebuilds did not perpetuate the name, purely by association. It might take a while but I will try to locate the Bluebell picture. I am not even sure of the decade let alone year. This of course will only be one example. The problem with nicknsmes is that there is no definative source to confim or otherwise ome view against the other. It will however make an interesting research project

    Dave
     
  2. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    http://www.semgonline.com/proto/srstmdir.html gives "Spamcan" for the originals only… Not that that is definitive, but I've never really associated Spamcan with anything other than an original.

    Mind you, on nicknames: I can't find an origin for "Black Motor" to refer to a Drummond 700 goods (when built, they weren't black, and they were never equipped to run motor trains). So I asked on the LSWR Yahoo group, which is generally pretty knowledgeable, and so far that has drawn a complete blank. So there definitely are some areas for research - things you assume are common knowledge are maybe not so.

    Tom
     
  3. Bulleid Pacific

    Bulleid Pacific Part of the furniture

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    Anyway, SKP will no longer be attending the WSR gala, with 34070 going instead. The latter was on standby anyway.
     
  4. jma1009

    jma1009 Well-Known Member

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    the sobriquet 'Spam Can' is atttributed to LBSC (ala Lillian 'Curly' Lawrence) of the Model Engineer Magazine who first used it when the locos first appeared.
    he had some very influential and high up contacts in the SR at the time including Harold Holcroft before he retired, plus roy donaldson in the Ashford drawing office. the first recorded usage of 'Spam Can' in print was in an article LBSC wrote in the above magazine in the later part of WW2. whether it was used as a nickname by 'spotters' and those in the SR shortly before isnt documented
    cheers,
    julian
     
  5. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    Bulleidaholics should be grateful that the nickname was not as rude as that given to the LBSCR I1 class which is quite unrepeatable here!

    (Come to think of it, the latter is a prime candidate for a new build project as it is even more unsuitable for purpose than some of those under way now).

    P.H.
     
  6. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    That name appeared in the 1948 Combined Volume at the end of the SR section. I wonder if it was considered as rude as it is today?
     
  7. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    Most likely that the compiler didn't know its meaning!

    P.H.
     
  8. Bulleid Pacific

    Bulleid Pacific Part of the furniture

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    Same nickname was given to the Drummond T14.
     
    paulhitch likes this.
  9. 46118

    46118 Part of the furniture

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    Returning to SKP, reports elsewhere state that a new piston rod, presumably for the middle engine, has been obtained and is being machined in the Bridgnorth workshops. The inference has to be that the middle cylinder casting was not damaged in this incident, beyond the need for a new front cover.

    46118
     
  10. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    I believe a new piston head will also be required
     
  11. Southernman99

    Southernman99 Member Friend

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    A new head is definetly required. A few of us tried counting the pieces yesterday. A new cover and studs are required as well.

    Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk
     
  12. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Or having a mischievous streak he did but the proof reader didn't. :)
     
  13. Dan Bennett

    Dan Bennett Member

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    And a bigger hammer for the new cotter pin!
     
  14. Sir Nigel Gresley

    Sir Nigel Gresley Member

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    Sorry to come late to the party, but the complete rule is: "i before e, except after c, if it rhymes with me"

    This obviously doesn't apply to names!
     
  15. Bulleid Pacific

    Bulleid Pacific Part of the furniture

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    Hope you brought the beer... we seem to have run out here (nearly a rhyme, too)!
     
  16. 46118

    46118 Part of the furniture

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    Just adding a little fuel to the fire, Jackman in "Thirty years at Bricklayers Arms" says the shed staff called the unrebuilts "spams" rather than Spam Cans, so maybe the latter was more an enthusiast term?

    Also somewhere I have read that the term "flat-top" was common, and as far as the original Merchant Navy class were concerned, Col. Rogers in his book about Bulleids out of Waterloo (sorry, cannot recall the exact title) says the loco crews referred to the Merchant navy class generally as "Channel Packets" after the first member of the class.

    46118
     
  17. 34014

    34014 Member

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    On the platforms in Kent we always called them 'Packets'. The Light Pacifics we called 'Flat Tops'. As a spotter in the 50's i never once heard the term 'Spam Can' used by fellow spotters or railway staff.
     
  18. b.oldford

    b.oldford Member

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    I seem to recall reading in Bulleid - Last Giant of Steam by Sean Day-Lewis the MNs were sometimes disparaging referred to as "Flannel Jackets". If it originated from elsewhere perhaps Bulleidophiles/Bulleidophobes could correct me.
     
  19. Martin Perry

    Martin Perry Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator Friend

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    Was that a disparaging nickname or just rhyming?
     
  20. b.oldford

    b.oldford Member

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    Probably a bit of both;)
     

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