Can you guess where I've been today?

Some close up pics of some bits. Can you guess where I've been?

 

Absolutely bang on. NRM York.

 

I'm not really into trains, other than as a means of transportation. But I love the engineering that goes into them. The old trains, while I'm sure were designed purely with function in mind, are absolute art.

 

This has sparked a memory, is the Mallard there?
When I was at junior School we had a school trip to the museum to Clapham and remember as a kid the Mallard was the star of the show.
Must be nearly 60 yrs ago.

I think they later moved it to York.

 

Yes the Mallard is there. They also have, or had, the original Rocket, along with half a dozen replicas. This is much to my annoyance because I too have a childhood memory. When I was very little, my great uncle worked in the engine sheds at Shildon in county Durham. I was taken to have a look round. My great uncle was working on the restoration of the original Rocket and I got lifted up and stood on the foot plate. More than 40 years later I was over the moon to read that the original Rocket was there (this was a previous visit, about a year ago). I felt a brief pang of mild emotion for a second when I saw the Rocket, as I told my kids my great uncle had worked on the restoration of that very engine. Only to turn a corner and see another one, and throughout that day we saw a few more, so I have no idea which one toddler me had been lifted onto in the shed in Shildon.

 

How many "rockets" were there?

 

No idea. Do you mean how many working ones were built at the time, or how many replicas? It seems replicas come two a penny.

 

I wouldn't expect a museum to be displaying replicas.

I thought there was just the one original.

 

Today I only saw two of them but last year there was a few, and there's also at least one at Shildon too.

I don't know much about the history of it because I'm not a train spotter (or rail enthusiast I think they call themselves) but what little I think I know is the Rocket was sort of a prototype. Although it was a working engine, I think it was more of a proof of concept than a mass produced engine. Lots of locomotive designs emerged around the time. I seem to remember being told as a disinterested kid that the Rocket is famous for being the first locomotive to pull paying passengers, and seeing as that happened in this general area (Darlington to Stockton), it's sort of a rather geeky local claim to fame, so there's tonnes of them, along with miniature models, toys, books, and all sorts of merch.

 

The, "34067 Tangmere" was going tp be rerouted down the west coastline on Saturday 29th October due to a derailment near Carlisle. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to many of the passengers preferring a refund due to the steam loco would not be going down the Carlisle to Settle line as planned. Shame, I live within a few miles of two of the stations it was planned to stop, one of them being for a water stop.

There is a couple of places in Cumbria to visit if you're into steam loco's

Locos & Stock | The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway (lakesiderailway.co.uk)

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway - The La'al Ratty | Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway (ravenglass-railway.co.uk)

Gallery – Bassenthwaite Lake Station

 

As a member of a railway family (my dad, grandad and uncle were all railwaymen) I like to see the old steam locos on the go.