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Steam Locos

So was the brake pump subsequently modified for use in the Mcleam building ? Looks to me as though it's all plumbed in. If so, what was it used for in the building ? Interesting piece Mort. Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
So was the brake pump subsequently modified for use in the Mcleam building ? Looks to me as though it's all plumbed in. If so, what was it used for in the building ? Interesting piece Mort. Viv.
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Yes, its got me thinking. Looking at objects like this is to me anyway a great way of looking back at our past. Most certainly there is a conection between McClean who built the building and the railways. I have a feeling he did some of the railway bridges in Winson Green
 
For me their is a connection here between the picture and the Thread “Blue Plaque, What's That Secret Your Keepin’?”

https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...ts-that-secret-your-keepin.47735/#post-592096

The Blue Plaque at Penns Mill (Hall) commemorates Baron Dickinson Webster and claims him to be the wire manufacturer of the first Atlantic Telegraph cable. This is a great stretch of the imagination as the first cable had failed in 1858 and Webster & Horsfall Ltd were able to capitalise on this to manufacture the wire for the second and third cables.

If you take Wikipedia to be correct McClean, amongst many other ventures, was the Chairman of the Anglo-American Telegraph Company….the link says……”On the failure of the expedition to lay the second cable in 1865, a third company was formed to raise the capital for a further attempt, the Anglo-American Telegraph Company.
 
Is this at Sandhills Pumping station? It looks to me like a steam pump, either for boiler water feed or drainage of the 'sump' under the main pumping engine of any water that has leaked or condensed from steam. Steam pumps do not need flywheels, as the movement of the engine piston simply moves the pump piston up & down.

Sandfield 1.jpg
 
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It is indeed Sandfields Pumping Station, and a project I have been working on for the past five years. It is a Grade II* listed Victorian Waterworks that supplied water to the Black Country after the cholera epidemics. See the link on my signature.
 
Being an aficionado of the erstwhile Great Western Railway. I have always lived very close to the GWR line, two houses, close to each other had the line at the bottom end of the property. At 15 + I came to Devon and had two GWR stations close by, one a mile away the other two miles away. So you see I have never been far from the old GWR except when in the RAF. I did not take those pictures, but simply provided the link. I wish I had, I would also have loved to be at Tyseley but Sundays (and lots of other days as well) are always booked. :)
 
mikejee said:
I can see it OK
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Appears like something to do with Yahoo, which is having problems...I can view them on my phone OK and they are great photo's. I would have loved to have been there, those engines are in fantastic shape!
Dave A
 
I watched a programme last night about coastal walks (in Devon) & it featured a steam train with accompanying music. It was a great piece of music that i`d heard many times but for the life of me i couldn`t remember what it was called until i`d been in bed for half an hour when i nudged the wife & said it was the Coronation Express. Luckily for me she was still reading otherwise i`d have had more than a nudge in return! Just listening to that piece of music you new instinctively that it was about trains.
 
I did not see it Smudger, but the Paignton to Dartmouth line is my local line. I spent some while there (voluntary), for over fifteen years. There is another not too far away which runs from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. I was involved there a good many years ago. I have to admit that 'muzak' of whatever style over the sound of a working steam locomotive is, to me, an abhorrence!
 
Radiorails said:
I did not see it Smudger, but the Paignton to Dartmouth line is my local line. I spent some while there (voluntary), for over fifteen years. There is another not too far away which runs from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. I was involved there a good many years ago. I have to admit that 'muzak' of whatever style over the sound of a working steam locomotive is, to me, an abhorrence!
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I thought all steam train anoraks would enjoy that piece of music. Personally i can`t understand the appeal of those smelly noisy engines. Open the window & what do you get? Soot in your eyes & an even stronger smell! Sorry Alan, but that`s just my opinion & i`ve been on many steam trains, including guarding ammunition train thru Belgium. Good old electric trains for me.
 
Radiorails said:
Being a passenger, Smudger and working with them are quite different things. However, it is horses for courses. ;)
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Quite right Alan. I suppose cooking the bacon on the coal shovel is one of the perks. Many years ago, i took the grandchildren on the North York Moors railway & you would think they were being punished, & even pulling faces At Bill Oddie on the opposite track didn`t cheer them up.
 
Steam as many happy memories for me, day excursions to the seaside in the 3o's and onward, my late Wife, then my girl friend, in the 50's seeing me off at platform 7 at Snowhill returning from leave. I loved the sounds and the smells, electric maybe quieter and cleaner but lacks the atmosphere and pure nostalgia of steam, in my opinion anyway, some will disagree but we are all different (thankfully !) Eric
 
This steam locomotive, Secundus, was seen at the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum at Corfe Castle Station, Dorset. It is claimed to be the last locomotive in existence that was built in Birmingham. A photo is shown of the locomotive and the accompanying panel giving its history. Dave.

SV100032 (2).JPG SV100035 (2).JPG
 
Dave,

I was last there in 2014 when I was last in the UK and we took my youngest son, now 50, and his youngsters. Way back before Beeching closed the rail link from Wareham to Swanage, and the paddle steamer used to run from Bournemouth Pier to Swanage Pier, my late wife and I regularly did the round trip with our young sons from Bournemouth Central to Swanage via Wareham by rail, take the paddle steamer back to Bournemouth Pier, and the bus back home - and sometimes do the trip in the reverse direction. Brilliant stuff and happy memories.

Way back in the late 1960s/early 1970s, my forerunner at the Parkstone Jazz Club, pianist Dave Price, used to have a pottery on Poole Quay, before they destroyed it with all the modern buildings, and used to use Wareham ball clay for his pots, glazed and unglazed for his pots because of its nice gritty appearance. Dave can still be heard playing with his Trio in the Hereford area from time to time.

Maurice :-)
 
Battle of Britain, 34053 (Sir Keith Park), waiting to depart from Corfe Castle, Dorset to the present northern terminus of the Swanage railway at Norden. I thought I would get a better picture on its return journey to Corfe but it was pulling the train backwards! We joined the train here for a return journey to Swanage.
Maurice: We always enjoy visiting Dorset. There are plans to extend the Swanage railway to Wareham and the main line and it could be a reality by next year. That would enable you to do part of your circular journey although I'm not sure that there is a paddle steamer from Bournemouth to Swanage. Dave.

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Dave,

That's a nice second picture with the Castle in the background. The connection to the main line at Wareham seems to keep getting delayed for some reason or other.

The Paddle Steamer "Waverley" is now owned by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and its home base is in Scotland on the Clyde, so a daily service from Bournemouth to Swanage Pier is no longer possible, but it does do occasional trips from various ports along the South Coast which are bookable, but I'm not sure what the condition of Swanage Pier is like these days. Google "PS Waverley" for lots of history & info.

Meanwhile if you're interested in WW2 history, Sir Keith Parke's autobiography is an interesting read. Our holiday this year is meeting up with relatives who have rented a large villa at the other end of the island of Crete next Friday for ten days.

Maurice :-)
 
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