Fifty years ago [DotD 20.04.20]

[whole diary]

[CyclingSid]

The delights (?) of sound ranging. Fascinating subject. I worked with a Meteorological Troop. The Sound Ranging Troop were still using line connections to the microphones. Used to tear round the ranges in Land-Rovers known as fire-engines reeling out miles of telephone cable, which I am pretty sure was never picked up again. Always remember the microphone traces recorded on Teledeltos paper (you always get a bit of technological history on the forum!). I don't know if they ever got round to implementing connecting the microphones by radio, which Professor Bragg had been pushing since WWII^▸ (World War 2 - 1939 to 1945). Bragg had been a sound ranger in WWI.

I think SR^‡(resolve) was used in Burma, any details will be found in:
https://www.amazon.com/Larkhills-Wartime-Locators-Artillery-Survey/dp/1844155145

[rogerpatenall]

The Spring of 1970 I was coming to the end of my time as a very junior Articled Clerk. We had a client that built bridges based in Darlington and had a construction company at Bentley, outside Doncaster, and another client making machinery for textile manufacture, in Belfast. So, consulting with my slavishly comprehensive Travel Record, I had numerous trips between Kings Cross and Doncaster or Darlington (Down on the Sunday evening slow train at 820pm, and up on a Friday afternoon taking tea on an up Scottish express. Great Luxury.

In amongst these weeks were four weeks in Belfast, probably travelling on a Vickers Vanguard of BEA. I occasionally used a BCal BAC1-11 to Gatwick, which was very exotic.But not, apparently in 1970.

Summer holiday would have been spent in Alderney travelling on a Dove (My last trip on a Rapide being in about 1958)

Great memories.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

In 1970 I was sent to the Liverpool Division to gain some operating experience.  The Divisional Manager was the legendary R H N (Dick) Hardy, who was keen on training, so he sent for me to check on progress etc rather more frequently than I was expecting (or wanted!).  In those days there were still pre-Grouping traditions, so you claimed to be either CLC^▸ (Castle Cary) (Cheshire Lines Committee) or Lancy (Lancashire & Yorkshire) men.

I was sent to Edge Hill Traincrew Depot for a while, and with my footplate pass did all the local Trip workings – they were called “Targets” up there.  In those days once the Target loco left the depot no-one knew quite where they were – hence the rhyme I still remember – Target One has gone, Target Two has gone to Crewe, Target Four is on the floor etc.

I did all the Target workings down to the docks, Alexandra, Huskisson, Canada etc.  I remember being allowed to sit at the controls and driving a quite long train of loose-coupled wagons past the start of a downhill gradient through Knotty Ash (in those days closely identified with Ken Dodd), with the increasingly nervous Driver sitting beside me saying “Get hold of them, GET HOLD OF THEM!”.

I was also in the cab of (I think) a Class 25 on a special trip down Waterloo Tunnel to Riverside, it was a steep and damp tunnel and the Driver said in steam days they would be slipping and sliding and would sometimes put a shovel out to touch the side of the tunnel to know how fast (and in what direction) they were moving. 

Had a great time in Liverpool, very friendly people, and in those days lots of interesting railways to explore.