Saturday 16 February 2008

Confession Time 26.04.07

Robbie was late home - again! This time he'd managed to lose all his passes, so he had to go back to work in search of them. He thought he must have dropped them when leaving the station this morning but fortunately they were 'lost' under a pile of papers on his desk and he was able to catch the next train.

Well, I suppose it is confession time. I am quite interested in railways, but the things that interest me don't necessarily interest Robbie and vise versa. Robbie likes all things railway, but diesel is his passion. Robbie says that I like weird and random stuff - that must explain why I cope with Robbie without too many difficulties! He is probably right, I like wagons and rail grinders and that sort of thing. I love watching the Lafarge self discharge train that comes from Mt. Sorrel, I can't really explain why, it just fascinates me. I like the design and functionality but I also like the sounds of the railway and character and individuality of the different types of stock.

Recently I told Robbie about a wagon that looks as if it has been abandoned on the edge of Northampton Yard. It is old and faded with graffiti on one side and it looks unloved. It reminds me of a man I see most mornings, he is on his way to work, he looks old and tired but still reliable and ready to work. His face is wrinkled and the truck is faded and battered, but both have a certain dignity and both have their own unique history. That's what prompted Robbie to say I was weird. I wanted to take some photos of the wagon, but Robbie wouldn't let me because it was raining - wimp!

I like finding out about railway history and I love old photos. This site about Olney Station is really interesting and it has a couple of great photos, one is of the turntable and water tower, the other is of a train crossing the River Ouse bridge and viaduct during floods. Robbie was most impressed, he said he didn't know that Olney had a turntable, but I think he did because I remember reading about it somewhere before.
http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/odhs/mainframe.html

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