Review of 2019 : July

Summer rolls on as we enter the second half of the year. July's adventures began with a trip to Merseyside which included some of the oldest railway stations around like Broad Green and Rainhill. To celebrate the tenth birthday of my canal blog (later in the year) i walked the Tame Valley Canal from Witton to Rushall.

Highlight of the month was my trip to Mail Rail in London which included a tunnel walk, this was one of the best things i have ever done on the railways. There was also time for some travelling to and fro across London including Little Venice. There was another canal walk at the end of the month when i walked the Stratford Canal from the edge of Stratford to Wilmcote.

On the BGLR it was a fairly quiet month but i relaid the back scene siding to allow for more locomotive storage.

Song of the month was "Art of doubt" by Metric.

The birth of the word processor (2)

Last time we saw that the IBM Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter which merged the electric typewriter with data storage was the first system marketed as a word processor. To show how a later version of this system works here is part of an IBM training video on the Mag Card II. If nothing else it is a fascinating look at how office work has evolved since the early 1970s.

Review of 2019 : June

We reach the Summer months, the pace of trips did not let up though the weather in June wasn't the best. The month began with a trip to Attenborough in Nottinghamshire. A week later came a visit to the amazing Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth, despite the heavy rain a great time was had at this narrow gauge heaven.

On car MOT day i went to Crewe, soon after I went to Matlock Bath in Derbyshire which has an interesting mining museum. The Birmingham Railway Museum in Tyseley had one of it's open days which i attended. Finally i visited Penkridge in Staffordshire.

On the BGLR i continued building the tunnel section under the tramway extension which gave the left side of the layout a proper scenic ending.

Song of the month was "euphoria" by Fury Weekend featuring Michael Oakley.

Rucking in Rugby

Today i visited Rugby, a place i have been to before a few times (including for work reasons a long time ago) but i've never been into the actual town centre itself. So today I went to rectify that omission. Unfortunately more or less as soon as i had left the station the heavens opened so the photography conditions were far from ideal. You can see my photos here.

Review of 2019 : May

May tends to be a busy month for preserved railway visits and galas and this year was no exception. It started with a visit to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway followed soon after by a return trip to the Crich Tramway Museum, truely one of the best transport museums around.

Mid month came one of the big events of the year, the Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala, this one was tremendous as usual. I also visited the Railworld attraction in Peterborough.

It wasn't all railways though. I also walked the Coventry Canal in Bedworth, the Stratford Canal in Lapworth and Kingswood. I also visited the rather interesting village of Stewartby though the very heavy rain curtailed by exploration a bit.

On the BGLR i laid the board extension for phase 3 of the tramway. This later also became a second tunnel section on the layout.

Song of the month was "fantasy" by Jessie Frye.