"Maids Of All Work"
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Hi Guys,
I thought I'd share a great experience I had this morning. While having a ciggie out doors at my local corner bar last night, I met a fellow smoker and we got chatting. The guy's name is Rob Jollie and he is a steam engine driver. After our chat he invited me to our local train station in the morning at 8pm to view the 186 before she headed back to Dublin.
I was a little slow out of the bed but made it in time to get a quick tour of the 186 and take a couple of pictures (attached).
Many of us with some gray ribs had ambitions of becoming train drivers when we were five years old! This is the closest I have come to that ambition. If you are interested in steam trains and in particular the "Maid of all Work", you can read about her here.
Mike
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Excellent! It's good you went down to see. I wish we'd get some steam through here once in awhile. Thanks for the photos and the link.
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Cool Mike, thanks for sharing that.
My father is part of a local railroad association and they run a steam engine through town from time to time. I also work very close to a model railroad museum and had our wedding reception in the Depot Roundhouse there.
I grew up in the shadow of my father's passion for anything that runs on rails. If I get a chance I might snap some photos of his recent "in progress" model railroad room.
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Thanks guys.
Yes Eric, please post what you have. There is something very comforting about steam trains.
This is a link to the West Clare Railway site http://www.westclarerailway.ie/ And there is a very famous comic song about it by Percy French, 'Are you right there Michael'. Its on You Tube here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w7eH6JuL50
French wrote it after he successfully sued the West Clare Railway for £10! Details here, http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/percy.htm
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@mike lucey said:
There is something very comforting about steam trains.
Even though I'm too young to remember seeing them ploughing the main lines, I still have a fondness for them.
I think in part it's the sense of being able to see how they work, no hidden-away "black boxes" like modern technology. And of course, all those little design flourishes that show the pride of the original builders, and the restorers.I'm lucky enough to have the Keighley and Worth Valley line just up the road - quite a little collection they have now, despite the line being only a few miles - here's a link... KWVR
Best of all, every autumn they raise funds by putting on a massive real ale festival - 100+ ales, live bands all day in the main loco shed, seating in the old Pullman coaches, and even hand-pulled ales in the buffet cars of the trains so you can saunter back-and-forth through the beautiful Yorkshire countryside with the taste of a perfect pint and the delicious smell of the roasting coals.
A truly grand day out - I recommend it to anyone - the boozing is always very civilised, so perfectly 'child friendly' too (I hear that even lager drinkers enjoy it!).
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