not a single one loco or train in view...........

....at that great Olympics show! it's a shame in regards of the history of the Industrial Revolution nice factories chimneys but not a small engine one in view!
regards
Noel

 

well they wouldn't want it to steal the show would they?

 

Yes, it would show up the whole huge boring circus for what it is.

 

you had IKB, what more do you need/ Its was an excellent shiow, seemingly flawless

 

Yes, I should imagine the GWR boys were delighted by IKB's inclusion.

 

No London bus either, remember ths was done on a budget to save money... Even if that budget was nearly 8 figures!

 

There was a London bus, horse drawn, in LGOC green showing route no. 25 destination boards, a nice local touch. Brunel (played by Kenneth Branagh) arrived in it. And steam engines did appear in the industrial revolution segment, just not the rail borne kind.

 

Sorry - duplicate - look below.
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I thought it was an excellent ceremony. Brunel at Stratford was a touch ironic though!

 

But he did built the Great Eastern ship.

 

And built it just across the Thames from Stratford

 

...and helped his dad Marc engineer the first Thames tunnel crossing.

 

He did in deed and if you ever visit the isle of dogs at Burrells wharf, just 5 minutes from canary wharf at masthouse terrace pier, you can still see the gigantic railway sleeper techology he used to push it into the Thames after it got stuck, together with recovered chains on display for all to see.
At low tide you can also see the sleepers in the riverbed.

If you do, look me up I'd be glad to point out some other parts of isle of dogs heritage.

 

That would be about here then? :-http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Bur...KLVSOT6Nt6i2pp4fyg&cbp=12,55.39,,0,-7.28&z=17

 

David Hockney (noted pro-smoking person) made an entertaining point that the chimneys of the dark satanic mills were belching smoke, but that Brunel's cigar was resolutely not!

With regards the comment about Brunel being commemorated in Stratford, apart from the issues already raised: My understanding was that the opening ceremony was a celebration of Britain, not just Stratford. So I didn't feel that it jarred at all. There is no doubt in my mind that Brunel is the iconic engineer of that era, in the true sense of the word iconic - i.e. having a recognisable visual image. Stephenson may be more famous as a name, but I doubt there is any image of an engineer more famous than the one of Brunel standing in front of the chains, smoking a cigar, when launching one of his ships.

And finally for light relief: as the great Humphrey Lyttleton once put it: "From his stovepipe hat to his drainpipe trousers, he was a credit to his ironmonger".

Tom

 

There was an London Underground train representation in the Thanks Tim sequence.

 

You can't really blame them for not including Trains/Railways in the opening ceremony, if they included everything Britain has invented throughout the years the opening ceremony would of needed a second day and the budget would of bankrupted a country the size of Wales.

If would have been criminal not to include IKB frankly, we all know him for the GWR/Royal Albert bridge etc but remember he did so much more than Railways, Shipping and Civil Engineering to name two, woulden't be unfair to call him the greatest ever Briton thus far (in peacetime anyway).

 

There is a steam engine on site. When I went to the Stratford Westfield for its grand opening I saw a steam locomotive sat by the bus stops on the south side of the big footbridge. I think it was a bagnall or some other 0-6-0 ST OC(?). I can't find it on google earth, but there's definately something there. On another railway note, it will be visible from Great Eastern Road. Both I imagine are tributes to the site's former use by the road's namesake.

 

Marooned | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Robert is the engine and owned by Newham Council.