The genie in the railway lamp

Oh that the Genie could have influenced the appropriate 'high-ups' at the time of grouping in 1923 to have adopted the air brake as standard rather than vacuum system, instead of BR having to do it in the mid-1960s.

 

Oh its quite factual about Adolf's dangly bits. Cryptorchidism affecting his starboard goolie is mentioned in the notes after his arrest for the failed "beer hall putsch" in 1923. It was widely claimed that the injury was from shrapnel in the Great War. In the 30's, an old schoolmate claimed the poor chap lost one after getting butted by a goat-and was executed for attempting to discredit the fuhrer.

The part your grannie played in all this eludes me

 

So it appears that the song sung to the music of Colonel Bogey does have some basis in fact then.......

 

You need to cite your sources on this one, hopefully your granny wasn’t an eye witness. I am happy for ‘Hitler’s testicles’ to be in someone else’s internet search history rather than mine.

 

Except for the bit about Goebbels.

PH

 

While we are well off topic, I remember reading stories of two different near misses Hitler had in car accidents. Neither were responsible for the missing appendage as far as I am aware.

Furthermore, there is an account of a shooting party in 1913 in England. During the shoot one of the gun loaders stumbled, and both barrels were discharged, narrowly missing the guest of honour. The thing is, that guest was Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was assassinated the following year in an event which is widely accepted as having triggered the start of WW1. If he had died in 1913 would the war have been delayed or even averted?

Three near misses which, had the outcomes been different, might have changed the course of history. But we will never know.

Dave

 

Mr Fry mentioned the Austrian Corporal's monorchism (yep .... there's a flash word for it!) during an episode of QI some time ago, alleging it was more the product of WWI shrapnel than congenital (sorry, couldn't resist!).

How the hell did we end up talking about Schicklgruber's knacker(s) anyway?

 

Very much in keeping with the b*ll*cks with which we frequently get involved.

 

Fair point!

 

There are so many past events that we could wish the genie to change, and so many things that we could wish to have changed today, that it's hard to choose. But how about either of these changes to the past?

During the first few months of running Duke Of Gloucester, BR realised that something was seriously awry. Instead of shrugging their corporate shoulders they then made a thorough investigation, put the faults right, were delighted with the improved performance and built another dozen or so, all of which eventually reached the care of Dai Woodham.

Nearer home for me, the main line platforms at Willesden Junction remained open.

 

I think this is only about the 785th time in the history of NatPres, so there are a few hundred more rounds of pointless wishing to go yet before people finally tire of it

 

If I met the genie I would be asking for the cash to build up a profitable steam maintenance company that works in partnership with other companies in the industry such as WCRC and Ian Riley Co. Call it the New North Eastern Railway and set about working on contracts for overhaul, while supporting some of the preservation groups. Then with such a venture profitable, a start would be made on new builds for B16/3 and L4 (updated L1).

 

Going back to the OP, I’d have had the Underground (and Metropolitan, for the pedants) as part of the Grouping, not kept separate.

For the wider railways, it would have allowed more understanding of how to make inner suburban rapid transit work; for the Met in particular, it might have led to some interesting interactions. Perhaps even Brill surviving till the War.


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tossing up between a Clan and the GCR back from the dead.

On second thoughts, I'll go for the GCR - the Clan will be dealt with by my Euromillions win.

 

Something that could plausibly have happened and would have been of benefit would have been for a different mix of locos to have ended up in Barry more on line with the requirements of preserved railways than perhaps some locos are and filling some of the gaps.

 

As much as any of t'other scrappies doing a Dai Woodham, with umpteen thousand freight vehicles to get through before cutting any locos? If only .....

 

Toss of a coin. Cohen's or Cashmore's who gets the thousands of wagons to scrap first?

 

Why the B16/3?

 

If I met the genie, I would thank him for all the magic he has worked since the 1960s to give us what we have today.

Much of what the preservationists (and new builders) have achieved in that time, seemed like fantasy back then.


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Lots of people seem to be taking a historical view of the genie's powers: what do we wish had been saved. But the genie said "you can wish for any project to be completed, any loco, carriage or truck to be built or restored, any rule that prevents anything from running to be changed, any hinderance that stops a project to be removed (be that physical, financial, personal)".

So my wish is for the continued health of the network of small and medium suppliers on which running heritage railways survive. Whether that is continued supplies of lump coal, or lubricants, or bespoke pattern making and casting, or the continued availability of tyres in all sizes, or a myriad other supplies and services, we are dependent on a wide economic infrastructure. No coal, or no tyres = no railways. So my wish is for the genie to keep a benevolent eye on that ecosystem.

Tom