Issue 119

I thought the coverage of 5029 Nunney Castle's failure on 29 November was disappointing and misleading. The air pump failed at Ludlow(not before,as implied).After sitting at Ludlow for around 2 hours,the support crew managed to repair it,however the fire had suffered badly during the delay and 2 "blow-ups" were required on the eventual stagger to Shrewsbury. As has been extensively debated in another thread,the train was a victim of wildly unrealistic timings,and was arguably overloaded by at least 2 coaches. Rather than debating the milk purchasing policies of Costa Coffee,more exploration of the reasons behind this debacle would have been interesting!

 

Another poor point is in the piece about Dai Jones from the Talyllyn who passed away, when dispite being told the General Managers name is Larry Bridges they still got it wrong! So anyone thinking of visiting the Talyllyn railway to see the first railway to be managed by a dog i am afraid they are going to be dissapointed because we are not being Managed by Laddy Bridges as the magazine seems to suggest! This is very poor state!

 

A bit of a mixed bag again this issue. A stunning cover shot of 46115 with some great pictures inside but they seem to have ruined the repro of the one in the centre pages. It looks blurred in my copy. The rest of it is a bit so-so. David Wilcocks section is enjoyable again and so is the Steam and snow article.

 

Agreed. Found the AGM Specials bit very interesting and the livery debate, even though its practically a broken record, he was brutally honest and in a climate where money is going to get tighter he certainly had a few good points.

Not a bad issue overall really.

 

It was late in the shops down here again this month but I did enjoy David Wilcock's article on the digital fake debate and on BR liveries which I thought he was spot on.

 

I had a bit of a pleasant surprise this morning when a "free" HR Calendar and T-shirt came in the post. I recently renewed my Subscription so this must be why. I thought it was only new subscribers which had these free gifts sent out going by the advert in the mag. Still I'm not complaining! \/

 

Bear in mind that young Mr. Wilcock's shot of 61994 at Ramsbottom is itself a "fake." He admitted as much on UKRP when someone asked him if he'd removed the Christmas lights and a person standing somewhere in the shot.

 

Ian, i've heard this site mentioned a lot recently, would you care to share the URL of it?

 

"People standing somewhere in the shot" is a sad fact of life nowadays. In the days of (real) steam there was an unspoken rule, generally mutually accepted by all, that any person arriving first at a particular photo location also assumed (wherever that was practically possible) first choice in where he stood and that NO-ONE then came to stand in his established field of view. This worked well and usually EVERYONE managed to get a reasonable picture, regardless!

11th August 1968 apart perhaps, today there are many more chasing far less than 40+ years ago, and, so, chaos reigns. Of course we now also have the added complication of those using video equipment and who seem to command far more space (if not also total silence!). Because of such attitudes displayed by some, many now brand these latter-day arrivals on the scene as "vidiots". (Don't slate me, I am only reporting what many others are saying!)

Clearly, we shall ALL have to accept what IS and learn to live with it, or find another hobby entirely.

I don't agree with doctoring published pictures to remove superfluous fixed lineside hardware, or even adding a complete train elsewhere in the image - as one person recently attempted to do, and certainly not with the changing of weather conditions to suit, but I would not object to seeing any outlines visible of others pointing cameras, being 'disposed of'. As the 'customer' (i.e. the reader), I just don't want to see these people ... unless they add to the intended pictorial composition ... and that is rarely the case.

Doctor as much as you like the images you show around the lads, or display in your portfolios, but please don't insult the rest of us with your deceit!