| The end of the Sixties was the end of steam in Australasia, but for a few small and isolated pockets. “Trains” editor David P. Morgan recorded the ending of steam in North America during the Fifties, and in 1968 he ran a sad photo essay titled “It’s dying out where it all began” to mark the ending of steam in Britain. And so it was in the Antipodes; hundreds of enthusiasts were wondering “what next, what else?” Like many, I cast my eye over the other parts of the transport world; trams, steam tugs and ferries, paddle steamers, and even radial engined airliners. But the great days of those machines were almost over too. Faced with a similar dilemma, the American locomotive photographer Joe G. Collias had said “The world looks glum to me; think I’ll end it all and get married.” I joined the railways!
A decade of chasing steam to its last outposts greatly enriched my education and was a wonderful adventure. 1970 saw the beginning of a long railway career, and a few years later an even greater adventure began. With my fifth grandchild on the way, that wonderful adventure continues. It has been a year since my first collection was posted in this gallery and this collection is the conclusion. I have tried to use the railway language and measures of the Sixties, with some effort. It no longer comes naturally to me to call wagons “trucks” and measure in feet and miles. But anyone wishing to unlock the past must learn to think in its values, and so with steam. To understand those great machines it is essential to know the units used by their designers. Viewers unfamiliar with old units might find footrule.com an invaluable bookmark. Over the years I gathered a small collection of pictures going back to the earliest days of railways, and now this project has concluded, viewers may like to keep an eye on my associated gallery, “Railway Scrapbook – Steam Before 1950”. |
Parallel Worlds |
New Beginnings |
Collectables |
Humble And Unremarked |
Mud Coal And Steam |
Odd Bus Strange Place |
Cyclone Worthy |
Upholding A Tradition |
Difficult Docking |
Overkill |
Creepy Crawlies |
Stately, Victorian, Tropical, Colonial |
Before Spray Cans |
Quaint, Sleepy and Dangerous |
Last Train |
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© 1998-2009 Michael Venn - All copyrights rest with the Author [ descript.ion | Index ] |