Belgium is perhaps one of the least likely countries to visit for fans of the steam locomotive. In a way, this is rather surprising, as two of its engineers gave their names to inventions used around the World. Firstly, Alfred Belpaire designed the square-topped firebox that bears his name, whilst Egide Walschaerts produced the valve [ Read More ]
Archive for the ‘Ken McKee’ Category
PDF Like many railway systems around the World, British Railways and its masters were seduced by the claims of diesel loco manufacturers. Suddenly steam was old hat, and was disposed of in great haste. Many of the British Standard locomotives went to the scrapyard (or into preservation) with less than 10 years service on the clock. [ Read More ]
Some months ago, the Oldest Dominie posed a question regarding the existence of a distillery (now closed) near to Kinross. In fact, it wasn’t so much the distillery that was of importance, but the existence of a railway line by which it was served. In fact, no information was forthcoming, at least until now. If [ Read More ]
By the Not-Quite-So-Old-Dominie I confess to a love affair with France, the French, their food and (especially) their drink, their scenery, the ambience – and I’m quite partial to their trains as well. Holidays tend to be based on moving from preserved railway line to preserved railway line, with the odd museum thrown in. So [ Read More ]
