I've never owned an anorak in my life but some of my happiest days in the early fifties were spent watching trains (mainly Eastern Region). Anyone got stories to tell of those days?

were they steam trains in the 50s ?:clap: :clap: :clap:

Steam trains they were

my uncle ken was the head waiter on the master cutler for a lot of yrs , the train went down to london every morning between 7/8 am , sat all lday whilst about 5 pm , and then came back,once his work was done on arriving in london he used to collect all the mags/n/papers and sit and do all the competitions,you name it he won it, i know in 1962 he won a fabulous bedroom suite,and loads of other things.:clap:

60049 Galtee Moore - one of the A3 Pacifics named after famous racehorses. Yes, I remember it.

When I was train spotting we used to live at Owlerton and on the Cross.
We used to go by the 'Five Arches' but not many namers mostly B1 s
But I remember 'The Master Cutler'.which did not run on this line
We would sometimes go down by Blast Lane and get the namers .
I wonder how many people know about the 'Mallard'.
It boggles the mind to think of a steam engine doing over 200 km per hour.
A speed of 126 Miles per hour this was in 1938.
I live in Canada now but whenever I am back in the old sod I try and make a visit to York to pay homage to that world beater 'Mallard'.
As Dylan would say "Alas no longer whinnying with us"

Originally posted by sweetdexter
As Dylan would say "Alas no longer whinnying with us"

Where and when did Dylan say that?

That's Dylan Thomas " A child's Christmas in Wales"

I took my grandson to the railway museum last week, in the area where they have a display of artifacts are a pair of Master Cutler headplates, a number of other items also conected to Sheffield. Well worth a visit, and amazingly in this day and age, it's free!

Sweetdexter..........Mallard, I was really fortunate to be able to climb up into the cab of this mighty machine in the late 50's. Only thing was it was stone cold in the Doncaster sheds and off duty but still was a magical experience to "cab" the Mallard. Had the badge on the side relating to the speed record.
Took my kids to York when we came over from NZ and she looked brand new. I believe the driving wheels were 6'2'' in diameter? It's a wonder we didn't get our bums kicked or worse sneaking about those sheds but it was pretty common at the time.

Two of us biked it to Doncaster ,I remember a brick wall,we leaned the bikes against the wall, stood on the saddle and could just see the smoke stack (Is that the correct Terminology?) of what my buddy assured me was the Mallard, as it sat in the sheds.
When I was at the Train Museum in York I bought a train spotting guide.
Now, when ever I see a train in movies set in the UK. I try and see the number ,to underline it in the guide
66 going on 12

I remember the routine that me and my mates used to folow when we got of the train from Sheffield. It was off the station and over a roadbridge to the south and along the road to the paint shop. If you stood on your mates shoulders you could see through the windows and hopefully get the number of the loco that was in the process of being painted. Everyone had to have a turn to be able to say that they had 'copped' it!
From there it was back across the bridge and on to the sheds where you could find all sorts of locos lined up. this is where I saw the Mallard. This area was quite open and easy to get into and walk around as long as you wern't spotted.
Then it was back to Donny station to see what was happing on the mainline traffic. Great Days..........until they brought in the diesels.

in 1959, As an electrician I used to meet the" Master cutler" on Victoria station,about 10pm, arriving back from London,. ride with her up to the sidings having gathered all the papers (before the cleaners came on) and checked her out electrically. That was my night shift and on days I would do the same for the" Yorkshireman"

Surely that would be the Midland Station desmitch

yes, my mistake as I covered both stations, the Yorkshireman used Victoria