I didn't invite you here just to listen to you talk.

Feckers.

Also, the obligatory XXL.

Youse seem to be doing OK for train pix on your own. G'Dope was never really a railway board, there were just a few of us with that interest and we tried (with varying degrees of success) to keep it contained to one little forum. The board's mother (TheLoadedDog) was pro-rail and I only encountered G'Dope because he linked to it at another purely rail related board. There were several others from the same background as myself on G'Dope. We engaged in the general bollockery of the place and tried not to upset the natives with the trainy stuff.

Your board has it's own flavour going on and that's a good thing. I'm not about to start introducing railway slide nights or endless debates on the merits of the NSW 48 class over the 49's. I have to consider the Geneva convention, wot?

Actually the issue of different trains and their merits is active in my mind - my new London commute takes place via the London Overground.

This means that currently everyone is having to cram themselves into the entirely unsuited old Class 313/1 suburban stock left over from when SilverLink were busy running the service into the ground.

Roll on 2009, when TFL's first batch of Class 378s will replace them.

I'm a member of the NZ Railway Enthusiasts Society, so anything to do with rail is of interest to me as well -- it would have been cool to have seen the occasional discussion.

My inner rail nerd was first awoken by childhood trips to the National Railway Museum in York. It's hard not to be impressed by the hardware they've got there.

These days it generally manifests in an overwhelming (if embarrasing) interest in the London Underground and its history.

That museum's a place I'd like to see.

With me, it's the long distance special rail trips I get a chance to take part in (long one up North a week from now on a line which no longer has passenger rail), visits to the local Museum of Transport and Technology and Glenbrook Rail (their open days are incredible), general interest in rail history including architecture and social history, and watching Auckland's rail system continue to develop. Long overdue, but still cool.

We have local issues around hand-me-down carriages etc. from Western Australia, and to electrify or not to electrify (all down to the ones with the money spending it or not). Means rail's in the news, and no chase for my interest to wane. Not that I mind that.

I'll chuck in a link to the Railway Enthusiasts, in case anyone needs a few more pics of steamin' machines.

Nice.

One of my favourite memories is a holiday with a mate's family (when i was about 12) where we did an overnight train from Calais on the coast down to Andorra on the border with spain. Don't think i got any sleep at all.

Underground London is a great site for exploring the "lost" elements of the London Underground.

My personal current mission is to work out where the "removed" branch of the Overground that i can see running off from just before Hackney Central (heading Eastbound) goes.

Oh and also, me and Crusoe are planning on starting a Blog called "End of the Line" once our respective weddings are out of the way.

Basically we're going to travel to the various ends of the tube lines and drink in the nearest pub. We're hoping to write the definitive London "Station Pub" guide.

OK, if you insist....

HST British Style (youtube)

(No need to watch the whole anorakky thing, but the po-faced conversation at the 2:25 mark is a good lead in to the following video)

XPT (HST) Australian style (youtube)

Anorak warning applies again, but not so much. Conversation at 0:40 for comparison.

Excellent idea, garius! If you guys put up a link to your blog here, I'll watch out for it. I had a look either at that disused underground station site or something similar some time back. Thought it was fascinating, and still do. Rail interest meets architecture/engineering meets social history. Bit of envy as well -- our rail is primarily above ground. 'Course, I buy up books on the old infrastructure here soon as they hit the shelves, but that underground has it beat.

I also tend to buy old rail history photos where I find them, these days, from second-hand bookstores. Got one doing the railfan rounds at the moment, a bit of NZR history of a group of rail workers and their rummy club. I can't go quoting statistics and figures like the hardened railfans can -- I'm just fascinated. And I like it that way.

Not bad vids there, TheLoadedDog. The second one with the chat kind of reminded me of the series Off the Rails. Especially that station where the train no longers stops.

OK, here's one you don't particularly have to be an anorak for (especially if you have ingested the appropriate chemicals):

Hull to London in three minutes

Very well done.

Re: the York Railway Museum, I have kind of a special interest there as my dad and granddad prepared several of the locomotives for exhibition there.

Although he had given up railway work my dad still had free rail travel for the family for years afterwards and regularly took us to York on the way to Doncaster, where he came from.  The Railway Museum was always on the agenda as he knew most of the staff there.

One of the restored locomotives was the Sir Nigel Gresley that they had also prepared for the speed trials.
That locomotive now plies it's trade on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Whitby (my former home town) and Pickering.
All kinda coincidental.

My dad also had a huge model railway in the attic and of course Sir Nigel took pride of place.

Well, now that the Vogon destructor fleet turned out to be just the planet Venus reflecting off a weather balloon through some swamp gas...

You're all welcome to check out the infrequently updated train action back at our place. I've been a bit slack lately but there's enough of my pictures in that lot for a good few slide nights.

When come, bring crisps.

Have you branched out from beyond G'Dope, Wired? Anything out in the beyond for the exiles, like myself?

You're all making me feel VERY ungrateful for living a ten minute walk away from the York Railway Museum and never ever going there, except for when my Dad visits. I still haven't forgiven him for last time we went and he made me go on this, which is just outside, on the windiest day I have ever witnessed. But if you like trains I do recommend the museum, just not the wheel of terror.

Dawn - you need to get your arse down to the Richard III Museum while you're there.

Also, i'm hoping that York hasn't corrupted you too much - all the wimmins up there were drinking Vimto and Vodka (or even Vodka and Iron Bru) when I was up there the other week. It wasn't pretty.

those vids are good tld.