Nostalgia lane

[Noel]

Talking about close coupling and gangways, etc. One of the things I remember as a child in the 60s was jumping over the gangway flaps between carriages with the tracks clearly visible flying underneath, with the gangways bouncing around, the big thick rope hand grabs, daylight gaps appearing and disappearing as they flexed over wobbly jointed track work - and the noise!  It all looked so feeble and as a child you wondered if the two carriages could part company just as you were moving from one to another. 

Another time when trains were proper trains with engines and carriages, instead of soulless boring rail cars passing lifeless deserted stations devoid of any goods traffic. Not like the 60s and 70s when every tiny station between Dublin and other cities was a hive of pickup goods traffic, nearly always with an interesting goods train waiting in a loop being overtaken by the passenger train you were on. Men shunting a closed van into the little goods shed, it all seemed so logical and systematic. Oh there was so much interesting stuff and track formations for a child to look at in wonder out the window of a train carriage. A few days later you'd try and recreate the scenes you'd seen, past copies of Beano hardback annuals making up platforms beside Hornby-Dublo track, and humming train noises, buffer clashes, couplings, guards whistles and notching GMs. You became quite an impersonator - but of imaginary trains not here today gone tomorrow celebs. Nostalgia!

I've got a fit of reawakened nostalgia from reading 'Rails through the West' - yet again!

[Robert Shrives]

Well so bloody true - I did just like you  and the book was a bedtime read this week as well. 

The world famous (!) ffestiniog railway up to just a few years ago had the same connections on a couple of the older coaches.

two did not have a rain cap so as a guard you could stand up and observe the train !

Fun times , the young have no idea the fun we stopped them having

 

Robert  

   

 

[skinner75]

I remember the very same about the gangways when I was a kid - late 70s/early 80s. Loved it!
I can remember the first day of the Dart - probably the only thing I liked about the Dart was pushing the button after it lit up to open the doors!