Why are we so fascinated by the power of steam railway engines?

Mayor Bob Wheatley greets the Nunney Castle

4-6-0 wheel configuration see Train Spotting, a very British hobby

        

For my train spotting follows, here are a few pictures of the main West Coast line in Malaysia, taken at the Bukit Mertajam station.

The heavy rail system mostly carries freight and runs on narrow gauge tracks, that is track of 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3+³⁄₈ in, compared to standard gauge tracks of 1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+¹⁄₂ in.


Malaysian Freight Engine in Bukit Mertajam station. Narrow gauge track
Being much narrower, the trains seems ready to topple over at any time to me.


Malaysian Freight Train TG Piandang 26112, Bukit Mertajam
The Malaysian Peninsular railway also links into the Thai State Rail System, a wonderful journey I took in the 1980's from Bangkok down into Malaysia, over twenty-four hours, with wonderful views of paddy fields, temples, tropical scenes to dream about, all undertaken at a very slow speed.

At the moment there is mostly a single track laid, but this is in the process of being upgraded to a dual track arrangement.

        

I must admit, when non British participants on my courses around the world laugh at the hobby of Train Spotting, as they can not understand why the British, and Germans and French, do it, or what joy they have from the hobby, I have often thought "why do todays train spotters do the hobby?".

Catching the train into London's Waterloo station in Central London on a fairly regular basis, we pass through the railway station of Clapham Junction, Britain's and possibly Europe's busiest station for train movements, with over 100 trains passing through per hour.


A Train Spotter at Clapham Junction
Whilst relaxing on the journey through Clapham Junction, I have often spotted Train Spotters standing on the platforms, photographing and noting down the details of the trains as they pass by. So, I decided to stop and talk to one and ask what do they get these days as against when I did it in my younger days.

I met John on another platform, who had traveled a considerable distance to spend the day in Clapham Junction, and he told me his story.

Having retired some years ago, he and his wife needed to take up a hobby to keep them occupied. His wife a keen photographer suggested they combined their two hobbies so they could travel and be with each other. Unfortunately his wife died, but John's interest in trains had been reawakened, and now he travels the country Train Spotting.

John said that every Thursday he travels to Doncaster, another major British railway station, to pursue his hobby of Train Spotting, and there could be up to one hundred others there.

As I talked to John about what he gains from the hobby, I began to understand that each train which before today looked the same to me, had its' own life, where it was made, how long it had been in service, what modifications had been made, what was the power of the motors, how many passengers would it sit and hold, where was its' home base.

As I listened, I was taken in by John's enthusiasm and knowledge. He told me why certain trains were built in the way they were, that nearly every train now new to Britain was built in other countries, Canada, Japan, Italy.

On my way home I visited a newsagent selling magazines, and in the hobby section, there seem to be more magazines for train enthusiasts than any other hobby, so there must be a demand for the information.

Come on the rest of the world,  join us British and take-up the Train Spotting hobby. We are not that strange are we?


Train Spotter John at Clapham Junction.

        

Whilst undertaking exercises in the NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner courses in the many countries I go to, I ask participants to recall perhaps their hobbies, and as an example I will mention the British hobby of Train Spotting.

In non UK country courses, Italy, Turkey etc, the participants look at me in a very strange way. Train Spotting? Am I deluded? Am I mad?

As a boy, yes many years ago, I remember riding long distances on my bicycle with my friends, to stand by the mainline rail track from Manchester and Scotland to London, the Trent Valley Line, to collect train numbers and  and train names. Those were the days of steam trains.

Each train would have its' own characteristics, but be a member of a "class" or type of engine, and each train would have its' own individual number and most likely a name.

Depending upon the use of the engine, hauling passenger carriages or goods trucks, the speed required, and the distance to be covered, so the "class" of train would change.

The configuration of the wheels of the engine would also distinguish the type of engine. There are two types of wheels on a steam engine, non powered wheels often small wheels called pilot wheels, and larger powered wheels or driving wheels.

      
In the first animation above there are four small pilot wheels at the front, six driving wheels, and two pilot wheels, (coloured red), making it a class 4-6-2. The second has four small pilot and six driving wheels and no rear pilot, making it a 4-6-0 class engine.

Each class of train could also be given a name, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways the Evening Star class was a 2-10-0 type. The Britannia class was a 4-6-2 as was the Clan class.

Full details including photographs of the classes of trains would be listed in a small book in the I-Spy series, a must to have for a boy train spotter like me, which could be crossed matched with my hand written notes of spotted trains, when and where I saw them.

Oh power they had, and the wonderful smell of the steam locomotive, the mixture of coal smoke, steam and oil. I used to love to stand on a bridge to be enveloped by the steam as the train passed beneath.

Those were the days.

        

I have a fascination for things, items, places, anything I do not understand, anything I have not seen before, or why something has changed.

For many years I have been visiting Italy for over ten years on a regular basis with PNL Italy and Gianni Golfera, providing training services in NLP, PhotoReading, Mind Maps, memory skills and more, and I am noticing changes taking place, buildings, shops, fashion, the population make-up, it is becoming but not as much more multicultural as the UK.

I think I am using Phillip's Sausage more than I realise, it has become an Unconscious Competence.

The latest colour fashion seems to be what I would call violet, with many shops in Milan displaying clothes, especially female, in that colour.


Violet colours, the new colour for 2009? I think Milan says so.
It was whilst walking to the last course I co-presented at the Hilton Hotel, the PNL Master Practitioner, and as I sat for lunch at the New York Bar and Restaurant, that I noticed there was something missing, and nearly everybody I asked had not noticed the change, and were not interested. It was only the owner of the New York Bar that could offer and answer to the missing items.

It was the green trams, rattling along the rails placed in the cobbled streets.

My friend and translator Elena, I think was getting rather fed-up of my curiosity as to the disappearance of these trams, only the old aging trams were to be seen.

The waitress in the New York Bar, just laughed at me, because I think, only an Englishman would be interested in such information. Participants laugh at me when I explain some of the hobbies of British people, train spotting or collect train identifications, aircraft watching again collecting details of aircraft.

It appears that the Lady Mayor of Milan, Her Excellency Mrs Letizia Moratti, removed the new green trams from running in central Milan because of braking issues, there could have been some fatalities in an accident, so they would return to the reliable older trams.

Then I remember what a success my little video, - over 3,000 views - of a Desiros 450 type train of South West Trains entering Norbiton Station (click to see SouthWest train arriving at Norbiton Station), and decided to capture some of the trams I see in Milan, as I am sure there are hobbyists out there who would love to see and hear them.


A collection of video shots of trams in Central Milan, near Stazione Centrale (the Central Railway Station)

See also photographs of the Taxim Tram in Istanbul, Turkey, a wonderful service taking a passenger from Tunel to Taxim Square. Click Here.