Just found this site, so need to explore a bit before posting again
Background. 79 years old, so lots of memories of steam !
Grandfather was a driver on the Midland and Gt Northern Joint, and as a lad I lived with my grandparents for a while, and often assisted grand-dad with prep and disposal (no "elf and safety" nonsense in those days!)
In later years was a volunteer footplate-man on the Bluebell, but had to retire as a senior fireman, as advancing age and the deafness that came with it made footplate work hazardous (for example, if deaf, you can't hear an injector running) - so did not make driver rank.
Main interest is in railway locomotive history, particularly East Anglia (where I was brought up) and Sussex/Kent (where I now live)
Also dabbled with constructing model live-steam locos (half built 3.5" gauge Ivatt Atlantic to show for it
)Other interests - angling and angling history, natural history, walking former railway routes.
