History of Steam Locomotives in Western Australia

In February 2007 I visited the Rail Transport Museum in Bassendean, Perth, Western Australia. It's run by the Australian Railway Historical Society, Western Australian Division. See their website. This brief 'A to Z' of preserved locomotives is derived from the the Museum Guide. For my photographs of these exhibits, click here.

A: In 1880 John Robb imported a 2-6-0 from Beyer Peacock in England to build the Eastern Railway from Fremantle through Perth to Guildford. The locomotive was acquired by West Australia Government Railways, classified as 'A' class and ultimately there were 12 locomotives in the class. 'A.11' is preserved at Bassendean.

B: The Midland Railway imported nine Hawthorn Leslie 4-4-0 around 1891. Initially unclassed, they became the 'T' class in 1912 and 'B' class in 1921.

C: The Eastern Railway was opened in 1881 and two 0-6-0 tender locomotives built by Robert Stephenson and Company in England were used on the line. Later classified as 'C' class, 'C.1', 'Katie', survives at Bassendean, cosmetically restored.

Dd: The 'D' class 'Baltic' tanks were first introduced in 1912, becoming 'Ds' when superheated. In 1945, the 'Dm' class appeared, using parts from withdrawn 'E' class locomotives. In 1946 ten improved 'Dd' class were built. They were used on suburban passenger, freight and banking. Dd.592 and Dd.596 survive.

Es: The 'E' class 4-6-2 was introduced in 1902. In 1924, superheating was introduced and the rebuilt locomotives were designated 'Es'. The preserved locomotive Es.308 ran 1.25 million miles, having received new frames in 1935.

Fs: The 'F' class 4-8-0 was introduced in 1902 as a heavy freight locomotive, displacing 'K' class locomotives. The first 'F' class was superheated (to become 'Fs' class) in 1912, but the preserved locomotive Fs.460 (originally F.407) was not superheated until 1937.

G: The 'G' class 2-6-0 was a standard Beyer Peacock design and an enlarged version of the 'A' class. Preserved locomotive 'G.233' was built in Australia by James Martin and Company in 1898.

H: In 1889 two small 0-6-0T arrived from Nielson & Company for the Bunbury - Boyanup line. After a long and varied service, H.18 was presented to the Australian Historical Railway Society and is now on display at Bassendean.

N: Introduced in 1896, there were over 70 of these popular 4-4-4 passenger tanks. In addition, around 1907, Midland Workshops produced another 10, using parts from withdrawn 'O' class locomotives. N.201 is preserved.

O: Forty-six 'O' class were introduced between 1896 and 1898, being a lightweight version of the 'K' class with better route availability. O.218 was preserved after running 750,000 miles.

P: This express passenger 4-6-2 was introduced in 1924 and by 1929 the class numbered 25. During WWII, eight were rebuilt with higher pressure boilers and re-classified 'Pr'. P.448 entered service in 1925, was renumbered as P.508 in 1947, was condemned in 1969 and subsequently entered the museum.

Pr: Ten improved 'P' class 4-6-2 were built at Midland Workshops between 1937 and 1939. They were known as the 'River' class, beause of the naming and re-classified as 'Pr' in 1940. Pr.138 was the first of the class, renumbered as Pr.521 in 1946, withdrawn in 1967, subsequently moving to the museum.

Pm: This modified 'Pr' class was introduced in 1950 with a number of improvements but, being rough riders, were confined to freight working. Pm.701 survives.

S: The first class wholly designed and built in Australia, three of these 4-8-2 were built at Midland in 1943 and a further seven after the war. S.542 (originally S.477) from the first batch and S.549 are now preserved.

U: Fourteen of these oil-burning 4-6-2, originally intended for the Sudan, were supplied by Britain in 1946, working fast passenger and goods. U.655 is preserved.

Ut: This was supplied by North British in 1942 as U.644 and converted in 1957 into a 4-6-4T for working suburban passenger trains, re-numbered Ut.644 and entering preservation in 1972.

V: These powerful 2-8-2 from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn (as sub-contractors to Beyer Peacock) were introduced in 1956. The tractive effort of 33,630 lbs. made them suitable for working heavy coal trains. The class numbered 24. V.1220 entered the museum in 1972.

W: Sixty of this successful class were supplied by Beyer Peacock from 1951. The 4-8-2 design was suitable for both fast passenger and goods. W.953 entered the museum in 1972. W.947 was sold in 1973 for working tourist trains from Albany and joined W.953 in the museum in 1985.

[Bassendean website updated 10-Jan-2024]

Pipe Freezing

When the plumber came to alter some pipework in the central heating, I had anticipated that the whole system would need to be drained, which would have been quite a performance. But, in fact, he used a 'Freeze Master' to freeze the water in the pipes he wanted to work on. The 'Freeze Master' is a portable refrigerator which plugs into the mains and passes a chilled refrigerant through flexible hoses to a Freezing Block attached to the pipe. The machine used had two hoses and two Freezing Blocks. Each hose is, presumably, provided with two bores to accommodate flow and return of the refrigerant.

The photograph below shows two Freezing Blocks secured to the pipe by a G-clamp. The machine comes with a series of reducers to allow smaller diameter pipes to be dealt with.

I'd not seen this technique used before and I thought it was an ingenious application of the properties of water.

Holiday Time at Bloomfield

In 1962, I had some signalman friends who were kind enough to let me work signal boxes unofficially. I wrote the following report at the time (in fountain pen!). It describes part of the 'early' shift (6.00am to 2.00pm) on Saturday, 28th July 1962.

I've edited the report a little to try to make it a little more understandable to those not familiar with the location or the era, when electrification and resignalling was in progress. It's probably a good idea to read my earlier post Bloomfield Junction first, to have an idea of the layout.

The report makes reference to the timings entered in the Train Register book - they're not to hand, I'm afraid.

The 5.58 a.m. local from Wolverhampton whisks your sleepy reporter towards the Tipton Tangle and 6.20 a.m. sees us climbing the box steps as the official signalman, Tom, arrives in his Reliant van.The first surprise is a change in box working, initiated during the week. Up to this time, on the up line expresses were offered on receipt and other trains on receipt of Train Entering Section from Spring Vale (Train Approach authorised from Deepfields when open but not actually sent – early 'Section' was usually used instead). But since the removal of Monmore Green signal box and the alteration of signalling between Wolverhampton No. 1 and Catchem's Corner, Catchem's has been sending trains on receipt, instead of on 'Section' or 'Train Approach' from Monmore Green. This has resulted in Dudleyport and Albion having trains 'on the block' for up to twenty minutes before seeing them and so this alteration was introduced.

When Wolverhampton platform staff 'ring out' trains, the description is forwarded to Bloomfield Junction, where it is held until receipt of 'Train Approach' from Spring Vale, who sends this signal on receipt of 'Train Entering Section' from Catchem's Corner. As the early entries in the train register book betray, Spring Vale is, in fact, sending an early 'Section', since there is only about one minute between receiving 'Section' from Catchem's and the train passing Spring Vale. However, when Deepfields signal box is open, Mr. Almond there sends the correct 'Train Approach' forward. This system has, as yet, confused the gentlemen who staff Tipton Station box. After the introduction of the four-aspect colour-light as Deepfields' Up Starter (replacing a 3-aspect colour light), Deepfields used to send 'section' to Bloomfield on receipt of 'section' from the rear for expresses. Bloomfield at once gave 'early section' to Tipton, giving the signalman adequate time to open the gates and show the driver clear semaphore distant signals at Bloomfield at least, and, if he was quick on the gates, a green at the Deepfields colour-light as well. But, now, Tipton must open his gates virtually 'on receipt' and Tipton is not quite used to this. On this particular Saturday, the signalmen were erring on the right side by clearing their signals rather too early but by the time a week had elapsed, things were different.

The first two hours this morning were very exhausting: just look at some of the timings in the register. First of all, 1L02 on the down: the 'Scottish Tours' special, three coaches with a 'Black 5' on the front end. 1Z70, the Blackpool excursion, was taken on right behind and meanwhile 1M16 passed on the up, running 'right time' with a Type 4 roaring on the front. At 6.44 a.m. the down Blackpool storms past, with another `Black 5' in charge.The down Liverpool special, 1Z09, is offered right behind the Blackpool. Spring Vale hasn't yet cleared for the Blackpool and so 'Byron' has to drag 1Z09 slowly up to the colour light down starter to await acceptance. The London drifts by on the up, behind another Type 4 diesel-electric. As the fireman of the Liverpool buzzes the signal box telephone, Spring Vale gives 'train out of section' and 'Byron' departs, the plume of his exhaust visible behind the houses up towards Deepfields. The 6.55 a.m. local bowls past towards Birmingham and then freight T37 is offered by Spring Vale. 'Section' immediately follows the 'Is Line Clear?' and the train is 'sent on' to Tipton Curve, the junction is set and the signals cleared.

Another Type 4 puts in an appearance on the down Crewe, struggling up the bank from the station stop at Tipton, accelerating under the box and away, curving beneath the bridge. But, before the colour-light gives the familiar 'burp' as it's replaced to danger automatically by the train, a following Llandudno train has been accepted from Tipton. The freight train rumbles past the box on the up; a Class 8, tender first, with a long train of empty coke wagons from the furnaces of Stewarts and Lloyds, returning to fetch a further load. The down line instrument from Tipton stands at 'Train On Line' for the Llandudno before the Crewe train, having stopped at Coseley station, clears Spring Vale and we can pull off our signals for the approaching Llandudno express, slowed by our adverse distants. The Llandudno, 1Z12, approaches cautiously with 'Kitchener', clean for a change, at the front. A wave to the driver from the landing at the top of the stairs tells him he's 'got the road' and that our colour light starter, hidden round the long right-hand curve, is 'off'. I come back from the door, hit the catch handle of the down Home and the tension in the signal wire is sufficient to pull the lever 'back in the frame'. I walk across the box, squinting downwards through the grimy windows to catch the tail lamp and then, satisfied, reach up to the block shelf. '2-1' to Tipton, snatch the commutator to 'Line Closed' and then pause for a moment, half waiting for the '2' from Tipton to summon a further express, this time 1H03 to Manchester.

Another DMU speeds away on the up, carrying Saturday morning commuters to Birmingham and intermediate stops.`Train Approach' then 'Section' on the down and a Type 4 blackens the sky with its dark fumes. Its raucous exhaust cuts the still morning air on the gradient up to Bloomfield bridge. The train rumbles past the box, compartment after compartment shows its complement of passengers: a number of spinsters going to Manchester this morning! Tail lamp – '2-1' – 'clon-dong' – '1' – 'clon-dong, don-don-dong' – '2-3' – a crack from the commutator as I give 'Line Clear' to Tipton for a following Light Engine; a pause of a few seconds then 'don-dong' - 'Train Entering Section' and the commutator is turned to 'Train on Line'. It's the Dudley parcels engine turned out of the loop at Watery Lane and 'Right Away' Wolverhampton. 1H03 makes good time to 'The Vale' with the Type 4 and we soon get the road for the light engine but he's already missed our distants, so we give the usual sign of encouragement to the driver from the landing. The guard is riding on the footplate – it's our old friend Mr. Westwood and he waves jovially. After 'Train Out Of Section' there's just time to get the train register up to date before Tipton offers a local - '3-1'. The down local passes and there is peace for a few minutes until the up local is offered.

A '3' is next offered from Tipton. This pick-up freight is now target T73, but it used to be T235. After receiving 'section' we are just wondering whether we can get him away to Spring Vale when we get the 'George Hunt' from Tipton ('1-5-5': 'Shunt Train for Following Train to Pass'), so his fate is sealed. The train sounds the annunciator when he hits the berth track circuit on the approach to our down home and we clear the signal to 'loose him in'. As the freight – a 'Black 5' with a handful of wagons and a Southern Region brake – coasts past the box, the driver and guard are signalled to set back onto the front road. The train moves into the distance past points 13 and we 'knock out' to Tipton (give 'Train Out of Section', since the freight has passed our 'clearance point') and 'take' on a following parcels - '1-3-1'. A moment after, 'section' is received. The up local rattles past as we set the road for T73 to back 'inside'. The diesel parcels unit hits our track circuit and the annunciator sounds. This time, we can't clear the home signal because T37 is still slowly propelling his train clear of the main line. A 'Call Attention' to Spring Vale to offer the parcels is ignored and instead we get the painful '1...1...1...1...' which indicates that Mr. Almond is opening Deepfields. An impatient acknowledgment '5-5-5' precedes a further 'Call Attention' as we offer the parcels to Deepfields. Once T37 is 'inside', levers 8, 14, 13 are slammed back into the frame and the down home and starter are cleared for the parcels. 'Section' to Deepfields and out to my favourite vantage point, the landing by the door, to watch the parcels go by and signal that the starter is 'off' . The driver waves in a most friendly manner - it's the cheerful diesel parcels unit driver who ran round his van the other Sunday at Watery Lane.

A 'phone call to Spring Vale ascertains that he would like '235' down before the express, so once the diesel parcels is clear we 'turn him out' (13, 14, 16, 17) and 'get him the road'. 1G02 is 'taken on' on the up and this time we get 'Train Approach' from Deepfields (four beats consecutive rather than '1-2-1'!). The up train passes, hauled by a Sulzer Type 2 and dragging the usual Stores Van along at the rear. An up parcels is taken on close behind the express and another excursion passes on the down, 1Z71 to Blackpool, hauled by a Stanier 2-6-0. The up parcels, a 'Standard' 2-6-0 with one 'BG' parcels van, passes just before the down Saturdays Only local grinds by and another down express is belled following the local. The up local is 'taken on' whilst the up parcels is still working in the platform at Tipton, so Tipton is given the 'Shunt'. He puts the parcels back onto the branch so that he can 'knock out' and accept the up local from me. The up local rattles past; the passengers oblivious of the trains which might foul their path. The down express is another Llandudno, 1D27, and he roars past with a 'Black 5' working hard.

The Ganger checks the signal post telephone at the down starter as he passes it whilst 'walking the length' and an entry is accordingly placed in the Train Register Book. Another down local rattles past and the diesel parcels unit we had earlier on the down now returns on the up towards Birmingham, with a different driver. After a brief respite, we have the down Liverpool, 1K10 - 'Jubilee' class 'Novelty', clean and shining, is in charge today. The Manchester, 1H05, is offered immediately behind and sports a Sulzer diesel-electric this morning. The second train of the day to London, 1B08, is headed by another Type 4. The 8.50 a.m. from Newcastle (the one near Stoke) is a 3-car DMU and behind it 1G05, from Manchester, is Sulzer-hauled. 1G06, from Liverpool, follows immediately and it passes with a Type 4 just as the 10.20 a.m. down local sways past on the other line.

Spring Vale turns out an up freight, advising it as '244'. Officially, this working is now known as T34 (but not along the North Stour!). Once again, the 'porter-bobby' at Tipton (Mr. Toombes today) has to suspend his porter duties to walk to Tipton Curve Junction and open the box ready for '244'. As '244' comes into view on the up, the 'Shunt' is received from Deepfields, but '244' keeps coming nice and slowly down the bank, a 2-8-0 tender first, being pushed along by a long train of empties. In the opposite direction, '269' (now officially T61) is accepted from the Curve, despite the proximity of the down local and up express, and the freight comes rattling off the Curve, 'right away Spring Vale', with only a handful of wagons. 1G07 barely comes to a stand at our up home while '269' clears the junction and then the 3-car DMU from Stoke proceeds on its way. Not yet 11.00am, and still the trains keep coming!

A Sunday Stroll to Stafford

In 1962, the former L.M.S. lines in the West Midlands were being electrified and re-signalled. I wrote the following report at the time (in fountain pen!) describing a roundabout journey from Wolverhampton to Stafford and return on Sunday 15th July 1962 whilst diversions were in progress. I've edited the original text a little to try to make it more generally understandable.

A Sunday Stroll to Stafford - and when trains are being diverted round the Princes End Branch, stroll is the right word!

Passengers for Stafford and the North from Wolverhampton were supposed to catch a special diesel to Walsall, to connect with the diverted expresses, but I wanted to travel over the Princes End branch, so I had to go via Dudleyport. It took much consulting of the Special Traffic Notices on the day before, to decide on a suitable connection, but a 9.45 am DMU was shown from Wolverhampton, to connect at Dudleyport with the Blackpool excursion, 1Z63.

However, when I tried to book a "Return Dudleyport" at Wolverhampton I was told "There's no train for two hours!"
"What about the train to connect with the Blackpool excursion?" I enquired.
"There's no excursion advertised today" I was told. Oh well, I bought the ticket anyway and wandered onto the platform. A large crowd was gathered and soon a twinset DMU rattled into the Down Bay. The happy passengers bundled onto the train, whilst a commodious supply of alcohol was piled into the luggage compartment.
"Yes, this connects with the Blackpool" I was told. All most perplexing. Still, I hopped on board and, a few minutes late, we departed, making rather poor time to Dudleyport.

At Dudleyport, 1Z63, due to depart at 9.55 am, was already in the down platform taking water at the column, with 70047 at the head end. I followed the crowd through the subway to the down side, where the Inspector was proclaiming
"Wolverhampton Corporation Party – first three coaches. Others behind." But there were no others, apart from me! So that was it! Three reserved coaches had been laid on for the party, and the twinset DMU was to connect. So I'd gatecrashed a Party Special! Oh well, having watched the drinks being transferred (through the 'wrong side' of the train across the 'six foot') from the DMU to 1Z63, I purchased a second ticket to Stafford, price 6 shillings (30p). After 1Z63 has left, another 2-car DMU arrived on the down and hid in the loop so that it could be passed by my train, 2H67 for Manchester (and another DMU, of course).

In a slight drizzle, we set off on 2H67 and trundle down to Tipton, but the 'pegs' (signals) don't come off, because there's a DMU coming off the Curve (because of the overhang on bogie vehicles, passenger trains are not allowed to pass on the Curve). After a short delay, we made a sedate progress round the Curve, but accelerate well towards Princes End (by the way, with a new driver from Dudleyport) and rattle down the bank, past the cooling towers of Ocker Hill and round the curve and through Wednesbury. A smart pull up the bank to Mestycroft but Bescot Curve's distant is 'on' and we grind to a halt at his home signal. It soon comes 'off' but the young signalman casually sticks out a "red 'un" (red flag). After a few minutes standing outside the box (why, I wonder?) the driver moves off and, almost immediately, the starter clears. We wander down to Walsall, where the driver is changed again.

The platform starter clears and we set off at about 11.10 am. We rush through Ryecroft at a frightening pace, past the closed box at Birchills and find Bloxwich's distant 'on'. His home is seen to be 'off' but, suddenly 'crack – crack – crack', a deafening sound when riding in the front of a DMU, three detonators and a flagman running across the track with a red flag. "Bridge Painters North of the station" he warns and we move off cautiously when the flagman displays a yellow flag. The painters are perched on top of a tall ladder under the bridge, with long distemper brushes splashing around, blocking the other line but precariously close to the 'down'. We make an uneventful run to Cannock, passing a lovely switchback presumably caused by mining subsidence (15 m.p.h. in this direction) at Great Wyrley, near the Mid Cannock pits. East Cannock Junction's distant is against us and we get one 'shot' (detonator) and a yellow flag at his home. We pass a gang working on the track by the starter and get a' green' from the flagman.

After Hednesford and its colliery sidings, we rush across Brindley Heath, at about 65 m.p.h. at least. Brereton Sidings home, with distant for Rugeley, is giving a brilliant light. This and the starter are semaphores with electrically-lit spectacles. We rattle into a renovated Rugeley Trent Valley down platform, where drivers are quickly changed once again and we set off for Stafford. The boxes at Rugeley retain their old frames, with mechanical operation of local points and all colour-light signals. We rattle along the slow to Colwich, where the line becomes double track to Stafford. All trace of the station and original signal box have disappeared from Colwich and a new box is in operation on the up side at the London end.

We plunge into Shugborough tunnel at about 60 m.p.h., sounding the horn – quite an experience as we mount the curve and the white silhouette of the tunnel end comes into sight and the sunlight shines on the rail tops. We rush through Milford, the original box looking a trifle out of place in the middle of a new layout and we pass a monotonous succession of colour-lights, labelled 'QE' for Queensville, with the new overhead catenary wavering from side to side above. We pass the loop at Baswich, the box standing lonely, stripped of instruments and frame, with just a row of track circuit indicators hanging forlornly at 'Track Occupied'. We pass the box at Queensville, getting a double yellow, then, rounding the curve, a yellow and we grind to a halt at Stafford No. 1's home signal, leaning over on the steep cant of the famous Queensville Curve. We are held here for a gruelling five minutes or more and must have been called past the signal, because it was showing red as we moved off. We rattle over the crossing at Trent Valley Junction, with gangs of men all over the place and the Wolverhampton line being re-aligned. At Stafford No. 3, the colour-light home has been changed from position light to theatre-type route indication and we roll into Platform 3, just before 11.45 am, about seven minutes late.

Stafford is somewhat changed! The outline of the new station is now marked by the massive concrete beams which have appeared. A crane train was working in the North end of platform 1, blocking the Up Through. All the signals in the area are now colour-light. The passenger facilities are in a state of limbo, with platforms unmade, temporary waiting rooms in use but the new enclosed footbridge is open to passengers.

The up Merseyside Express calls at Platform 4, with 'City of Birmingham' at the front end. The following train is 1G10, the Bangor – Birmingham and I found a good position at the front, right behind 'Lord Kitchener'. The smiling driver was rather fond of the siren and he made like 'In the American Backwoods' to Rugeley. Just before Stafford No. 1, we passed a crane gang. The crane was balancing a 60 foot top member between two side posts for electrification right above the running road – a Sword of Damocles, indeed!

We make good speed to Rugeley, the driver playing a tune on the siren at every gang we pass and inside Shugborough Tunnel. Between Baswich (the loop and Salt Siding) and Rugeley we pass a wiring train on the up slow, with a 350 h.p. diesel electric. The driver stops at the North end of Rugeley, by a group of 'pilot' drivers, but he is told that his pilot is further along. The train moves slowly into the station, on the through line, and waits while the pilot unhurriedly ambles across the tracks and clambers aboard. The pilot takes charge and moves her off. A beautiful, uncontrolled slip makes a good sound and he makes quite a meal of it pulling out onto the Cannock Line. A sorry sight in one of the sidings at Rugeley: a train of bogie bolsters carrying the mortal remains of semaphore signalling on the Trent Valley! Tubular posts, with rusted arms bent during removal in a most pathetic way, lattice posts, also two-aspect and searchlight colour-light signals and wooden bracket signals.

On the return journey, we get three 'shots' North of Bloxwich and the flagman comes out of a permanent way gang hut, to warn of bridge painters. But the painters have gone to lunch and we rattle on down to Walsall No. 3, where we are held for a moment. As we pull into the platform, a DMU rattles through in the same direction on an adjoining line, with Walsall No. 2's distant off. The Wolverhampton diesel parcels unit is shunting around in the North End Bay. I detrain and watch as the DMU backs out of platform 3 towards Ryecroft, then coasts down behind 1G10 which, after taking water, departs towards Wednesbury. The twinset DMU follows 1G10 down the platform and stops, to form the connecting service to Wolverhampton.

With me installed in the front compartment, we are soon off. We just catch Walsall No. 1's distant off as we pass Walsall No. 2's starter (sounds like jibberish!) but we are very nearly brought to a stand at Pleck before his home comes off for the Darlaston line. We rattle along towards home. The boxes along this line have been repainted, in pale cream and a strange dark green/brown. At Willenhall's distant, we sight a flagman with a "yeller 'un" and we get one 'shot'. We draw slowly into the station and a Pilotman, wearing mackintosh and trilby, clambers aboard from the wrong side. We move off on the right line. At Portobello, they're relaying over the level crossing. There are two engineer's trains standing on the up, their engines towards Bescot, the rear train uncoupled in the middle and the front half drawn forward a few yards. The single line ends at Wednesfield Heath and we stop to set down the Pilotman. An engine is standing on the up, waiting the road or, perhaps, Pilotman's Engine? We trundle into the bay at Wolverhampton, concluding a interesting, if devious, trip to Stafford.

Visit to Seoul, South Korea

In an earlier post, I described a period when I carried out some consultancy for Philips in Holland. During this period, there was a major railway project going on in Iraq. Hyundai in Korea had won the main contract for building the railway and Philips was one of the companies bidding to Hyundai for the telecommunications sub-contract. At that time, Iraq enjoyed massive oil revenues and, although some of us had reservations about Saddam Hussein, his regime was being enthusiastically embraced by the West. Well, we put together the major quotation in Holland and I was asked to accompany the bid team on a visit to Seoul to present the bid to Hyundai and, hopefully, negotiate a contract.

Travel had been arranged on a late afternoon flight from Schiphol via Gatwick, with an overnight at the Hilton Hotel, Gatwick. It was a strange experience to fly into England from Holland and, instead of going home, book into a hotel. I couldn't settle that evening so I skipped dinner and instead caught the train down to Brighton to look at the sea on my own. Having just arrived from Holland, I seemed to see England through the eyes of an outsider - a very odd feeling.

Next day, we flew to Seoul. I think there were five of us. Philips had arranged excellent rooms at one of the top business hotels in Seoul. The bid manager held a series of meetings in the hotel to refine the offer and discuss strategy in preparation for our first meeting with Hyundai the next morning.

All our meetings took place at the Hyundai headquarters in the centre of Seoul - a towering, modern office block. Discussions were in English (just as well - I managed 'O' Level French and Latin but I'm an exceptionally poor linguist), although the Koreans would, naturally, slip into Korean for asides to one another. As expected, we found Hyundai to be relentless negotiators, always asking for enhanced specifications but also seeking lower prices. The contract was large enough that a number of companies were bidding for the telecommunications sub-contract and it was easy for them to play one bidder against another. At the end of the meeting, we came away with a series of requests and questions. Back at the hotel, the bid manager would discuss the possibilities and do the sums, ready for the next meeting

I don't remember how many meetings with Hyundai we had. All followed the same pattern of Hyundai implying that they were really, really pleased with our offer and that there remained only tiny queries to be resolved before the contract was ours. When you've invested many weeks of work in responding to the invitation to tender, you naturally believe your offer is the best and you are reluctant to think that the job is slipping away because you can't shave just a little more off your price. Back at our hotel, we had another meeting and almost everybody was keen to discuss ways of finding a further saving. The bid manager, a man of great experience, shook his head and took out a piece of paper with a sum of money on it. It was the price we were now seeking to lower. He explained that he had written the sum down before leaving Holland. It represented the lowest sum which would make the job worthwhile to Philips, he said. There would be no further reduction. The rest of the team were, of course, disappointed but over the next few hours we realised the wisdom of his position. In the excitement of the negotiation, it's all too easy to lose sight of just how much you've given away. The bid manager knew that, even if he'd allowed a reduction, that would have been followed by a request for yet another, tiny saving.

The bid manager went back to Hyundai without the whole team to explain his regret that no further reduction would be possible. That evening, the bid manager arranged a special dinner at the hotel in appreciation of everyone's efforts and the next day we flew back to Europe, by now convinced of the wisdom of the bid manager's actions.

So, Philips didn't get the order but I learnt an important lesson. But that wasn't the end of my involvement with the Iraq railway project, because my friends at GEC Telecommunications in Coventry were also quoting for the telecommunications package. One day, I'll tell you about it.

Oil & Gas Industry

I've not had much to do with the Oil & Gas Industry but, some years ago, I did have one interesting consultancy job with the major company supplying Fire & Gas Alarms for the Morecambe Bay Gas Field. Natural gas was discovered in Morecambe Bay in 1974 and, four years later, commercial exploitation started.

Offshore production platforms are hazardous places (do you remember the terrible loss of life when the Piper Alpha platform caught fire?) and so they are provided with very sophisticated systems for detecting both fire and gas build-up. Platforms are also large and complex, resulting in thousands of points to be monitored and relayed back to a central display in the control room. Above all, the systems must be reliable so the computers involved in processing the data must be designed to reduce the possibility of failure and incorporate principles of redundancy to mitigate the effect of failure.

Well, the Fire & Gas Alarm company had produced an innovative design to meet these requirements. Hundreds of microprocessors spread around the production platform had to 'talk' to one another over cable and, at the control room, a series of industrial grade computers had to 'crunch' all this data to give the operators a picture of the situation. Needless to say, problems had arisen in producing the necessary software and making sure all the different parts worked together properly. The Fire & Gas Alarm company was under pressure from the end user to 'sort it', so they invited consultants from a number of organisations to attend a one-day brainstorming session. One of the invitations went to a University with a strong electronics department that we'd had dealings with. The University was unable to provide a member of staff on the appointed day but, being familiar with the type of safety-involved systems we produced, suggested that I might attend.

The brainstorming session was attended by a few academics, but the attendees mainly seemed to be from international consultancy organisations. The Fire & Gas Alarm company made a presentation describing the history of the contract and the architecture adopted and then an intense discussion about "what next?" ensued. Soon, the buzzwords were flying thick and fast from the international consultants as they attempted to dazzle everyone with their experience and grasp of the essential way forward. It appeared to me that there was too much re-inventing of the wheel, too little seeking to analyse where the project had lost its way and, to be unkind, too much creating jobs for highly-paid consultants. Based on what we'd heard, my view was that the basic approach was perfectly sound and that the technical staff already involved were competent. The problems seemed to lie in the project management and decision-making. I bided my time and then expressed these views in simple language, stressing that a more detailed hardware and software review was needed to separate the good bits from the bad bits in what had been produced. The day ended with one of the international consultancy firms and I being asked to submit priced suggestions. To my amazement, I got the job (perhaps simply because my approach appeared to cost a lot less).

So I ended up spending two days a week in Slough (!?!) whilst we tried to move things forward. It took some time for me to get my head round the complex systems they'd produced. I also arranged individual interviews with everybody involved to see where they thought the problems lay. This took a while as there were half a dozen hardware engineers, dozens of software engineers and their managers. There were one or two issues with the hardware but the hardware engineers seemed to be well on the way to providing acceptable solutions. Most of the problems were with the software. As the job had fallen behind, extra programmers had been brought in to accelerate the job but this created extra interfaces as the job was divided into smaller parts. This required additional documentation to keep track of the required functionality and try to ensure that each software module could 'talk' to the next. Changes in this documentation were frequent as people introduced new ideas or tried to work around problems. In fact, not much software was being written - the programmers spent most of their time meeting one another to iron out snags in the documentation. Frustrated by their inability to make progress, morale was low. The sheer amount of paper circulating was impressive.

I have never worked with a smarter bunch of people and their collective knowledge and experience was awesome. I struggled to keep up in software discussions, but I was determined not to bluff. I tried to strip away complexity and get people to focus on the essentials of the problem so that the teams, who wanted to be productive, could be given sound direction which would not have to be reversed in a couple of days. We started to see some improvement but we were still worried that the sophistication which had been offered to the end user was not achievable in a realistic time scale.

Accordingly, a somewhat less ambitious specification was agreed with the end user as Phase 1 which gave him perhaps 80% of what he wanted. The remaining functionality was deferred to Phase 2 and I'm not sure that Phase 2 was, in fact, ever implemented. The simpler requirements of Phase 1 gave a 'light at the end of the tunnel' that the job might actually be delivered. Fresh estimates were made, by the software engineers themselves, of the manpower required to complete Phase 1 in the newly-agreed timescale and the result showed that we only needed about a quarter the number of staff. The software engineers were self-employed and on short-term contracts, so it was quite possible to lay them off, but I had sleepless nights at the thought of formally recommending this action. I'd made friends with the people I was working with and expected to be reviled for my part in putting them back on the job market (I've always thought I'm too soft to be in business but others may disagree).

To my surprise, I was presented with a huge bouquet by the team and congratulated on "telling it like it is". The demand for software engineers was high and none of them would have any difficulty in moving into another contract. They'd been unable to convince management of the problems in the project and were just pleased that a hopeless situation had finally been addressed. Of course, it was logical to terminate my own role, as well. We went our separate ways, leaving the much-reduced group to finish off Phase 1.

I often think with fondness of the team I worked with. My only disappointment was that I didn't get to visit an offshore platform. At one stage, I was going to visit a Morecambe Bay platform as part of a team investigating a site problem but the visit was called off at the last moment and never re-arranged.

Is there a moral? I think it has to be "Keep it Simple" (sometimes called the 'KISS Principle - Keep it simple, stupid'. This is a modern re-working of "Occam's Razor", one of the contributions to logic and philosophy by William of Ockham, a 14th century Franciscan Friar).