The Pianola

When my wonderful mother, Edith, was alive she trawled for all sorts of wonderful things for Brewood Hall. She found a number of items when Rushall Methodist Chapel was demolished. The most magical for me was a WW1 vintage Pianola complete with many player rolls of that period.


The rather corny lyrics from many of these 'shows' really appealed to me - things like 'Gilbert the Filbert'.

GILBERT THE FILBERT

I am known round Town as a fearful blood
For I come straight down from the dear old flood
And I know who's who, and I know what's what
And between the two I'm a trifle hot
For I set the tone as you may suppose
For I stand alone when it comes to clothes
And as for gals just ask my pals
Why everybody knows.

Chorus: I'm Gilbert the Filbert the Knut with a K
The pride of Piccadilly the blasé roué
Oh Hades, the ladies, who leave their wooden huts
For Gilbert the Filbert the Colonel of the Knuts.

You may look upon me as a waster, what?
But you ought to see how I fag and swot
For I'm called by two, and by five I'm out
Which I couldn't do if I slacked about
Then I count my ties and I change my kit
And the exercise keeps me awfully fit
Once I begin I work like sin
I'm full of go and grit.

Chorus:

Written and composed by Arthur Wimperis & Herman Finck - 1914
Performed by Basil Hallam (1889-1916)

(From: https://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Songs-G/Gilbert-The-Filbert.htm)

Joining the dots...

The 'Jan Ford's World' has lots of blog posts on all sorts of topics but they don't join up. An enforced stay in hospital in July 2024 suggested that this might be a good time to start "joining the dots" between different events. A warning from the doctors that they were not sure how much improvement their efforts might give encouraged me to post 'partial blogs', rather than wait for the finished product, which may produce some odd effects.

After passing School 'A' Levels, I spent a few years working for Contactor Switch Gear Electronics Ltd in Wolverhampton, then I set up a small business called Jan Ford Consultant Electronic Engineers before registering Ford Electronics Ltd in 1977, which we're still operating.

In 1971 I bought Brewood Hall and have since attempted to renovate this. Over the years we have been able to have visits from various groups like the Brewood Civic Society and also started having an annual garden party (sadly not possible in 2024).

Intending my estate to go for charitable purposes I set up a trust deed for the 'Jan Ford Foundation'.

my In 1988 I saw 'Lion', the world's oldest locomotive then capable of being operated in steam at Crewe and joined the support society for 'Lion' called 'The Old Locomotive Committee'. I worked on the locomotive firing and very occasionally driving at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry and Birmingham Railway Museum, until she was taken out of steam and stored first at Dinting and then at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Nextn 'Lion' was stored at the Museum of Liverpool, then prepared for display at Whaley Bridge and finally put on display at the new Museum of Liverpool (along with some of my 1988 video of 'Lion' in steam).

Having been bitten by the steam bug, once 'Lion' was out of steam, I became a volunteer at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, where after a period as trainee fireman and fireman I began to drive their industrial locomotives, giving rides to the public.

I also became a volunteer at Birmingham Railway Museum and went through their strict training programme successively becoming shunter, guard, signalman, fireman and finally driver with the introduction of Birmingham Railway Museum's 'Learn to be a Driver' courses. There was lots of work for drivers capable of acting as Instructors on the courses. Originally I worked on the industrial locomotives but as demand increased I was promoted to large locomotives. Initially this was '5080' 'Defiant' and '7029' 'Clun Castle' but later a wide range of visiting locomotives including '35005''Canadian Pacific'. When the 'Learn to be a Driver' courses offered 'Flying Scotsman', demand significantly increased and I spent many shifts on the locomotive (both as '4472' and '60103').

Birmingham Railway Museum also developed 'Learn to be a Driver' courses pulling passenger coaches in conjunction with The Battlefield Line and I also became a volunteer member there. These courses operated with various locomotives including 'Pannier Tanks' and '45593' ''Kolapur', from Birmingham Railway Museum and '34027' 'Taw Valley'.

When my friend Tony Thomas started a different set of 'Learn to be a Driver' courses at The West Somerset Railway I became a driving instructor on the small locomotive before trainees went onto the main part of the course with a large locomotive and a train of passenger coaches.

Later still, I became an operating volunteer at Peak Rail where Tony Thomas ran a number of 'Learn to be a driver' courses initially using a six-coupled 'Austerity' tank where Tony was my regular fireman. A 'Black 5' was hired for two successive seasons (the same loco was called 'M5337' in the first season, '45337' in the second season) which I greatly enjoyed ("Anything by Stanier is sure to please2). I also got to drive the mighty '9F','92203'called 'Black Knight', then owned by wildlife artist David Shepherd, later sold to the North Norfolk Railway.

I had a marvellous time at two ladies' days at the North Norfolk, struggling with a very 'bouncy' 'Harlaxton' on their dining train, trying a six-coupled 'Austerity' with a Giesl Ejector then being enraptured by their GER '1500' (LNER 'B12') with its curious driving position like riding a horse with the reverser between your legs.

Eventually, the '8F' locomotive restoration at Peak Rail was completed as '8642' in LMS red and I was driver in the first day in pub'lic service, meeting Pete Waterman. I met Pete Waterman again when he commissioned the 60 foot vacuum turntable from Mold Junction at Row sley, again with the '8F' as one of the stars.

Perhaps the high spot for Peak Rail was ten days in 2000 when Tony Marchington, then 'Flying Scotsman's' owner, honoured a promise to steam the famous locomotive at Peak Railgiving passenger rides. I was on the footplate of either 'Flying Scotsman' or the six-coupled 'Austerity' used to 'top-and-tail' these services on seven of those ten remarkable days.

At most of these railways, I was also involved in driving a locomotive almost as famous as 'Flying Scotsman' - 'Thomas the Tank'.

But remaining interested in development of early locomotives, I took every opportunity to examine or drive locomotives like six-coupled 'Bellerephon', and various replicas like the amazing broad gauge 'Iron Duke, 'Rocket', 'Sans Pareil', the improbable 'Novelty' and, of course, Manchester's 'Planet' replica. I also gave a few lectures at railway clubs and Manchester's 'Riot of Steam' on locomotive design and my experiences. Including some fascinating New Zealand, Polish and Russian steam locomotives, various other Great Western types, Drummond's splendid 'Greyhound' and a few diesel mechanical, diesel electric and electric machines that's comfortably over 100 types I've handled. I've been very fortunate. .

Unexpectedly, in 1980 I fell in love with Daemon and twenty rumbustuous years followed including work, railways, travels and various adventures. This giant of a man was cruely bedbound for the last five years of his life with me as principal carer in the hastily-converted dining room at Brewood Hall. He insisted that I continued work and voluntary driving turns. We did re-visit a few of his earlier'haunts' like Weston Super Mare, Llandudno and, during the final commissioning of the Jubilee Line Extension in 1999, London, indulging in a marvellous suite at the Mandarin Oriental (formerly Hyde Park Hotel). Back home after this final adventure, he turned to me one night in October 1999 and simply said "Oh well, I didn't make the Milennium". He died peacefully at Brewood a few days later. After the death of my partner Daemon in 1999, I started on a number of oversea holidays to various parts of the world (continuing the volunteer locomotive driving, work and restoraration of Brewood Hall in the UK). One of these trips was to Burma (now called Myanmar), when I became very impressed with an initiative to provide a local medical centre in Bagan. I have supported this and similar Educational initiatives financially in a small way since.

Parry People Movers Prototype

The first electric locomotive I drove was the Dick Kerr battery shunting locomotive at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) - a very useful machine with control gear similar to early electric trams.


Preserved Battery Electric locomotive at MOSI: General view in Central Electricity Generating Board livery.

The second 'electric' was not a conventional electric locomotive but a narrow-gauge prototype 'flywheel electric' tram made by Parry People Movers. John Parry had established a business designing and making simple, practical tools for use in developing countries. He became interested in cheaper ways of transporting people by rail, particularly in urban areas, and he became impressed by the amount of energy a large, spinning flywheel could store. I'd heard of similar flywheels used in certain telephone exchanges to provide a 'no break' supply. Continuously spun by an incoming power source until that supply failed when the rotational energy of the flywheel was used to generate power for a short time to keep the telephone equipment powered, allowing a short time for a standby generator driven from an internal combustion engine to start and take over the electrical load.

In John Parry's protototype tram, when in the station, a connection to an electric supply powered an electric motor connected to a large flywheel which absorbed energy by being spun at high speed. This stored energy was then used to drive the tram to the next station, where the flywheel was 'spun-up' again electrically.

The prototype I drove was a narrow gauge single-station loop around a garden centre but they managed to get a similar system installed on Network Rail.


Parry People Mover 139 001 used between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town (pictured in 2011 in London Midland livery when displayed at 'Tyseley 100')

John Parry died 17-Feb-2023 aged 85

British Rail Class 139 (Wikipedia)
Flywheel energy storage (Wikipedia)

Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2023

I'd volunteered to help on the stand which the Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO) had taken at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition in November 2023. There's a brief introduction to OLCO

John Brandrick, in his Chairman's Report to the 36th AGM of OLCO on 7th May 2024 said:-

"The future of OLCO may depend on appealing to modellers in smaller scales served by Hornby and Rapido offerings".

Accordingly, the AGM approved a motion to man a stand at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition planned for 25th and 26th November 2023 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

The unexpected death of John Brandrick later in May prevented further action until John Hawley offered to finalise arrangements and man the stand, with the help of Jan Ford and two other OLCO members. Just before the event, the two other OLCO members dropped out but Jan Ford managed to recruit two alternative 'volunteers' so OLCO was able to appear at the show as planned and the stand attracted considerable interest.

The exhibition space provided was too small to allow the display as used at previous model railway shows to be erected so a simpler arrangement was adopted with three main features - a 7.25 inch gauge live-steam model of 'Lion' owned by John Hawley, a working oval of '00' gauge track showing both the Rapido 'Lion' (in 1930 livery) with an appropriate train and the Rapido 'Thunderbolt' with the train from the film 'The Titfield Thunderbolt'. The displat featured:-

7.25 inch gauge model of 'Lion'

Working oval of '00' gauge track

The 'Rapido' model of 'Lion' (in 1930 livery) and train was arranged to run clockwise on the oval whilst the Rapido model of 'Thunderbolt' with its train was arranged to run anti-clockwise on the oval. A single siding at the rear of the stand served as a 'fiddle yard' so that either train could run continuously until a simple shunt, periodically, allowed the other train to run instead. Occasionally, both trains were brought out to the front of the stand, head-to-head so that the detail on these remarkable models could be better appreciated.


Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2023: This was the last appearance at the show of Hattons Model Railways, which opened in 1946. In January 2024, Hattons announced their Closing Down Sale.

My pictures at the 2023 event

Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2023.