Jan Ford's World

Dave surveys the excavated chamber from ground level as Tai looks on. In the gardens at Brewood Hall, there's an underground room whic...

Photo: Wikipedia. There are two kinds of people in the world - those who love 'The Blues Brothers' and those who don't or who ...

A trip to London for a business meeting gave me the opportunity to visit three of London's railway termini (or are we to say 'term...

Becoming an engineman in the old days was a long and demanding process. But the prestige of the job was such that men would attend training ...

The new signal box on its first operational day. On Sunday, 17th February 2008, Peak Rail opened its new signal box at Darley Dale. The ori...

Peak Rail currently operates a distance of just over four miles, extending from Matlock Riverside via an intermediate station at Darley Da...

This picture, from the archives of Liverpool Museums, shows 'Lion' on its plinth in Lime Street station in the early 1930s. 'L...

Shortly after a discussion at Stafford Model Railway Exhibition 2008 about the dimensions of the L.&N.W.R. fabricated chimney used o...

A simplified signalling diagram for Sedgeley Jn. without lever numbers. Click on the diagram to enlarge. So far, I've introduced some...

At the end of the Second World War, British railways were in a mess. Capital investment had been non-existent and amazing feats had been pe...

The 'Thames-Clyde Express' in the hands of 60077 'The White Knight'. Visiting Stafford Model Railway Exhibition in Februa...

'Whitley South Dock' in 4mm Stafford Railway Circle hold an annual exhibition at the Stafford Showground. John Archer invited Ric...

10-line Key and Lamp Unit in use at Shackerstone. Click on image to enlarge. This key and lamp unit allows the signalman to speak to any ...

Mid-November 2007: Brewood is frosty and cold. It's amazing that I've not specifically written about the British weather before. ...

Sadly, I lost Tai in 2011. He was game to the end. Other than adding this note, I've not altered the original text written in 2008. ...

Don't you hate it when people insist on using Latin tags? Well, I agree if it's done to be elitist but, having studied Latin to ...

92016 stands outside Crewe IEMD in the bright winter sunshine. On 16th January, I visited the E.W.S. International Electric Maintenance D...

One of my early customers was a delightful English eccentric whose office was a large barn next to his house which had once served as a G...

Historical Notes Brewood (pronounced ‘Brood’) was a manor held by the Church as early as 822. The Domesday Book records that the Bishop...

'Sir Gomer' is a six-coupled Peckett works number 1859, type OX1, built June 1932. It was acquired some years ago by the Battlefiel...