Railway Forum - Another Old Newbie

Hi,

my name is Ian and I am have had an interest in railways since I was about 6, which unfortunately is 38 years ago!

I was brought up just outside the market town of Wantage, famous for it's marvellous little tramway and near to Wantage Road station (closed 1962?) on the GW main line between Didcot and Swindon.

It was possibe to see the line from my primary school playing field and we regularly saw Western's (and probably Warships and Hymeks, though I didn't know anything about them at the time). We also used to see the 252 prototype HST and the gas-turbine APT-E.

I started spotting in late 1975 when the Western's were in their twilight years and they became a big favourite - D1001 'Western Pathfinder' has always been my favourite engine.

I'm not argumentative and don't claim one loco class better than another, just simply what I liked - for instance, I thought the 40's were great to watch, and the 45's and 46's were exotic giants. On the other hand, I was never a big 31 fan, though I didn't mind them either.

I have been a keen photographer since digital SLR's became available and I have a Canon 400d with a 70-200L f/4 and a Sigma 17-70. I hope it isn't being too cheeky but my three fotopic websites are listed here:

http://jinkssrailways.fotopic.net
http://jinkssteam.fotopic.net/
http://jinksarchive.fotopic.net/

BTW, Jinks was my childhood nickname!

I've also been a fan of steam for a long time and will go out of my way to see a steam hauled special, especially if it's got Tangmere on the front!

I look forward to joining in with discussions and hopefully making a few friends.