Top News

It's been such a long time since I put pen to paper, so to speak. I have lots of news to tell you. Little sister Martyne and her "companion" Hester are moving to Yorkshire soon. In a way I will miss them although they have spent as much time in the West Midlands as they have in Edinburgh in the last year. I might actually see more of them because I intend to visit them frequently and nip into the National Rail Museum in York in the passing.

On a recent stopover in York they visited a restaurant called Il Treno (that's Italian for "The Train"). I am still waiting for Martyne to send me the pictures, but from her description they dined in a converted old compartment train carriage. This and others were joined to a building which served as an entrance and bar.

My great idea is to build a house along similar lines. I want to build a central lobby with a glass roof and then attach four carriages in a cross formation! I'd love to get some early DMU's, like the ones I travelled to school in, but I guess they are probably all scrapped or preserved now. Modern ones would probably have to do.

I have been sketching plans and hope to build a model eventually. Will keep you all informed.

She's Back

As an aside I want to comment on the picture I had in the last post. I know it was some time ago now, but the family crisis I talk about below meant my energies have been directed elsewhere recently. I have now watched a Harry Potter film and am sure that the house I posted is not the genuine article. In the film there were steps up to the front door, which the one in my picture clearly does not have.
The important news though is that little sister Martyne is out hospital.
I have been very worried. I even went down to the West Midlands to visit her last week. She was going to have her operation the next day and was clearly anxious. Despite this, she put on a brave face. I am very proud of her.
I am sure she will tell you all about her experiences when she is feeling a bit stronger.
Finally I would like to say a big public thank you to Hester. I have always admired her and am so glad she has stood by Martyne in her time of trouble. She's been a brick.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Little sister Martyne seems to have become something of a traveller lately, despite her current lack of mobility. Hester drove her up to Edinburgh last week, so that she could catch up with her paperwork. I was lucky enough to see the pair of them before they returned down south.

I finally seem to be able to attach pictures and Martyne sent me the one below after she returned to Hester's.

This building is situated near Lanark in the Scottish borders and the girls passed it on their way back down south. Those of you familiar with the Harry Potter novels will recognise the name written on the wall. Hester's brother says this is the actual location used in the films but I am not sure. I have got hold of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" so I will let you know once I have watched it again.

I believe Martyne is planning to publish pictures involving another famous series of novels but I am sworn to secrecy. She may be a bit incapacitated but she can probably still muster a nasty slap if provoked. I value my safety too much so you will just have to watch and wait.

More Grief

Further technical problems. Still unable to upload any pictures so I am afraid you will have to wait a bit longer for more train names and pillar boxes. With Martyne still out of action I am low on source material anyway. I had trouble logging on today and kept getting sent to an e-mail programme. Isn't technology wonderful; when it works!

Martyne is still staying with Hester but the pair of them hope to head north later in the week. She (Martyne) is still having mobility problems, but is able to walk short distances with the aid of sticks. Hopefully with the aid of a wheeled trolley she will be able to cope on her own when Hester goes home again next week. It looks like it is going to be a good few weeks before she can propel herself unaided.

I am a bit concerned about her taking up Newcastle Brown. I voiced this during our last telephone conversation. She has assured me she will only be drinking in moderation from now and will not be touching spirits for a long time to come.

I think she has finally learned her lesson and I am looking forward to her coming home soon.

Get Well Soon

Martyne and I might have our differences, and I have been upset at some of the tricks she and Hester have played on me, but I am deeply concerned about her recent fall. She is a silly old sausage at times, even though she is younger than me.

She likes to push herself to the limit, but it means if she oversteps the mark she ends up in trouble. I am glad the lovely Hester is nursing her and has imposed a sherry ban. It could be Martyne's redemption. I spoke to little sister on the phone earlier and it seem she can now get about a bit with a couple of walking sticks. I hope she will be fit enough to do the journey home to Edinburgh soon.

I had expected to include some pictures with this post but my computer is playing up again and won't let me attach any. I still have some pillar boxes and train names to share with you. Lets hope I can get the problem fixed soon.

Dynamic or What?

Taking a slightly different tack today. I notice that Martyne has been a bit sluggish with her posts recently. No doubt she has been paying more attention to the lovely Hester than she has to her blog. Whatever the reason, I am going to scoop her.


About ten days ago Martyne and Hester visited the Royal Scottish Museum. It is the largest one in Edinburgh and would take you days to see all the exhibits. They spent an afternoon there and only saw a small fraction of them.

My main interest in their visit was the trains. When I was a small boy father used to take me to the "Hall of Power". There were lots of locomotives in glass cases and when you pressed a button they were set in motion. I still love that today. Haven't been to the museum for a long time but the girl's (I use the word loosely) visit has prompted me to consider going there sometime soon.

The above beauty poses a couple of questions (thanks for the pictures sis). She must weigh 50 tons or more. How did they move her a floor above ground level in the middle of a building, and how did she get through the doors in the first place?

Back to my usual fare. This box is Victorian, and as you can see, it has the crenalated top which is common to a few monarchs.

Martyne has emptied this one before and it can be full of postcards in the summer because there is a large hotel nearby.

Because Martyne has to spend a couple of hours at Wolverhampton station on Monday morning waiting for a train she has bought cheap tickets for, she can take lots of pictures of train names for me. She protests, but I think she is secretly happy to have something to do to while away the time.

Marco Polo is a new train to her, but Willem Barents is almost a nemesis. She has tried to take pictures twice but the camera has been mucking her about.

Outside the Box

Martyne sent me some exciting new pictures late yesterday so I am up early, for a Sunday, to knock together this post. Two interesting things about the above box. Firstly you can see from the initials at the top that it is Victorian, and secondly there is a set of keys hanging in the lock. Martyne was just about to open it when she took this "before" picture. You can probably tell what is coming next.

How often do you get to see inside a pillar box (or a wall box to be strictly accurate)? Unfortunately the lack of light means that you can't actually see anything. Perhaps this might have been a good time to use the flash!

This last picture is very exciting. If you look at the top of this one it says E R. Clearly there were no boxes around at the time of Elizabeth I (1533 to 1603). A closer inspection revealed that there are the letters VII inbetween the E and R. My very first Edwardian box! You may have to blow up the picture, if you can, to see them clearly.

I may well take up little sister's idea about a series on squint buildings but I still have a few boxes I want to share with you as well.