Latest updates
The most recent updates from my various webpages.
Railways of Afghanistan
If you thought Afghanistan was bereft of railroads, read on for a story of international intrigue, invasion plans, the Great Game, and powers imperial and hydro-electric.
- Ministry of Public Works commissions railway study 11 December 2013
Canarail and Appleton Consulting are to undertake a 12-month feasibility study which will look into extending the Hairatan to Mazar-i-Sharif railway around 225 km west to Sheberghan, Andkhoy and Aqina … - The Khyber Pass in 1937 2 December 2013
On Flickr is a wonderful collection of photographs of Landi Kotal and the Khyber Pass in 1937, taken (or collected?) by Albert Chalcroft of The King’s Regiment. These are some of the railway ones (cli … - Khyber Ropeway at Ali Masjid 17 November 2013
I recently acquired a postcard entitled “Alimusjid Fort with Ropeway, Khyber Pass”, published by Mela Ram & Sons of Peshawar in the 1920s. This aerial ropeway carried freight from the railhead at … - Key leader engagement with Afghan Rail Authority 13 November 2013
News from the Naibabad freight terminal, with some photos of goods being unloaded from trains. Rail Port 4, Niababad, a crane lifts steel rebar rods out of a railroad gondola car, the steel rebar is t … - General surveys retrograde operations at Afghan rail port 12 November 2013
DVIDS story published 28 October 2013. General surveys retrograde operations at Afghan rail port 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Public Affairs Story by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Lawn JCOP HAIRATAN, Af …
Sound mirrors
- Listening Stones 13 November 2013
Listening Stones, St. Vrain Greenway, Longmont, Colorado Granite river boulders, wood, flagstone. 1997. This sculpture uses a parabolic sound mirror carved into boulders to dramatically magnify the so … - The Inkling on sound mirrors 14 January 2013
Listen up: sound mirrors and the fear of flying by Patrick Sykes at The Inkling, 14 January 2013. Probably the only thing The Prodigy, Tacita Dean, and military defence enthusiasts have in common, sou … - Bombing the Channel Ports 13 December 2012
The Abbot’s Cliff sound mirror appears in the 1941 watercolour “Bombing the Channel Ports” by war artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942). Bombing the Channel Ports© IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 1588) Compare the pa … - Sound mirror for sale 10 December 2012
Boulby Barns Farm is for sale, along with its sound mirror. Offers in the region of £695 000. Within the paddock is a Grade II listed Listening Post dating from around 1916 and used to detect approach … - Denge sound mirrors video 16 September 2012
‘Sound Mirrors’ -Denge, Dungeness, Kent. by Morgan O’Donovan Sound Mirrors explores the monumental remnants of a dead-end technology and the people who visit them. The three concrete ‘listening ears’ …
Railways of Iraq
- Egyptian Railways website 5 December 2013
Mark Goldfinch, author of the excellent book Steel in the Sand, has an unofficial website on Egyptian Railways. The Egyptian Railways Diwan is described as “a website and blog area intended to fill th … - Hudswell Clarke steam loco model 23 June 2013
The Middleton Railway in Leeds has this model of a 2-8-4T steam locomotive supplied to the Iraq Petroleum Co by Hudswell Clarke. This model was displayed in the entrance to Hudswell Clarke’s offices. … - Baghdad elevated metro study contract 18 March 2013
A US$40m agreement for Alstom to undertake detailed design studies for the first phase of an elevated metro was signed by Governor of Baghdad Dr Salah Abdul-Razzaq on February 11. [More...] Alstom sig … - Drawings of Iraqi locomotives 3 March 2013
- 8F and O4 in Iraq 10 February 2013
Tony’s Middle East Photos: 8F No.1425 and an Iraq O4 No.1403 in Baghdad in November 1966.
Other – travel and similar
If God had intended us to fly, He would never have given us the railways.
- Railway photography in Nazi Germany 4 April 2013
Given the outbreaks of anti-photography paranoia which have occurred in Britain in recent years, I was amused to stumble across this 1938 Railway Gazette article “Amateur railway photography in German … - The Museum of Army Transport rail-ripper 15 March 2013
Museum of Army Transport, Beverley: German railroad-plough - Great Patriotic War museum rail hook 14 March 2013
A replica of a Second World War rail-ripper hook wagon is included in the outdoor display area at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow. A sign explains: The “Hook” combined track-wr … - Oakham level crossing signal box 17 October 2012
Built in 1899 to Midland Railway design 2b, the Grade II listed signal box at Oakham in Rutland achieved fame as the prototype for the Airfix plastic kit, now made by Dapol (catalogue no.C006). On 22 … - Trains in Poland in 2002 17 October 2012
A few badly-scanned pictures of railways in Poland, taken when I was touring the country with a PKP Polrail pass in August 2002. PKP emblem on a steam loco at Wolsztyn. I’m taking an early holiday ‘co …