Trains and Planes and Boats and Vehicles - Your Favourite 4

[Focalplane]

I do enjoy all forms of transport (well, not much flying these days after a career of international travel to certain unsafe countries!) so I wondered if this thread could end 2020 and begin 2021 with a smile.

Just name, with a reason, why you have a favourite train, plane, boat and vehicle from your personal experience. In each case use the definition as loosely as you like, for example, a train could be a locomotive, a train, a journey and so on. And if you can. add a photo!

I'll get the ball rolling:

Train: I'm going for a journey, the Durango and Silverton Rail Road, from Durango to Silverton. The run up the Animas Gorge has to be an iconic train journey and we made it once back in 1996.



Plane: After much deliberation (VC-10, DC-3) I have chosen the Boeing 777 because I flew Continental from Houston - Gatwick many times and always had a good flight. When the planes were new, I was able to take photos of Greenland with virtually clear, clean windows. Magic!



Boats: Anything that floats fits here and my favourite is a drill ship, the Tainaron. I sat a well, 17-B-1, in the Gulf of Thailand in 1976. During one week we had a possible gas blow out and were on abandon ship stand by for 24 hours. Almost immediately I discovered that my assigned life boat was actually in Singapore, being repaired! Luckily the moment passed and all was well. "Why a favourite?" you may ask.



Vehicles: I have decided to rule out any car I have owned or part owned as this would show bias and would not allow my "I wish list" to come to the fore. Only 500 were built and they are simply gorgeous. The Jensen CV8, built in West Bromwich and powered by a Chrysler V8 with a fibreglass body. Fastest 4 seater of its day, Sean Connery bought one after driving the James Bond Aston Martin - because he thought the Jensen was the better car! This one is in the British Motor Museum at Gaydon:

 

[adrian]

A great idea - I shall have to dig out a few photos!

Vehicles: I have decided to rule out any car I have owned or part owned as this would show bias and would not allow my "I wish list" to come to the fore. Only 500 were built and they are simply gorgeous. The Jensen CV8, built in West Bromwich and powered by a Chrysler V8 with a fibreglass body. Fastest 4 seater of its day, Sean Connery bought one after driving the James Bond Aston Martin - because he thought the Jensen was the better car! This one is in the British Motor Museum at Gaydon:

A fascinating car - as you chose the Jenson then a must watch on youTube is the RetroPower videos. They are superb craftsmen and have done some beautiful restorations. They do modify them but sympathetically and some incredible work - a Mark 1 Escort for Gordon Murray no less!!

However they have just got a CV8 in for a restoration project - when it is finished it will be incredible.

 

[adrian]

Thanks for the idea for the thread - a nice diversion and something of interest I hope. Here is my contribution which some were easy and some required a little more thought.

Train: I'm going for a journey, the Durango and Silverton Rail Road, from Durango to Silverton. The run up the Animas Gorge has to be an iconic train journey and we made it once back in 1996.

To get onto the Train component there is a little bit of a back story to it - but we also had a brilliant trip on the Durango and Silverton, as it happens also in 1996.

To wind back slightly because it is also car related - 1996 is the year I got married. We arranged the wedding at the Swiss Lodore hotel in the Lake District but the date was arranged so that the honeymoon could include the Indy500. So we did a fly drive honeymoon around the States - I wanted to do the Indy500 and the Pikes Peak Hill climb unfortunately they were just a week too far apart to do both, however we managed the Indy500 and we paid our couple of dollars and drove the hire car up to the top of Pikes Peak!

However back to the trains - obviously visiting Pikes Peak meant flying to Denver so we could then visit some of the National Parks, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde etc. So we also managed a trip on the Durango and Silverton however on recommendation from Bob Moore we also had a trip on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad. Sorry to say but the Cumbres and Toltec was far better than the D&S line, longer (64 miles) so long you can't do a return trip in one day - it's train one way (recommend Anonito to Chama) and a coach return, it's got open prairie, trestles, tunnels, sharp passes and stunning stunning scenery. Thoroughly thoroughly recommended - the following are photos from our honeymoon.






Aircraft - this didn't take much deliberation Eurofighter Typhoon, nee EF2000 and EFA (and probably a few others I've forgotten about!)
Purely because my entire working career ( 31years! )has been working on this aircraft - specifically the Flight Control Systems. I watched them build the first development aircraft, the Lightning was still used as a chase aircraft and I seen all the aircraft build through the Warton site. I've probably clocked over 1000hrs on the simulator and flown the virtual Mach loop several times! We also developed a Naval version so clocked several carrier take off and landings in the simulator. It's a phenomenal machine but then again I'm biased!!




Boat - again no hesitation Bluebird K7. Another one with an interest in engineering and speed. Having walked and watched rallying around Coniston always had an interest in Donald Campbells Bluebird. I've got numerous books on the subject and built a resin kit of the craft, my Dad commissioned a painting which he left to me and which I treasure.



Again from an engineering point of view I was fascinated by the craft and had a several conversations with one of the designers Ken Norris. I have followed avidly the salvage and restoration by Bill Smith. This restoration has returned it to running condition and is best summed up in this short video. This was running a Loch Fad, Bute in Scotland (for various reasons). What I love is at low speed it's a wallowing ugly duckling but then it gets up to speed and starts planing and it is into it's element - so graceful at speed gliding across the water. I think they only reached 160 - 180 mph here but Donald Campbell was doing 300mph across water.

Final one car - this was really difficult there were half a dozen on the short list. The common factor being rally cars from different eras however I decided on this one.



Why? because I like supporting the underdog - I'll have to dig through my slide collection to find it but one of the first rallies I went to was the National Breakdown rally as it was then known. It was part of the National Championship, it started in Bradford and was run through the North Yorkshire Forrests. That year I went I saw Russel Brookes in the Manta 400, Jimmy McRae and David Llewellin in the 6R4, Hannu Mikkola in an Audi Quattro, Mikael Sundstrom in a Peugeot 205T16, Mark Lovell was debuting the RS200. Amongst all of these was John Haugland in a 1300cc Skoda 130LR. Well then the snow started and IIRC on a couple of stages John Haugland set the fastest time on a couple of stages and at one point was lying about 2nd overall! My friend from uni built a Skoda 13oLR for stage rallying and I was the navigator. My first road car after passing my test was a Skoda 120LS, I then had a Skoda 130 Rapide. Many an adventure with them but great fun, an interesting design rear engine was very accessible, an alloy block with wet liners. My 120Ls I stripped the engine - got it all balanced and blueprinted so it revved very nicely and in the snow it was an absolute hoot!

There we go that's my 4.

 

[MarkR]

What a great idea:-
Locomotives:- S15/King Arthur
Aircraft:- Meteor T Mk. 7/ Hunter T Mk. 7
Boat:- Thames Sailing Barge/Brixham Sailing Trawler
Car:- Pre-war Aston Martin/Big Healey
Oops! That's two of each!
Mark

 

[Ressaldar]

My four pennies worth:

Locomotive: Schools

Aircraft: Mosquito FB VI

Ship: MTB

Vehicle: 1960s Mini Cooper

Happy New Year to one and all.

regards

Mike

 

[LarryG]

Good thread Paul, but I'm too busy at the mo spraying and shopping while't sun shines. I will be back!

 

[Focalplane]

Great! I did wonder how this might catch on. Finding one's own photos proved difficult for me - I know I have a slide of a VC10 at Dubai in 1971 and my first flight was in a DC3 from Elmdon to Ronaldsway by East Lancashire Airways in 1953. The official photographer at Ronaldsway took our photos as we deplaned, one of the few photos of my father and I together. Both images are probably in France but should be on my computer as well.

Thanks Adrian for the CV8 link. My favourite video is Jay Leno's, usual humour about British cars. Just search "Jay Leno Jensen".

The Mosquito choice would also be on my list but simply no photo, I was going to visit Duxford this year to see theirs but, well, you know!

 

[Mike W]

Good idea:

Locomotive: Webb 3-cylinder compounds
Aircraft: 1930s DeHaviland Rapide
Boat 1930s J class yacht
Car: 1930s Lagonda V12 Rapide

Mike

 

[Dog Star]

An interesting challenge... train / boat / car /plane, sounds like a 1960s song title.

My favourite engine has to be the GWR Castle, modern (for the 20s) elegance with hidden oomph. No personal experience, however the video of a preserved example running on the GW main line alongside the M5 is pure magic.

Boat? The King Orry (the fourth) because this was the steamer that I boarded for my first visit to the Isle of Man, mahogany and brass everywhere plus a proper restaurant. The trip was circa 1975, just before the vessel was sold for scrap. Much to my surprise I was to encounter the vessel a few years later when I was exploring the railways of Strood... there she was in a Rochester breakers yard.

Car? Land Rovers have featured in my travels for many years and I had to sell my last one to produce funds for a house deposit - I regret selling my LR90 as it was an early model and one of the first to have the Buick V8. However if I have to choose then my favourite is going to be the LR 101" better known as the Military One Ton Forward Control as seen on the television during the late 60s / early 70s when Raymond Baxter commentated on the vehicle trials along Long Valley.

Plane? Adrian (@adrian), you could have included EAP as an ancestor of EFA. A personal link here... my favourite is either the A310 or the Boeing E6 because I worked on the Flight Control Management Systems for both of those aircraft (1981 to 1986). Later, in discussion with John Vincent (Adrian probably recognises the name) he was surprised to find that Smiths Industries had gained certification for Minimum Safe Altitude functionality within the A310 FMCS before BAe had done the same for EAP / EFA.

 

[DavidB]

Locomotive: Dean Single - sheer elegance. I have a kit for one to build . . ..
Aircraft: Westland Lysander - if I had a license, I would love to have this plane. It's different. See here.
Boat: no idea
Car: Mercedes SSK - they just fascinate me. There is a completely original one in the Louwman museum in The Hague

 

[AJC]

As a son of Westland, so to speak, there’s no way I could legitimately choose a fixed wing machine (though I’ve plenty on memories of the Navy’s Harriers at Yeovilton), it’d be the Lynx that wins out. Dad worked on tech publications for them for more or less his entire time with the company and the helicopter speed record was set on my middle sister’s first day in the world. Besides, they’re the only machine I’ve ever seen hover with nose pointing at the floor...*

There’s no point in asking me about cars - I’ve never really been interested - so let’s move on, to trains which are more difficult, given the personal experience criteria. There are lots that I like of course and many of those are Southern, but for making travel by train enjoyable it’s either a 159 - a proper, modern, reliable train as opposed to the mark 2 and cast off locos we’d lived with before - or Seaton Tramway number 2 which dad drove up the Colyford one summer’s evening to deliver someone who’d missed the last tram back. He’d worked on the tramway in one of its early seasons - before the overhead was erected: a shove from a Ruston and gravity down the hill and battery power up. We’d visited the depot - after a ride in the afternoon - some time in the ‘90s. The highly elicit trip up the Axe estuary remains a very fond memory.

Ships? The Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship, as displayed in its current setting which, if you haven’t seen you really should. Apart from being a stunning archaeological survival, I’ve done the behind the scenes tour and handled some of the longbows (as part of my day job, would you believe?).

Adam

 

[LarryG]

When it came to joining in, I found it not easy.

Favourite engines? Well, they have changed over the years . I suppose the current clutch are most things Collett except Kings.

Plane? Not at all interested.

Boats? Nope.

Bus favourites ? Most front-engine half-cabs interest me and always will.

Cars? I've owned more than my fair share, according to one accountant! I go for floating sofa's in preference to sporties and Ford has been my most common purchase (I currently have a Kuga).

But the stand out car of my life to drive and just look at was my Rover 105 P4 with overdrive & flashers. Known as the working mans Rolls, by the time of the final model, it was like a Collett update of a Churchward thorobred, I'm sure it would still turn heads today...

 

[MarkR]

Locomotive: Webb 3-cylinder compounds
Aircraft: 1930s DeHaviland Rapide
Boat 1930s J class yacht
Car: 1930s Lagonda V12 Rapide

The D H Rapide is a lovely aircraft, I have the new Lukagraph 1/32nd scale kit in my que of projects.
Together with a Thames sailing barge and a Brixham Sailing Trawler
The Logonda is a great choice too.
Mark

 

[MarkR]

A picture of the Thames Barge, awaiting a re-fit!
Mark

 

[MarkR]

 

[warren haywood]

As s young lad I will have a go

Loco, gotta be a Deltic, never forget Meld emerging from the freezing fog on a diverted ECML train at Knottingley

Aircraft has to be MK 1 spitfire

Boat, no idea so will go with Brunels Great Britain

Car, as a kid I loved ford Capris but now I’m all grown up I’m gonna go with Audi RS6

 

[mickoo]

For a start, for me, this is an impossibility, just too many anoraks in the closet, more like too many closets with anoraks in.

I like too much but if I had to nail a subject to the board then it'd be thus

Train, GEVO, end of, just fanatical passion.......having said that, I'm with Warren on Deltics, saw one (the only one as they always stopped by then) in their last summer on the fast lines at Peterborough, lasting impression of it hitting the sag at the south end and winding up for the climb to Stoke, I say winding up as it was already doing nearly a ton There's a couple of Danish diesels (My and Mz) from my childhood but the GEVO tips all three, just.

Plane, hard one, like Warren has to be the Spitfire for sound track, grace and just drop dead styling, having said that.....the F14 Tomcat probably just edges it, blame Topgun. Yes it's corny/cheesy but the flight scenes are actually quite good, besides I'm a huge USN carrier fan and it was the first movie I took my wife to be to see, in fact we never got in the first time as it was over booked (no advanced booking on those days) and went back the next evening.

Ships, I like a lot of ships, but if I had to nail one then it'd be CVN 65 USS Enterprise, first nuclear carrier, namesake of Star Trek and I bought a huge Tamiya 1:350 kit of one in the states way back in the 80's, refused to put it in the hold and it came on the plane with me; fortunately the flight was not full and they let me sit it on the seat next to me. I see there's a mint bagged one on Ebay at the moment, I've a mind to buy it for nostalgia reasons only, the box art sold me then and it sells me now.

Cars, has to be the AC Cobra...single roll bar and Ford 351 Cleveland block, I'd take a Windsor but for kudos it has to be a Cleveland.

 

[simond]

So difficult, but...

EE Lightning. One trick pony, but what a trick.

Lancia Stratos, probably the best rally car ever.

Fairey Swordsman. The boat I didn’t buy.

Churchward Mogul, or perhaps one of the Ffestiniog Ladies on which I spent several happy teenage summer weeks as fireman...

HNY!
Simon

 

[Martin Shaw]

An almost impossible task,
Train would have to be a Schools, preferably 938 which was named after the school I was sent to, I try not to remember that bit if I can. Other than that 48151 will always be a favourite because I fired her down the ECML on August evening from Leeds to York, a memory I treasure.

Plane TSR2 when we could still build world class aircraft in Britain,

Boat Pretty much anything that isn't a floating block of flats in which I include all container ships and most cruise liners. Actually a Blue Funnel cargo vessel would remind me of a dear friend.

Car Not the slightest interest beyond getting me from A to B without getting my hands dirty.

Martin

 

[Osgood]

• Lady Angela - in my teens I had a crush on her thanks to a feature on her gypsum railway in a top shelf magazine

• B17 - having met some of the guys who survived the war in them / kept them flying

• The Vital Spark - first nautical influence (after Captain Nemo's NAUTILUS)

Curiously I'm yet another with zero interest in cars per se, so:

• Hilux pickup (with beam front axle) - not everyone has to be in a hurry, met my last one 18 months ago some 22 years after I sold her - apart from the Carlos Fandango wheels just the same, even had my old DIY stripes on the door!