switzerland 1977

(Both 17.2.1977)

This is Chur in Switzerland, on a cold evening in February 1977. Yes, that is a train running down the road, and this is a sight you can still see today, although the track has been doubled in the town itself.

I'd been Interrailing and this was one of those iconic locations I'd planned to visit. The branch line up to Arosa is very spectacular and soon after leaving Chur runs into deep snow. But this was my favourite stretch of the line, the incongruity of long trains running down the road still a novelty.

This was very different from home back in Littlehampton, I was just twenty and couldn't speak a word of German, so it all seemed very foreign. It's very familiar to me now of course, having visited (and lived) in Switzerland many times since!

Innsbruck 1977

(All 31.1.1977)

These are some very cold shots taken in Innsbruck on my first winter Interrail ticket. I'd done a summer trip but winter was better in a way because the trains were quieter and I could usually get a good night's sleep!

I followed one of the tram routes out to the edge of the city - it was seriously cold! Then followed it back to the station and travelled on to Vienna.

I returned to Innsbruck a couple of years ago and it's a fantastic city, possibly my favourite in Europe. But these dull black and white pictures really don't capture it at all - or perhaps it really was more monochrome back then - Austria was still a poor country. It even had steam trains and four wheel coaches on the railways in 1977!

ghosts

One of the best tricks we ever paid was on hapless Terry Wiffin. The legendary Bimbo Bailey had pilfered his dad's monk fancy dress outfit and we went out one night by the double bend at Lyminster.

When we heard a car he would walk out in front of it with his hands outstretched. We did this for about an hour when we heard a bike approaching and a scream. Terry had stumbled right into our night's entertainment, a completely innocent victim. The 'ghost' was Bimbo, the rustling was me and my brother Jeff laughing in the bushes.

Later the same evening one car driver must have guessed what we were doing as he drove off road and chased us through the fields. Bimbo chucked the outfit in a field and we hid in Mark Parr's garden for an hour or two.

This appeared in the Evening Argus a few days later!

truro 1972

This is one of the famous Western class engines running into Truro on 28 August 1972, almost 40 years ago! This seems like just a few years ago to me to be honest! I used to buy the Western Region Rover tickets which allowed me to travel all over the west country. I think I was staying in Shaldon this time, keeping well out of my parents' way! I was just 16 but I'd been allowed to do pretty much what I wanted from the age of 12!

mission statement

A new blog that will dip and dive into the past covering everything from popular culture, toys, events, railways, my own history and hopefully yours!