Priests on the Rails

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T22:01:00.001+01:00

SURREXIT DOMINUS VERE! ALLELUIA!

We wish you all a happy and blessed Easter. May God be with you.

Congratulations!

2010-03-29T12:13:00.000+01:00

I noticed on the BBC recently that the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) have opened the section of line from Birkill to Manuel to passenger transport. The line was previously only used for accessing the Network Rail lines. This means that the line is now 1.5 miles longer. There is no station yet at Manuel so passengers cannot embark or disembark.

Congratulations on the good work done and best wishes for the future. I look forwards to being able to visit and travel on the new line.

Visitors

2010-03-13T15:30:00.000Z

As I said we have been welcoming many new visitors after Fr Z linked to us and a couple have even been in touch to comment and wish us well. Thanks.

One of them is a seminarian from down south, so pray for him, the other an author wanting to mention our report on the Vatican railway station in an article he is writing. Wow - fame!*

That author commented on how he was old enough to remember when the LMS was the London Midland and Scottish railway company rather than the Latin Mass Society.

Again, welcome to everyone.

*Sadly not "Wow - royalties!"

Welcome Onboard

2010-03-10T12:20:00.000Z

Our quiet little branchline of a blog has recently welcomed an awful lot of visitors from all over the world thanks to a link erected by Fr Z (in the article mentioned a couple of posts down).

Hello! to all our new visitors. We hope you enjoy coming here. Its not much to see, certainly compared to Fr Z, but we like it here and hope you do to. Please feel free to look around or leave comments.

La Freccia

2010-03-08T12:28:00.003Z

La Freccia is the magazine of FS - Ferrovie dello Stato, the Italian State Railways. I picked up the February edition on a recent trip to Italy and it contains an interesting article on "I Treni dei Papi" - the trains of the popes. The articles begins by stating that, even though at the beginning trains were seen as infernal machines, the Popes soon learnt to familiarise themselves with trains, stations and railways.

The occasion for the article was a visit made by Pope Benedict to a hostel at Termini railway station in Rome but it includes an interesting history of the relationship between popes and trains. and historical photographs of John XXIII travelling in the Italian Presidential Train and Paul VI in a hard-hat (and cassock, rochet and fur-trimmed mozzetta!) on a visit to the construction site for the Rome-Florence Diretissima line [picture above from an ebay postcard].

Pope Benedict didn't actually travel to Termini by train by the railway provides financial support to the hostel and, on the journey on which this magazine was obtained, there were volunteer railway staff going through the carriages collecting money to present to the hostel in honour of the papal visit. In return they were giving out small chocolates sponsored by various other companies. Not too bad a deal.

We are not alone!

2010-03-08T08:14:00.003Z

It turns out that its not only Scottish priests who are interested in railways.

Even the famous Fr Z pines for the chance to ride on a steam railway!

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/03/looking-forward/

Maybe we should invite him to become an honorary member of the Scottish Clergy Railway Circle?

Model Rail Scotland II

2010-02-26T21:07:00.002Z

A couple of us were down at Model Rail Scotland today - and we saw at least three other priests as well, one of whom had travelled down from the farthest north specially.

It was a bit rushed due to afternoon commitments but it was a good visit. I don't think I had seen any of the layouts before and amongst the layouts there was a small one based on FS the Italian Railway Company. It was too small but it did bring back memories of trips out to the Castelli or down to the Ciociara, or, more prosaically, up to La Guistiniana to catch a 201 or 223 down to the College. Ah, happy days!

The show continues tomorrow and Sunday - get along to it!

Model Rail Scotland

2010-01-31T22:31:00.007Z

Its that time of year again. Get excited, because Model Rail is coming to town! The 26th to 28th February at the SECC, Glasgow, must be in your diaries (although if you live too far away we'll give you a dispensation, if you ask nicely on the correct forms). This is the highlight of the Scottish model railway year. You just can't miss it. Its too much fun, even during Lent.

Talking of diaries, one of the parishioners gave me a railway calendar and matching diary after the Vigil Mass last night. Its nice to be remembered by parishioners.

[Update: Please note that this is not a cheap attempt to solicit donations. All of the members have all the stuff they need!]

Welsh Railways & Giraldus Cambrensis

2010-01-17T18:19:00.004Z

One of our colleagues in seminary - now a priest in the far flung islands - had a saying that certain people had "minds like Welsh railways - one track and dirty!"

Apparently though, Welsh railways have in fact much improved. A recent-ish issue of RAIL had an article on a new locomotive-hauled service from North Wales to Cardiff sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government. This Holyhead to Cardiff and vice versa service, hauled by 57/3s, offers a smart new way for businessmen and commuters to travel down for business or indeed shopping. A first-class ticket (£193 return, although bought in advance it could be as little as £152)* brings with it a full breakfast on the way down, leaving Holyhead at 0532, and a three course evening meal on return, leaving Cardiff at 1617. More details and menus on the Arriva Trains Wales website.

The website advertises it simply as the North South Premier Service but the Rail article additionally mentions that the service has a name - Yr Geralt Gymro/Gerald of Wales - named after a 12th Century Archdeacon of Brecon and Bishop-Elect of St Davids, although that election was later annulled. Even 12th c. priests get involved in trains!

* Second class from just £71 return

Michael Portillo's Railway Journeys

2010-01-15T18:31:00.002Z

Michael Portillo was an MP who many loved to hate, especially at the time of the 1997 General Election. He has now reinvented himself as a TV presenter and currently has an interesting programme on the BBC - great British railway journeys. In the Daily Mail he has written about his pride in having, as Minister for Transport, saved the Settle and Carlisle Line when BR wanted it closed. In this instance he managed to persuade Baroness Thatcher that heritage was more important than economics, and, regardless of the other good and bad things they did in politics, we should be thankful to him and her for this generous act.

The series can be watched on BBC iPlayer

[I don't know what religion Mr Portillo is but on Wikipedia (which is never wrong) it says that eh took the name 'Xavier' at Confirmation and his father was Spanish, albeit a Republican, so it is possible he is a Catholic]

Christmas

2009-12-24T17:33:00.002Z

We wish all our visitors a Merry Christmas and hope that God will give you many blessings at this Holy Time and throughout 2010.

Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be a faith-filled time of joy - gifts, family, and most of all the Holy Mass, God coming into the world through the actions of His priests.

Oremus pro invicem.

General Idea of the Station

2009-11-19T07:18:00.002Z

To get some idea of the Station I now include a general schematic layout and an excerpt from the relevant Google-Maps Page. These should help give an idea where things are are in relation to a slightly more famous landmark than the Railway Station.

General view of the Railway Station

2009-11-19T07:02:00.002Z

Here we have a few general views of the railway station. At the top there is a view of St Peter's from the station platform, and thereafter three shots of the general view.

Here we see the tractor that this used in place of a shunting locomotive.

2009-11-19T06:53:00.003Z

On the front you can see the apparatus used to push or couple on to the wagons. In the close-up on the side you can see the papal coat of arms in gold in the form of a seal.

The Station with a Goods Train, All Seen from the Doorway between Italy and the Vatican

2009-11-19T06:27:00.002Z

Exclusive! Vatican Railway Station

2009-11-19T06:18:00.002Z

The two dominant themes of this blog are of course trains and clergy and where do these two things come together in a better way than the Vatican City State Railway Station. Thanks to a senior cleric I was able to obtain access to the railway station area. The actual building of the station is now a duty-free shop (apparently with a good clerical tailors) but the tracks are still there leading from Italy into the Vatican. In the next few posts I will show some of the photos.

Don't get too excited.

Photos

2009-11-13T18:50:00.003Z

I know that this blog has been a bit boring, photographically speaking. Not because of any technical problems, I've just been too lazy to take my memory card out of my camera. I now have achieved this great feat and so can display a variety of photos from SCRC outings. Maybe I'll post more on another occasion. These ones are all from the West Somerset Railway.

First £1000 train fare

2009-11-03T20:21:00.002Z

The BBC today reports that Britain's first £1000 rail fare has now been achieved. Congratulations to all involved! After all its not as if railway companies want people to travel by train. Customers, even first class ones with more money than sense in this case, just mess up trains. It would be far better if trains could be kept empty.

Wait a minute. Maybe railway companies could encourage people onto trains and make a profit by selling tickets to them. Nah, that'll never catch on.

Football Fan set on fire whilst dressed as a sheep on a train

2009-11-02T20:51:00.003Z

This story on the BBC is certainly unusual. Its tragic, horrific, strange, and surreal all at the same time. Hopefully the victim will be okay and the perpetrator will be punished.

What interested me though was not so much the odd story but the image used by the BBC to illustrate it. They story is about an Arriva Cross Country train, which from the story appears to be the 0925 from Plymouth to Aberdeen (an 11 hour journey). Now the BBC photo might be accurate, but if so, I'd probably be ready to set someone on fire if I'd had to travel from Plymouth to Aberdeen on (what looks suspiciously like) an Arriva Trains Wales 156 rather than the more normal Voyager 220!

ps. Okay, maybe the BBC are right and this was a 156 for operational reasons, etc. This is a possibility. I think it more likely though that they just took the first photo they could of anything with "Arriva" on the side.

pps. Anyone not familiar with Scottish football shouldn't even think about why he was dressed as a sheep.

Arrivals Board

2009-10-27T18:54:00.002Z

I thought it was interesting to see where our visitors are arriving from. Not surprisingly the vast majority come from the UK, especially Glasgow and then London and Edinburgh.

More surprisingly the next most popular location is Poland and then the USA, Ireland, and Italy. Amongst the top-ten there are also Thailand and Japan, neither of which I would have thought to be hotbeds of Scottish Catholic train enthusiasm.

Welcome, one and all!

World's Smallest Model Railway

2009-10-26T17:19:00.003Z

A man in New Jersey has created the world's smallest model railway. The small oval of track, with working train, has been designed to go inside a model of a model railway shop that he is building for his layout. Cool! That's devotion for you: He deserves the Pro Ferrivia et Moderatore Pingui medal!

Find out more and see a picture at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6414891/Worlds-smallest-working-model-train-set-unveiled.html

Weymouth

2009-10-23T20:58:00.004+01:00

Thinking about Weymouth as we have been, I would be remiss if I didn't pause to honour Weymouth's most famous railway feature - not a dismantled line to Portland but the Harbour Tramway.

In the picture, from Google Maps, you can just make out the tramway sneaking along the quayside, almost like two long thin shadows, starting on the left and curving down to go under the bridge and then off to the right.

This branch was designed to allow boat trains to deposit their passengers directly at the liners at the quay, to save them from having to have their luggage and their own persons portered down from the main station. It lost a regular service in the 1980s as cross-channel sailings and longer distance cruises attracted less travellers. Whilst technically it could still be used today it seems that its days are over and that Network Rail won't stand in the way of removing it.

If you follow this link to Youtube you can see 33019 taking the Ocean Liner Express round the tramway in 1994. The best bits are seeing the police and railwaymen having to manhandle cars off the running line - I wonder if Health & Safety would let them now.

I remember reading about this branch in an edition of Railway Modeller when I was young and wanting to go and travel on it. I doubt I'll get the chance now!

[Its a sign I'm getting old - 1994 seems just like yesterday, and yet when I look at the cars, etc., this video seems so dated]

The BBC

2009-10-23T18:10:00.002+01:00

I was watching television the other night when I cam across this fascinating programme "Railway Walks" in which the presenter goes for ramble down disused railway lines. In that particular episode she walked from Weymouth out to the Isle of Portland* following a line that, whilst carrying passengers, was mainly designed to take the famous Portland stone down to harbour or to the yards for transshipment off to building sites. Portland stone was famously used for St Paul's Cathedral and the Cenotaph, although perhaps this blog should mention it being used in the London Underground HQ at 55 Broadway, London.

This programme was part of a series, but only this current episode is available on iplayer, I think it was a repeat to fill space in the schedule. It would be worth watching if it appears again in the listings.

* The Isle of Portland is connected to the mainland by a spit of land, so the trains don't have to fly!

Railway Songs

2009-10-15T20:39:00.002+01:00

With the mention of Kenny Roger's Gambler in an earlier entry I couldn't help noticing how many railway songs seem sad.

There's Kenny's other favourite "The Green, Green Grass" which mentions

"The old hometown looks the same
As I step down from the train
And there to meet me is my mama and papa
And down the road I look and there runs Mary
Her golden lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home."

And you might think that's cheery until you listen to the rest of the song and realise that he's dreaming and when he wakes he will remember that he is about to face the Death Sentence.

I can also think of "Midnight Train to Georgia" which isn't the world's cheeriest song, although at least they go back to live happily ever after.

On the other hand I've never seen Starlight Express but according to the wikipedia entry that seems to have a happy ending. And we cannot forget "Chatanooga Choo-Choo" - that's quite cheery (and you can even go to Chatanooga and stay in a Holiday Inn Railway Carriage!)

If anyone has any ideas feel free to add them in the comments

A Menchy

2009-10-13T21:44:00.002+01:00

As we say where I come from "we got a menchy"* on another blog. At this rate we'll soon be famous.

Hello to anyone visiting from laodicea! I notice that their website address is ex Laodicea. Whilst they may claim some Latin root for this, it is well known that the Romans derived the word "ex" from the common usage of railway photographers who often caption their photos of the 8.15pm from Glasgow to Stirling as "2015 to Stirling ex Glasgow" - for years I would read this and think that it meant that the train had used to go to Glasgow but had changed it mind and decided to go to Stirling instead!

I notice that the bloggers over there caption us as "frivolity" and "levity" - we are entirely serious, trains are too serious to joke about!

PS. the esoteric patristic references are an uncommon problem - a bit like snow on the line, but caused by people spending too much time with Fr Fortescue's Lesser Eastern Churches.

PPS. I know that many people claim that you cannot spend too much time with Fr Fortescue's works. We are not entering into that argument here.

* In case this derivation is unclear to those not from the West of Scotland, its an affectionate contraction of 'mention'.

E.M. Forster

2009-10-09T10:38:00.002+01:00

Okay, so he's no Awdry, but E.M. Forster's not a bad writer and so today we turn to him for a quotation:

Railway termini. They are our gates to the glorious and the unknown. Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return

Sometimes these days it seems as if we have lost the romance of railway travel that Forster conjures up. When we think of trains too often its the functional and banal, the commute to work, the means of travel rather than the end. We need to rediscover the excitement of railways, the opportunity they offer to travel and discover, to see the world in a relaxed way impossible by car or by air. There's amazing literature based on railway journeys.

[Not all journeys that produce artistic successes are great, Kenny Rogers' Gambler only comes about because of how boring the journey is:

On a warm summers evenin on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak

Well, not everything can be fun]

The Reverend Mr Awdry

2009-10-08T16:59:00.002+01:00

A great quote from a man whose legacy will never be forgotten:

Railways and the Church have their critics, but both are the best ways of getting a man to his ultimate destination

"Awdry, Revd W." The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. Ed. Elizabeth Knowles. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. The Open University. 8 October 2009

Railway History & More on Hamaxosticus

2009-10-08T15:53:00.003+01:00

Obviously we have recently been considering the Latin for railway. That naturally leads on to a consideration of the history of railways. The Oxford Dictionary of World History says that horse powered wagon-ways were used from the 16th century. In the 1500s and much later the use of Latin was still common in certain fields, including administration and science, which may well have been interested in the early railways. Whether they were or not, and what vocabulary they used, is something that I'll have to leave to experts, I don't have the software or the reference books necessary for searching this, although the Latinists who invented hamaxostic(h)us might well have done this.

The first steam engine on rails is believed to have been built by Richard Trevithick in 1804, and even then men of science may well have discussed it in Latin, and the word "railway" in Latin must have been used by Acta Apostolicae Sedis from time to time in reference to Papal journeys, the Vatican Railway Station, etc. I am sure that the word "hamaxosticus" is well considered and attested.

After typing yesterday's entry I had settled down to read "Outside the Empire: The World the Roman's Knew" by NHH Sitwell and there came across the following:

"The Sarmatians are often mentioned in Greek and Latin writings under the general name of Hamaxobii or Hamaxoeci, both of which terms mean 'waggon-dwellers'"

One day you've never heard of hamax- the next day you're falling over them.

REFERENCES

"railways, history of" A Dictionary of World History. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. The Open University. 8 October 2009

Hamaxosticus

2009-10-07T21:20:00.002+01:00

Funnily enough, "railway train" was not a word that commonly occurred in ancient Rome and so the Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary doesn't actually contain the word "hamaxosticus" nor "ferrivia" which is the modern Latin for railway. Lewis and Short does though contain "hamaxa, -ae", "a wagon" from which the modern word is obviously derived, itself transliterated from the Greek.

When L&S is lacking then as Catholics we turn immediately to the Holy See website and its lexicon recentis Latinitatis which gives us "hamaxostichus" for the Italian "treno". Hamaxosticus without the 'h' is also attested on-line (e.g. at Glossarium Anglico-Latinum) and just looks nicer, with the 'h' it just looks too Greek!

I hope this explains our motto to any classical Latinist who is lost in confusion in the face of hamaxostic(h)us.

Logo

2009-10-07T12:31:00.004+01:00

At the side of the blog you can see our logo, obtained via the amusing and useful www.says-it.com. It consists of a train under the initials of the Scottish Clergy Railway Circle and above our motto: Hoc est saeculum hamaxostici - that is to say, "this is the age of the train".

[BR + Sir Jimmy Savile KCSG, what more could one want]

Metropolitana Romana

2009-10-02T19:04:00.003+01:00

J.P. Sonnen on Orbis Catholicus blog provides an image of an old metro carriage at Anagnina, terminus of Metro A of the Roman Metropolitan. This is a common sight for many as Anagnina is the station for Ciampino airport and for heading out to the Castelli (Tivoli, Frascati, Grottaferrata, etc.) on the Cotral Buses, although it should be noted that mainline trains run out to Frascati, Viterbo, etc. as part of Rome's FR regional railway system.

[Once upon a time one could travel through the Castelli on the trams of STEFER however the late 50s and 60s saw the end of the extra urban tram routes outside Rome. They don't look too comfortable in the photos on the above website but Cotral buses aren't too great either. It also used to be possible to take a tram/train out to Alatri and Fiuggi on a line that also passed through parts of the Castelli - once again 'development' saw that line fall out of use, although you can still see the track by the side of the road if you drive out of Rome towards Frosinone, as if a train could pass by at any moment. I remember driving out that way for a day-trip from the College. It was a really awful day at the beginning - rain was pouring down and puddles were almost a foot deep in places. However as we left Rome it got better and there alongside the road we could see the tracks alongside the road - it was really eerie, as if the railway had just stopped one night and never started again, which is basically what happened if you read the Italian site above. It was a ghost railway].

Papal Visit

2009-09-23T22:06:00.003+01:00

The BBC and the press are reporting that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will visit the United Kingdom next year. The itinerary is still to be arranged but it seems likely to be London, Oxford, Birmingham, and Edinburgh. I wonder if His Excellency Francis Campbell the British Ambassador to the Holy See could be persuaded to ask Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to give her fellow octogenarian Monarch (and I suppose they both profess to be Heads of Churches*) a loan of the Royal Train - what better way to see the UK than by train? We could gather at all the stations and level crossings for his blessing.

* I only state this with ecumenical sensitivity - no Catholic would actually say that the Queen is head of a church [its not a church and the Queen, not being a bishop, couldn't be head of it if it were] and presumably Anglicans would deny that the Pope is head of a church, at least within the Queen's realm [at least that's what the Act of Supremacy affirms]

Treno Deragliato

2009-09-21T17:04:00.004+01:00

There was train derailment in Milan recently, and thankfully the train was empty and the driver was only slightly hurt. The pictures though are quite dramatic. The train was on a raised section of track and on derailing some of the carriage tumbled off the parapet. Had the train been full it could have been a disaster; empty it makes great photos.

Bad News & Good

2009-09-18T10:00:00.002+01:00

It has to be a shame to see the Glasgow Airport Rail Link cancelled. The Airport needs a rail link to ensure future growth and it seems foolish to be cutting capital expenditure rather than trying to cut the Government's operating costs (its not as if the Government doesn't waste money). I'm sure though that they thought this through, and some of the budgeting seems fanciful. According to one report the cost of moving a fuel farm has increased from £5 Million to £30 Million. That's a lot of bad estimating.

There is good news as well though. Tom Harris MP reports that Glasgow Central won Station of the Year and First Scotrail won passenger operator of the year. Congratulations to them.

Scottish Parliament

2009-09-15T10:05:00.003+01:00

The Scottish Parliament has a system whereby anybody can launch a petition and the MSPs will look at it and talk about it (although there's not much evidence that they've ever actually done something about it) and as priests we are very interested in this because there are always petitions to try and encourage things the Church is opposed to (gay marriage, abolish Catholic schools, etc.) or, less frequently, petitions to support goods things the Church supports (save St Margaret's Hospice, for instance). Whilst searching through all these bad & good things one also comes across railway related petitions, hence why it gets a mention on here.

One of the live petitions at the moment is calling for the re-opening of Blackford railway station, near Gleneagles. I know that one of our members has a great interest in this area - I hope that he has signed up for the petition.

Life Amidst the Ruins

2009-09-14T21:22:00.003+01:00

Today saw the opening of an exhibition of pictures of Monte Cassino and other parts of Italy taken in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Exhibition, at the Mitchell Library, was opened by the Abbot-Ordinary of Monte Cassino, the Right Reverend Pietro Vittorelli OSB (pictured), who spoke about the Christian roots of Europe. He was joined by Archbishop Conti of Glasgow and the Consul-General of Italy in Edinburgh, amongst others.

What is interesting from our point of view is that the exhibition contains images of railways, including Milano Centrale, the Italian-Swiss frontier, and Swiss railways, taken by the photographer on his travels between Scotland and Italy. The exhibition, which is free, runs until the 30th September. The Mitchell Library is just accross from Glasgow Charing Cross station.

Summer Break: Trivia?

2009-09-14T08:57:00.009+01:00

We've been busy over the summer (trainspotting naturally) and so haven't had time to keep the blog up to date.

It takes so long to prepare and fire up the steam engine for the blog - I must consider moving to a more modern diesel or electric one.

To pass the time until the next update (soon hopefully) how about some trivia. Clergymen may well be famous for their interest in trains but some other famous people like trainspotting as well. We all know how much Pete Waterman likes trains (remember he was the producer that brought us Kylie & the Locomotion), but did you know that the composer Dvorak (the one from those Hovis adverts) was a trainspotter as well? On the BBC they provide this quote "I'd give all my symphonies if I could have invented the locomotive!" Now that is a man after my own heart - anyone can be a good musician and composer (look how many of them there have been), but only a genius could invent trains.

PS. I know that some members of the circle will be a trifle upset about linking Dvorak with Hovis so how about calling it the 2nd Movement from his Ninth Symphony instead.

Class 380

2009-05-21T21:27:00.003+01:00

By chance a member happened to be in Glasgow recently when he saw a sign on a public information screen advertising a mock-up of the new class 380 being displayed at Glasgow Central. By rushing over he was able to visit it and view the new generation of Scottish electrics. Apparently, it doens't look much different from the previous generation. Ho hum.

Aviemore

2009-05-21T21:15:00.002+01:00

Recently professional business took a member to Aviemore for a Conference. The Circle had of course visited Aviemore not that long ago to visit the Strathspey Railway and during this Conference there was the opportunity to visit that Railway again. I declined this opportunity though and instead visited the Cairngorms Mountain Railway. This is a funicular railway up a mountainside. It is a tourist attraction, there is no real purpose other than visiting. It leads to a visitor centre from which one gets a (very windy) view over the mountain but one cannot actually exit the visitor centre, so as to protect the environment from humans (if only we could so easily protect humans, especially unborn ones, from humans!). Whilst in Aviemore we also had the chanec to see various Class 170s going through with passenger services as well as the occasional diesel hauled freight.

Sightings

2009-03-20T10:36:00.004Z

Recently a member was, by chance, changing trains at Hyndland station when he noticed one of the Network Rail Class 31s (like the one in the picture, which was taken from the web. For those who know, that's obviously not Hyndland) with one of the Civil Engineer's test trains stopped in the loop, which then headed off towards Partick, being driven from the driving van in the front carriage. A most unusual visitor to our rather boring suburban railway scene.

Model Rail

2009-03-20T10:21:00.004Z

Belated news that the members visited Model Rail Scotland 2009 in the middle of February. The SECC was positively crawling with priests - at least six (that's six times the Diocese of Moosonee in Canada's diocesan priests!) of us were there looking at a wonderful selection of model railway layouts. The ingenuity and technical abilities of those involved always surprise and delight the audience, how can they re-create in miniature such realistic panoramas? One comes away inspired to take up railway modelling once more, unfortunately then one sees the prices on the models. They've got a bit dearer than they were when we went to seminary! It seems that even a moderate layout would cost nigh on £1000 and could get much much dearer. Unfortunately we just can't afford it.

Clydebank, Cumbernauld and the Campsies Railway Company Limited

2009-03-06T19:56:00.002Z

The Company apologises for delays to the updating of this blog. This is due to snow on the line and equipment failure. Normal services should be resumed shortly.

BY ORDER

(ps. There is no truth to the claim that certain members of the Company are opposed to the the whole concept of "updating")

New Year Luncheon

2009-01-17T15:57:00.005Z

The Circle gathered today for its New Year luncheon beginning the exciting programme of activities for 2009. To preserve the railway theme we met outside Glasgow Queen Street station (although our liking for railways was somewhat dampened by the 2009 fare rises - another 10p on my return ticket to Glasgow) and then proceeded to the nearby North British Hotel (or the Glasgow Millennium Hotel as the current owners insist on calling it). There we had an enjoyable lunch and discussed our plans for the year ahead. We agreed that our next activity would be a visit to Model Rail Scotland in February followed by some Railway related films.

After lunch we retired to Glasgow Central station for a short tour and discussion of yesteryear there, after which we took coffee in one of the station's many refreshment rooms and watched the typical Glasgow scenes unfold outside the windows.

A pleasant day was had by all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T07:55:00.001Z

Merry Christmas from all at the Railway Circle - May God Bless you and all your families.

Notes

2008-12-07T17:11:00.004Z

I don't know if anyone out there actually reads this blog, but I thought it worth explaining that posting is none too frequent because we actually spend our life working. The chance to do anything train related is unfortunately rare (well, apart from playing Trainz 2009 in my spare time). This means that subjects for posts are none too common, but whenever we do anything it will eventually make it on line.

North British 2: From North to South

2008-12-07T17:03:00.004Z

As if by chance, around the same time our members were at the GFT seeing a film about the North British Locomotive Company, a colleague of another member was holidaying in South Africa. The NBL had a long link with South Africa, having built over 2000 steam locomotives for the Dominion. A film about the building of the 2000th locomotive can be found at the Scottish Screen Archive.

The aforementioned vacationer happened across a railyard in the Western Cape, I believe, and found some of these very same Glasgow built locomotives. A picture of one is included on this post. (In another picture one could clearly make out the NBL makers plate on the loco, but that picture is not available.)

It truly is a small world!

North British 1

2008-12-07T16:54:00.003Z

Two of our members recently took a trip to the Glasgow Film Theatre which was showing "Diamonds were Forever" a film history of the North British Locomtive Company of Glasgow. This Company was a famous Glasgow builder of steam locomotives (and an infanous buider of diesels!). The Company began at the start of the 1900s but by the early sixties was bankrupt, most of which was the fault of the unreliable diesels they built.

Our members professed themselves very interested and recommend the film.

Highland Railway Adventures

2008-12-06T20:32:00.005Z

One of our members, a Highlander by birth but a Lowlander by vocation, recently took a jaunt up to the Sutherland and Caithness Railway of the Highland Railway (aka First Scotrail's Wick & Thurso Line). This was a few days holiday from the hard work required in moving parishes (as he recently did) and thanks to Sainsburys a Mon-Fri return from Glasgow to Wick was only £15 (normally £70!).

This line was built in the 1870s, initially for the 3rd Duke of Sutherland (grandson of the 1st Duke of "Highland Clearances" infamy) so that he could reach his Highland castle of Dunrobin. I don't know if our illustrious cleric travelled the same way as His Grace of Sutherland but I am sure he did so with the same style and panache.

Our Patron: Blessed Pius IX

2008-10-24T20:46:00.001+01:00

On our journey north one of our items of discussion was "who should our patron be?" Naturally we turned first of all to St Christopher, patron of travellers. Then we thought of great railway saints such as St Rollox, St Pancras or St Enoch. These would all be worthy patrons but as we had all studied in the Scots College Rome our minds finally turned to Blessed Pius IX (above, in his Papal Train). It was he who allowed the building of the first railway in the Papal States. His predecessor, Pope Gregory XVI, had reportedly defined railways as "roads of Hell" but Bl Pius IX saw the benefits of the railway and in 1856 the line from Rome to Frascati opened with the train and track being first blessed by a bishop.

Aviemore

2008-10-24T16:26:00.000+01:00

We had our inaugural meeting on a visit to the Strathspey Steam Railway at Aviemore.

We left Glasgow Queen Street on the 0841 to Aberdeen, changing at Perth for the 0955 to Inverness (ex Edinburgh at 0837), which got us to Aviemore at 1118. An Open Return is £47.90 but by purchasing Advance Single tickets we got there and back for £20 return. Whilst we obviously had tickets, a friendly employee at Queen Street opened the barrier and escorted us to the train rather than having to try and work the automatic ticket gates. This helpful attitude was a great start to our expedition.

Our journey up and down was by Class 170, but the object of our journey was, of course the steam train at Aviemore. When we arrived at Aviemore we had an hour to pass before our train was due to leave but waiting in the steam platform was not the branch train for us but a Class 47 hauling the Royal Scotsman. Whilst dreaming of travelling in such luxury, we wandered off and found a cafe for a bacon roll for breakfast.

At 1230 our train, hauled by a "BR black" Saddle Tank and made up of Mk1 stock, left Aviemore for Broomhill, with us aboard. Although it was a Wednesday in October the train was quite busy with families; not all of whom enjoyed it as much as us - "Why are we going so slow?" "A real train would be quicker!" was the refrain of a child sitting behind us. We though enjoyed the trip, especially watching the engine take on water at Boat of Garten. We also sanctified the trip by celebrating the Little Hour of Sext, having celebrated Lauds on the way up from Glasgow and celebrating Vespers on the way back down.

After returning to Aviemore we saw some of the sights, visited the Catholic Church, which was closed but which had a nice statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Succuor in the grounds, and had dinner in a nice chippy - the "Happy Haggis". This eatery had a great view of the mainline railway and whilst dining we saw a short train (perhaps dealing with the autumn leaf-fall) with doubled headed 66's on the front and a third 66 on the rear.

Scottish Clergy Railway Circle

2008-10-24T11:54:00.000+01:00

The Church recommends that priests find time for common social activities and encourages them to socialise in a wholesome way as priests, a "a decisive support in difficulties and a valuable help in the growth of pastoral charity" (Directory on the Life and Ministry of Priests, 28).

Priests need to find support in pastoral issues and spiritual ones from each other. They also need to be comfortable in social support: some exercise this through sports such as golf or football; others through a variety of social activities.

A glaring ommission in Scotland so far though is a group for clerical railway enthusiasts.

This ommission has now been recitified: Welcome to the -

Scottish Clergy Railway Circle

Here we will post information on our upcoming activities and record of what has been done alreday.