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Friday 3 June 2011

Train Spotting - Sepia Saturday

Train spotting is not a hobby of mine but back in February I came across two iconic trains. They appeared originally in a thematic photography post; here they are again. I hope you can make up your mind whether (get it?) they qualify:

Locomotion
Thomas
Regular contributors to Sepia Saturday posts will know that I have often said that I had no old photos of my family. That has changed -- my niece has sent me over 100 from an album covering my elder brother's wartime experience in the Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean. To my delight I found this:


Now all I have to do is to find out where and when it was taken.

I will share other of my brother's photos when appropriate.

Don't miss the other trains at Sepia Saturday 77

23 comments:

Brett Payne said...

Great photo, Bob, although I don't think the weather vanes are for me. What date's the photo likely to be, because perhaps that will assist in looking for similarly shaped trains.

Bob Scotney said...

Brett, most likely in the period 1949-1945, not later than 1950 definitely. Egypt/North Africa?

Postcardy said...

You should try enlarging the train to make it easier to identify.

Bob Scotney said...

Postcardy, that's what I have done without since I posted this without much success.

Alfandi said...

looks like coconut trees..maybe in Asia..?

Brett Payne said...

I was thinking Egypt ... but I suppose it could be somewhere like Palestine. That train looks quite modern for immediately post-war, so I don't think it could have been in India. Egypt is a distinct possibility. Were the British anywhere else in North Africa? Most of those other countries are French colonies, I think.

Howard said...

There aren't many more famous trains than Thomas The Tank Engine and Locomotion! Iconic indeed.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hi Bob,

Oh, that is so very exciting and generous of your niece! I am really happy for you that you now have all those photos of your family and their adventures.

The top two are really cute.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit, and I'm glad that you enjoyed my post.

Take care,

Kathy M.

Christine H. said...

I am so thrilled that you received these family photos. I can't wait to see them!

Anonymous said...

I wanted to say congrats on the photos from your niece! How exciting to get a treasure like that! Thanks for sharing the train photo. :)

Bob Scotney said...

From what I know of my brother's war service the location can't be India or Asia. Southern Europe was under German control so it has to be the opposite side of the Mediterranean - Libya or Egypt?

Rick Henry said...

Excellent. I love the pics. Great article!

Tattered and Lost said...

I'm just blown away by those whirly-gigs. I so want those, to watch them clatter when the wind blows.

Fascinating train image amongst the palms.

Kristin said...

Wish I could help with the ID. Wasn't libya under Italy? Congrats on the photo album!

Bruno Laliberté said...

oh!! they totally qualify!!
you always surprise us!!
:)~
HUGZ

Margaret said...

Great twist. My youngest loves Thomas.

Jinksy said...

I love the weather-vanes. :)

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

A lot of trains for a non-train spotter! I like the weather vanes, but it's always good to have family memories.

If you would like the St Pierre et Miquelon stamps, you are very welcome to them. The card arrived in an envelope which I carefully preserved because the stamps are lovely. Get in touch on daily.postcard at gmail.com.

tony said...

Nice Ones Bob! 'Looking forward To Further Mediterranean Photos.

Little Nell said...

How exciting to receive all those photos! It’s great when someone in the family produces pictures of other family members that you’ve never seen before.

Unknown said...

Nice pics..Thanks for sharing such an amazing photo.
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Mike Brubaker said...

My guess is Libya. The whirligigs should be moving too.

MuseSwings said...

They certainly qualify! You may take a seat in the diner car for those. I expected to see Miami typed at the bottom of the train photo - but Libya or Egypt sound about right. Nice post - would love to see more of your brother's pictures.