North Eastern Railway Steam Breakdown Crane, 1907

This is one of three steam powered breakdown cranes ordered by the North Eastern Railway with the firm of Cravens Brothers in 1907, rated at 25 tons capacity. When delivered, they were the largest capacity breakdown cranes on any British railway. As well as being used to recover broken down or crashed locomotives or other rolling stock, they were also used for moving heavy railway-related objects, such as replacing railway lines, bridge parts etc.

After many years of useful service, one of the cranes, known as CME13, was preserved by the National Railway Museum at York. When delivered it was allocated to Gateshead, but spent most of it's time at Middlesbrough Shed until that location closed in 1958, then spent time elsewhere, notably at Thornaby, Wakefield and Shirebrook until retired in 1971. It was formerly on display in a public area between the two large display halls, however is now in a rather sadder condition in the staff car park, where I was able to access and photograph it on a very wet day

HM Telegraph Ship 'Monarch', 1916

This is a 1:48 scale model of the 'Monarch', a cable repair ship built in 1916 by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd of Newcastle-on-Tyne for the Post Office. Launched on May 18th 1916, this twin screw vessel was used for laying and repairing cables around the British Isles

Ford Model T Van, 1914

The first Ford Model T car was produced in 1908, and the significance of this automobile is so well known it is hardly worth repeating - needless to say, the cheap, reliable and economical car helped put the world on wheels. It was not just private owners that benefitted from the Ford Model T - they were also converted into commercial vehicles, charabancs, and some were even converted into railway vehicles - during the Great War, Ford Model T's served as ambulances, trucks, machine gun armed scout vehicles, and some British ones were even armoured with a machine gun turret at the rear and used in Russia. This 1914 built Model T van is a god example of the small commercial vehicles built on the Ford Model T chassis, helping companies to transport their goods at greater speed and over a greater area

1903 Petrol Electric Autocar Restoration Progress

This is one of the latest images of the restoration of the North Eastern Railway 1903 Petrol Electric Autocar, courtesy of the 1903 NER Autocar Trust, a self-propelled carriage as covered in one of this blog's first posts, here - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/1903-petrol-electric-autocar.html . This photo shows the tongue and groove boarding on the non-passenger end and really shows off the lines of this fascinating railway vehicle.

For more information on this fascinating project, please visit the website at http://www.electricautocar.co.uk/

Avro 504 Biplane, 1913

Designed for training and private flying, the first Avro 504 flew in September 1913, equipped with the popular 80hp Gnome rotary engine. It was a popular two seat aircraft, and some were bought by the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service and went with them to France in 1914 at the outbreak of war. After serving in the early months of the war, including involvement in the succesful raid on the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, an important early blow to the Zeppelin fleet. It was soon obsolete for front line service and was then used for training, although in 1917 some were converted into night fighters for defence against the airship and aeroplane raids on the UK. In total, almost 9,000 were built, and this scale model depicts a very early Avro 504, as they would have appeared as built in 1913 and 1914 in civilian markings

Midland Railway Poster, 1903

Midland Railway poster dating from 1903, advertising tourism in Derbyshire. A reproduction of the poster can be bought from - http://www.past-reflections.co.uk/Derbyshire_Tourism.html

Riley 'Motor Bi' Motorcycle, 1903

This early motorcycle was built by the famous bicycle manufacturer of Riley in 1903. Like many other early motorcycles it still retains many features usually found on a bicycle, including stirrup type brakes, pedal and chains to the back wheel (for help in starting the engine) and a cycle frame, reinforced to carry the weight of engine, and very flat petrol tank

London Female Bus Conductor, c1917

This great photograph shows a female Bus Conductor on a London Bus during the First World War, issuing a ticket to a man serving with the Royal Flying Corps, wearing the distinctive Royal Flying Corps Greatcoat and side cap. The first female Bus Conductor in London started work in November 1915, replacing men who had left to join the armed forces, however as with many occupations where women filled the gaps left by men during the Great War, they had to give the jobs up when the men returned in late 1918 and 1919

London County Council Tram 106, 1903

 

One of the smallest types of electric trams used in London, LCC 106 was built in 1903 by Dick Kerr in Preston, Lancashire. Dick Kerr trams, which 106 is typical of, were extremely popular and used in a great many of the towns and cities that adoped electric tramways in the 1900's.

 

 

106 was one of 100 Class B Cars ordered by London County Council, and like most of the electric trams used across the country, was built as a double deck, open top car with open platforms at each end - which during service went under many changes. Originally built with 'reversed' stairs, they were changed in 1906 with direct stairs as it has now, and in 1911 106 was rebuilt with a fully enclosed top deck. When built, 106 could seat 22 downstairs on two long benches which face each other, and 34 on seats upstairs

SS Terra Nova - found!

Very exciting news from the Schmidt Ocean Institute - the SS Terra Nova, built in 1884 for use as a Whaler but became more famous for it's use as a polar research vessel, especially with the 1910-12 British Antarctic Expedition, more well known as the Terra Nova Expedition in which Captain Scott attempted to reach the South Pole, succeeded but was not first and then died, has been found near Greenland where it sunk in the 1940's;

http://www.schmidtocean.org/story/show/826

For more about the SS Terra Nova;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_(ship)

And the expedition it is most famous for;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_Expedition