Traction Engine Tuesday or maybe 12 Inch to the Foot Tuesday.
Okay, they’re not all traction engines, but I liked the word play.
Okay, they’re not all traction engines, but I liked the word play.
Here are few snaps off my 74 year old 1951 vintage Zeiss Nettar 518/16 taken at Steam at Work at the Rural Life Living Museum, Tilford a few weeks ago on Saturday 6 September 2025. And finally over weekend I developed and digitised the film for your enjoyment here.
Being a bit of a fogey at heart, I enjoy keeping old things working, the ancient camera being an eBay find a couple of years ago from some chap on some remote Scottish island thinning out his collection.
I know very little about ‘traction engines’, (or all steam locomotives). But I enjoy the smells and the chuffetty chuff chuff, toot toot and hissing sounds they make, for they appear to be very much a living thing. Though I doubt they have self awareness or could do the Sunday Times crossword. But even if they could, they probably wouldn’t be able to master a pencil or Biro so would have to rely on their ‘staff’ to do that bit.
There I was there in a sea of mobile phones all shooting vertical video (what the £ is all that about, you don’t put your TV on its side, of maybe you do?) and digicams. People dressed in vulgar stretchy synthetic ‘leisurewear’ were double taking at my choice of vintage camera “Oohh, is that Box Brownie?” Or “my great great great great great great grandfather had one of those”.
There should be dress code at such events, with only natural fibres being allowed, ideally just tweed, hessian and horsehair. Vegans would be allowed to wear cotton, but not in polo shirt or tee shirt form, and never with logos.
Click images to enlarge…
Tomorrow, something different 🚂🚂🚂
