Guardsman of the Forth
Rebuilt Royal Scot Class 46115 “Scots Guardsman” approaches North Queensferry with the Great Britain V Railtour ex Waverley headed for Aberdeen, on day two of the weeklong tour. Photo shot from the Gun Battery at Carlingnose Point on North Queensferry.
The economist versus The Economist
So “mad Alex“, the loony-leader who wishes to depose Robert Mugabe and be the Next King of Scotland is all in a lather as his two-bit, tin-pot excuse for a so-called nation of sponging subsidy-junkies and haggis-munchers finds itself on the wrong end of two barrels of home (counties?) truth from those boys down at The Economist. The latest cover of the UK edition has caused an almichty-me fuss this side of Hadrian’s wall by labelling the place that gave the world Adam Smith: Skintland.
Under the foreboding threat “It’ll cost you – The price of Scottish independence” the nation is mapped out under place names including “Edinborrow – twinned with Athens”, “Obankrupt”, “Ben Novice”, “Rum Deal”, “Islay-offs” and my favourite “Shutland – leased to Norway”.
All a good jolly jape, and considering that the article it trails is a modestly more balanced and considered article, what’s the big deal?
Well, quite a lot says Salmond, who slams it as “sneering condescensions”. Which betray how London’s ruling and chattering classes “really regard Scotland.” Other’s too lay in to the tone of the cover, obvious candidates from the SNP along with Leslie Riddoch, Tim Montgomerie and a tweetful of others. Non-SNP politicians are decidedly less offended by the smear, agreeing that it’s all a jolly wheeze to bait the SNP with.
But here’s the rub: It’s wrong. There’s an inescapable, habitual, and chronic behaviour at play here that says “London knows best”, and everyone else is to be talked down to and patronised. There are many cases in history, and in most of them, the sneering patronisation which was “just a bit of fun” is now racism, sexism or bigotry. Knocking the Scots is the latest in a long line of discriminations that we need to call for what they are. Some racist jokes are funny – but they are still wrong.
In essence, this attitude suggests that Scotland just can’t achieve because it’s Scotland. It’s a blinkered value system, that detracts attention from raw realism and eschews considered debate for witty put-downs that shift the publications from the shelves and the attention from the truth. The Economist is an amateur in this game - try reading the Daily Mail to see how the professionals do it! It’s “Allo Allo” humour with a sinister undercurrent and betrays a disdain for Scotland’s credibility as a nation state that detracts from a more considered article in the pages within.
When the Bard himself wrote these prophetic lines, I suspect he was thinking of these days:
O wad some Power the giftie tie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An’ foolish notion:
What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us, An’ ev’n devotion!
Model Rail Scotland 2012
Laira: and an HST get's some tarpaulin TLC
Towards the end of February 2012, the SECC in Glasgow opened its doors once again to an eclectic mix of oddballs who fantasise about staying in a lonely room alone for long periods of time. But let’s not dwell on the Channel 5 “Big Brother 2012″ auditions that were taking place elsewhere in the centre, because Hall’s 3 and 5 were playing host to Model Rail Scotland once more.
The ubiquitous BRCW Type 2 - a JLTR 7mm recreation of a locomotive well versed on Scottish metals
MRS is as major event in the modeller’s calendar, and the biggest Scottish event of its ilk, a fact reflected by an exhibitor list which included Hornby, Heljan, Peco and Bachmann – proudly showing off their latest models to the enthusiasts.
Scottish model clubs were well represented – member clubs from Ayrshire to Elgin all on show, as well as guest layouts from south of the border and further afield in attendance too.
Amongst the highlights were the Alsager Railway Association’s huge 7mm set of Hassell Harbour Bridge named after a feature that spans a giant chasm with seagulls circling below as trains cross above. According to the club’s website, they have spent £30000 on stock and it showed, with the dormant Hush-Hush W1, a Prototype Deltic and a Caledonian 4-6-0 resplendent in blue. Hassell dominated the entrance to the larger Hall 3, and righty so was awarded for best scenery.
Hassell Harbour Bridge boasted some unusual stock
The incredible Hassell Harbour Bridge
Manchester City being passed by the reds?
Narrow gauge trains pass on the loop in the sleepy town of La Barque, somewhere in France
Further into the hall, a continental twist was distilled in the shape of the contrastingly sleepy and rural narrow gauge layout La Baraque – a French village put together by a Dutchman on his first show in Scotland. The buildings and streets even featured a flat iron type junction and copses of trees that anyone could see were a work of great skill, but what leapt out what the way in which the atmosphere of a sleepy French village had been captured so effectively.
Big name manufacturer Bachmann were proudly showing off the long awaited and almost mythical Midland Blue Pullman – still unpainted at the time of showing. While the Bachmann Pullman was a long awaited arrival, there were a number of other eye-catching models on show. Pete Waterman’s Just Like the Real Thing has a shelf resplendent in 7mm Type 2′s as well as a Clayton, all beautifully lit and presented, but the biggest (literally) star was Chris Vine’s gigantic LNER B1 “Bongo” in 5inch gauge. A model that took two years to paint and showing just why patience is a virtue.
Bongo up close
Bongo from afar
Model Rail Scotland is only 1 year away, by comparison, and look of for details around February 2013.
Forth Bridge Floodlighting
A welcome return to the South Queensferry evening vista this month, has been the floodlit illumination of the bridge, especially so after the recent removal of all scaffolding on the completion of the new long lasting no repeat paint job.
Cromwell invades Scotland bringing havoc once again
Last Saturday saw the first foray of steam into Scotland for 2012 – if you exclude the permanent residents at Bo’ness and Grantown on Spey – when BR Standard Class 7 No 70013 steamed into Edinburgh Waverley station with the “Heart of Midlothian” tour.
Cromwell, like her republican namesake, brought chaos once again to Scotland on crossing the border. An over exuberant attempt to please the crowd by letting off smoke an steam while waiting in the Berwick loop led to a small fire starting in the neighbouring flora and consequentially sent the East Coast rail network into apoplexy with no less than four Inter City trains running up to 20 minutes late.
The culprit did however, escape unscathed herself from her fire starting misdemeanour to come proudly steaming into the Edinburgh station bang on time. This time, she berthed on platform 20, which allowed a large crowd (generally men of a certain age) to gather on the opposing – and critically longer – platform 2 to snap some classic three quarter shots of the loco, glinting in the sunlight flooding through Waverley’s ever brightening canopy. Previous specials have travelled the full length of platform 2, leaving frustrated photographers little opportunity to snap the subject from anywhere but 30 feet behind on the shorter platform.
After a brief rest, she was diesel hauled out of the station eastwards to drop her train at Craigentinny then west along “the Sub” then north towards a traversal of the Forth Bridge for a week’s rest at in the Kingdom of Fife. Oh how her namesake will be spinning in his roundhead grave!
Next Saturday she’ll return back across the Forth in the morning to make ready for a Carlisle bound lunchtime departure from Waverley under the title “The Auld Reekie”. This promises shots of the train crossing Slateford viaduct and of course, the eponymous ascent of Shap.
