An Inspector Calls (mini-blog)

 

The play by J B Priestley concerns a Police Inspector Goole, who calls on an "unsuspecting" well heeled family as they relax after dinner. It turns out, as the play progresses, (spoiler alert!) that each member of the family has had a part in the crime under investigation. It is good, tense play and very well crafted.

Many readers are old enough to be familiar with the traditional cheery ticket inspector on our railways.

His only equipment was a ticket clipper ...

... which cut a little notch in the cardboard Edmondson ticket that was universal in the good old days!

Different shaped nibbles allowed, in theory, one inspector to identify the work and location of another; but whether these details were ever fully used is not clear.

With the universal use of the "orange stripe" ticket ...

... clippers were replaced by a similar device that printed a code onto the card.

Again, whether anyone could decode the stamp is doubtful.

Nowadays "revenue protection officers" travel threateningly in groups,  often swooping on passengers and charging then penalties or setting prosecution in motion when the ticket has been wrongly issued by the ticket office.

But fbb is more interested in track inspectors.

Back in the day a railway track worker ... 

... would walk his "length" - on busy lines, every day - checking that any loose oak wooden "keys" were hammered ...

...  into the "chairs" that kept the rails firmly held in place. The bullhead rail technology is now replaced except, perhaps, on an occasional rusty siding.

Any serious problem would be phoned back to base at the next signal box.

Nowadays, the work is done by clever trains equipped with even cleverer electronics! 

For the bigger jobs, way back, the area boss would ride in his "Inspection Saloon",  together with his section heads, to plan major new work and review it once it was completed.

Here is a Great Northern Railway Saloon from 1897 ...

... a Bristol and Exeter coach from 1900 ...

... and a very opulent Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway example from 1906. 

The opulence was needed in part as directors of the Railway Company would also use such conveyances to review their investment. Doubtless they were lavishly wined and dined en route!

Probably the most memorable of these vehicles were the 50ft saloons of the London Midland and Scottish Railway dating from the 1930s.

The Southern Railway's "Caroline" is a similar, but more recent vehicle.

But it is the LMS type that now graces fbb's model railway layout in OO gauge.

Remember This Tease?

When fbb first read these words, his brain took him back to the Dandy and Biffo The Bear.

fbb's fave was Desperate Dan!

But this is Biffa the bin lorry company and Oxford Diecast has been promoting a new edition of the vehicle in question.

But if you want one for your model railway layout ...

... you are too late!

Although, about a week ago, Rails of Sheffield was announcing it as a new model AND discounted! Maybe Rails has bought the whole Oxford stock to sell on?

Also recently,  Hornby, owners of Oxford Diecast, announced its sale to a company that nobody has ever heard of.

Now let us unravel this. The former owners of Oxford Diecast, LCD Enterprises, who sold out to Hornby, included one Lyndon Charles Davies. 

The directors of EKD enterprises, the new owners, include ...

... a certain Lyndon Charles Davies and Eloise Kate Davies. So it's back with the family!

fbb is sure it makes sense to somebody.

More from "The Inspector" later.

 Next Funebral Fun blog : Weds 13th Nov