Tickets please

THERE are many considerations which are being aired in different quarters about proposed ticket office closures. I signed the petition, which no doubt many other readers did, opposing the planned closure of the majority of tickets offices, and I raise a couple of points.

My nearest staffed station is Stourbridge Town, which is a single platform capable of holding one coach. If, as we are told, stations that are currently staffed will remain so but with a presence on the platform, then will staff at this station be forced out of the ticket office? It will be interesting to see how West Midlands Railway handle this! It makes sense to retain it as a point of sale.

Secondly, I regularly purchase rover or ranger tickets through my local station, whether it be Town or Junction. Will these tickets cease to exist, or will the machines be programmed to issue them? On-train staff will have to familiarise themselves with a multitude of tickets if we have no option but to purchase from them. The obstacles mount up!

Steve Burdett, Kinver

Linen not canvas

MANY thanks for Mike Jones’s superbly researched article on the railway-related RAS airline routes.

That said, I fear that Mike (and alas many so-called aviation experts who should know better) has repeated the myth that aircraft were ‘constructed of wood and canvas’. Whilst the framework was indeed wood, an aircraft covered in canvas would be far too heavy.

The overall covering used was a much lighter material, Irish linen. After covering the frame, this thin lightweight fabric was treated with ‘Dope’, a lightweight cellulose-based varnish.

Perhaps the nearest railway comparison to ‘linen and canvas’ would be to infer that locomotive boilers were made of tinplate rather than boiler plate!

Markham Bailey, Stopsley

Pre-Grouping clothing help needed

I AM a research student working on a project studying preGrouping railway clothing from 1830 to around 1910. This will be due for publication in 2025 by the Railway & Canal Historical Society.

The project is taking an object-based approach through studying surviving garments, examining the choice of fabrics, constructional techniques and methods, use-wear analysis, as well as body composition from measuring key dimensions such as arm length, chest, neck and waist. This will be supported through archival research and examination of contemporary photographs.

To this end, I am writing to ask whether any readers have as part of their collection any surviving garments (jackets, caps, badges) from preGrouping railway companies, and/or photographs of any family members wearing railway uniforms that they would be willing to share details, photographs or scans of. Full credit will, of course, be given.

They can make contact with myself via The Railway Magazine or my facebook page www.facebook.com/ OnHistoricalLines

Anthony Dawson, Stockport