The MrT Podcast Studio

In the first part of the Boer War and Other Colonial Adventures Richard Thomas starts by talking about the Colonial tensions in southern Africa. He discusses parts played by the key players in the lead up to the war and their different viewpoints. He covers the Boer sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking and the difficulties that the British Army, initially led by Redvers Buller, had in relie...

In the second part of his talk on the Boer War and other Colonial Adventures Richard Thomas discusses the replacement of Redvers Buller by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener. The arrival of these two  new Army leaders brings a much tougher regime for conducting the war with a  scorched earth policy as a response to the Boer guerrilla warfare, the building of armed blockhouses and the introduction of ...

In the third part of his talk, the Boer War and other Colonial Adventures, Richard Thomas discusses some of the other adventures that took place during the  scramble for Africa.  The scramble for Africa  took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The adventures discussed include: The Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War. The Anglo-Zanzibari War – the shortest war in history! The pu...

The Canadian Pacific restoration project, often called the CanPac project, concerns the restoration of the Merchant Navy class locomotive, number 35005, Canadian Pacific . The Merchant Navy class was designed by Oliver Bulleid for the Southern Railway  early in the Second World War. The locomotive brought together many innovations from across the world – some worked well, others didn’t...

The Grand Prix de Farnham took place in October 2018 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Mike Hawthorn  winning the Formula 1 World Championship. On 19 October 1958 the Moroccan Grand Prix was held on a circuit near Casablanca. This was the only time that Morocco has hosted a world championship Grand Prix. Mike Hawthorn driving a Ferrari was in pole position but the race was won by Stirling Moss...

The Coast Starlight through the Cascades continues as the train travels northwards . The first stop in this episode is at Chemult station. In 2017 the station hosts 10,500 passengers. I meet interesting people to interview as the journey continues through stunning scenery. We pass the upper reaches of the Willamette River and then Lookout Lake, a reservoir dating from the 1950s. We reach the farml...

Our second visit to the War on the Line weekend takes us to Ropley and Alresford stations. Most visitors coming by car park at Ropley as there is free parking (the car parks at Alresford and Alton are ‘pay and display’). Ropley is the station with the most space available for displays. The episode begins with a description of the activities taking place during the weekend at the statio...

The journey for the Coast Starlight  starts in the Financial District of San Francisco. Our traveller waits for the Amtrak Thruway bus to take him to Emeryville to board the famed  Coast Starlight . After arriving at Emeryville we experience the sounds of the railway station with trains passing through whilst waiting to board the  Coast Starlight . This train runs daily between Los Angeles and Sea...

Our traveller arrived in the late afternoon (early morning in London) and travelled into the city using the BART system. Having reached his hotel and checked in and we find our traveller in the lift before setting out to experience the sights and sounds of San Francisco. After a good sleep our traveller sets out to go along to Fisherman’s Wharf where there are many restaurants and other mean...

In  the first part of Michael A’Bear’s talk on How the West was Lost, we hear about: The French Influence and the size of Louisiana The Lewis and Clark expedition The Alamo and its effect on the United States The West was fascinating, it is vast and interesting, to get an idea of its vastness listen to the podcasts in Series 1 of US Rail Journeys on this site. There are no illustration...

In  the second part of Michael’s talk on How the West was Lost, we hear about: The Indian Wars The Californian Gold Rush The effect of the settlers on the West The birth of the Cowboy legend Many of the big names of the West such as the Earps, the OK Corral etc. The West was fascinating, it is vast and interesting, to get an idea of its vastness listen to the podcasts in Series 1 of US Rail...

In  the third part of Michael’s talk on How the West was Lost, we hear about: Jessie James Calamity Jane Big Nose Kate – better known as Katie Elder Ma Baker George Armstrong Custer and the Little Big Horn The West was fascinating, it is vast and interesting, to get an idea of its vastness listen to the podcasts in Series 1 of US Rail Journeys on this site. There are no illustrations t...

Every summer the Watercress Line recreates the atmosphere of the early 1940s with the War on the Line weekend where there are different themes at each of it’s stations. In this episode we visit platform 3 at Alton station – the interchange between the Watercress Line and the national rail network – where we meet the singer entertaining the passengers and then we board the train t...

Join our traveller on his daytime flight with British Airways from London (Heathrow Terminal 5) to San Francisco. Arriving in the late afternoon he passes through Immigration and Customs and then takes the BART train from the Airport to the city where its a short walk to his hotel.   Click on a picture to open the gallery. Full size copies of the photographs taken by MrT are available from  F...