The MrT Podcast Studio

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 9 – Build Welcome to Build , talk nine in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. We always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! Many of you in the business may think that this is where IT takes over. This is incorrect! The IT team may take the...

Episode 16 – Life on the Watercress Line – Christmas Leave (1) Welcome to Christmas Leave (part 1), where I have the opportunity to travel with servicemen and their families. With Christmas just over those who had leave for Christmas are travelling back to base. Those who were on duty over Christmas are going home for a few days. The Home Guard are very active in Christmas Leave (1) ch...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 8 – Data Welcome to data , talk eight in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. We always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! I talk about the need to take every opportunity to improve data quality. The improvement work should have started as...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 10 A – The Sick Man of Europe and the Berlin Conference of 1878 (A) Please note : this talk is in two parts. Please scroll down to the second part after listening to Part A. Peter Duffy tells us about the fate of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire in The Sick Man of Europe and the Berlin Conference of 1878 . The conference led to changes in the countries allocated...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 10 B – The Sick Man of Europe and the Berlin Conference of 1878 (B) Peter Duffy tells us about the fate of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire in The Sick Man of Europe and the Berlin Conference of 1878 . The conference led to changes in the countries allocated to the different European Empires in both the Balkans and Mediterranean. The Sick Man of Europe and the Be...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 7 – Listen Welcome to Listen, talk seven in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. We always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! I talk about the need for everyone, from the top downwards, to listen. The listening should have started as part...

Episode 15 Welcome to Watercress People (1), where I have the opportunity to interview some of the people who make the Watercress Line happen – for you and me. My first interview in Watercress People (1) is with Colin Fuller who was one of the original people involved when British Rail closed the line in the 1970s. I then talk to Steve Crowther, the Chair of the Mid-Hants Railway Preservatio...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 9 A – Darwin and Evolution (A) Sam Osmond tells the story of the life of the Victorian scientist Charles Darwin and his theory of Evolution in Darwin and Evolution (A) . We hear about his early life, and how he went to Edinburgh to study to be a doctor. Sam tells us about his time at Cambridge where he was studying to become a clergyman. As Darwin was more int...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 9 – Darwin and Evolution B Sam Osmond continues the story about the life of the Victorian scientist Charles Darwin and his theory of Evolution in Darwin and Evolution (B) . We hear about Herbert Spence, a leading Victorian philosopher, and his  ideas about evolution. Sam discusses selective breeding, a topic Plato wrote about over 2,000 years ago. 18th century...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 6 Welcome to Keeping Tight Control, talk six in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. We always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! In  Keeping Tight Control I talk about the need to keep to the scope defined as part of the Best Practice programme...

Episode 14 Welcome to A Day Out With Thomas (B),  a favourite event for visitors, of all ages, to the Watercress Line . I join Thomas and his friends who are out in the summer weather to entertain everybody! Rusty and I talk about his role and later I catch part of his magic show. I visit the swing seat roundabouts, a very popular attraction at Ropley. After that I take the first train to Alresfor...

Series 1 Episode 16 From the Sierra Nevada to Richmond is the last part my journey westwards on the California Zephyr . I left you at the end of the last episode at the top of the Sierra Nevada. Today we come down the mountain and travel through California to Richmond. The speed limit is 30 mph as the train descends the mountain. We certainly don’t want to be on a ‘runaway train’...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 5 Welcome to the Detailed Project Scope, episode five, in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. In this series we always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! In  the Detailed Project Scope I talk about the need for ensuring that your scope is in li...

Episode 13 Welcome to A Day Out With Thomas,  a favourite event for visitors, of all ages, to the Watercress Line . I join Thomas and his friends who are out in the summer weather to entertain everybody! I talk to the Fat Controller who is here to ensure that the event runs smoothly. He has come all the way from the Island of Sodor for the week. I also speak to Rusty who gives magic shows each day...

Series 1 Episode 15 Across the Sierra Nevada to the Donner Pass continues my journey westwards on the California Zephyr . I left you at the end of the last episode as we started the climb across the Sierra Nevada. Today we continue the climb, through spectacular scenery, to the Donner Pass. Building the route required complex engineering because there were so many challenges. The train’s fir...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 8 a in the Austro Hungarian Empire (a) Jo Huddleston tells us about the early years of the Empire. He tells us that there were Prime Ministers in both Austria and Hungary. He discusses the stress this caused and the need for the Emperor to keep tight control. We hear about the suicide of Franz Joseph’s son and how Franz Ferdinand became the heir apparent. We a...

Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 8 b The Austro Hungarian Empire (b) continues Jo’s talk. Jo picks up the story in the 1880s, and tells us about the period to the Empire’s dissolution in 1918. We hear about the lack of democratic government and the stress caused by the differences between Austria and Hungary. Franz Joseph was the Emperor from 1867 to 1916. He governed for much of the ti...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 4 Welcome to The Team, episode four in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. In this series we always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! In  The Team I talk about the need for ensuring that you have the best team that you can find. This means tha...

Episode 12 Welcome to Walk the Line where members of the public raise money for the Watercress Line . It is an opportunity to see the railway from ground level and at walking pace! 950 walkers, with many assorted dogs, took up the challenge to Walk the Line on a Sunday last November. It was a beautiful autumnal morning when the walkers set off but torrential rain arrived during the walk. Many of t...

Series 1 Episode 14 In  episode fourteen I travel on the California Zephyr  from The Middle of Nowhere in Wyoming to Reno . We continue along the diversion to Salt Lake City and then, having rejoined the usual route, on to Reno . The route takes us through some pretty desolate desert. I certainly wouldn’t like to get stranded out there! The train passes through the desert communities of Elko...

Your Big Project – Series 1 Episode 3 Welcome to Process Mapping  the third episode in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. In this series we always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! In  Process Mapping I talk about the need for accurate, detailed process maps before starting you...

Welcome to part 3 of the Driving and Firing Experience offered by  the Watercress Line . The afternoon was my opportunity to drive a steam engine  – something that I’d wanted to do since I was a child! Three of us were trainees that afternoon, guided by an excellent Watercress Line driver and fireman. This podcast starts as leave Alresford, for the second time, for the uphill climb to...

In  episode thirteen I travel on the California Zephyr  from north of Denver, Colorado,  then along our diversion across Wyoming to Rawlins, an oil town in Carbon County . The diversion is to allow engineering work on the California Zephyr’s  normal route. We are travelling along the historic Overland route last regularly used by a passenger train over 20 years ago. The  Amtrak Pioneer . The...

Welcome to Your Best Practice Programme . The second episode in the series ‘ Your Big Project ‘. Hopefully this series of podcasts will improve the chances of success for your project. In this series we always consider the good, the bad and the extremely ugly ! In  Your Best Practice Programme,  the essential foundation before you start your systems project, we look at key building blo...

Welcome to part 2 of the Driving and Firing Experience offered by  the Watercress Line. My opportunity to do something that I’d wanted to do since I was a child! Drive a steam engine!! There were three trainees that afternoon, guided by an excellent Watercress Line driver and fireman. The podcast starts as we reach Ropley after an uphill climb from Alresford. This episode takes you from our...