BAGDContext CSM

This morning I listened to ACME architects speaking about their place-making efforts on Folkestone’s seafront and harbour area…all very interesting and positive.

The new broadwalk is made of reclaimed African hardwood railway sleepers, probably of Azobe wood. This amazing timber is practically waterproof…that’s good, as it’s only a few feet from the sea!

A quick web search reveals that these timber railway sleepers were used extensively on African railways for most of the 20C. The railway system in Africa is being modernised by the Chinese and the sleepers are being replaced in pre-cast concrete…stronger and less expensive, but much less interesting.

The whole of the seaside development in the UK was facilitated by the railways…and so the whole thing of place- making in Folkestone is linked to the various forms of railway heritage that attach to the town. This is evident in the re-development and restoration of the Harbour station.

Lovely.

19/11 We managed to buy this picture, and it arrived earlier this week. It’s better than I hoped and will scrub up very well in a new frame.

In 1963, the US pop artist, Ed Ruscha published his Twentysic Gasoline Stations…this was a kind of photographic road trip with associated art works in print form.

Someone should do the same with railroad stations and model railway layouts…

In fact, I have begun to see how the psychgeographical model railway could be amplified through reference to specific fine artists…in the US context; maybe Hopper, Sheeler and Benton…and brought up-to-date with Ruscha.

Perfect.

It’s October, and I visited the local model railway exhibition with my friend, Alan, at the weekend.

You can imagine how pleased I was to see this model of the Granary Building at King’s Cross, with the new CSM…except that it was part of the background to a US freight layout…but pretty close.

I’ve posted before about the local model railway show.

The Psychogeographical Model Railway…

Here’s a picture of the station platform at Rannoch Moor. The photo is included in a book of the 100 best railway stations in Britain, compiled by Simon Jenkins.

Rannoch is the high-point of the West Highland line between Glasgow and Mallaig…

The vernacular buildings of the 19C railway provide a very good way of discovering Victorian architecture…you sit on the train, get out, and look around…what could be better.

Here is a picture of the railway staion at Canfranc in Spain…nothing is as grand as ruins, and nothing is as disconcerting and anxious making as a derelict railway…

This station used to be one of the largest in Europe, with a platform 200 metres long! It’s grand and derelict…brilliant.

Here’s a terrific photograph of passengers on an Indian railway journey…they’re sitting on the roof!

My friend and colleague, Jaap, asked me for a list of favourite films…luckily I am the sort of person who  makes lists…and I had this to hand…I’ve added a note of any post that I’ve already made about the films.

The Thirty Nine Steps (1935)

http://bagdcontext.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2011/05/28/the-trains-of-alfred-hitchcock/

http://paulrennie.rennart.co.uk/post/105615335175/alfred-hitchcock-speeds-up-the-thirty-nine-steps

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

http://bagdcontext.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2014/12/23/the-lady-vanishes-alfred-hitchcock-1938/

The Lady Vanishes (Hitchcock on a Train)

Bringing up Baby (1938)

To have and Have Not (1944)

A Canterbury Tale (1944)

The Third Man (1949)

Once upon a Time in the West (1968)

http://bagdcontext.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2011/08/18/once-upon-a-train-track-in-the-west/

Life and Nothing But (1989)

Europa (1991)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Casino (1995)

The Matrix (1999+)