- Description
- History graduate and chartered accountant working in consultancy and voluntary sectors; has owned a succession of SAABs, inevitably
-
-
Curbside Classics Archives
About Author: Big Paws
Posts by Big Paws
-
![(first posted 5/8/2016) We all know the significance of the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster. All these great aircraft were powered by the immortal Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; brilliantly engineered and superbly […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/01-feature.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Rampside Classic – 1943 De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito – The Wooden Wonder That Rewrote The Rulebook")
Rampside Classic – 1943 De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito – The Wooden Wonder That Rewrote The Rulebook
Posted on May 8, 2022 | 63 Comments(first posted 5/8/2016) We all know the significance of the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster. All these great aircraft were powered by the immortal Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; brilliantly engineered and superbly […] -
![(first posted 4/3/2016) We know Snowdonia, the great mountain range in north Wales, as the land of dragons, but how many know of the curious two headed dragons of the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ffestiniog-21-grey.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic – 1992 Ffestiniog Railway ‘Double Fairlie’ Dafydd Lloyd George / David Lloyd George – The Two Headed Dragon That Thinks It’s The Welsh Wizard")
Trackside Classic – 1992 Ffestiniog Railway ‘Double Fairlie’ Dafydd Lloyd George / David Lloyd George – The Two Headed Dragon That Thinks It’s The Welsh Wizard
Posted on April 3, 2022 | 20 Comments(first posted 4/3/2016) We know Snowdonia, the great mountain range in north Wales, as the land of dragons, but how many know of the curious two headed dragons of the […] -
![(first posted 3/6/2016) Everyone, surely, has heard of Flying Scotsman? But how many know the full story behind the elegant lines, evocative name and classic apple green livery? Now that […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/P1020292.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1923 LNER A3 Class Pacific No 4472 Flying Scotsman – The Many Lives Of The People’s Engine")
Trackside Classic: 1923 LNER A3 Class Pacific No 4472 Flying Scotsman – The Many Lives Of The People’s Engine
Posted on March 6, 2022 | 39 Comments(first posted 3/6/2016) Everyone, surely, has heard of Flying Scotsman? But how many know the full story behind the elegant lines, evocative name and classic apple green livery? Now that […] -
![(first posted 2/25/2016) Before the Great War, Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England was at its peak as one of the great industrial cities of the world, central to […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/006-Mauretania-002a_b.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Dockside Classic – 1906 Cunard Liner RMS Mauretania – Ambition And Innovation Combine In The First Modern Ocean Liner")
Dockside Classic – 1906 Cunard Liner RMS Mauretania – Ambition And Innovation Combine In The First Modern Ocean Liner
Posted on February 25, 2022 | 84 Comments(first posted 2/25/2016) Before the Great War, Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England was at its peak as one of the great industrial cities of the world, central to […] -
![(first posted 12/15/2021) Restoring a Morris Minor is probably quite straightforward if you have the patience; building one from scratch, with no example to follow, would be something else. The […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/tornado-light.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic – 2008 A1 Class Pacific 600163 Tornado – Yes, This Really Is Britain’s Newest Express Locomotive")
Trackside Classic – 2008 A1 Class Pacific 600163 Tornado – Yes, This Really Is Britain’s Newest Express Locomotive
Posted on December 15, 2021 | 38 Comments(first posted 12/15/2021) Restoring a Morris Minor is probably quite straightforward if you have the patience; building one from scratch, with no example to follow, would be something else. The […] -
![(first posted 10/18/2015) In 1995, British Rail didn’t celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their pride and joy, the Inter City 125 diesel train, as ‘we don’t want passengers to realise […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/br_publicity.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1976 British Rail Inter City 125 High Speed Train – Still Setting The Standard")
Trackside Classic: 1976 British Rail Inter City 125 High Speed Train – Still Setting The Standard
Posted on October 18, 2021 | 48 Comments(first posted 10/18/2015) In 1995, British Rail didn’t celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their pride and joy, the Inter City 125 diesel train, as ‘we don’t want passengers to realise […] -
![(first posted 7/23/2015) 75 (update: 80) years ago this summer, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe were engaged in the first battle fought exclusively in the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hurricane-spitfire-dover-cliffs1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Aviation History: 1940 Hawker Hurricane And Supermarine Spitfire – The Planes of “the Few”")
Aviation History: 1940 Hawker Hurricane And Supermarine Spitfire – The Planes of “the Few”
Posted on September 18, 2020 | 59 Comments(first posted 7/23/2015) 75 (update: 80) years ago this summer, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe were engaged in the first battle fought exclusively in the […] -
![Britain has a long and proud history of locomotives designed solely to haul passengers at high speed, from Rocket to Flying Scotsman, Coronation and Mallard in the steam days to […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1989 British Rail / GEC Class 91 – Britain’s Last Express Locomotive Retires")
Trackside Classic: 1989 British Rail / GEC Class 91 – Britain’s Last Express Locomotive Retires
Posted on September 15, 2020 | 14 CommentsBritain has a long and proud history of locomotives designed solely to haul passengers at high speed, from Rocket to Flying Scotsman, Coronation and Mallard in the steam days to […] -
![This poster dates from 1960. It depicts the Peak District of northern England, an area of moors and limestone – a vital lung for Sheffield and Manchester, and from 1951 […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/01-474.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1960 British Railways Metro Cammell ‘Blue Pullman’ – Another Forgotten Pioneer")
Trackside Classic: 1960 British Railways Metro Cammell ‘Blue Pullman’ – Another Forgotten Pioneer
Posted on May 3, 2020 | 17 CommentsThis poster dates from 1960. It depicts the Peak District of northern England, an area of moors and limestone – a vital lung for Sheffield and Manchester, and from 1951 […] -
![British Rail’s InterCity 125, the famous High Speed Train, has finally, after just 41 years, retired from mainline high speed service, with final scheduled journeys on the East Coast Main […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/P1100049.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic News: The InterCity 125 Retires in Style")
Trackside Classic News: The InterCity 125 Retires in Style
Posted on December 22, 2019 | 12 CommentsBritish Rail’s InterCity 125, the famous High Speed Train, has finally, after just 41 years, retired from mainline high speed service, with final scheduled journeys on the East Coast Main […] -
![The history of British diesel locomotives is complex – or messy, if you prefer. We had too many experimental designs that failed; some wonderful albeit flawed exotica but also some […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/06-nhtg03.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1962 British Railways / Brush Class 47 – From InterCity to Merry Go Round to International Rescue")
Trackside Classic: 1962 British Railways / Brush Class 47 – From InterCity to Merry Go Round to International Rescue
Posted on November 28, 2019 | 13 CommentsThe history of British diesel locomotives is complex – or messy, if you prefer. We had too many experimental designs that failed; some wonderful albeit flawed exotica but also some […] -
TQOTD – Which Historic Livery Would You like to See Again?
Posted on October 23, 2019 | 81 CommentsSeeing this beauty sweep past the bottom of the garden the other day made me wonder about what other historic liveries would bring a smile to a Curbivore. -
Curbside Classics: Strange Things in Wyoming
Posted on October 6, 2019 | 22 CommentsA holiday in Wyoming can be relied on to include great things by the roadside. Such as bears, moose, elk and buffalo. But a 1926 Alvis? -
![Cities need lungs. New York and London have their parks. The great cities of Northern England have the moors and dales of Yorkshire and Northumberland. But Glasgow is, as always, […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/01-.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Dockside Classic: 1947 Paddle Steamer Waverley – The Last Seagoing Paddle Steamer In The World")
Dockside Classic: 1947 Paddle Steamer Waverley – The Last Seagoing Paddle Steamer In The World
Posted on September 28, 2019 | 27 CommentsCities need lungs. New York and London have their parks. The great cities of Northern England have the moors and dales of Yorkshire and Northumberland. But Glasgow is, as always, […] -
![In 2014, we reported how Union Pacific had reacquired one of the eight surviving ALCO built ‘Big Boys’ – the world’s largest steam locomotives – from a museum in California, […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/01-IMG_2564.jpg?resize=115%2C115&ssl=1 "Trackside Classic: 1941 Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4014 – Amazing Things Happen in Wyoming")
Trackside Classic: 1941 Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4014 – Amazing Things Happen in Wyoming
Posted on May 10, 2019 | 32 CommentsIn 2014, we reported how Union Pacific had reacquired one of the eight surviving ALCO built ‘Big Boys’ – the world’s largest steam locomotives – from a museum in California, […]
