Mainline Captures

[John 2]

When I can't be bothered to go further afield, my local mainline rail station usually offers a few opportunities. Sorry about the colour pop on no.2 but I couldn't resist. The plaque in the first colour image is new. It marks the centenary of the start of the first world war in 1914 and has been hung above the place at which the free refreshment stall used to exist for troops passing through the station. For those of you that have never come across the phrase, the "Pals" battalions were one of those things that seemed "a good idea at the time". It was thought by Kitchener and his staff, that the recruiting drive would be aided by encouraging groups to volunteer together with the promise that they would remain together throughout their service. Whole streets, groups of office workers and even a Scottish football team responded. The unpredicted and unintentional consequence of this "idea" was that as a result of the slaughter that followed, whole neighbourhoods lost the greater part of their menfolk with the attendant hardship. Hence the special mention of the "Preston Pals".

Fuji Xpro1
23mm f1.4


1.

2.

3.

4.

[chauncey]

The pictures, as good as they are, pales in comparison to your story. Thanks for that.

[terrib]

I'm always in awe of the photographer that can make great compositions out of urban scenes. Thank you for your story on the first picture. Interesting and sad. I love the compositions in #2 and #4. The pop of color in #2 doesn't bother me but I do yearn for a little more detail in the shadows. That, of course, is just my taste. I really like the photograph. The lines and the light in #4 are wonderful. Great stuff!

[IzzieK]

Hey! what happened to #3? I was waiting for any comment on that because I don't know what it is....I can just comment on the B/W transistion of it...which is the same as #2 and 4. They look great. #2 I like for the pop of red. And I like red. All of them are great shots, John...can't critique when there is none...just praises.

[Shadowman]

Nicely presented.

[Mike Buckley]

The last one is really terrific! Consider toning down the bright area of the wall. Unlike the bright area of the ramp that leads my eye to the man, the bright area of the wall pulls my eye away from him.

Izzie: The subject in the third photo is the thingy that stops the train at the end of the line.

[deetheturk]

Great series John.

David

[Quentin88]

Beautifull photos, as Myke said the #4 is greatly composed

[John 2]

Thanks all for your comments.

Terri, against the light, it was difficult to find more detail. I have found a little more shadow detail but the problem was that the last firmware update to the camera had reset everything to factory settings which included JPG for the format and I hadn't noticed.

Issie, it's a train buffer as opposed to an old buffer of whom we will say no more!

Mike, tweaked and re-posted.

[thegman]

John, no critique from me, this is my first comment on a post.The story with the first one is very poignant, being ex-military myself I know the bonds that are made, and is made so effective by such a great picture. I also really like #3 the old buffers, there will no doubt be very many railway workers that have never seen a buffer look so good.

[Mike Buckley]

Mike, tweaked and re-posted.

Yesssssssssssssssssss!

[shreds]

The guy in No.4 looks like is just contemplating whether to bother coming after you for taking his picture.......ruuunnnnnn!

[Donald]

It was thought by Kitchener and his staff, that the recruiting drive would be aided by encouraging groups to volunteer together with the promise that they would remain together throughout their service. Whole streets, groups of office workers and even a Scottish football team responded. The unpredicted and unintentional consequence of this "idea" was that as a result of the slaughter that followed, whole neighbourhoods lost the greater part of their menfolk with the attendant hardship.

It is indeed very sobering to visit the graveyards in the Somme and in Belguim and see the graves of men of the Pals Battalions. Swathes of young men, similarly aged, from the same community, all killed on the same day at the same place.

[ajohnw]

It's nice to see some evenly toned black and white rather than what some seem to feel it did look like. My favourite is the buffer.

Sobering plaque. Some one on the telly reminded us all that if it wasn't for the colonials, Canadians, Australians, Indians and many others at the time the UK simply wouldn't be here now.

John
-

[kdoc856]

"It was thought by Kitchener and his staff, that the recruiting drive would be aided by encouraging groups to volunteer together with the promise that they would remain together throughout their service. Whole streets, groups of office workers and even a Scottish football team responded. The unpredicted and unintentional consequence of this "idea" was that as a result of the slaughter that followed, whole neighbourhoods lost the greater part of their menfolk with the attendant hardship".

Nice series ,John No need to apologize for a little selective colour- the technique was overused because of its broad appeal- we shouldn't retire it forever because of that.

The lessons of history seem frequently quoted but rarely put into action. You may be aware that in WWII the US Navy allowed five brothers to serve on a single ship, and they were all killed in a single combat. And similar to your example, in the American civil war, regiments were very typically formed from a single village or town, and thus the decimation of an entire generation of young men in a single stroke.

[flashback]

I like them, as well as the story behind them. As a Vet I too can relate.
#2 sings, but I could do without the colorization as well. It's a strong image and can stand on its own B&W merits.
I also like #3. Is it a buffer, or a bumper?
#4 is an interesting image, I think I would have liked it more had the man not been looking right at you, but that's just personal taste.

Kevin, you're referring to the Sullivan brothers. I believe for the duration of the war the Navy would not allow brothers to serve on the same vessel, but that was rescinded after the war and if practicable brothers can serve together.

[rpcrowe]

As mentioned above by Kevin; this type of segmented slaughter also occurred during the U.S. Civil War in which entire towns lost the majority of their menfolk in one battle. The American Civil War was the first of our wars in which very large numbers of men were killed. In fact, during the Tennessee Battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, more men were killed than the total than the total killed in all of the previous wars in which America fought...

Many of the Civil War generals attempted to fight a Napoleanic style of war. The evolution of the rifled musket should have ended any thoughts of massed frontal charges. However that weapon did not cause any great changes in tactics. In fact, in WW-I during the Somme and other battles, men advanced into concentrated machine gun fire in frontal charges...

Brave soldiers led by incompetent idiots!

[terrib]

John, you might consider in future leaving the originals and posting edits separately so that newcomers to the thread can see what was discussed. I can't be sure without seeing them both, but I think I actually preferred your original #4. I rather liked the light and although I think Mike may have been right about the light on the wall drawing the eye away, I think it was temporary and not detrimental because of the strong lines the viewers eyes return to the top. But I'm not sure since I can no longer compare. Did you do a selective toning down of the light on the wall? I ask because it seems the whole photo lost some of the appeal of the light.

[John 2]

Thanks all for the additional comments.

Point taken Terri. I generally do but since this was just a tweak I didn't on this occasion.
Ian, he actually apologised for spoiling my photograph.
Jack, they are "Buffers" in the UK but as always, may be called something else in other parts.

I'm glad that the story has resonated in the way that it has. "Lions led by donkeys" is the popular phrase Richard and you and Kevin are right, there are lessons to be learned if only we (the world) would heed them. This years marking of the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities has made me realise much that I had never considered before, particularly that there is more relevance in our recent history than 1066 and all that. There have been some really excellent TV programmes this year that have focussed on the effect the War had on people rather than the actual battles. My great grandfather and namesake was killed in Italy two days before the Armistice. Clearly sad but more poignantly, in a pre wireless pre internet age where communication was not as instant as it is today and disrupted anyway, the family must have rejoiced at the ending of hostilities and assumed his survival only to receive the inevitable bad news telegram some time later. However, what really brought home the horror of it all wasn't the usual description of the terrible numbers killed but a passage quoted from the war diary of a doctor describing his first visit to the front. He described the unit he was with finding an individual that had sunk up to his waist in mud in a shell hole. They couldn't release him and being a relief column they had to press on.

"When I returned two days later" he went on, "the poor fellow was still there, the mud now up to his neck and he was quite, quite mad".

I'm a privileged post war baby and have never witnessed horrors like that. I hope that I never will.

[bnnrcn]

Nice images,I especially like #2 and #4