Blogmaster

If you wish to communicate with me about steam train jigsaws and/or related railway art, or to respond to requests for answers to my queries, please email David, at : platt.precology@gmail.com

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Two from Ravensburger

When I recently counted the number of jigsaw puzzles in my thematic, UK steam railway collection, (nearly four hundred) I was rather surprised to see seventeen Ravensburger examples, more than I thought. I have chosen two for this post (26th January 2011) with original artwork by Trevor Mitchell and Kevin Walsh.

The Rivals is a 500-piece puzzle featuring a Great Eastern Railway (GER) class T26, (LNER class E4) 2-4-0 tender  locomotive, No.7490. The loco is heading a short passenger train beside a country road on which an old vintage bus (1920's?) is 'speeding' along. The battle for supremacy between road and rail is a popular subject among jigsaw manufacturers and Trevor Mitchell's artwork doesn't disappoint. The milk churns add to the country atmosphere. The locomotive, one of a class of 100 designed by James Holden from 1891, is preserved at Bressingham Museum. Can anyone send me information about the bus? (Email address at the top of the blog).



The 1000-piece jigsaw, Watching the Trains, is a wonderful study of two children, a small boy and an older girl, admiring 'The Flying Scotsman' train as it powers by. A small dog is held on a lead by the boy to add to the ambience, and the children wave to the engine driver and passengers. Kevin Walsh must have painted a scene from British Railways' days, (1950's) when the complete name of the express, including the definite article, was used on the headboard. The logo on the tender and the number 4472, both of LNER origin (pre BR days), are puzzling, however.