Today's post, 25th June 2018, comprises two current 500-piece jigsaws from well known manufacturers.
The first (left) is titled The School Outing from Gibsons replicating the artwork of Derek Roberts. The picture features a group of school children, boys and girls, dressed in vivid green uniforms. .What appears to be an ex GWR 'Manor' class 4-6-0 locomotive, No.7811 Dunley Manor, in unusual red livery, is receiving an overhaul in a railway maintenance department. The schoolchildren are unaware of the foreground newspaper carrying the headline 'Beechings Axe' and 'Steam to Go'. The paper dates the scene to 1963, the date of the report by Dr Richard Beeching titled the' Reshaping of British Railways'.
Can anyone add information on the scene and an ex GWR loco in red livery? (email address above)
The second puzzle (right) from W. H. Smith, is simply titled Steam Train Station, and appears to be a copy of a photograph, with some added effects, from Nigel Chilvers, Advocate-Art. The scene is a station with a short train, headed by an ex GWR 'Castle' class 4-6-0 locomotive, just arriving (?) to pick up passengers or leaving (?) having disembarked passengers. Some people are dressed in period costume hinting at a special 'Step Back in Time' day on a Heritage Railway. The locomotive, No.5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, is possibly the most reliable and frequently seen preserved locomotive of recent years. Is that a diesel locomotive at the rear of the train? A porter with an old trunk, other station staff, added smoke and steam, and a few birds add interest to the scene.
