Leisure Days from Ravensburger

A series of 1000-piece puzzles from Ravensburger is titled Leisure Days and today's puzzle, 20 September 2022, features No.6 in the series - Days Out. The artwork, of no surprise to pictorial jigsaw collectors, is by Kevin Walsh.

In the picture, passengers are waiting on a station platform or boarding a steam train; at the head of the train is a huge 'King' class 4-6-0 locomotive, designed by Chief Mechanical Engineer Charles Collett for the Great Western Railway (GWR), No.6007 King Edward VII. The class graced GWR lines from 1937 until 1962; three are preserved. This is a typical Kevin Walsh painting with a huge amount of detail everwhere you look. For example, the engine driver is talking to his guard at the same time that a mother, holding a child, is observing the engine in close-up. In the station forecourt a red MG sports car, with a young couple on board, is the main focus beside a man resting on his motorcycle and sidecar. Other interest is provided by a half-cab single decked bus, positioned in the background, partly loaded with passengers. I'll leave the dog, milk churns, a second car with gran' and granddaughter (?) unloading/loading the boot, station building, footbridge and young trainspotter etc,. to your interpretation and imagination. Days Out is a large puzzle, full of interest and colour, but easy to assemble.

Another from Ponda

Today's post, 8 September 2022, features a 100-piece plywood puzzle from Ponda. Depicted is an example of my favourite express locomotive class - the 'Princess Coronation' class, of William. A. Stanier. The latter was the Chief Mechanical Engineer for the London Midland and Scottish Railway, known as the L.M.S.

Ponda, based in St Leonards-on-Sea in the 1950’s, issued many wooden puzzles, including some previously named as Ian Allan puzzles. The titles of many wooden puzzles depicting steam railway scenes made around the mid-20th Century, were extremely verbose, including the example above titled British Railways: The Royal Scot, Hauled by 46254 "City of Stoke-on- Trent", taking water at Brock Troughs. London Midland Region. The illustrative artwork is by Robert Barnard Way, one of the best of the era, in this style. The locomotive, in 3/4 elevation, is liveried in BR (British Railways) passenger blue; carriages are liveried in BR crimson lake and cream, nicknamed 'blood and custard'. Water troughs allow locomotives travelling at a pre-determined speed, to take on water without stopping. Brock water troughs were positioned north of Preston, on the West Coast Main Line.