More from Rothbury Publishing

Today's jigsaw, 21 June 2021, titled Christmas at Basingstoke, is a third for this blog from Rothbury Publishing.

Robin Pinnock is once again the artist for this super puzzle. 'Schools' class 4-4-0 No. 30926, Repton, of British Railways Southern Railway (BRSR), is pictured heading typical green coaches, ready to leave Basingstoke Station with a stopping service to Waterloo. To the left is 'West Country' class 4-6-2, No.34105 Swanage, also of BRSR, heading another passenger service. The scene is dated c1962 and Robin has enhanced his picture with a covering of snow. Both of these locomotives are preserved.

Battledown Flyover

The famous Battledown Flyover is the main subject in todays jigsaw, 24 May 2021.

A jigsaw of 1000pcs from Rothbury Publishing titled Bowling over Battledown features a junction on two levels; it is part of a large series of puzzles duplicating the artwork of Robin Pinnock. A ‘Lord Nelson’ class 4-6-0 locomotive, No.30851 Sir Francis Drake, is pictured heading ‘The Cunarder’ Boat Train over a girder bridge known as the Battledown Flyover. The train is travelling from Southampton carrying passengers from the 'Queen Elizabeth' liner to Waterloo Station. Passing beneath the girder bridge is a BR ‘Standard’ Class ‘4’ 4-6-0, No.75079, heading a freight train from Salisbury.To the left of the picture a lone railwayman, acting as a superb counterbalance to the trains in Robin's composition, acknowledges the trains as they pass by. Battledown Flyover girder-bridge is 3¼ miles west of Basingstoke, Hampshire. Locomotive No.75079 is preserved on the Mid Hants Railway (Watercress Line).
Many of Robin's excellent steam railway paintings have been used by Rothbury for jigsaw puzzles, prints, cards etc. He has produced so many that I think a book of his railway paintings would be very popular, joining the increasing number of superb books by artists such as Philip Hawkins, John Austin, George Heiron, Terence Cuneo, Don Breckon, Barry Freeman, Malcolm Root, Hamilton Ellis, Chris Woods, David Weston etc., etc.

'Bittern' - in a crosswind

A jigsaw produced from a photograph taken by yours truly is featured in today's post, 9 May 2021. I must admit that the enjoyment of completing a jigsaw increases several-fold when the jigsaw picture is your own.

The 500-piece puzzle was made by myphotopuzzle.co.uk using 2.2mm cardboard and supplied in a box complete with a title of my choosing. Both jigsaw and box are shown. The title of my jigsaw is Class A4 'Bittern' - in a crosswind. The photo of the 'A4' was taken on the West Coast Main Line as she approached Red Bank, Newton-le-Willows, on a very windy day in March, 2014. Typically, for a 'Special' excursion, the engine was turned out immaculately in LNER, Garter Blue livery. No.4464 was built at Doncaster Works in 1937 and re-numbered as 60019 by BR, in 1948. 'Bittern' spent her working life operating between London, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line and in December 2013, became the fastest steam locomotive in preservation, reaching 93mph** on a historic run. She is currently in storage at Jeremy Hosking’s Locomotive Storage facility in Margate, waiting for her turn to be overhauled at LNWR Crewe. **Surpassed by Peppercorn 'A1' Tornado in 2017; No.60163 Tornado recorded 100 mph in April of that year.

On Early Shift

For this post, April 26 2021, I am describing a recent Gibsons' 500-piece jigsaw titled On Early Shift. The jigsaw replicates a cropped version of a poster picture.

The 1948 British Railways’ poster, On Early Shift, was painted by Terence Cuneo. It depicts the interior of the Greenwood signal box, New Barnet, London, with a signalman operating a lever. At the same time he is looking through the windows watching an express passenger train, hauled by an ‘A4’ class 4-6-2 locomotive of Sir Nigel Gresley, approaching at speed. The text at the base below reads "Greenwood Signal Box, New Barnet" with the poster title. The British Railways 'totem' logo is included on both sides. The original poster, one of the first for the newly formed British Railways, was sold for £2,500 in 2014. When viewing the jigsaw, it is obvious that the picture has been cropped, but don’t look for the famous mouse. Only Cuneo’s paintings from 1953, feature a hidden mouse in his compositions. His cat entered his studio one day and ‘gifted’ a dead field mouse to him, leading to the famous added rodent. For more Cuneo jigsaws, just input his name in the search bar above. A picture of the original poster is shown below.

Flying Scotsman

This post, 12 April 2021, describes a vertical format, 400-piece jigsaw from Sovereign Publications, (although labelled as 600 pieces).

The Bill Sharman photograph features the famous Sir Nigel Gresley locomotive class 'A1', later class 'A3' 4-6-2, No.4472 Flying Scotsman, in LNER apple green livery. No.4472 is heading a 'Special' - 'The Flying Scotsman'. The picture looks as if it was taken when the engine was heading a 'Heritage Railway Special' or a Main Line 'Special. Go to the post of 28 June 2011 for a description of the two different identities - locomotive and train. The title of the jigsaw is LNER Class 'A3' Flying Scotsman.

Trainspotters

Today's post, 28th March 2021, features another jigsaw from Gibsons promoting the superb artwork of David Noble, one of the Guild of Railway Artists' professionals. This is a brilliant choice by Gibsons for a jigsaw puzzle - serving as a nostalgic glimpse into my youth, and that of many other steam era veterans. An interesting story on the BBC News website of January 2008 describes “The world’s first trainspotter” as probably a 14-year-old boy from County Durham, John Backhouse. John visited the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 and wrote a letter to his sisters in London describing the event. He also included a drawing of the train with his text. The letter with drawing is part of the National Railway Museum collection in York.

Spotters at Doncaster is a 1000-piece jigsaw packaged in a small, “Planet Friendly Box” (Gibsons' description). In BR days, two ex-LNER main line locomotives are depicted at Doncaster Station on a wet day. ‘A4’ class 4-6-2, No.60025 Falcon, taking on water at the head of a rake of crimson passenger coaches, is positioned on a centre track. Immediately to the right, stationary at a platform, is ‘V2’ class 2-6-2, No.60952, at the head of another passenger service. Several trainspotters, mostly young but mixed with one or two older enthusiasts, have underlined the ‘V2’ number and ‘A4’ ‘namer’ (trainspotting slang for a named locomotive), in their 'combined' spotters notebooks. The headboard on the ‘A4’ reads ‘Norseman’; a Kings Cross to Newcastle boat service which began c1931, although the headboard was only introduced around twenty years later. The carriages for Norway were taken by another locomotive (‘A5/2’ until 1938 and ‘V1’ afterwards) from Newcastle, to connect with the Bergen Line sailings at the Tyne Commission Quay. Here passengers were dropped off for the sailing to Norway or picked up, to return to Newcastle. The Quay was closed in 1970. I know that trainspotters were not strictly ‘railway employees’ during the steam era, but they liked to think they were. Travelling hundreds of miles on the country’s railways in pursuit of names, numbers and often, photographs, coupled with eviction from various railway properties and the occasional access to an engine cab, made them believe they were railway 'people'.

A large 1500-piece jigsaw

Today's jigsaw, 8 March 2021, is a 'special' - a 1500-piece wooden example from Amazon is the focus of attention.

A superb wooden jigsaw of 1500 pieces including a large signal gantry, is from MAIYOUWENG (China?), at Amazon Marketplace. It duplicates Malcolm Root’s superb painting of the northbound 'Queen of Scots' featuring A. H. Peppercorn class 'A1', No.60127 Wilson Worsdell, hauling a rake of elegant Pullman Cars. The train, with headboard to the fore, is pictured passing immediately beneath the huge signal gantry at High Dyke, just north of Stoke tunnel, Lincolnshire. Eight signals are visible through the dense exhaust thrown up by the locomotive. To add to the pictorialism, Malcolm has painted the scene in winter, in early British Railways' days, with the locomotive resplendent in BR express passenger blue livery. The location, on the East Coast Main Line, is smothered in a few inches of snow; three railwaymen observe from trackside. I think it's worth mentioning here, a 1948 eyecatching poster by Reginald Mayes, produced for British Railways' Eastern Region. The poster depicts the 'Queen of Scots' Pullman service from Kings Cross to Glasgow, stopping at Leeds, Harrogate, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh. 'The Queen of Scots' is pictured travelling at speed adjacent to a dominant carpet of tartan, beside the track.The locomotive at the head is an unidentified class 'A4' of Sir Nigel Gresley. The poster is reproduced below.

The Quantock Belle

The preserved West Somerset Railway is featured in today's post, 24 February 2021. It is the longest Heritage Railway in England, at just under 23 miles long, with 11 stations en-route from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead. 'The Quantock Belle' is a special dining service operated by the railway, with diners enjoying both the cuisine and scenery, as the train meanders through the Quantock Hills. Originally part of the Great Western Railway (GWR), the line was initially laid to Brunel's superior broad gauge, but changed to the standard gauge, in 1882, ten years before the Government deadline.

The jigsaw above, is a 1000-piece example from Rothbury Publishing, part of a large series of steam train jigsaw paintings by a superb artist - Robin Pinnock. Robin's painting depicts an ex GWR prairie tank 2-6-2T, No.5572, heading 'The Quantock Belle' through some glorious countryside. No.5572 was built at Swindon Works under the direction of Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett. She was, later, fitted with auto-gear for working push-and-pull passenger trains. In Robin's picture, the locomotive is shown in GWR livery. She was withdrawn from BR service in 1962 and arrived at Barry scrapyard in South Wales, in the same year. She was rescued from the scrapyard in 1971 and re-steamed in 1985, at Didcot Railway Centre. The full title of the jigsaw is The Quantock Belle on the West Somerset Railway.

Steam by Rail and Road

Today's post, describes a 1000-piece jigsaw from The Works stationers under the increasingly popular, Corner Piece brand.

The jigsaw picture duplicates a Trevor Mitchell painting. Titled Homeward Bound, the jigsaw is of 1000 pieces and features a Gresley 'C9' class 4-4-2 locomotive, No.2171, of the London and North Eastern Railway (ex North Eastern Railway). The locomotive is heading a rake of Gresley teak coaches. On an adjacent road an old Burrell steam traction engine with two farmhands on board and towing two trailers, the first filled with hay, appears to be heading away from a day on the farm. Onlookers include a lady in a bright yellow dress standing by her bicycle, and two men with two boys standing next to her, with a second bicycle. A mobile water bowser at the roadside, a post-box and a flying blackbird add more interest. The glorious weather completes the pictorial scene. The jigsaw is similar to the JR Puzzles 500-piece example detailed in the 11th March 2011 post, but extra details are added for the Corner Piece puzzle. Check out the earlier post, and compare the two Trevor Mitchell pictures.

Meals on Wheels

House of Puzzles of Invergordon is among my favourite jigsaw companies because of the variety of shapes included in their puzzle pieces. Today's jigsaw, 27th January 2021, is a 500-piece example titled Meals on Wheels.

Meals on Wheels duplicates the artwork of Michael Herring. The puzzle (c2003) depicts a small farm in winter, with the main focus being a bright blue tractor, sporting vivid red wheels and radiator grill, at the head of a stationary hay cart. A farmer stood at the rear of the cart, is distributing hay to several sheep. The hay has been raked off the cart by a youthful farmhand. In the background is the obligatory steam train, a BR tank engine, (‘Jinty’ 0-6-0) pulling a small rake of crimson coaches along an embankment, passing a signal box. The young farmhand watches the train with interest, from his raised position on the cart; a Border Collie is by his side. A carpet of snow adds to the overall aesthetics of Michael’s painting. Parts of the jigsaw are included below to illustrate some of the differently shaped pieces.