Family 'treasures'

This flat, metal object, maybe 3" by 3", was amongst the items that belonged to my Father and were shipped over to me in Canada after my Brother died. I have no idea what it is - will try and remember to post a photo of the other side, which is completely different. Thought it was rather interesting. Another possibility is that it might be something that we bought for my Parents or Brother when we were living in Borneo decades ago. It has a similar look to an old Chinese coin that I have. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

This flat, metal object, maybe 3" by 3", was amongst the items that belonged to my Parents and my Brother and were shipped over to me in Canada after my Brother died. I had no idea what it was, until yesterday, when Flickr friends, Art and Ambre, both identified it for me - a Tibetan amulet! I'm so happy to know what this rather fascinating thing is.

This old, musical beer stein was amongst my parents' belongings when my good friends in England went through all their things, after my Brother died. I did a Google search, but didn't manage to find this exact design. I'm sure my Father must have bought it on one of his trips over to Austria, Germany or Switzerland. Funny, in a way, as my parents didn't drink. I photographed it before passing it on to one of my kids.

This photo will stick out like from my photostream like a sore thumb, ha! Definitely odd man out! This is a large, heavy, working model of the Stephenson's Rocket, 3 1/2" gauge, made by Hornby, and is absolutely beautiful. The engine and the tender measure 18" in length! It also comes with a very fancy carriage, which I guess I should also photograph. It has taken me so long to get it out of its box and photograph it (using Impressive Art effect), but I need to get it to my oldest daughter in the next little while. My Father, an exceptional photographer, was also a lover of steam trains, travelling all over England and Europe photographing them many years ago. When he died, he left a large collection of model trains (a curse for my Mother, lol, and also for my friends, Linda and Tony, who so generously went through everything when my Brother died!), including this real beauty. He also had a much smaller version, which I will keep for myself, but my oldest daughter inherited her Grandpa's love for steam engines and she was so eager to have this. So, my good friends in England sent these out to me when my Brother died, along with all the other personal things. "Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built in 1829 at the Forth Street Works of Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was built for, and won, the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best design to power the railway. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. In 1862 Rocket was donated to the Patent Office Museum in London (now the Science Museum) by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near Brampton. The locomotive still exists, in the Science Museum (London), in much modified form compared to its state at the Rainhill Trials." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenson's_Rocket For anyone who is interested, this is a link to a YouTube video of one of these models in action. This was a test run for the Hornby live steam Stephenson's Rocket at the KMYCA track in Antwerp. youtu.be/pQhOUbB7378 Ha, just HAD to share this YouTube video (thanks, Dave!). It never pays to tease a frog! youtu.be/QzXM58qR1Es

This small model train was one of several that were sent over from England to me, after my Brother died last Christmas. My Father was a keen collector of model trains and also did a huge amount of photography of the various steam trains of the UK and a few parts of Europe. Will be giving each of my kids one of these models to keep, as a reminder of their Grandpa. "The Dean Single, 3031 Class, or Achilles Class was a type of steam locomotive built by the Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1899. They were designed by William Dean for passenger work. The first 30 members of the class were built as 2-2-2s as the 3001 Class. The first eight members of the class (numbers 3021-3028, built April–August 1891) were built as convertible broad gauge 2-2-2 locomotives, being converted to standard gauge in mid-1892, at the end of broad gauge running on the Great Western Railway. A further 22 were built in late 1891 and early 1892, this time as standard gauge engines. Due to their long boilers these engines were unstable, particularly at speed. It was decided that future members of the class would be constructed to a 4-2-2 wheel arrangement to reduce the weight on the front wheels. 3001-3030 were also quickly rebuilt as 4-2-2s. In 1900, George Jackson Churchward replaced the boiler on number 3027 Worcester with a parallel Standard 2 boiler. Twelve further engines were similarly converted in 1905 and 1906. Despite the locomotives' speed, the 4-2-2 design was soon found to be outdated and unsuitable for more modern operation. Although Churchward proposed converting them to more modern 4-4-0s, they were scrapped between 1908 and 1915." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_3031_Class

Today is my oldest daughter's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Fiona! Couldn't resist quickly snapping these sentimental toys for her. They belonged to my brother in England, who died last Christmas, and they arrived by sea just a few weeks ago. Poor Toffee does look really, really worn, and I know he was a much-loved teddy bear. My mother made the little pink velvet piglet and the knitted piglet a fair number of decades ago : ) Anyone else finding it difficult to do anything on Flickr this evening? When I click on an image or something else, it takes forever to open or work.

This is a small cyclist that, along with three different ones, was in one of the drawers of old toys that my friends in Birmingham, England, came across when they were dealing with my late brother's house. My father and mother were both very keen cyclists many years ago, and so it's not too surprising to see this old toy : ) Made by Britains - have Googled, but was unable to find anything about these. I didn't notice how dirty and dusty these were until I looked closely at a photo : )

This small model train was one of several that were sent over from England to me, after my Brother died last Christmas. My Father was a keen collector of model trains and also did a huge amount of photography of the various steam trains of the UK and a few parts of Europe. Will be giving each of my kids one of these models to keep, as a reminder of their Grandpa. Will add more info when I get home later today. There has to be a more creative way to photograph these - anyone have any ideas, lol?? "Caledonian Railway Single No. 123 is a preserved Scottish steam locomotive. The unique 4-2-2 was built by Neilson and Company in 1886, works No. 3553 as an exhibition locomotive. In 1914 it was placed on the Caledonian Railway duplicate list, and renumbered 1123. It entered London, Midland and Scottish Railway service in 1923 and the LMS renumbered her 14010 and gave her the power classification 1P. She was withdrawn in 1935 and set aside for preservation. She was restored to steam by British Railways to run Railtours and enthusiast specials until the end of Steam in Scotland ..... Tri-Ang released a model of No.123 in the 1960s, in Caledonian livery and labelling." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Railway_Single

This little sketch was the second drawing that one of my friends in England discovered amongst my brother's papers recently. I suspect it may have been an assignment when he was at College many, many years ago. From what I can remember, it's not the right layout to have been his bedroomin at home, so perhaps this was his room when he was away at College or else it was an "imaginary" room. I burst into tears when I saw my brother sitting at his drafting table!