TOPticl Digital Memories

20/06/2025

If you have been paying attention you will know I am searching for a picture of every locomotive that ran on British Rail(ways)

I told you about my steam wants list here: - https://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/wants

I have now added a page for my diesel wants:- https://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/copy-of-wants

As usual please let me know if you can help - or conversely if I can help you

[email protected]

These are the numbers of the British Railways diesel & electric locomotives from the initial 1948 numbering scheme and the 1957 scheme, for which I have not got a picture.

15/06/2025

There are no railways on Malta. Just got back from a very pleasant week in Malta. Mainly sunning by the pool and on the beach. But did a few “culture” trips as well. Amongst all the information and exhibits about Crusaders and World Wars was a very brief piece of information and a single photo. The caption read something like “The Malta Railway Company was opened in 1883 and went bankrupt in 1890”
A bit of research back home tells a slightly extended story. After the bankruptcy, and closure, the line was effectively nationalised and ran until 1931 when it closed forever.

So nothing for a rail enthusiast to see!

But I am still on the look out for old stuff, check out my wants here (https://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/wants ).

I have added a very short list of Western Region locos which were still in service on the formation of British Railways in 1948
Anyone else out there on a similar mission – happy to share
--

12/04/2025

I have reached the stage with my searching for "every locomotive which served under British Railways" where I seem to have exhausted most of the on line resources. So maybe someone out there is doing what I am doing and quietly collecting pictures but not putting them on public view. If you are interested or share my goal then have a look https://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/wants Western Region to follow, still got an active source I am working through. Also I have every TOPS number loco, but still need some of the Diesels and Electrics in their 1947 and 1958 guises, I will get those lists on line sometime

10/03/2025

I have been selling my railway images, as slides, negatives and prints on eBay since about 2008. Throughout that time eBay have constantly changed their T&Cs and each change makes it progressively harder to sell. The latest change was in two halves. Firstly they announced that it was "FREE to sell items". Sellers are now allowed to sell up to 300 items a month without paying seller's fees. But before this change I was allowed to sell up to 1000 items a month for free - and before that it was 3000 a month. Then the second half of the new change "Buyer protection". They make it sound good, but all it is is to make the buyer pay a transaction fee of 74p + 4% per item. Which means that eBay is adding almost £1 to my standard price of £2.99 for a slide. But why do you need protection from this awful seller?? I have processed over 36000 sales on eBay and all but one of them received positive feedback. (The one negative was from an idiot who thought he was buying a digital image - which is expressly prohibited on eBay). As a result of these changes my sales have virtually gone down to zero. So I will not be putting any new material on eBay. If you want to find my images I have gone into partnership with The Transport Library ( https://www.thetransportlibrary.co.uk/ ) - where you will find many thousands of my images at the very cheap price of 99p for a digital download and not much more for a print

02/10/2024

Feeling my mortality today. Got me thinking about what happens to all my railway images. The great thing about digital is that I can give it all away - again and again and again. Take a look

I am now 75 and my work is not done. However, it is becoming apparent that I will never complete my self-appointed task. Perhaps there are others out there who would like to continue.

10/10/2020

If you read my back story here (https://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/about) it covers the previous 70 years. But life goes on and I have plenty to fill my time. I can’t resist the bug – I am a “completist” and I have to get the set. Having achieved Total TOPS I have turned my attention to the Pre-TOPS scene of diesel and electric locos on British Railways.
And, because I can, and it fits with my skills, I have written a program to keep track of them all. Under the catchy name of GABL (pronounced gabble) I am amassing details AND pictures of this “set”.
I am collaborating with a couple of other guys, one of whom has a copy of my program. He has contributed many pictures with more to come.
If this is also your “thing” then please get in touch and we can work together.
(And in the future all steam locos??......)

photo restoration photograph scan scanning rail railway digitise digitize 35mm slides negatives

25/01/2018

Did you see the story of the jockey who lost many precious photos in the Liverpool car park fire? Wouldn't have been a problem if he had used my services http://topsie.wixsite.com/topticl/services !

Not only would he have a easy to copy disc with them all on, I keep several security copies here so you are protected from this worst possible disaster

photo restoration photograph scan scanning rail railway digitise digitize 35mm slides negatives train

27/11/2016

If you come here and think that I haven't written anything here for a while, then that is true - but it is not because I am not doing anything with TOPticl Digital Memories ( www.TOPticl.com )- in fact I am bending time to put in more effort than is humanly possible. Just look at an average day with TOPticl.
I spend about 7 hours in bed. I have a "regular" job and I must spend seven and a half hours there, with an additional hour and a half commute. A couple of hours eating relaxing, watching TV and other family time. Then I spend 8 to 12 hours doing TOPticl stuff - scanning and cataloguing picture, preparing photos for sale and printing and packaging items sold as well as all the website and admin associated with a total stock of 20,000 pictures (growing all the time). Do the maths that's an average of 28 hours a day.
Einstein was wrong - you can stretch time here on Earth

25/06/2014

Well now it must be official – I am insane. I was in ASDA today and picked up a leaflet entitled “Don’t let your memories fade away” – Guess what, they are trying to compete with me at www.TOPticl.com – the leaflet offers all my services to scan, digitise and restore you old pictures. But look at the prices:-
Scan and basic digitising – ASDA 85p to £1.05 per picture : TOPticl 25p per picture
Image restoration - ASDA £24 : TOPticl £1.25
Better get to me quick before the men in white coats do

24/06/2014

A picture is worth a thousand words and one photograph can bring back a world of memories, so why not give it the care it deserves! It's a fact of life photographs can go through quite a lot of wear and tear over the years, why have the memories tarnished too? Send me your old photographs, slides or negatives and I can digitise and restore them to the highest possible standard; this way your pictures can last forever. Whether they're kept close at all times or are uncovered forgotten treasures, they could soon be back to their former glory as a print or mounted on a CD or DVD so they can be viewed as never before.