22 replies to this topic

[David Beard]

I’ve just been talking to my dad. He was reminiscing about a Silverstone meeting he attended in the early fifties when John Cobb appeared with the Railton Mobil Special. He reckons it was push started by a bus and drove at least one demo lap around the circuit. He particularly remembers a request for volunteers to lift the body off the chassis near a hanger at Abbey…he and his brother were two of them.

I have never seen any photos or reports of this LSR car at Silverstone. Anyone?

[Milan Fistonic]

There is no mention of the Railton in Peter Carrick's book on Silverstone though John Cobb did do a ceremonial lap of honour in a "new Healey Sportsmobile" at the first meeting.

[Barry Lake]

This is ringing bells. I can see a photo of it in my mind... but it might have been in something as obscure as The Modern World Book of Motors.

Surely the magazines of the day must have something on it... but which "day"?

[Milan Fistonic]

Barry

The old grey matter is still in fine working order.

There is a photo of Cobb and the Railton on page 217 of the seventh edition of The Wonder Book of Motors. The car is obviosly on a racing circuit that is lined with hay bales and in the background are stands that carry Daily Express banners.

[Milan Fistonic]

The meeting at which Cobb appeared was the BRDC/Daily Express International Trophy Race on August 20, 1949. There is a photo in the Spetember 1949 Motor Sport.

Goldie Gardner in the MG and the motorcyclist Bob Berry also did demonstration runs.

Berry's position on the bike looks very dangerous. He's laying face down on the bike with his waist above the rear wheel and his legs sticking straight out behind

[David Beard]

Thanks for that, chaps.

My Modern World Book of Motors is, I believe, in the attic (with my name in the front printed with the John Bull printing set received the same Christmas), whilst my MotorSport collection only goes back to 1955. My dad has just confirmed that he can remember watching the alarming Mr Berry on his Brough (?) at the same event.

[Doug Nye]

From 'Motor Sport's coverage of that 1949 Silverstone meeting -



DCN

[Bladrian]

The inestimable DCN's talents increase apace - a correctly scanned and posted pitcher!

[Doug Nye]

Jerst showin' orf now...

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Jerst showin' orf now...

errr.....MotorSport's article came in the form of a small red cross?

but others saw it?

[David McKinney]

I'm with you on that one, DB
But his Alfa 308 stuff came out a picture (if you see what I mean)
It's all beyond me....

[Bladrian]

I suspect the server where DCN's stored his photos is a too busy right now. I'd suggest trying again when the excitement's died down a bit.;)

[Doug Nye]

Oh aah ooo - well, you see he that giveth hath just taken away - I had a bright thought and thought I mustn't bung up my new site with loads of pix, so I have just deleted them. I think I got it wrong again...I am reinstating them right now. Sorry, Bertie, just stooge around a bit in a glide while I restart the engines...

DCN

[Doug Nye]

OK Bertie - pull UP!!! Is this OK now???

Hubris is the crime - I now have to repair the Alfa 308 thread.....I don't know, let an old fart try to do a young man's job...

Strolls off, thinks of 007 - sings 'Gold MEMBAAAAHHHH....'

DCN

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
From 'Motor Sport's coverage of that 1949 Silverstone meeting -


DCN

Hey ...gottit now. I think I can see the old feller behind the fence !

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by David McKinney
I'm with you on that one, DB
But his Alfa 308 stuff came out a picture (if you see what I mean)
It's all beyond me....

Generally speaking, there are just two reasons the famed 'red cross' comes up instead of a picture...

Either the one posting the pic has made some error in typing out the URL, used the wrong case on one of the letters in the name, forgotten to cross a 't' or dot an 'i', put 'net' instead of 'com' or held his tongue the wrong way while typing it... or it's an old one and the site has been closed or the site doesn't allow (as in Geocities, for instance) for links from these fora to pinch their pics. There's nothing the reacer can do about this, only the one who posted the pic can correct it, and of course they went to bed just after they made the post so it won't be done till the day after tomorrow.

or...

The correctible one... the one where the server's axes conflict with the flat solar natal lines and the various aspects of datelines and menopausal hitches are coming into play. Though it could be that a server is overloaded at the moment, or as I struck with Doug's beaut Alfa pics maybe there were just too many and the whole system got tired by the time it got half way through and decided that the ubiquitous red crosses were better than pictures anyway.

In the either event it's well worth right clicking on the red cross and then clicking on the little line that comes up on the 'dialog box' that says "Show picture." Strangely, this will work on odd occasions, and the picture will magically appear. In the case of many pics on the page, simply refreshing the page might also do it for you because those that did appear are now in your cache.

Or somewhere else in the collection of electrons that are roaming about between your power point and the monitor screen...

And, as Doug has discovered, it really isn't all that hard to post pictures. Especially if you have your Atlas web space... go to this post for instructions that are simple and far less technical than the ones I had to follow in the first place... a lot of this is based on using Atlas webspace, but I'm sure folks will work around that...

http://www.atlasf1.c...=&postid=786324

[Ian McKean]

I think Bob Berry, the guy in the strange position on the bike, was killed at Goodwood in a 'D' Type Jaguar some time around about Easter Monday 1956, 7 or 8. Can anyone confirm?

[Doug Nye]

No - the Goodwood Bob Berry was the Jaguar PRO, driving Jack Broadhead's D-Type Jaguar in which he'd previously crashed during the 1955 TT at Dundrod. He was injured in the Goodwood accident but survived and I'm pretty sure he's still - happily - pumping air today...

DCN

Incidentally - very sadly - there was a fatality on the opening lap of a feature race in the Ulster GP meeting at Dundrod last Saturday - Gary Jess, 31, went down in what I hear seems to have been a collision on the very high-speed kink just before the braking area for Cochranstown Corner, after the infamous Deer's Leap section - and he was thrown into the roadside fence, probably well above 100mph. He had been a great racing friend and neighbour of Gary Dynes, another very well wired-up Ulster motor-cycle rider, killed at Glaslough in 2000, I think? Motorcycle road racing in Ulster and Eire is mind-boggling...but it is terribly dangerous and it has claimed several riders over the past couple of years.

[David Beard]

I think this would be the Bob Berry of the strange position...

http://www.tegryn.co...h_bob_berry.htm

[Pullman99]

The meeting at which Cobb appeared was the BRDC/Daily Express International Trophy Race on August 20, 1949. There is a photo in the Spetember 1949 Motor Sport.

I may be mistaken, but didn't John Cobb also demonstrate the car at Goodwood? Now, that would be an excellent escuse for featuring this iconic LSR car at the FOS!

There have alwasy been some great demos at Silverstone. I remember Stirling Moss and the MG EX181 in 1969 (?). Sorry to have missed Jackie Stewart and the Matra MS80 this year.

[f1steveuk]

I may be mistaken, but didn't John Cobb also demonstrate the car at Goodwood? Now, that would be an excellent escuse for featuring this iconic LSR car at the FOS!

There have alwasy been some great demos at Silverstone. I remember Stirling Moss and the MG EX181 in 1969 (?). Sorry to have missed Jackie Stewart and the Matra MS80 this year.

Donald Campbell ran some tests at Tangmere and then put Bluebird CN7 on display at Goodwood in 1960, before doing a lap being towed behind a Land Rover, and then a lap under it's own power, Donald keeping his foot on the barke as even on "tick over" CN7 was doing in excess of 80mph.

I actually have footage of the Railton at Silverstone, filmed by Donald Campbell. It also shows Gardner in EX135 and some of the races, all in colour. There's also some footage of the Saunders Roe Princess flying boat, from outside, and on the flight deck, again taken by Campbell. Weird when ones considers that the same engine that powered that was used in CN7!!

[Pullman99]

Donald Campbell ran some tests at Tangmere and then put Bluebird CN7 on display at Goodwood in 1960, before doing a lap being towed behind a Land Rover, and then a lap under it's own power, Donald keeping his foot on the barke as even on "tick over" CN7 was doing in excess of 80mph.

I actually have footage of the Railton at Silverstone, filmed by Donald Campbell. It also shows Gardner in EX135 and some of the races, all in colour. There's also some footage of the Saunders Roe Princess flying boat, from outside, and on the flight deck, again taken by Campbell. Weird when ones considers that the same engine that powered that was used in CN7!!

Hi Steve

Yes - and the K7 was originally powered by an engine (the Metroplitan-Vickers Beryl) also used in another Saunders-Roe product, the SRA1 jet powered flying boat (of which one example is preserved). The Princess flying boats I think ended their days semi-derelict for years at Calshot. I know that Donald filmed extensively and have seen footage shot by him of Peter Collins winning at Silverstone in 1958.

Hope all is well.

Ian

[f1steveuk]

Hi Ian, fine with me, you?

There are a few Beryls around. One form K7 I part restored (MV57 I think) and there's it's sister from TG down in Southampton. I can think of two others.

I have seen the footage of Collons taken by DC, I wonder why he never fancied a go in a circuit racer?

The Princess. like the Brabazon, should have been kept, if only just to look at!