....but don't worry, there was no radiation leak. The transparencies that I scanned these two images from were taken by me either late in 1984 or early in 1985 at the railway museum in York.
The display of the nuclear flask (bottom) used to transport nuclear fuel, and the wagon on which it was carried (top) followed a deliberrately staged train crash into the flask and its wagon in July 1984. A locomotive weighing 138 tonnes and three coaches were modified to allow the train to operate without a crew. It was started by a lever on the body side, and then it accelerated to close to 100mph before crashing into the wagon and flask placed across the track. The result was rather spectacular, to say the least. For those who would like to see film of it, there are several videos of it on Youtube.
The result of the crash was that the locomotive was destroyed and the three coaches it pulled were badly damaged. The wagon on which the flask was placed was thrown into the air and damaged, but instruments on the flask showed no leakage. The fins on the side of the flask (which were designed to absorb energy in a crash) were a little distorted but any nuclear material contained in it would have been quite safe.
These scans were amongst the recent scans of transparencies that I have done, following the purchase of a film scanner a year ago. It is a long slow process and there are thousands of slides to scan. There is a lot to learn along the way for the best results, but it is a worthwhile process to preserve images which in some cases are beginning to fade. I expected the oldest slides dating back to the late 1960s to have suffered most from fading, but interestingly some of the slides from the late 1990s / early 2000s have darkened quite badly and are a real challenge to restore.
I will occasionally post other scans from my slides. I look forward to hearing what you think of these scans.
Well done, an interesting story, and images. We also scanned some slides a few years ago, but never finished the job. You're right, about it being a long slow process!
Thank you all for your lovely comments, they are very much appreciated.
I hadn't really considered how long scanning all my transparencies would take before I started, but it is quite clear that it will take a number of years. I'm keeping it primarily as a winter project, hopefully preventing it becoming too much of a chore. I really hope I can scan them all - it is wonderful to rediscover some fascinating events from the past.
Thank you Kathy, it is bringing back a lot of memories. At the moment working on a box of photos of our girls in the 1990s, which is really interesting.
Ian
March 2nd, 2024
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Thanks for the info on the charging stations
Thank you all for your lovely comments, they are very much appreciated.
I hadn't really considered how long scanning all my transparencies would take before I started, but it is quite clear that it will take a number of years. I'm keeping it primarily as a winter project, hopefully preventing it becoming too much of a chore. I really hope I can scan them all - it is wonderful to rediscover some fascinating events from the past.
Ian
Thank you Kathy, it is bringing back a lot of memories. At the moment working on a box of photos of our girls in the 1990s, which is really interesting.
Ian