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Richard Long

@rclongauthor.bsky.social
805 followers 222 following 2.9K posts

Full time dad and part time railway author. Winner of Third Prize Non-Fiction at the 2025 Isle of Wight Book Awards for “Upgrading the Isle of Wight’s Railway”. uk.bookshop.org/shop/rclong

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Justin on eurostar @eurostarjustin.bsky.social · 5h
On this day 50 years ago, the revolutionary British Rail Inter-City 125 entered service. Fantastic to see a set restored into 1980s livery arrive at Manchester Piccadilly this afternoon. #TheJourneyShrinker
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BBC Archive @bbcarchivebot.bsky.social · 10h
1976: British Rail introduces high speed trains
youtube.com
1976: British Rail introduces high speed trains
British Rail launched its new ‘HST’ high-speed train service – the fastest diesel trains in the world. Reporter Lucy Mathen jumped on board for a preview, enjoying a cuppa on the way, and arriving four minutes early into Cardiff.
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Gail Simone @gailsimone.bsky.social · 7h
You guys want to hear a short but adorable story that happened right in front of me at the baggage claim in NYC yesterday? I wasn't part of it and there are bits I didn't catch but holy crap, I can't stop thinking about it.
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Train Songs Central @trainsongscentral.bsky.social · 13h
'I jump on a high speed train I'll never look back again' - 'High Speed Train' by REM on this, the 50th anniversary of British Rail launching its new HST high speed train 📷 David Christie
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Joe Brown @joebrownlondon.bsky.social · 18h
#OnThisDay 50 years ago BR introduced their revolutionary InterCity 125 on regular services between London Paddington and Bristol/South Wales. Video clip from the BBC Archive from a couple of weeks before the launch previewing the new trains, full video: buff.ly/QGnH3Et
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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
London’s thrilling underground network, 1961. “Visitors are always fascinated by the escalators, the brightly-lit stations, and the rush of the trains from the dark tunnels”. Artist: Robert Ayton (1961)
Passengers wait on a platform for a train that is approaching around an unlikely bend in the tracks. Some of the passengers are dressed formally with suits and bowler hats and some are looking very groovy. 
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pixelframe.design @pixelframe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
London residents make up approximately 1.78% of our website traffic - this one's for you! The London Underground Logo Generator is now ready for you to design your own custom Roundel.
pixelframe.design
London Underground Custom Logo Generator
Create a London Underground style roundel with your own text. The red ring, blue bar, and white lettering keep the measured proportions of the original sign, and each color can be changed so you can put your own spin on it.
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Dan Thomas @itsdanthomas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The most disappointing video you’ll see today.
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
'So that's the book finished. All you need now is a title.' 'I was thinking about calling it "DIE." 'Just DIE? Nothing else?' 'No. Why?' 'Hey don't get me wrong, it's a good title. I'm just not sure that it's clear enough that it means a MURDER story.' 'So what do you suggest...?'
A large print paperback titled Die - As in Murder
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Peter Thal Larsen @petertl.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Tell me you've never read Hamlet without telling me, etc. www.ft.com/content/c05f...
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” wrote William Shakespeare, who was one of history’s greatest authors but obviously ill-versed in economics. Without lending or borrowing, our modern economic society wouldn’t grow very much, AI or not.
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Alistair Coleman @alistaircoleman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
No she’s not.
TLS: Mary Beard on the Bayeux Tapestry.
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Joshua 🏳‍🌈 @joshuagrid56098.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Looking fantastic in its newly painted Intercity Executive livery, 43159 leads 43060 through a sunny Ratcliffe-on-Soar on 0Z43 Loughborough Works to East Lancs Railway. (01/10/26)
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 30/09/2026
BREAKING NEWS: “Do geese see God” is a palindrome
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
counterpoint: no
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Gary Brannan @garybrannan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Lots of That’s Life memories, but this one takes some beating. Nicholas Winton, everyone youtu.be/zcGKvkjlDME?...
youtu.be
BBC TV's That's Life - Nicholas Winton - 28/02/1988 and 03/07/1988
YouTube video by That's Life!
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Richard Long @rclongauthor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Everybody talk about - pop music!
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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There’s a Ladybird book for every occasion. “In 1850 there were quite a number of Football Clubs. Each club drew up its own rules at a special meeting. The rules were not the same for every club” From ‘The Story of Football’ Artist: Jack Matthew (Man City)
By the light of yellow gas lamps, a group of men with impressive sideburns sit down at a mahogany table, ready to write notes with quill pens 
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filmisfabulous! @filmisfabulous.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
More Private Film Collections Film is Fabulous! continue to accept collections for cataloguing, and missing and rare content has been found. Among the collections to be received are three that belonged to former BBC employees. filmisfabulous.org.uk
filmisfabulous.org.uk
Film is Fabulous | Film Collectors | Cinema | Vintage Television
Film is Fabulous! is a charitable trust run by film collectors, cinema lovers and vintage television enthusiasts. Our objective is to advance, educate, and encourage public interest in film within Bri...
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Santiago Jones @santiagojones.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Reg Varney (Stan Butler) died at 92yo in 2008 Stephen Lewis (Blakey) died at 88yo in 2015. Between 1969-1973 both were in On the Buses. Reg was 53, Stephen was 43 (approx my age). Both would have been in WW2, seen the coronation AND a bit of Babestation, tried a Zinger burger and MAYBE an iPhone
Stan and Blakey from the LWT sitcom On the Buses
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Richard Long @rclongauthor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thread 🧵
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Tania Doney @taniadoney.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So, who's your money on? Gérard Depardieu? Javier Bardem? Personally, I suspect Jackie Woodburne (Susan off Neighbours).
UK news
Marco Rubio says foreign actor was 'clearly' behind suspected plot at UK airbase
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great moments in Scottish engineering history: James Watt tries to work out how his phone attaches to his selfie stick.
Statue of James Watt. In his right hand he holds a telescopic stick with a frame at the top; in his left he holds a flat object about the size of a large smartphone. He is scowling at the possibly-not-a-smartphone as if he is tempted to yeet it into the sea. On that basis, it probably _is_ a phone.
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Jay Hulme @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I'm going to tell you a story and then, at the end, I'm going to ask you if anyone happens to have the niche knowledge I need to help... The story begins, as so many of my stories do, in an ancient church in the middle of a city. But it's not now. And it's not hundreds of years ago. It's the 1960's
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ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 28/09/2026
ianvisits.co.uk
Great British Railways to rethink how new trains are paid for
Great British Railways will weigh public ownership against leasing for future orders, although existing contracts will continue.
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ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 28/09/2026
ianvisits.co.uk
Avanti West Coast to be nationalised in March 2027
The train company, Avanti West Coast, will be taken into public ownership on 7th March 2027, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will announce later today.
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Railcam @railcamlive.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Railcam are on Bluesky! Please give us a follow and help us build our platform. Regular content will posted as we get settled in...
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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Morning. Last week I found out for the first time that Champion The Wonder Horse (stalwart black and white 50s schedule filler up to 1993) was a spin-off. Champion was Gene Autry’s horse, and it was a 1955 cash in on the success of the Gene Autry Show. He’s like horse Frasier.
Champignon, Le Cheval Merveilleux
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Baroness Floella Benjamin @floellabenjamin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Today it’s 50 years since I first presented Playschool wearing my blue beads and silver heart. I adore bringing joy into the lives of my Playschool Babies during the 12 years I was on the programme. ❤️
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David Quantick @quantick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Did a Triffid write this?
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with 
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future
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The Dobson Family and Colin the Dalek @dobbersw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"Micro-retirement"? I'm fairly sure most people still call them a holiday, including Gen Z.
An article that states, "A new trend is emerging among GenZ career professionals called 'Micro Retirements' Micro retirements involve taking a one or two week break from work every 12 to 18 months.
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Train Songs Central @trainsongscentral.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
'I've been to ancient worlds, I've scoured the whole universe And caught the first train home, to be at her side' - 'English Rose' by The Jam (1978) - 📷 Woking, England, 1964, taken by David Christie
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The Beauty of Transport @thebeautyoftransport.com · 24/09/2026
Just on the off-chance... does anyone know of a picture of the front of the station building at Filey Holiday Camp? The National Transport Trust website has this good one of its rear elevation but the web seems to have no good ones of the front. And neither does any book I've ever found.
Station building at Filey Holiday Camp, rear elevation. From https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/filey-holiday-camp-station
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Katie Porter’s White Board @ohdangitevie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This poor cat has been fated to answer phones in a call center for life.
White cat with black markings that look like a call center headset
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British Transport Films Stills @btfstills.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
POWER SIGNAL LINEMAN (1953)
An image captured from POWER SIGNAL LINEMAN (1953)
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Drivelsieve @drivelsieve.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Jimi Hendrix Tuba
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Kresen Kernow @kresenkernow.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
👀 Look closely at this 1940 photograph of the St Dennis war memorial. Can you spot what's missing? Three names had been removed, leaving blank spaces among those commemorated. The image accompanied a newspaper article documenting a heated local debate in the village...
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Joe Brown @joebrownlondon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
On the IOW this week, traversing Ryde Pier here’s unit 005 which I famously broke 23 years ago in its past life as D78 unit 7093 😬 youtu.be/b-LUVKUwd4U?...
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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Walthamstow please help reunite these artworks with their rightful owner. They were taken when a van was broken into on St Peter’s Avenue last night and are hugely sentimental. They formed part of a recent exhibition on motherhood - both A4 in size if you see them let my office know.
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Dave Walker @davewalker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New cartoon: The RNLI
Cartoon titled “The RNLI: Some of the people they help,” showing six scenarios involving people rescued by the RNLI. Including a man caught by the tide, a YouTuber swimming without preparation, a middle-lane driver, a neighbour with different political opinions, a superyacht owner who forgot to refuel, and people crossing the Channel in a small boat. The final caption reads, “All human beings – all deserve saving.”
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Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Fantastic news Latest records show that RNLI donations have increased by 5000% over the past couple of weeks after far-right backlash. The RNLI is on track to record its highest annual fundraising total in its almost 200-year history" via Daniel Lismore Donate here rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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Richard Long @rclongauthor.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
@johnfreeman.bsky.social Is Ryde on your list yet?
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Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"I have become increasingly convinced that we are heading for a disastrous confrontation and that the 21st century will be remembered for a terrible war between mankind and goats"
Goat war: an apology
FRIDAY'S Argus featured a Your Interview with Richard Robinson.
We would like to clarify that the quote "I have become increasingly convinced that we are heading for a disastrous confrontation and that the 21st century will be remembered for a terrible war between mankind and goats" was a reader question and not a response from Mr Robinson.
The next paragraph: "People often underestimate how dangerous a goat can be - I personally know six people who have become severely injured by goats, and the annual death toll racked up by goats is over
2,000,000",
, is also a reader question and not a response from Mr Robinson.
The Argus is happy to correct this and would like to apologise for the error.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I generally ignore royal stories, but there's something deeply tawdry about the saturation coverage here. It's basically one person's word against another, involving the parents of two real people who've probably suffered enough from their private grief being treated like primetime entertainment.
Umpteen links on the BBC News page about the Earl Spencer allegations.
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Richard Long @rclongauthor.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My wife’s a librarian. This is incredibly patronising.
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
As President John F. Kennedy flicks through that day’s edition of the Dallas Morning News, he pauses and looks up at his wife. With evident frustration, he says, “We’re headed into nut country.” Lovely guest post by @4hundredblows.bsky.social
jonn.substack.com
Book Club: Nut Country
Of The Umbrella Man and Other Stories: What We Talk About When We Talk About the JFK Assassination, by Martin Fitzgerald.
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Angus Dunican @angusdunican.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Never a big Narnia guy but this 6 seconds typifies everything I love about British television.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Former PM Rishi Sunak in the Sunday Times challenges the rise of ethno-nationalism in British politics, as an argument within the right about Britishness being about ancestry, DNA and ethnicity www.thetimes.com/article/e89d...
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Richard Long @rclongauthor.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
That’s not the sort of boat train I was expecting…
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