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Railways
I have a life-long interest in both model railways and prototypes (the real thing).
Railway Photo Gallery
My photo gallery displays my British OO scale, North American HO and O scale, and European HO/HOm scale models. It also includes sections for other railway exhibition layouts seen at shows, and images of prototype British and European railways, including heritage operations.
My Model Railway Layouts
There are four! All are regularly transported around the country for exhibition at Model Railway shows - these range from Central Scotland, North of England, the Midlands, and South West and South East. The layouts have digital command control (DCC) and sound equipped locos.
HO scale - 29th Street WharfMy first venture was an American HO (1:87 scale) layout called 29th Street Wharf". I acquired it from an excellent modeller, and friend, Roger Nicholls, around 2012. It took a while to persuade him to let go of it! Over time it has been gradually extended, by replacing trackwork and adding industrial harbour-side industries.
After 29th Street, I decided to build my own layouts; there are 3!
O scale - Arcadia Pennsylvania TerminalThe first was "APT", an American O-scale (1:48) layout, based around the era 1960s to 1980s and also featuring sound-enabled locomotives.
OO scale - Clayton End SignalmanThe second layout, is British, OO (1:76) scale "Clayton End Signalman" with locomotives and rolling stock representing the periods circa 1950s/70s and 1980s onwards.
"CES" is based on the Peak District limestone works traffic.
HO/HOm scale - AuswissFinally, the most recent layout is Auswiss, an HO/HOm (1:87) scale, based on European railways operating between Austria and Switzerland. It has both standard gauge (OBB/SBB) and RhB metre gauge track, rolling stock, and motive power.
Introduction
The Web Train is about my activities and interests, ranging from Railways, Hillwalking, Football, through to my Computing studies and subsequent Doctorial research.
Of course, the more interesting content relates to my fascination in railways (both model railways and the real thing) in GB, Europe, and North America.
My wife and I have walked and climbed in the Pennines, North Wales, Lake District, and Scottish Highlands. We have also visited Switzerland (many times), and twice trekked in the Nepal Himalaya.
Switzerland has always proved a perfect destination, offering both excellent Swiss railways and mountain walks.
My ambitions are to travel on the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) and journey through the Canadian Rockies!
Last, but not least, I am a proud supporter of Stoke City FC.
Prototype Railways
My "real-world" interests are Swiss and UK railways, including the Swiss Rhätische Bahn in the Graubünden region. I have two railway related blogs - WebTrain Savvy and @TheWebTrain.
I am a member of the RMweb and previously the Swiss Railways Society and Austrian Railway Group.
Academia
For 6 years, I lectured in Computing at the University of Lancashire. I taught Advanced Database Systems Administration, using Oracle 11g; Systems Analysis & Design, and Project-based Professional Skills; for final year BSc Hons and MSc students.
BSc Information Systems Design 2003
My degree included:
- papers on the Data Protection Act 1998, the evolution of Intranets 1 in organisations, and employee motivational issues caused by technology "change in the workplace" 1.
- Web development.
- Systems Analysis & Design and Database development.
PhD 2010
My PhD research related to information search and integration in Web environments, using "Semantic Web" technologies RDF/XML, RDF Schema and OWL Web Ontology Language in the Semantic Web.
My work included Java programming, using the Jena Ontology API framework, to develop a prototype "Semantic Web search engine"; key elements were:
- Ontology Integration and Semantic Web 2.
- My "Semantic" search tool, SemSeT, to conduct Information Retrieval (IR) experiments, using test data and then using the TExt Retrieval Conference (TREC) dataset: WT2G document collection.
- Creating small Ontology modules to improve query expansion (OQE) for better search Precision and Recall.
Database Systems & Programming
I have worked with various database management systems: from MS Access to MySQL, MS SQL Server 2000/08/12, and Oracle 8i/11g databases.
Web projects have required various programming languages and applications, including XHTML, CSS, Active Server Pages (ASP and ASP.NET), PHP, Python, Javascript, Flash, SQL, and C++.I have also used C# to create an online European Railways (UIC) EVN VKM locomotive and vehicle number classification system tool.
1 
download Adobe Acrobat Reader to open PDF files automatically.
2 Scientific American: The Semantic Web: Web content meaningful to computers.
Hillwalking
This has involved almost 70 Scottish Munros and 100+ Cumbrian tops, along with completing the Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, and West Highland Way long distance walks. Trekking in the foothills and mountains of the Nepal Himalaya was a challenging 3 weeks and resulted in reaching the summit of Mera Peak (6476m) in 1990. That was followed up with a two week trek to Langtang in 1991.
This photo epitomises the joy of hillwalking in the great outdoors; it shows the rugged terrain and wilderness surrounding Lochnagar - as shown in a pictorial diary of two days hillwalking in the Scottish Highlands, near Braemar - in August 2003.
