Christian Wolmar's July (late) newsletter

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Christian Wolmar

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Jul 20, 2011, 5:31:54 AM7/20/11

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Dear subscriber

A bit late, I’m afraid but pressure from my publishers means that I am devoting all spare time to pushing ahead with my book on US railways. It has, too, been a busy time with the aftermath of the McNulty report and the redundancies at Bombardier’s Litchurch Lane factory, but now things have gone quiet, thankfully, as attention focuses on the hacking scandal, which makes me, for once, long to be back in the Westminster Village reporting on it.

The Bombardier factory issue is fascinating, a microcosm of what has gone wrong with British industry and of the failure of successive governments to understand the need to maintain a train building capability in this country. I wrote a piece for the Guardian here when the redundancies are announced, which has attracted numerous comments on the site. I have also written a piece for Tribune which will be on the site next month.

The hold up in this month’s newsletter was because a friend is publishing an e-version of Down the Tube, my book on the London Underground PPP, which will soon be available on Amazon as a download for Kindle etc. Unfortunately, there are a few technical hold ups but it will be on the site next month and I will give details in my next newsletter, which will be out early in August..

Otherwise, there’s just the two news Rail columns on the site. The first gives some background to the McNulty report after various informants came out of the woodwork, and the second, here looks at the demise of the Heathrow airport scheme, Airtrack as well as a little story about a spat with the comrades at the RMT.

I am still trying to clear things from under my bed, so if anyone wants a signed hardback copy of Blood, iron and gold for £8 plus £2 75 p and p, just email me.

I continue to make heavy use of Twitter. It’s absolutely wonderful to follow in a crisis like the hacking scandal with tweets flying in thick and fast. Its particularly useful, too, to a specialist like me when there is a big issue like the Bombardier redundancies. I’m afraid, for those of you who are sceptical, it is a medium that is going to stay. I now have over 2,000 followers @christianwolmar, so do join in the fun. Much of the rubbish about what people have had for breakfast has gone as users are now understanding how to exploit what is a fantastic medium. Means I have blogged a bit less, in truth.

I will be signing books at the War and Peace exhibition this Friday July 22 in Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent. It’s a massive event, obviously mostly concerned with war, but is apparently very well-attended and interesting. I had hoped it would be a day out in the sun….

I also have a whole string of talks in September and October at various railway societies, which are all listed on the calendar on the site. Otherwise, its nose to the grindmill on the book.