At http://www.peterboroughimages.co.uk/blo ... /railways/ there's a series of railway-related photos. The eighth one shows C-S 36 ton crane number 103 (built 1948). Looks like it's unpropped and re-railing a flat wagon. The front bogie and runner have been detached and parked on an adjacent line. The photo is undated - any guesses?

It's pleasing to see a post from you, Stan. I trust that you and your business are doing well.

I can't offer any guesses as to the date of the photo, except that it is most likely before the second half of 1972 as the crane was uprated to 45 tons early in that year.

Peterborough East Station closed in December 1970 but I think the station building would have been out of this shot even if it were still standing, so no clue there.

Incidentally, I knew East Station well in the late-1950s and early-1960s as I spent some of my holidays and weekends looking after its W H Smith bookstall when there were staff shortages. My father was manager of the North and East station bookstalls so, though only a teenager, I was a convenient 'first call' when the latter needed running and there was no-one to run it. Unfortunately I never spotted a breakdown crane whilst I was there!

Hello David. It's been a long time - I'll email you with my news.

There's not much in the picture to offer guidance on dates. The floodlights at the football ground were erected in 1960 and, to me, the railway dress looks very 'late steam era'. Tatlow (P322) has the crane at Immingham between 1948 and 1977 - it seems a long way to bring a crane for what looks like a minor incident.

A holiday job on a station platform sounds like every schoolboy's dream. I expect the reality was less engaging than it sounds now.

It was not at all a dream for me. I was frequently in or around the North or East station bookstalls and was given tasks that I hated, such as trying to sell magazines and papers to passengers actually on the train. Steam locos were commonplace but I took little or no interest in them, a good example of 'familiarity breeding contempt'. If only the clock could be turned back!

It wasn't until I received an invitation from the NVR to ride on the footplate of a steam loco in 1998 (at the tender age of 55) that my interest in heavy engineering at last extended to heritage railways, and I was easily persuaded to sign up there as a mechanical engineering volunteer.

Apologies for going off-topic!