Engine Punk

Calling all Steam Punks! Here is the Murdoch Flyer, a replica of a road locomotive that might pre-date Cap'n Richard Trevithick's engine of 1801. It's been built by a group called the Murdoch boys based in Redruth. Construction was financed by voluntary contributions and grants including sales of a song called "The Ballad of William Murdoch" by Ed Hamilton. As interest in steam punk increases on the back of stories such as Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, models of steam engines inspired by such speculative fiction are being made all over the world. But here we have the grandaddy of them. Or at the very least, one of the granddaddies. Cornwall can justifiably claim to be the birth place of steam traction. In 2001, we celebrated 200 years of Cornish motoring but the Murdoch Boys who have built this replica of the Flyer point to a tantalising account that Murdoch rode around the Cornish tin mines in a full sized development of the models he...

"Don't put yourself in a double bind. It's better to do something now than wait until you can do it perfectly." This came from Dr Lisa Turner, psycademic and mechanical engineer. It put into words an odd feeling that I'd had for some time. A number of people have mentioned to me the importance of book signings and giving talks to increase your profile as an author and my reaction so far has been "Great idea! But first I need to be a bit better known." Lisa's point is that this is all part of building your reputation. At some stage you need the PR chicken to lay the publicity egg that will eventually hatch into a magnificent soaring eagle and cure you of mixing your metaphors for ever. (Here's hoping anyway.) But that's what Lisa's on about - there's none of this hope business. You get out there and just do it. "Time travel," she says. "Travel forward in time to where you want to be, then come back in time and take...