Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: Images of the World

Indonesia Sumatra, Kampong Keling market, Medan. Note the fine vegetables amongst the tropical fruit. These were grown in Brastagi a few hours drive and a few thousand feet higher to the southwest where the climate was more temperate. We lived in Medan from 1979 to 1981 when I worked for Mobil & greatly enjoyable it was. I found the people and places fascinating. Every day threw up something new & even on the walk to the office you saw different things of interest. I went back on holiday in 1997 &, unsurprisingly, things had changed. Toko Ben's - the sacks sit outside the shop entrance - had transformed into a modern supermarket no longer opening onto the market but what shocked me the most was the fact that the Mobil office building had been converted into a Pizza Hut! A sign of the times I suppose.

Waiting to board a Pilatus in the Sahara desert south of Hassi Massouad. We were en route to a seismic crew shooting a survey in the Lasmo-operated El Ouar drilling permit, Algeria. It was pretty cramped for the first stage of the journey from Hassi with a full complement of passengers in the small aircraft but after dropping off most of them at this wellsite the two of us flying on to El Ouar could spread out. It was said that El Ouar meant "the worst" in Arabic referring to the the sand dunes being the most impassable. They had a relief of up to 1000ft and were so dense that it was impossible to drive/walk around them. This meant some serious climbing was needed to progress through the area. While the dunes gradually increase in size & density from the north to the south the dune belt stops very abruptly along a southwest-northeast line. I have flown over the area since on the way to West Africa & from 30,000ft this change from sand to rocky desert is very clear & hence it is easy to locate yourself.

Bulleid Pacific West Country 34027 Taw Valley crosses over from shed road 2 to road 1 prior to backing down to take water. Its stock waits in Platform 1 behind in Loughborough Central station. The cold morning air is filled with the engine's exhaust giving the scene a steamy atmosphere.

Austria Erzberg steam banker pushing an empty iron ore mineral train up the mountain. It was taken with an old Halina 35X camera on time-expired film during ALP fieldwork in September 1975. The crew look remarkably laid-back enjoying the autumn sun.

The wind was blowing like crazy & the monsoon downpour had just stopped but these minor things didn't slow this farmer down as he planted out his rice.

Chinese steam working hard. 2-10-2 QJ 440 &QJ at Honggong. A double-headed freight train heading south on the railway out of Harbin powers up the Wanggang bank. Back in 1983 independent visitors were not allowed. I spent 3 weeks with a group of enthusiasts on an organised tour visiting railway, and cultural, sites across China where steam still reigned on the main line. Investment in new lines was high even then and it's interesting to realise that the lines in western China where the last steam strongholds were recently dieselised were not even built at the time of my visit.

German Railways Bingen steam shed. A Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 52 2-10-0 Kriegslok simmers with several other locomotives around the turntable of this modern semicircular shed in the summer heat. Although I knew that steam was still in service in this area I saw the smoke drifting across by chance alongside the road while hitch-hiking along the western side of the Rhein Valley. The eastern slopes of the valley can be seen in the background.

Jakarta Docks sailing ships with wood from across the Java Sea in Sulawesi. Indonesian holiday 1997-8. What a fantastic old-fashioned atmosphere - nothing but sail in sight with at least 13 vessels in view. Note the man walking down the gangplank carrying timber on his shoulder. Only the bike on the right tells you it's not a 100 years ago!