The LNER Encyclopedia

I saw this beast regulary whilst shedded at Neasden/Aylesbury 34E/14D. I am buliding a brass kit in 0 scale at the moment, to carry this number/name. Anyone have info on this loco in the early 1950s, pictures, traffic assignments etc? Costs covered. Also, I have not been able to find any info on what a live Umseke actually looks like, having tried various zoological contacts in UK, South Africa and USA. Budding David Attenboroughs please step forward. Many thanks, David

Google is strangely blank - virtually all the references refer to the locomotive!

However, I did find this book extract:

http://books.google.com/books?id=HgHWN1 ... MKHttKhcs0

Turns out that 'Umseke' is a synonym for a Reedbuck (Cervicapra arundinacea). Looks a little bit like a gnu to me.


Richard

Ah, I suspected a vernacular/localised name - seems to be a Kaffir word. Looks rather more elegant than a Gnu/Wildebeest, but who gnows!!! another example of duplicate naming in the B1 class.

Better Umseke than reebok(sic) I believe there are a few duplications of antelope names using alternate names for the same species on the B1s as the LNER was struggling to find more species of antelope. Although they could have used Pere Davids Deer and Muntjac among others.
The naming commitee should have sent the tea lad down to the local library or London zoo.

I spent many happy hours spotting at Northwick Park near Neasden in the late 50s and early 60s, where Umseke was a common sight on the GCR main line.
Ron White of Colour Rail spoke to the Bath Railway Society last month: when showing a slide of ‘Chamois’, he commented that 3 of the class were allocated to (?)Hatfield, which quickly discovered that Umseke was the worst of the batch and transferred it to Neasden.

"The natural history of animals : (class Mammalia--animals which suckle their young) in word and picture" says that Umseke is the same as Rietbok, which is Reduncus eleotragus
http://archive.org/stream/naturalhistor ... h_djvu.txt

Illustrations can be found at
http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-ima ... Eleotragus
and with commentary in German – where it is spelt riedbock at
http://www.zeno.org/Naturwissenschaften ... otragus%29

Is this any use?