Kestrel Train Of Thought

As I drove through Stanstead Abbotts I saw a sign for Kestral Cabs. Was it a spelling mistake or done on purpose? Anyway it turned out to be more than a physical sign. As Ollie dog and I were crossing the railway lines to Amwell Nature Reserve, which always gives me a frisson, we spotted a male kestrel on the trellis girder/gantry over the tracks and it got me thinking engineering.

My parents had some Venlo glasshouses built by Dutchmen which featured trellis girders to give a larger clear span. And it turns out a high-powered mainline diesel locomotive built in 1967 was called Kestrel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFCyw4rWBcA It didn't last long with British Rail and was sold to the Soviet Union.

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