Dud Gen

"If Timewarp was a loco it's status would be: Stored Serviceable."

Dud Gen Floater.
The term 'Dud gen floater' is an old school bashing term which refered to incorrect gen which keeps on doing the rounds and getting passed back to you as a solid fact when you know that it's a total work of fiction.

When updating Timewarp I used the gen supplied in good faith, often there was simply no other reference source to compare it with. It very quickly became apparent that the site was being used as a reference source, and once the gen is out there it's out there, the facts and the fiction, it all takes on a life of its own, did it come from our site or elsewhere, we'll never know for sure?

Errors do get in and then they get passed around. Ideally, the gen used comes from contributors who saw, caught or photographed the working and (hopefully) correctly recorded the working at the time, before passing it on, hopefully without too many added typos, but much 'Gensheet' gen as also gotten into the system, this usually comes from multiple sources, some will have been witnessed but others 'may' have originated off a TOPS list and therefore may or may not have come to pass, plus gen by word of mouth reports will be included which may or may not be passed on correctly - Chinese Whispers.

And yes, many errors are entirely mine and I can only apologise for that. I'm now going through all the Timewarp gen very carefully indeed - there's loads of it so it'll take awhile. I don't want to be a party to spreading 'dud gen floaters', so any workings that I believe may be in error or appear to conflict or are disputed by anyone visiting the site will remain on file but won't appear on the new site. The best thing about a website is, that unlike with the printed word, when errors are unearthed, they can still be corrected or removed from the records.

It appears that much of the published records with regard the final disposal of BR steam (and some early diesel disposals) was at best guessed and at worst complete fiction. See the What Really Happened to Steam project. I don't want the gen on a revived Timewarp (or the old site for that matter) perceived in the same dark light.

Remember, the Timewarp Archive ? Please take a good look, compare with your own records and let us know if you disagree with anything, disputed records will be investigated.


"If Timewarp was a loco it's status would be: Stored Serviceable."
'UD' & 'Clayhead' - Preserving the gen online since 1999...