User:GRALISTAIR

Introduction
My first two names are Graham Alistair and my user name is a contraction of those names. I was born in Chester UK and lived in Preston Lancashire UK for 37 years. I have lived in the USA since January 2001. My son-in-law is from Scotland so my 3 grand children are half Scottish and half English though they were all born in Ireland.

Qualifications
I went to Kirkham Grammar School in the years 1968-1975 and then my first degree is in Chemistry from UCLAN - University of Central Lancashire and I gained my Master of Science in The Corrosion of Engineering Materials from Imperial College London. I also hold the Diploma of Imperial College qualification. The main study textbook was Corrosion Engineering by Mars G Fontana. I have written a Wikipedia article about him. I also did multiple courses in Materials Science, mathematics, technology and engineering at The Open University. I have written papers that have been presented at conferences all over the world and that have been published including a chapter in a book published by The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Professional life
I have spoken at conferences all over the world and been published.

I peer review other people's papers.



Publication references

 * Masters
 * PU Past Present and future
 * Waterborne PUDS Functional coatings
 * Pigment and Resin WBE Epoxy anticorrosion primers
 * WB Resins monograph
 * RSC WB Maintenace systems
 * WB Epoxy AC primers

Hobbies
My main hobby has always been travel. These days it is mainly planes - 2 million miles flown (and well over 1 million miles on Delta Air Lines alone!) but I have had a lifelong interest in railways. As I work in the construction industry and have studied engineering, my main love of railways these days is in electrification and construction related matters although I did clear my locomotives 3 times when I was a spotter in my youth. My last locomotive for my first time round was 08663 spotted on number 1 target point Swansea east dock on July 25th 1976. I lived right by the West Coast Main Line north of Preston, Lancashire from 1965-1975 and so saw the end of steam, the introduction of diesels and the line's electrification. I still own a house that backs on to the WCML north of Preston. More recently, I took a photographic record with a friend of the North West England electrification schemes. Needless to say I am a member of a number of Railway enthusiasts societies in the United Kingdom. There are even pictures of my younger self on trainspotting trips on some of the website pages. I have well over 20000 photographs, color slides etc on the subjects.

Wikipedia
I do Wikipedia edits and was a supervisor on Answers.com. I love free knowledge and if history has taught us anything it is that knowledge does not like being caged up but wants to be set free. I try to never dispute with another editor and definitely not a reviewer but I do understand why people get upset sometimes. In the wiki article Corrosion Engineering one reviewer put "Needs attention from an expert'. I know the person who started the article and he has a Master of Science in Corrosion of Engineering Materials from Imperial College London - he is an expert! He was not a wiki expert and did not format or reference well. But if it had been me, I might have been upset and hurt. However, I try not to get upset but don't always succeed. In February 2021 I got really pissed off but hey ho life is too short. Recently got declined as an AfC reviewer too.

Gallery
Notice quite a few photographs from Salwick railway station

User:GRALISTAIR/sandbox/railways - Wikipedia