Steam & Railway Image Library - The Alan Ledger Collection

Steam Train Photography

Picture of the Week: 012-061 MEPPEN

Another one of those West German 3 cylinder 4-6-2 pacific oil burners, 012-061. One of Rheine’s long standing allocations. It’s looking a bit worse for ware but still in good mechanical condition as the departure testified as always with these engines but not long to go before it will be finished and replace by diesels. lt’s the last time we would see them at work. Here it is standing at Meppen station with the southbound 07.50 Norddeich to Cologne. It

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Picture of the Week: 92029 SALTLEY

Here is Just one of the photo’s I took with my first camera when 15 years of age and working as an engine cleaner at Saltley along with a few others of you and able to wander round the shed at will. As you can see it’s not wonderful but every picture tells a story. 9F 92029 ex Crosti boilered 2-10-0 was one of the sheds allocation and what a state it’s in. The front end on the fireman’s side

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Picture of the Week: 16R 791 South Africa

We called into Port Elizabeth to see the last Pacific’s working in South Africa and also spent some time sorting out a puncture to our campervan, in fact it was a shredded tyre that disintegrated if memory serves me right, the roads were terrible. Here is the front end of South African 16R 791 standing at Utienhage depot. This is where these Pacific’s worked too. Every thing looks robust about this engine, Walschaerts valve gear on view large solid cross

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Picture of the Week: 19D 2721

South African 19D 2721 4-8-2 slogs uphill on the climb from Vickers through some pretty rugged terrain working a freight from Aliwal North to Barkley East high up in the centre of the country. We were well over three thousand feet up here and it was freezing cold at night in our camper. This was a very numerous class and were to be seen almost every where on the South African Railways being very versatile especially on the branch lines

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Picture of the Week: Ferradosa Portugal 284

This is Portuguese Railways number 284, a 4-6-0 oil burner built by Henschel in the early part of the twentieth century and still going at this time, a grand old machine which looked very much like the British Great Eastern Railway B12 class. Here it is running along the remote and rugged eastern Duro valley of Portugal working the 09.20 from Porto to Barca de Alva on the Spanish border, seen here near Ferradosa. Note the two big lamps on

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Picture of the Week: 46100

I took this picture late last year on the Severn Valley Railway spending a very wet afternoon around Arley photographing 60163 “Tornado”, 34027 “Taw Valley” and 46100 “Royal Scot”. The autumn trees were still looking good with their colours even though it was dull. I moved on later near to Bewdley as the sky finally cleared and here are almost the last rays of the setting sun as it drops below the horizon and catches the scene at Dropping Well

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Picture of the Week: 012-101 Lathen

This is what the Germans did with steam engines with some useful life left in them, they kept on running them, not like the British who wasted money and scrapped them long before their life time was up. This is 1972 four years after we had hurriedly done away with all of our engines. Here is a West German 3 cylinder oil burning Pacific 012-101 still at work on crack expresses storming along doing well over 70mph having climbed the

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Picture of the week: Eisfelelde Talmuhle East Germany 99-7231

Yet another trip to East Germany to see the last of steam on the standard gauge around Halberstadt where I had to lay low and dodge the police by the marshalling yards, not a good place to be on your own in East Germany. They had the luxury of a car to find me but made the mistake of having their siren on. Still got some pictures though. Then on to see the narrow gauge at Wernigeroda. Here is a

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Picture of the Week: 7812

I took these pictures whilst venturing out during some heavy snow fall in January 2010. Great Western Manor 4-6-0 7812 Erlestoke Manor is at Northwood Halt on the Severn Valley Railway working a Kidderminster to Highley train. The trains were not going onto Bridgnorth due to a bad land slide that had blocked the line and this was in the process of being repaired. The engine crew look huddled up on the footplate, the storm sheets is up under the

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Picture of the Week: Austrian 97-208 0-6-2 Rack Tank

This is a very cold Austria and we are a few thousand feet up! A volcanic exhaust and tremendous noise is being produced by 97-208 0-6-2 Rack tank as it climbs very slowly to Prabichl through spectacular scenery with empty iron ore wagons from Vordernberg to the iron ore mountain at Ertzberg for re loading on a freezing cold day, another engine brings up the rear out of sight working just as hard. We must have been mad venturing out

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Picture of the Week: 7802 KIDDERMINSTER

I took this picture at Kidderminster of Great Western 4-6-0 7802 “Bradley Manor” during our last very heavy snow fall in the Midlands during December 2010. The Santa Specials on the Severn Valley railway valiantly continued to run but not many of those that had booked were able to turn up. Tomorrow is the same date as five years ago and the temperature is expected to be 12.C, not much prospect of snow then. We only got there with our

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Picture of the Week: (EAST) GERMANY

An East German light Pacific 003-2001 Runs along side the river Saal at Dornburg. This was running with a large number of other preserved engines during a German enthusiasts 4 day plan Damph (steam festival) that a group of us went over to see. They were allowed to work normal timetabled trains in place of German State Railway Diesels, could you imagine that happening in Britain? So here is the 11.49 Camberg to Saalfeld. Up above on the escarpment some

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