Steam & Railway Image Library - The Alan Ledger Collection

Steam Train Photography

Picture of the Week: Prabichl, Austria

Here we are at Prabichl station, Austria, mentioned with last weeks picture and high up in the mountains above Vordernberg. As you can see the snow is deep here and all the points in use are well cleared. Skiers cars are parked in the station car park, the ski run heading off into the trees is right behind the left hand engine out of sight. This engine is rack tank 97-211 and is running round its 2 coach train, one

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Picture of the week: 97 0-6-2 tank engines

A wintery scene. In the distance two 97 0-6-2 rack fitted tank engines, 204 and 208 lift a train of empty iron ore wagons up from the steel works at Donauwitz on their way to Erzberg, a mountain of solid iron ore. This is the Vordernberg Rack Railway, Austria. Monday 2nd February 1971. Here they are about to pass the small village of Vordenberg Markt down in the valley. This was the daily task for these robust rack engines allocated

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Picture of the Week: Spanish 141F 2246

You may not believe it but this is Spain, a very foggy northern Spain . Oil burner 141F 2246 crosses the Rio Ebro, one of the longest rivers in the country, it had just left Miranda de Ebro with a passenger train for Zarragossa on Sunday 18th April 1971. I put the tree in to give the picture some depth in the fog. Luckily I got a reflection of the engine on the the water as it flowed over a

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Picture of the Week: West German 012-055 at Rheine

West German 012-055 oil burning 3 cylinder pacific from Rheine taken on a cold winters afternoon with the setting sun silhouetting the train. Here it is not long after passing Lathen, a small rural town in northern Germany, traveling at some speed with the 15.09 Norddeich to Cologne express. It wouldn’t be long before we set off back to our nice warm hotel by Lathen station for the night, having spent a cold winters day walking to different locations out

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Picture of the Week: West Germany

2 pictures this week, same train. West German 012-055 oil burning 3 cylinder pacific from Rheine taken on a cold winters afternoon with the setting sun silhouetting the train. Here it is not long after passing Lathen, a small rural town in northern Germany, travelling at some speed with the 15.09 Norddeich to Cologne express. It wouldn’t be long before we set off back to our nice warm hotel by Lathen station for the night, having spent a cold winters

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Picture of the week: South African 25NC 4-8-4

This is diamond country, South Africa. Here are the vast plains between Kimberley and Bloemfontain in fact it was like this every where inland in SA. A class 25NC (non condenser) 4-8-4 is working a freight to Bloemfontain on Monday 17th September 1973. It looks flat country but in fact the train was on a long climb along single line to Olienhoutplaat where it would pass a west bound freight to Kimberley. We had left our camper van on the

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Picture of the Week: West Germany

This is a West German 012 oil burning 3 cylinder 4-6-2 Pacific, these things got thrashed, and they motored. There was no holds barred with these engines. You could here them coming from miles away, I would have loved to have driven one. It must have been full regulator from the very start if the sound was anything to go by. No worries about killing the fireman he just sat there and played with his controls, there was plenty of

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Picture of the Week: Portugal

This is really remote and wild Portugal along the River Duro. It took 3 days by train to get here from Britain, no cheap flights then. Oil burning German built Henschel 4-6-0 number 282 slowly crosses the river Duro at Ferradosa with the daily postal train from Oporto to Barca De Alva on the Spanish border one of only 4 trains in this direction for the day. It was a long wait between photographs. Snake country beckons among the rocks

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Picture of the week: 99-7244 East Germany

Thought you might like to see some photographs I have taken in the past of foreign steam. Seems a shame for them to hide away. So here’s the first, enjoy the scene, save them if you want. 99-7244 Leaving Wenigerode, (East Germany after unification) with the 15.30 to Benneckenstien. Wednesday 27th February 1991. Trabi’s (3) are still in evidence. Regards Ledg.

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