Steam & Railway Image Library - The Alan Ledger Collection

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Steam Picture of the Week

Picture of the Week: 62277 Gordon Highlander

Alan Ledger November 20, 2014

Here’s an old timer what a great machine GNSR (Great North of Scotland Railway) D40 4-4-0 62277 ‘Gordon Highlander’ nickname ‘the soldier’ blows off standing at Elgin. Built by the North British Locomotive Company Glasgow 1920 and withdrawn in 1958. Fortunately it’s still with us preserved as number 49 and I think it’s at the Scottish Railway Museum Bo’ness now in it’s original livery not this black stuff. The protective sheet is well and truly wrapped around the cab inside

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Picture of the Week: Calais

Alan Ledger November 12, 2014

A group of us from work went over to France, our first visit to foreign shores in September 1968 following the end of British steam which had finished only a few months earlier. This was the nearest for us to travel, and before we discovered what was on offer in the rest of Europe. The first time was in the area around Calais and Boulogne to see the last of the K and G class Compound Pacifics (of which a

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Picture of the Week: Westhouses

Alan Ledger November 5, 2014

An interesting view of 18B Westhouses depot on the Erewash between Trent and Clay Cross north of Alfreton. In the shed yard are 8Fs a lone 9F, the cab of a Jinty 0-6-0 tank can also be seen. What must be one of the last 4Fs 0-6-0s in existence at the time with a yellow stripe on it’s cab which meant not to work under the overhead wires south of Crewe. Saltley had just one left 44057 from a previous

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Picture of the Week: Saalfeld

Alan Ledger October 29, 2014

Another visit to East Germany and an early start from our hotel before returning for breakfast. This time oil burning Pacific 01-0517 is setting out from Saalfeld on a real grim and gloomy morning working the 06.58 to Leipzig via Gera. There was also a steam hauled service via Jena to Leipzig worked from Saalfeld. The steam shed is on the left with engines standing in the yard ready for work. The class of engines working these two services kept

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Picture of the week: Midford

Alan Ledger October 23, 2014

For Somerset and Dorset fans here is Southern West Country class 34041 Wilton and BR Standard 73052 coming off the single line from Bath Junction at Midford with a southbound express for Bournemouth. The Pacific is carrying the old Somerset and Dorset express head code even though it’s 12 years since nationalisation and change, they just wouldn’t change around here for anyone! The lamps should both be over the buffers. Just look at that wonderful S&DJR signal on the lattice

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Picture of the week: South Africa

Alan Ledger October 16, 2014

I have sent this one to show the grandeur of the scenery rather than the train itself. So here we have a South African 4-8-2 class 19B 1410 (it looks very smart but they never seemed to clean the tenders for some reason) working the 09.00 freight from Rosemead to Graff Reinet which is drifting down hill from Lootsberg a lonely isolated passing point on the summit of this line. The train will have been assisted in the rear by

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Picture of the week: South Africa

Alan Ledger October 16, 2014

I have sent this one to show the grandeur of the scenery rather than the train itself. So here we have a South African 4-8-2 class 19B 1410 (it looks very smart but they never seemed to clean the tenders for some reason) working the 09.00 freight from Rosemead to Graff Reinet which is drifting down hill from Lootsberg a lonely isolated passing point on the summit of this line. The train will have been assisted in the rear by

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Picture of the Week: 292 Ferradosa Portugal

Alan Ledger October 2, 2014

Never mind the train look at the spectacular scenery, we are back at Ferradosa in the wild parts of the Duero valley in Portugal. Look closely at the tunnel this had been hewn out of solid rock. The two cracks either side of the large slab above the tunnel could have been cased when explosives had been used in its construction. It looks like it’s about to slide off! The location and position for this photograph was a master piece

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Picture of the Week: 35030 at Waterloo

Alan Ledger September 25, 2014

An O.S. Bullied rebuilt Merchant Navy 4-6-2 35030 Elder Dempster Lines waits for the off on a perfect morning in London at Waterloo station with the down ACE. It’s home depot at the time was 70A Nine Elms and the staff there have made a great job of turning the engine out in fine condition. It will take the train to Exeter Central where here it will be divide and head off in different directions into Devon and Cornwall, soon

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Picture of the Week: Lathen

Alan Ledger September 11, 2014

West German 3 cylinder oil burning Pacific 012-061. One of Rheine’s long time allocation. (A number of displaced engines from Hamburg Altona depot that were in good order had recent been transferred to replace Rheine’s dwindling stock.) Here it is thrashing along in full cry south of Lathen northern Germany making up lost time with the heavy 08.25 Koln (Cologne) to Norddeich express which it will have worked from Munster. This was before the overhead wires went up which was

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Picture of the Week: Garsten

Alan Ledger August 14, 2014

The Garsten narrow gauge Austria. This line was situated off the standard gauge Enns to Leoben Line south of Linz near the town of Steyr and passed through quiet backwaters as far as Klaus. A daily freight train ran to here but the passenger service from Garsten now terminated at Molln, a small village on the river Steyr, the line followed the river all the way. 0-6-2 tank 298-52 is working the 06.10 from Garsten to Aschach on a perfect

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Picture of the Week: Carlisle

Alan Ledger August 7, 2014

If you have been to the pub down the drive from Ribblehead station on the Settle and Carlisle line this is the view from the loo. (the loo with a view) The late afternoon sun shines from the west on Ribblehead Viaduct casting long shadows on the valley below as a Standard 9F 2-10-0 with steam on approaches with a southbound freight from Carlisle. The distant signal for Blea Moor signal box is off in the opposite direction and seen

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