Went out this morning, poor light again to see 46233 Duchess of Sutherland on a Sheffield to Euston train. First at Aston then a chase to Tile Hill and Rugby. It will have passed through Aston many times in the past on Sunday diversions. 2 e-mails for these.
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 Built by the North British Locomotive Company Glasgow 1920 and withdrawn in 1958.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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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