Steam Picture of the Week

 Hi all, Our second visit to West Germany brought us to the Vineyards of the Mossell at Bulley on the very busy Coblenz Trier Line almost 100% steam worked. To get to this spot required a slog over the hill to the right from Bulley along zig zag paths. Walking through Prinzenkoft tunnel was a bit to dodgy! Trier was home to a small allocation of 001 Pacifics for working some of the expresses along with class 023 2-6-2s.

Hi all, I might have sent this one out a long time ago so here’s one for the younger recipients of these pictures I have taken who might like to see and pure nostalgia for the few who are left to remember.. These were the conditions we had to work in during steam days. By then 3 sheds roof had been taken off before it fell onto someone. So we got soaked during heavy rain as engine cleaners not that

Hi all, Taken from the road bridge crossing the railway at Neunmarkt Wirsberg West Germany. Class 050-681 is framed by a signal getting under way with the 16.47 to Hof. Over on the right is the loco depot that is now a railway museum. Now adays the Germans have steam festivals running trains to Hof the attraction being the first three Miles from here of climbing up the 1 in 38 gradient to Marktshorgast. We would spend time walking the

Hi all, Here’s a picture I took from my trusty machine at a steam gala on the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway some three years ago I believe, of Great Western 2-8-0 tank engine 4270 in magnificent condition entering Toddington station with a short freight train from Cheltenham. These engines were built for a specific job which was to haul coal and steel up and down the South Wales valleys all their lives and very few ventured any where else and

 Hi all, Night time at the junction town of Bebra on the East West German border and like many railway main lines the trains run all through the night. East German Pacific oil burner 01-0523 had just arrived in the station with an express from the east and now stands waiting to be turned on the depot turntable before returning later with a train to Leipzig. All the trains working across the border into the east were manned by

Hi all, Night time at Wernigerode, all the engines that are here have been disposed, fires and smoke boxes cleaned and are now at rest until the morning service. There were probably 7 or 8 of these 2-10-2 tank engines at rest here at Wernigrode in the Hartz mountain region of what used to be East Germany. What a great railway it was and still is to this day to visit I managed to get there on 5 occasions. These

Hi all, Looking down from the footbridge at Bewdley on the Severn Valley Railway in the late summer as people relax and watch a Kidderminster Bridgnorth train headed by Stanier Black 5 45110 prepare to leave. The fireman looks back to get the green flag from to the guard before they can leave. Some nice hanging baskets adorn the lamp posts. I may have sent this a long time ago but I like the summer scene so here it is

Hi all, Three pictures this week of the same engine, a Chinese QJ class 2-10-2. We had moved on overnight by train from Xian to Zenghzang and a visit to the depot there where they had done us proud, their pride and joy was on view. There were about 40 odd engines including this beautifully kept engine. Even the engines in-service were really well kept and clean. It transpired that we were to go out into the countryside to do

Hi all, Chinese class RM Pacific 1251 backs off the turntable at the depot in Xian. This was one of 40 of this class allocated here, engines were being changed in the station opposite to the depot all day long including the use of other depots engines working in and out. It was indeed a Mecca for RM Pacific’s. We saw and traveled on trains of 15 50 ton coaches by these engines, they weren’t built for speed just pulling