Hi all,
On the spur of the moment I decided to head off to Solihull to see the last day of the Polar Express. As usual it was headed by 7029 “Clun Castle” for this years outing. I had a nice chat with the driver at Moor Street Station. I told him that I had fired the engine twice many moons ago when steam engines were allowed back on the main line after their demise on British Railways back in 1968. He had started his working life as an apprentice at the Tyseley railway centre in Birmingham and he’d become an engineer and had worked on the engine for many years.
So off to Olton station where I used to go as a youngster as my mothers parents lived near by and I would sneak off to watch the Great Western engines pass by.how lucky to have both sets of grand parens by a main line. As the west coast main line was being electrified there was an hourly service from Wolverhampton to London Paddington usually with a King class engine at its head which was a big attraction.
The first picture is of the 13.15 Dorridge to Birmingham Moor Street Station on the Warwick Road bridge which I’ve always wanted to take a picture of with a steam engine it. I have also passed over it at work hundreds of times.
The second picture is of the 15.15 Dorridge to Birmingham Moor Street in the failing winter light taken from the Grange Road bridge opposite Olton Mere Solihull.
Thus brings 2024 to a close. Not a bad haul of photographs this year. Happy new year everyone. December 22nd 2024.