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 to see them you would have to make a special journey to their depots such as Tondu, Aberdare, Dyffryn and many others, a marvelous way for a 14 year old to learn the geography of the area. We would see over a thousand engines on a 24 hour visit but it would all soon come to an end as Diesels would soon be taking over. I can recall going around one of these depots one early Sunday morning in the almost pitch black and walking straight into one of the pits inside the shed it was so dark. No harm done though, it’s a good job it was dry.
No one worked on Sundays then in South Wales we had the places to ourselves.
In the distance can be seen an Ivatt 2-6-0 46521.
3rd June 2022.
Regards
Ledg.