We had a fine sunny day for our visit to Statfold today – perfect conditions for watching no fewer than twenty 2’0″gauge steam locos in action. (I didn’t try to count them – they keep moving around, and I’d have fallen asleep). As well as the usual locals, visitor “Diana” from Bala Lake took a star turn, along with the delightful newly-restored Peckett Liassic. A “Rail Diaries” page will appear sooner or later; in the meantime here’s a picture of the Peckett.
Category: Railways…
…and trams, traction engines, buses, ships, boats, canals and other transport subjects
Scots Guardsman
A rare visitor to Shrewsbury today – “Royal Scot” no 46115 Scots Guardsman, seen making light work of Battlefield bank with 12 coaches in tow (I suppose we should be glad that it wasn’t raining – but the weak sunshine of just five minutes earlier would have been most welcome).
Colin, Teddy and friends
Chasewater – the “Industrial Gala”. It’s cloudy, and cold in the stiff breeze; not a day for photography, though I’ll take a few. Colin and Teddy, the two tiny saddle-tank locomotives, will demand attention, as ever, and the recent arrivals – a pair of ancient Motor-Rails, in disguise as ex-BR lookalikes 15097 and 15099, need their pictures taken too. Visit “A windy Chase” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for more.
Manchester tramblers
…the second crossing…
No, we haven’t gone religious – that’s ‘crossing’, not ‘coming’. We were in Manchester yesterday, for a ride on the tram routes we didn’t have time for last year. We’ll include the new ‘second crossing’ – the alternative route across the city centre for trams running between St Peter’s Square and Victoria, which opened just over a week ago. If we’re lucky, there’ll be time for a pint later… For more, and lots of pictures, visit “The second crossing” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
Steam on a cold day: Tornado
Not that we felt the cold – we arrived at Cosford just minutes before Tornado. Hauling “The Red Rose” from London Victoria, it was stopping to drop off visitors to the RAF Museum. Soon it was away again, accelerating quickly with its 11-coach train, and making a fine sight despite the sleety rain.
A Grand Day Out!
Just posted to Geoff’s Rail Diaries, an illustrated account of yesterday’s (admittedly somewhat limited) outing using a “West Midlands Day Ranger” ticket. Visit “A short day out” – now!
A short day out
They’re all short at this time of year… Been out exploring by rail, using a “West Midlands Day Ranger”. By the time we got back to New Street, it was dark – but there’s enough light for a few photos of the trams, before squeezing into a rush-hour train. More to follow, in due course, on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries”. In the meantime, here’s tram no 31 in Stephenson Street.
Steam in the golden hour
Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries – “Santa Steam ’16” – photos and video from Sunday’s trip to the Severn Valley Railway, to see the Santa trains catching the golden light of a December afternoon.
Last of the light
Santa trains on the Severn Valley Railway – a great photographic opportunity, provided the weather cooperates. Today, it did just that – the sun shone from a clear blue sky until it set behind a line of trees to the south-west, just as 7802 Bradley Manor passed on its way back to Kidderminster. There will be more photos and video on Geoff’s Rail Diaries, but not for a day or two – too many other things above it on the to-do list.
Christmas Cheshireman
It’s a steam-hauled excursion from Bristol to Chester and back, hauled by the reliable pair of Black 5s 44871 and 45407. It was running around 40 minutes late when we saw it near Craven Arms, but going very nicely… For more (admittedly very similar) photos visit “Christmas Cheshireman” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
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