Saturday 13th: ex-GWR Castle no 5043 is hurrying through Wellington, Shropshire – 8 minutes early – on its way back to Tyseley, Birmingham. Even if the sun has gone behind a bank of cloud, it’s still a fine sight for an August evening.
Category: Railways…
…and trams, traction engines, buses, ships, boats, canals and other transport subjects
Mid-Wales
A day out: a visit to the 15″-gauge Rhiw Valley Light Railway, and a few minutes in the RSPB hide at Lake Vyrnwy. The RVLR’s “Jack” and “Powys” are easily spotted, trundling around the fields beside the Rhiw. The woodpeckers are, of course, lesser spotted. More to come…
Summer sunshine at Foxfield
…and despite the warmth, there’s plenty of visible steam*. It’s the weekend of the annual summer gala, and the weather forecast suggested Sunday would be the best day. It was – an excellent day out. Visit “Foxfield summer gala” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for more photos and a short video clip (remember to turn up the volume!)
*I know – steam is invisible. The fluffy white stuff coming from the chimney is water droplets, suspended in the air, which don’t always form on warm days…
Going to the Wyre
Out with a railway friend – travelling to the Fylde on a Northern Rail day rover. Our objective is to cross the Wyre from Fleetwood to Knott End – our reward, a pint at the Bourne Arms – and some wonderful extensive views across the shimmering (despite it not being particularly warm) sands. The train takes us to Blackpool North, a smart new tram to Fleetwood – and what must be the shortest ferry crossing in the British Isles to Knott End jetty.
For more railway and tramway photos visit “By rail to Knott End” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Ancient internal combustion
It’s Burton Brewery Locomotives day at Chasewater – three interesting old diesels are in action, the oldest built 87 years ago – and there’s a visiting steam locomotive on the passenger service – Rosyth No 1, from Blaenavon. We’d better have a day out! For more pictures and info on the event, visit “Brewery diesels” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
Wensleydale Railway
A last look at Yorkshire – and things hadn’t quite gone according to plan. We could have had the pleasure of 69023’s company – next time perhaps. Visit “Wensleydale – a passing glance” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for (a little) more on our look at the Wensleydale Railway.
Wensleydale Railway official website
English Heritage
Day 4 of the “Cambrian Coast Express” tour. Flying Scotsman is hauling the train (as I write) between Crewe and Paddington, via Hereford and the Severn Tunnel. We went out to Stokesay to see it, with the castle providing a (scaffolded) backdrop. Inevitably, a little cloud obscured the sun over the railway line, while the castle basked in full sunshine. I don’t think 60103 was feeling very well – a few minutes down at Stokesay, it has just arrived at Bristol Parkway (Realtime Trains!) around 30 minutes late. The photo says it all – no visible smoke or steam (it was around 25c – another warm one), thought the diesel at the back seemed to be working hard…
Update: The train left Parkway on time (it had been scheduled for a lengthy stop) and arrived at Paddington on time. I wonder what the problem was?
Red Engines
Day 1 of the “Cambrian Coast Express” tour: it was to have been hauled by “Flying Scotsman”, but in the event, 46599 “Galatea” hauled the train between Paddington and Shrewsbury. We’d better go and see it, though there probably won’t be much visible steam on a warm day like this. Having see the large red engine pass (five minutes early), we headed north (ish) to Woodseaves, near Market Drayton – it’s a “garden plant centre”, and has a rather splendid 7.25″ gauge railway (quite the other end of the scale…). The little green diesel “Sydney” was in charge when we arrived, but “Jean” was soon in steam – so we had two trips around the interesting layout – one hauled by Syd and the other behind Jean. We met the toad shortly after Galatea had hurried past; the aquilegia which came home with us will join several others (which invited themselves) in the garden.
Magpie, Titterstone and Clee
Walking in south Shropshire with a “railway” friend: one who appreciates the interest in the remnants of industry in these very quiet hills. They’ve been extensively quarried for stone – parts are still being worked – and the coal measures were exploited too, many years ago. There are former railway trackbeds, of the standard gauge line which took stone down to Ludlow, and the narrow gauge lines which threaded the workings. Magpie Hill’s stone went by a different means and route – an aerial ropeway took its stone down to Detton Ford, on the long-gone CM&DP. The concrete bases of the pylons are still in place, and there are bits of rail here and there, mostly in use as fence posts and similar. Long-abandoned concrete structures stand here and there, slowly crumbling, like the remains of some lost futuristic city. They can feel rather spooky when the mist comes down, but there’s no such nonsense on a fine sunny June day.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=359845&Y=276831&A=Y&Z=120
Trenches and Diana
Just published to “Geoff’s Rail Diaries”, illustrated accounts of two excellent days out in Staffordshire and north Wales. For more on “Tracks to the Trenches”, visit TTTT2 – then have a look at Diana’s Debut on the Bala Lake Railway
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