Just back from a second trip to Stapleford Steam – the annual steam gala based around the 10½” gauge miniature railway near Melton Mowbray.

   

Lots to see and do – tractions engines, steam rollers and lorries, old tractors, hog roast (we must keep the household authorities happy…)

A “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” page will appear, no doubt, in a day or two, with photos and video footage – in the meantime, here are a few samples of the fun – or visit the 2003 trip page, or perhaps the Stapleford Miniature Railway’s home page for details of future events

A new “monorail” page – “Remember Barry?” The great scrapyard contained around 300 locos at its peak; by the time of this visit in August 1983, perhaps 70 remained – the others gone to preservation, and a good few restored to full working order. Where would our preserved lines be now, if Dai Woodham had cut them up like his colleagues at Cashmores? – And what a shame the yard hadn’t been in the north-east of England, or Scotland…. Ex-GWR, SR and LMS locos by the dozen, and one solitary ex-LNER locomotive, B1 61264

Statfold Barn Orenstein & Koppel Day 3rd June 2006 – published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries

Just back from Statfold Barn Railway’s “Orenstein and Koppel” event – and this time, the weather couldn’t have been better, after the Siberian conditions for the March trip. “Every silver lining has a cloud”, of course – the sun was invariably in the “wrong” place – i.e. directly above and behind trains coming up the bank. But never mind, it was an excellent day, with no fewer than 5 steam locos in action:

• Statfold, the “new” Hunslet 3903/2005
• Trangkil, the last “old” Hunslet 3902/1971
• Harrogate – the fine 0-6-0ST Peckett 2050/1944
• O&K 614/1900, newly-restored as Pakis Baru No 1
• and visitor O&K “Montalban” 6641/1913 from the West Lancs

not forgetting the MR “Charley” 9976/1954 on the garden railway. A Rail Diaries page will of course appear in a day or two – when I’ve had a chance to work through the 200-odd digital images and the 15 minutes of video…

30587 page added to Geoff’s Rail Diaries. Fun and games with the NRM’s Beattie well tank at the Telford Steam Railway, Horsehay. 6 photos and 1 x 3 minute video compilation of the loco hard at work on the 1 in 40 gradient.