Just published to the “monorail” pages – another set of fine railway scenes taken by the late Robin Barbour in the days of black and white – “Portrait of Steam“.
Once again, I’d be very grateful for any assistance site visitors can offer with the locations…
No, not our third attempt at the fearsome north face of Moel Fferna – but a third fine, clear, sunny day out in the wettest July ever! 12 months ago we were struggling to get a walk or two in the hottest July ever…
A 2000′ summit in the northern Berwyns, and a derelict slate mine, once served by Britain’s last wooden railway – visit “Moel Fferna” on “Walks with a Camera”
It’s pouring with rain again, and the south Midlands are suffering from severe flooding – but a couple of days ago, we carped the diem, so to speak, and took to the hills, this time to follow the route of the famous mass trespass of 1932 up to the Kinder Scout plateau. We would then follow the edge, with its wonderful gritstone formations. past Kinder Downfall, before (almost literally) squaring the circle via Kinderlow End.
Visit “The Trespass” on “Walks with a Camera”
We’re on a roll here! Another page of Robin’s b&w photos published to the “monorail” pages – trains on the move in Scotland and northern England, hauling passenger and freight. Visit “Steam in Action” – and please, if anyone can help with the locations…
Just published – more of Robin Barbour’s wonderful black and white photos of northern steam. This time – an assortment of locomotive portraits, from humble 0-6-0 and 0-4-4 to main line pacifics. Visit “Assorted Locomotives” on the “monorail” pages
As I write, the rain is teeming down – another wet day in this soggy summer. But a couple of days ago, we had an excellent 10-mile stroll on little-known hills in mid-Wales. Perfect walking conditions – pleasantly warm, a light breeze, red kites, mud…
Visit “Llandegley Rocks” on “Walks with a Camera”
No, we’ve not gone sporty all of a sudden. This was the Golden Valley Light Railway‘s great event – its 21st anniversary celebration, annual steam gala (no less than 5 working steam locomotives*) and the official opening of its magnificent new running shed. And we’d had a formal invite!
Visit “Golden Valley – the Triple Event” on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” for the full story; in the meantime suffice it to see we had a great time – bright sunny weather (the first for weeks), a superb buffet lunch, and wonderful steam action. The return trip from the Newlands Inn, with Graham Lee at the regulator of his new “Jack Lane”, was amazing (literally, the sparks were flying…) – see below for the action. Many thanks once again to Pat Draper and Paul Sharpe at the GVLR for their kind invitation and a super day out.
*resident “Pearl 2”, new Hunslet “Jack Lane”, vertical boilered “Taffy”, Kerr Stuart “Peter Pan” and “Irish Mail” from the West Lancs
Yes, it did get rather dark – in fact, at 8.30pm, a couple of days before midsummer, it was like night. The camera was struggling – 1/20 @ f:8, ISO1600… (the photos are “as taken” – no tweaking)
By Wednesday morning, the damage was done – Hampton Loade, just a few miles down the Severn Valley, was cut off, its only road washed out, and the SVR’s tracks suspended in space above washed-out embankments. To quote the SVR website, “from Bridgnorth Outer Home Signal to Northwood Halt … sections of the line have been subjected to landslips, with several sections of track left suspended in air, cuttings filled with debris and at Highley, a major landslip, with the Up Starter Signal washed away, down the embankment.” The SVR has launched an appeal for funds and practical help.
Yes, 2007 marks ten years since the first pictures were published on the site, on the enterprise.net server webspace, which would become “Geoff’s Rail Pages”. It started with scans of prints and drawings, but on acquiring the first slide scanner (a Nikon Coolscan II), the slides started to appear. Soon afterwards, the first video clips were digitised (which was real fun in those days, on a Pentium 120 – took hours to compress a minute or two of video) and the links page created (not many of them still going, ten years on…)
I’m not sure how much web space we got in those days – was it 10mb? Didn’t need a lot, with a 28.8kbit modem. Anyway, if you’ve not been there before, visit Geoff’s Rail Pages – original and best!
Just back from a little outing to see the King – 6024 “King Edward I” hauling the “Cambrian Coast Express” between Shrewsbury and Paddington. The line climbs at 1 in 137, steepening to 1 in 100 through Albrighton, after the descent from Hollinswood – consequently, the train was moving quickly – perhaps 60mph – and working hard enough for a decent action shot – see below:
Shame about the horrid water wagon immediately behind the tender – no doubt it’s going to be an increasingly necessary feature of main line steam operations. Bring back the Ethels – all is forgiven!
