To open the 2010 season in the year that the GWR celebrates its 175th anniversary I paid a visit to the home of the best collection of GWR locomotives in the country for one of their steam days. The website described two GWR 0-6-0 Pannier tank locos in steam so I was delighted to find the ROD '4300' Class 2-6-0 no 5322 in steam in place of 3738.
My thanks to the crews and loco support teams who were most friendly and helpful.

With five locos in steam I hoped for some good photos but the forecast was not good. It must go down in my record books as the wettest day out I've ever had. The rain began as I arrived at Toddington and it never stopped once. That together with a biting north wind at 2 degrees max this was not a pleasant experience.

In brilliant sunshine but sub-zero temperatures this weeks trip to the Severn Valley was going to be a test of endurance. The problems were seriously exacerbated when Mike realised he'd forgotten his sandwiches. What was I to do? A visit to Bewdley station cafe was called for a bacon buttie. Don't worry Mike I wont tell Helen.

2nd week at the SVR Santa specials.

Sunshine at last... After an appalling weather forecast Mike Snow and i were not anticipating anything of interest today however the clouds began to break up as we approached Kidderminster and graced us with a goodly amount of sunshine all day.

Sadly 43106 was reported as having failed en route from Bridgnorth and was swapped with 4566 on train heating duties. I'll see it one day!

A first visit was made to the Severn valley railway today to see the Santa Specials.

Great fun and many happy faces on board the trains but the best laugh was Mikes Triple Salchow with tuck on the muddy slopes of Northwood Lane embankment. I never thought my trousers would dry!

Found on the embankment - A Sony Video camera battery... Is it yours?

3 photos taken in 1979 when a replica Stephensons Rocket ran on a short length of track in Kensington Gardens opposite the Royal Albert Hall to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Rainhill Trials.

Ever since I've been going to the NEC i've struggled, along with every other photographer, to take photos under those awful yellow light bulbs. CHANGE THE B****Y THINGS.

As a member of the 6024 Preservation Society I was invited to take a meal on the excellent Severn Valley Railways dining train hauled by King Class 4-6-0 no 6024 King Edward I.

My thanks go to the staff for an excellent meal and to Richard Abbey for organising the trip and for introducing Roger & Anne.

The Centenary Excursion of the Stephenson Locomotive Society ran today from the Warwick Road platform within Tyseley Locomotive Works. Motive power was provided by Tyseley's GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank loco no 9600 and Dennis Howells loco no 9466.
Last minute changes to the itinerary were made due to E.on's security risk assessment that Eco Terrorists may have infiltrated the passengers. Yeright. As If... Get real E.On!!! So we had to be Class 47 hauled down the Ironbridge branch with the steam locos on the back as there would be no run around facility.

An excellent day out with two outstanding locos supplemented by a trip on the SVR with 5764 & 4566. Well done yet again VT.

What an excellent idea! A steam hauled train from Toddington direct to Cheltenham Racecourse to watch one of the biggest & best displays in the country.

I arrived slightly earlier and after taking a tour of the works at Toddington I took a trip in daylight to Cheltenham behind Class 47 no (D)1693. ex 47105.

On an afternoon visit to the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway I had a quick look around the works. There was a lot going on....

Tyseley have successfully returned their GWR 0-6-0 Pannier tank loco no. 9600 back to the mainline. A light engine test run was undertaken over the North Warwickshire line to Stratford upon Avon during the day.
In the evening a passenger carrying excursion ran from Shirley to Stratford upon Avon. With a 5pm departure I was unable to reach Shirley at that time (some of us have jobs) so I travelled on board on the return leg only and caught a service train back to S-on-A. An excellent run with 9600 sounding like a well oiled sewing machine.

With additional services scheduled to accommodate the Tornado fans it was no contest about where to go today.

In addition a locomotive I support was also to be seen at Kidderminster although it was not in steam - GWR King Class 4-6-0 no 6024 King Edward I.

With my thanks yet again to Mike doing the driving especially the chase from Oldbury to the tunnel at Kidderminster in order to catch a 2nd shot of the fabulous A1

Photos taken from "Behind the fence" today. I didn't see "Albert Hall" at all. Not happy!

Tyseley's stud of Hall class locos celebrate their 80th Birthday at Tyseley's Open day on Sunday. I went along to help prepare Pitchford Hall and was delighted to see yet another Hall - 4983 Albert Hall... Appearing for 1 day only. Don't miss it.

Work in Progress.... Full dull all day!

This was a turn up for the books.

It's been long overdue for a Stanier Black 5 to be operating at the GCR. However theres more to come... Watch this space

It's already earning its keep on the mainline after successfully passing its mainline re-certification tests last Thursday.

In the space of 10 days all 3 of the Tyseley based Hall class locos have been steamed. 4953 on the WSR, 4936 on the SVR and 4965 on the BIG railway. A credit to Tyseley.

The GCR events just get better and better. This Gala was stunning for the sheer volume of trains that ran. almost all of them on time and the sun even came out occasionally.

In the company of Mike Snow and Brian Burrows we really were struggling to decide which trains we could miss in order to move location.

The sight of two freight trains passing on the mainline is an image that cannot be repeated on any other railway. Congratulations to all involved in this production

With thanks to Matt Fielding and Martin Creese for an excellent day's charter

Work in Progress

Work in Progress

4th October 2009

Work in Progress

3rd October 2009

During a visit to Brighton in early October I stayed at the Jury's Inn Hotel overlooking Brighton Station.

An excellent location for photos...

Early in October I visited The Bluebell Railway in Sussex. I was fortunate that on both the Saturday and Sunday the Pullman set of cars (TB) was in use. The Saturday for a wedding charter while the Sunday was the more regular 'Golden Arrow' dining train.

Work in Progress

3rd October 2009

The 2nd day at The West Somerset Railway Steam gala.

A collection of photos taken on & from the footplate of 4953 Pitchford Hall over the 1st two days of the October Autumn Steam Gala on the West Somerset Railway. My thanks go to the loco owner for his kind invitation to ride up front.

All photos taken with my little Panasonic Lumix TZ5.

Checkout the mini-vid via the links on the RHS

I shall re-date this collection in due course and slip it back to its rightful home in October.

Day 1 of the West Somerset Steam Railway Gala.

The best way to "arrive" in St Ives has to be by train. The glimpses of the picturesque town obtained as the train turns each headland increases the anticipation of an excellent holiday. So I parked at Carbis Bay on a dull overcast day and hopped on the next train to St Ives.

A visit to this new railway was essential. But where was it? I drove through Beddgellert twice and saw no direction signs to the station (as described on the leaflet) so headed up to Rhyd Ddu. What a remarkeable achievement.

After failing to obtain a ticket for the Snowdon Mountain Railway I wandered back to the Llanberis lake railway that I'd spotted near the car park. A train was readying itself for departure but as it was only 14.55 there was no hurry. I'd catch the next one - Wrong! This was the last train of the day. Overall I was not happy.

Having seen the cloud almost lifting off the top of Mount Snowdon a visit was made to Llanberis to take a trip up the mountain. Wrong!...... On arrival at the car park the attendant asked whether I had a ticket. 'Well no' I answered. He then told me that unless I'd bought them online the previous day or turned up and queued at 8am then I had no chance. So I had to be satisfied with a tour of the works courtesy of the Railway Health and Safety Officer Mike Roberts. Thanks Mike

Read the name! This railway has operated for many rears from a base to the west of Porthmadoc along a modest length of the original trackbed of the Welsh Highland railway. However i'm quite sure it is causing confusion with visitors who are expecting a trip up to Caernarvon hauled by a Garrett loco.

WIP

With a Class 55 Deltic and a Class 50 amongst many other locos this was a Gala not to be missed. Awesome.

WIP (Delay in processing caused by HOLIDAY!!!) Even I have them occasionally.

I travelled Pullman style on board The Shakespeare Express today having spent all day yesterday assisting in the preparation of 4953 Pitchford Hall. The performance from the locomotive was absolutely superb. It sounded fantastic with unbelievable acceleration away from Stratford as confirmed by Loco performance guru Mike Notley. A stunning performance from the Ray Poole/Alastair Meanley combination. Thankyou to all.
Most photos today were taken using my Panasonic TZ5.

One of the staff at Tyseley has recently taken possession of this 0-4-0VBT that was manufactured in Belgium in the late 19th century. I will be recording progress on the restoration during my visits to the works.

3083 is a standard gauge Vertical Boilered tank Locomtive built by the John Cockerill company of Seraing, Belgium in 1923. She was one of 352 of the type IV locos produced between 1883- 1949. We know that she worked as a shunter in the Usines Gustave Boel factory in Liege until withdrawal sometime in the late 1960\'s. Following withdrawal she was put aside for scrap. She was eventually purchased by Hugh Wainright and transported to England. She was stored out of sight in a leaky corrugated shed at Whaley Bridge for a number of years during which time some parts were removed.
Between 1999-2000 she arrived at the Middleton Railway Trust at Leeds and kept in storage. In March of 2009 she was purchased by the present owner and moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works where she will undergo a comprehensive restoration a return to steam.
If anyone has any information about the loco and would like to share this, it would be gratefully received.

Built by: Societe John Cockerill
Type: IV
Year Built: 1923
Weight in working order: 18 tons
Wheel arrangement: 0-4-0 VBT
Wheel diameter: 615mm
Cylinder dimensions: 285 x 320mm
Boiler pressure: 180 psi
water tank capacity: 3,200 L
Coal capacity: 650Kg.

Thanks to Nick Morant for the information

While at Tyseley I chatted to Alastair Meanley about the stage he had reached with the overhaul of 4965. In fact he was filling the boiler up in readiness for the hydraulic boiler test this week.

While I was at Tyseley Locomotive Works recently I was fortunate to witness the Class 40 D318 being dragged backwards and forwards onto the turntable in order to give the bearings some additional lubrication. In later discussion with one of the project directors for the team i learned that 6 of the 16 cylinders had been refurbished.... Still a long way to go it would seem. Any additional info gratefully received.

Update:. I've received news that this loco was used in the 1967 film 'Robbery' starring Stanley Baker that was based on the Great train Robbery. Thanks to AT for this item.

Steve Underhill was already working on the boiler of 45305 when I arrived at Tyseley. He workd on it all day. It looks, to my untrained eye, almost ready to return to Loughborough...

I spent the day at Tyseley today assisting in the preparation of 4953 Pitchford Hall for hauling The Shakespeare Express tomorrow. Thanks to Nigel, Bernard & Kevin for an enjoyable but very tiring day.

It was the turn of GWR Hall Class loco no 4953 Pitchford Hall as traction on the Shakespeare Express today. I've a great deal of affection for this loco ever since seeing it for the first time at Crewe Works Great Gathering in September 2005 so I wanted to give something back today.

After the final run I was waiting at Tyseley Locomotive Works to help with the disposal and preparation for the following day's trip to Melton Mowbray and the Harringworth Viaduct shuttle excursion. I called in at The Masala Club in Balsall Common on the way home for a curry takeaway. I certainly got some funny looks - the state I was in!

In the company of Ace Videographer Mike Snow we visited the SVR again. Main purpose was to see the newly overhauled Ivatt 2-6-0 'Flying Pig' but with 2 x Manors and Kinlet Hall in service together with the Ivatt Mogul it was steam heaven. In addition the Diesel service was using Western Class 52 no D1062 Western Courier.
On several occasions we were Eboralled but were able to pass the time with the latest edition of The Big Issue from Chris Page who was spending the August Bank Holiday in his tent... Did he pack up and go home after the appalling weather on Sunday afternoon I wonder?

The LMS under H G Ivatt introduced this class of 2-6-0 in 1947. Initially they had double chimneys but these proved inefficient so the later builds were fitted with a single chimney and conversions applied to earlier builds. 43106 is the last remaining example of the 162 that were built and has been fully restored at Bridgnorth Loco Works over a period of many years. Congratulations to the team on a fine job.

With my apologies to the 4953 team. The 'voices' told me to go to the SVR today instead of Tyseley to polish Pitchford Hall.

I had heard that 4953 Pitchford Hall was on a light engine test run to Stratford this afternoon so nipped over to the station to try and catch a shot. I had completely overlooked the Steam Dreams 'Cathedrals Express' excursion and was delighted to find Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific 34067 Tangmere was being readied for the departure. Rumours were circulating that Pitchford Hall was scheduled to arrive and would bank the train up the sharp grade out of the station. Sadly Pitchford didn't arrive and Ray Poole manfully struggled with the regulator trying to achieve some grip hauling 11 carriages ...

I later heard that 4953 had been put in the loop at Shirley. I still don't know whether it arrived at Stratford or simply headed back to Tyseley depot. Update - Yes it reached Stratford - probably just as i drove out of the car park - Sods law again...

After helping with the cleaning of Nunney castle It was gratifying to see the loco hauling The Shakespeare Express in wonderful sunshine today.

While cleaning Nunney Castle at Tyseley I managed to take a couple of photos of the boiler for 45305. It was damaged in a shunt at Loughborough a couple of years ago and is still being worked on.

I was invited to join in the cleaning preparations for 5029 Nunney Castle this evening at Tyseley. The fire is planned to be lit tomorrow for its inspection prior to hauling The Shakespeare Express on Sunday.

The sun was hiding again for the main event. It was a beautiful sunny few minutes until 5043 showed itself at Hatton. Dead on cue a cloud passed in front until the moment that the final carriage disappeared down the line. Typical.
Tender first runs were captured at Wootton Wawen and Henley in Arden with chimney first shots at Songar Crossing near Langley & Hatton.

The two tank locos 42085 & 1744 were the stars of the Great Central Railways latest gala. In the company of Mike Snow we managed to catch some sunshine but we still feel we're jinxed... All the usual faces were there - Brian Burrows, Rick Eborall, David Armitage to name a few... My thanks to all the staff and volunteers who put on such an excellent show. My only regret was that I forgot to nip down the road to inspect the new GCR offices during their open day that I'd read about on the web. There was no signs up anywhere that I could see at the station.

In unusually sunny weather I ventured over to Hatton Junction for the lunchtime running of The Shakespeare Express. This week was scheduled to be hauled by Tyseley's newly restored Castle class 4-6-0 no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. At the appointed time it slowly worked its way around the curve at Hatton North Junction but came to a halt at the signals...... read on....

In the usual company of Mike Snow - checkout his videos... - I visited the G&WR for only the 2nd time this year and was rewarded with some excellent sunny shots. Its about time our luck changed...

4936 Kinlet Hall was the motive power hauling The Shakespeare Express today. I used the bridge near Lowsonford/Rowington adjacent to the M40 for the lunchtime run and after nipping into Stratford upon Avon I then went to one of the Langley area foot crossings were i met up with Rik Eborall and a couple of others.

A casual visit to Henley in Arden today. OK lets be honest I arrived too late to photograph The Shakespeare Express. A badly timed visit to Alcester beforehand caused my delay.

It's Saturday so it must be wet and miserable. Castle Class no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe hauled the Chiltern Railways sponsored 'Bekoning Bard' excursion from London marylebone to Stratford upon Avon today. I took what may be my final shot at Hatton Bank (due to vegetation growth) for the northbound and then was held in roadworks and slow traffic en route to catch the arrival at Stratford. Southbound was photographed at Warwick Parkway.

The Shakespeare Express was hauled again by Castle Class no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe today. In miserable overcast and drizzling weather I ventured over to Wilmcote to record the pass for the lunchtime run. With Mike Snow and his wife on board I couldn't expect anything but bad weather now could I?

Another excellent presentation by The Great Central Railway. 78019, 42085, 48305 & 30777 Sir Lamiel in operation with 63601 as standby loco while on the diesel side was D1705 and a double-headed combination of D5185 & D5401 and also not forgetting the DMU set. I also caught a shot of D123 being prepared for Sunday's operations. The bad news was that on a mostly sunny and bright day my companions Mike Snow and Brian Burrows are clearly jinxed and pressed the cloud button at all the wrong times. I was also nursing a painful finger that Mike Snow managed to trap in my car door in a vain attempt at spoiling my fun. Owch!
Work in Progress

With Tornado scheduled to haul The Torbay Express for a few weeks a trip was essential. Rolling along the Somerset levels and the Devon coast at a steady 73mph++ was a wonderful experience.

The problem with travelling on a steam excursion is that you don't get to take any lineside photos... I hope this collection helps others in their plans to catch a shot.

My thanks to the crews and support teams for a great day out...

A collection of photos taken during a short stay on the Isle of Man.

Rick Eborall pointed out to me that this collection from July, of 1 photo at the time, was still showing as Work in Progress. I'd overlooked it. So here are the pics from a holiday on the Isle of Man. In a month or so I'll slip it back to July's date.

I was told that Chiltern railways had created two posters using my photo of '4965 Rood Ashton Hall at Hatton North Junction' and had them hanging at Moor Street station.

A kindly friend took a couple of pics of them and has granted permission for me to use the images.

Well it must be true as its published in Heritage Railway Magazine.

According to the article GWR Pannier tank loco 7760, a spare boiler (which I think is the one identified as 3803), several unrestored MkII carriages and many items from the museum are to be sold off in order to raise funds to complete the restoration of 7029 Clun Castle, the completion of the Bloomer Project loco and expand the dining facilities within the VT stock.

4936 Kinlet Hall is the motive power for the coming weekend. Buy your tickets now from Vintage Trains.

This is, of course, subject to operational availability.

GWR Castle Class no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was the loco selected for hauling the first SE of the 2009 season. It performed faultlessly and looked superb.

The 2nd weekend of War at Severn Valley Railway was the destination for Mike Snow, Brian Burrows and I this saturday. Weather started out good but as usual the clouds gathered and rain fell in answer to Mike's rain dance. Personally I reckon its a button on his hi-def vidcam that he's pressed in error.

I'm honoured yet again to find one of my photos gracing the cover of the 2009 Shakespeare Express leaflet. I have to say I didn't realise it was my photo until I trawled back to 5th August 2007. It was one of the shots I didn't upload to my website but sent hi-res version to the VT team.
I was also a bit miffed at finding no mention of my name against the photo but I'll give RM the benefit of the doubt in forgetting to add it.

The first week's SE on 5th July is scheduled to be hauled by Castle Class 4-6-0 no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe... afterwards possibly 4936 Kinlet Hall but all subject to operational change...

Tyseley Locomotive Works was open for this weekend. In steam were two Castles, two Halls, the recently refurbished Peckett 0-4-0, GWR Pannier tank loco no 9600, the replica Locomotion from Shildon and finally making a return to its birthplace as the newest steam loco of all the Peppercorn 4-6-2 A1 Pacific no 60163 Tornado.

Who's idea was it to run this Open Weekend at the same time as the Glastonbury Music festival? That guaranteed RAIN.

As a member of the support team for 4953 Pitchford Hall I was down at Tyseley with my little tin of Brasso beavering away. The loco was lit up for the first time in several months. It was good to see it coming alive again.

A thoroughly enjoyable day out at the Great Central railway in the company of Mike Snow. Thanks for driving me around again....
Interesting 'NEW' building at Loughborough. Don't lean against it though or you may knock it over...
It was also a good opportunity to use both my cameras. The D50 now sports the Nikkor 70 - 200 while I use the D700 coupled to the 24 - 70 Nikkor. Hence the reason for duplicates of many passes. I'm assessing the reaction to both styles so if you have any 'constructive' comments please let me know.

This event on the GCR was by far the best I've seen. My congratulations go to all of the team involved in organising such a superb event.

In a depressing day of constant rain Mike Snow and I still managed to enjoy a day on the Severn valley Railway even though I failed in my attempt to limbo dance under Mikes car at one point aided by a particularly helpful stretch of muddy embankment. (Sorry for the mudmarks left in your car Mike!) I managed to find sufficient clean watery puddles to wash off the mud...

However what we have come to expect at the SVR now are a greater than acceptable number of tender/bunker first runs. I've included them all here for completeness but may lose them soon. It was certainly a challenge taking photographs in the pouring rain while manipulating an umbrella. No prizes for these photos I'm afraid.

A convert.... Congratulations to the crew of Class 52 no D1062 Western Courier who put on a superb show in the dismal, dank, dreary rain that we all love so much in England - NOT. I was on the Severn Valley in the company of videoman Mike Snow who, as a result of my forward planning and generosity, was able to go lineside wearing my GCR hi-viz while his own was at the laundry having lumpy gravy removed. During the day I fell over with shock after hearing him utter the comment that the pass with D1062 was the best thing he'd seen all day and remarkably he has uploaded the vid to his 'Steam on the Web' site including several passes with D1062. He joined me on the platform at Bewdley before our journey home to pay his respects.... Awesome.

Gresley A4 Pacific no 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley hauled Steam Dreams excursion from London to Chester & back today. (from Banbury on the outward journey). I arrived at Birmingham International just in time to see the arrival into platform 1 for watering the tender. I then caught a few more shots at Berkswell as the train headed south towards Coventry.

Summers arrived! With temperatures reaching a very comfortable 70+ I met up with Mike Snow again for a regular summer timetable day on the GCR. Highlights included seeing progress on N2 no 69523 and a run out for Class 33 no D6535 on the lunchtime diesel slot. Two locos in steam were 30777 Sir Lamiel and Robinson O4 no 63601. I was surprised and delighted to read and see photos in the superb GCR organ 'MAINLINE' this month of several other Robinson O4 survivors in Australia. I wonder.....

My thanks again to Mike Snow for driving between locations and Linda Poole and staff at Ellis's of Rothley for an excellent sausage & bacon bap.

Saturday was an amazing day at Wellesbourne.... checkout the Vulcan XM655 MaPS website in my 'Other Galleries' listing.

Following on from my previous archive images from 1985 uploaded in August 2008 here is the following years excursions from Manchester to Southport in 1986 hauled by Stanier Jubilee class loco no 45593 Kolhapur.

My Congratulations to Bob Meanley and the Tyseley Locomotive Works staff on the completion of the re-streamlining of LMS Coronation Pacific no 6229 Duchess of Hamilton. It is a remarkeable achievement and fills a huge void in the history of steam lcomotive development. Now when is it's first steaming date?

Betcha thought there were more recent pics here!! Gotcha.

This gala had everything...4 x steam, 2 x diesels + DMU, Passenger trains, local service, an express, restaurant dining service together with the mineral wagon train and a mixed freight. There was even a beer tent at Quorn. So where was everybody?

Thanks to Mike Snow again for racing around to each location. Mike was also back to struggling with his Sony HD vidcam again after repairs and I was appalled at the language he was using. I learnt some new swear words! Checkout his vid of the days gala via the link.

A short trip over to Cossington from the GCR at lunchtime allowed a couple of shots of Oliver Cromwell heading north up the Midland mainline. However checkout Hi-Viz man spoiling everybodies shots.

With a Bank Holiday break away in Portsmouth it would have been rude not to have taken a trip over to the Isle of Wight. The story continues....

When looking at these photos it would be difficult to tell that Saturday was quite a pleasant sunny day. The fact is that every time a train approached the sun disappeared only to return 2 minutes later. Sod's Law AGAIN.
Thanks to Mike Snow for racing up and down the valley and risking life and limb with numpty drivers in doing so.
Work in Progress.

My second visit to Llangollen this time with my wife enabled a few more shots in sunshine of 46100 Royal Scot with smoke deflectors re-fitted. She also recorded the cacophony of the 10 steam loco finale at Carrog (see link below right) before we headed back to Llangollen on board the 9 carriage special hauled by Royal Scot. To finish we enjoyed an excellent meal at the Llangollen Corn Mill Restaurant washed down with a pint of Voodoo!

My thanks and congratulations to the staff, volunteers, loco owners etc. who all contributed to this successful MEGA Gala.

A visit to the Llangollen Railway for the Mega (their word) 9 day gala.
I was accompanied by Ace fotter Brian Burrows who's photos will no doubt be far better than mine.....

Star for today for me simply has to be the sight of 46100 Royal Scot for the first time in 45 years! I was very much against the Crimson lake livery and had vowed to convert all images to b&w in protest but I cannot do it. The loco looks superb in Crimson Lake.

With its 10 year boiler certificate expiring in a weeks time 4141 gave its final steaming today at the Great Central Railway Tank Engine Gala.

On the railway to drive the loco for its final afternoon hauling passengers was loco owner John Kennedy.

Late addition: Checkout my minivid of a footplate ride from Loughborough to Quorn on 4141 during its last day of operation. No great masterpiece but pretty unusual.

Saturday dawned overcast yet again. As I drove eastwards to Loughborough the clouds got heavier and greyer and rain fell in spits and spots almost all day. The Gala though was excellent with good performances from 4141, 41241 from the K&WVR and 69621 from the North Norfolk Railway.

I must thank Mike Snow who drove Brian Burrows, Martyn Tattam and I around in his brand new car and appeared unperturbed by our muddy boots and his lack of car mats in the back! I'll buy a Big Issue from Chris P next time and lay it on the floor in the back. OK?

Message to Graham Briggs (By Appointment to HRH EdH provider of stunning horizons and image enhancement backgrounds) : - Could I place an order for 2 x Blue Skys, a couple of stunning exhaust emmissions and could you check with Gordon to see if he's got some of those white fluffy clouds with the sun from the left please?

Usual terms of purchase - I need them urgently to put some life into todays shots....

A further selection of images from the LNER Steam Gala.

Barrow Hill is unique in retaining the original roundhouse. The atmoshere within the shed brings with it huge nostalgia and memories of my many visits to Lostock Hall, Aintree, Edge Hill, Chester and Crewe North sheds when I was a lad in the 60's. I've included a series of dark images to try and capture that atmosphere.

This Steam Gala was not to be missed. A gathering of many of the remaining LNER Pacifics together with the newly built star - A1 no 60163 Tornado.

I was accompanied by Mike Snow whose hair changed during the day from white through to sooty black. Indeed the swirling wind will have given the likes of Persil and Oxydol a small fortune in laundry costs. Black is the new White.

Having been invited to attend the Livery Dinner of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers at The Clothworkers Hall in the City of London I felt 1st Class travel to the event was the only way to go. Very Impressive.

Also witnessed were some of the demonstrations against virtually everything at Piccadilly Circus, the Picasso Exhibition at The National Gallery and a view of Wembley stadium from the train as England was beating Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier.

This collection will soon be moved into my general photo gallery.

A weeks break on the Isle of Man.
Unfortunately railway services on the island do not commence until Easter in two weeks time so I was rather lucky to catch a few images of a test run with one of the Manx Electric Railway cars.

After my trip to Wilnecote to photograph the A4 passing through I continued onto Loughborough for a day on the GCR. Locos in steam were Stanier 8F 48305 and the visiting Q6 63395. I was accompanied by an old school buddy who rather unkindly suggested that when we were at school photos were all in sepia tone. I'll admit to b&w but sepia... no!

I ventured over to Wilnecote near Tamworth this morning to catch a shot of A4 Pacific no 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley hauling The Severn Valley Limited. As can be seenI was lucky that the approaching Voyager didn't spoil the photo. It's arrival was announced by a buzzing bi-plane overhead. What was that about?

A rare chance for a 2nd day spent at the SVR gala materialised although the weather forecast was not at all promising. The day dawned with another perfect blue sky however it was not to last and showers were the order of the day. A superb day out with all trains running to schedule with no apparent problems. The SVR really has got things running smoothly now. Thanks to all the teams for their contribution.

A superb collection of visiting Pacific locomotives were assembled for this 'Festival of Steam'. Riddles Standards 70013 Oliver Cromwell and 71000 Duke of Gloucester, Gresley's A4 Pacific 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and from the GWR was 4-6-0 no 5029 Nunney Castle. Locos from the SVR in steam were GWR prairie tank no 5164, 7812 Erlestoke Manor and finally in light steam on Saturday was the Ivatt mogul 46443. Please take a look at Mike Snow's videos of the days events by following the links. I even make an inadvertant appearance at the top of the embankment when 70013 departs Arley. (Whoops sorry Mike)

Just pause for a moment and reflect on this... The Lewes & East Grinstead Railway commenced operations in 1878 and ran the railway until 1899 - 21 years. The South East & Chatham Railway SE&CR operated for 24 years until 1923. The Southern Railway operated from 1923 until nationalisation in 1948 - 25 years. The Bluebell Railway was founded in 1959. It will be 50 years old this year and has therefore operated the railway longer than any of the previous owner-operators. What an amazing achievement.
I visited the line for the gala in the excellent company of Mike Snow - "Steam on the Web" who was struggling manfully with re-learning his technique following the purchase of a new HD semi-pro video camera and an extremely heavy over-engineered Manfrotto tripod. Mr f**k-it came out several times I can tell you.

These are a few photos taken at the picturesque station of Horsted Keynes on The Bluebell Railway in Sussex.

I felt another visit to Tyseley Locomotive Works was long overdue - my first visit in 2009.

"NB...Tyseley Locomotive Works, the Visitor Centre & the Site are closed during the winter period.

See further announcement on opening in Spring 2009"

What an amazing day out... In spite of Mike Snow's curse of bringing awful weather wherever he goes I actually managed to catch some shots in the sunshine with snow still thick on the ground. An excellent days photography. My thanks to the team who put this gala together. Thanks also to Mike who's car can go where no other car dare attempt.

'At last - It's the 1968 show' - The Great Central Railway Steam Gala provided an enormous number of train moves. Departures from Loughborough were at 15 minute intervals with several freight and windcutter runs added to the normal passenger trains together with TPO and even a parcels train. With the returning trains included it was one train every 71/2 minutes. An incredible performance with everything running pretty much to schedule it was a superb day out.

My thanks to Mike Snow for driving again and to Brian Burrows for his impersonation of Franz Klammer....

Up at 4.30am! You must be joking... That was what i had to do in order to reach Burrs Country Park in time for the Photo Charter. Transport provided by Mike Snow again of course. This time we enjoyed the company of Brian Burrows.
What an excellent railway AND an excellent line. However it may be quite some time until my next visit as I won't get away with another 4.30am start with the management.

Surprisingly this was my first visit to the ELR. With Mike Snow as driver again - thanks - we started the day at Burrs Country park. A turn up and pay photo charter had been organised using Standard 4 tank loco 80098 and a short freight train. Great fun.

This was a most frustrating day. The sun was bright in a blue sky all morning and what did we get - the first 3 trains hauled by locos running tender first. Then with some duff info we missed the Pannier hauling the first train away from Bridgnorth right way round. The sun disappeared in the early afternoon to really put the cap on it. Met up with Matt Fielding so the day wasn't a complete waste.

On arrival at Bewdley MPD (Thanks for correcting me Tom) 45110 was lying alongside the running line. It was to be given a quick once over by the cleaning gang before departure this week to Barrow Hill.

My first trip out to the GCR this year. Full dull AGAIN.

The colour/processing on these shots may look a bit different. I'm using new software for the first time and although some look fine I may revisit this collection and re-process them once I master the software. Some of these shots have already been done 2 or 3 times already.

Thanks to Mike again for transport.

Without this man St Pancras Station would have been consigned to history. Thankyou.

He is considered instrumental in helping to save the famous facade of St. Pancras railway station in London and was commemorated when it reopened as an international and domestic terminus in November 2007. He was said to have called the plan to demolish St. Pancras a "criminal folly." About the station itself he wrote:

"What [the Londoner] sees in his mind's eye is that cluster of towers and pinnacles seen from Pentonville Hill and outlined against a foggy sunset, and the great arc of Barlow's train shed gaping to devour incoming engines, and the sudden burst of exuberant Gothic of the hotel seen from gloomy Judd Street."

The newly reopened St. Pancras now features a statue of Betjeman in the station at platform level. with thanks to Wikipedia...

A visit to Birmingham for the post-Christmas sales enabled me to take a few shots at Birmingham's Moor Street Station.

An excellent day at the Great Central Railway in bitterly cold conditions. Checkout Mike Snows videos of the days events via the links.

A few shots taken during the Warwick Energy Ltd staff Christmas Luncheon train on the SVR where we travelled on board the Shrewsbury Saloon.

My thanks to the stewards Brian and Luke for the professional, quiet and efficient work. Highly recommended.

A further visit to the Severn Valley Railway to record the Santa specials.

With thanks to Mike Snow for the transport and Matt Fielding for providing some excellent locations

On a miserable wet, heavily overcast morning I foolishly went to Hatton station to record 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe pass through en route to London. I soon realised I should have gone to Warwick Parkway station where the train was scheduled to stop as the light level was appalling as you can see.

I travelled Pullman class today on Vintage Trains steam excursion from Dorridge to Melton Mowbray. The train got off to a slightly late start from Dorridge due to frozen points at Tyseley. However driver Ray Churchill made up most of the lost time en route. Work in Progress.

After lengthy engineering works that had closed the stretch of the SVR between Kidderminster and Bewdley for several weeks the Santa Specials commenced today in glorious wall to wall sunshine. My thanks to Mike Snow for driving, Matt Fielding for sharing his knowledge of the line and Chris & Paul for their quick wit and repartee. No I wont buy a Big Issue.

Two diesel hauled railtours caught my eye for today. Firstly with a 5.45 am start there was Poole to Blackpool from Spitfire Tours running with 2 x Class 37's captured at Leamington Spa. This was followed after a drive to Henley-in-Arden by a Top 'n tailed Class 47 hauled railtour by Compass Tours from Liverpool to Stratford upon Avon.

Jubilee Class 4-6-0 no 45690 Leander was the main locomotive today and this wrong-footed a few people who made the trip to see City of Truro in action. The Robinson 2-8-0 no 63601 was the 2nd string loco in steam.

After enjoying an excellent breakfast bap at Ellis's on Saturday I passed the time between the service of real trains by taking a few shots of the excellent outdoor model railway at Rothley.

Amazing progress with the trackbed clearance of the Mountsorrel Branch. How they've managed to do so much is stunning. This project has become unstoppable.

A few shots taken at Tyseley on Saturday morning.

Rood Ashton Hall ran its Final Final excursion on Saturday from Tyseley to Chester. I went into Tyseley at stupid o'clock to take some photos for posterity.

It must now be dismantled in order to undergo a detailed boiler examination prior to receiving a new 10 year certificate.

A visit to the European Capital of Culture - Liverpool to see the city's railway stations - or at least what's left of them..

With the prospect of some sunshine and in the knowledge that City of Truro would be running alongside the Robinson O4 I decided on another day at the GCR.

On Rememberance Sunday Stanier jubilee Class loco 45690 Leander was dressed up as *5700 Britannia. A raffle draw took place afterwards with the prize of the smokebox numberplate and nameplate.

Fresh from another session of synchronised wheelbarrowing at Loughborough shed the winner was Jo-Jo!

Congratulations....

After leaving the Great Central Railway my plan was to attempt a shot of the 5043/4965 double-header while it was stopped at Leamington Spa. It didn't quite work out as planned....

Checkout my youtube vid taken on my mobile phone at Warwick Parkway via the link. There was no way to stop the action with a still camera in the dark so decided once again to use the mobile. Not bad considering.

Additional photos taken during the afternoon of The Royal Train trips hauled by 70048 Territorial Army 1908-1958/2008.

Finally grateful thanks are due to Roger Rounce for allowing the use of the original 70048 smokebox number plate, shed code plate for 6J-Holyhead and SC from his collection to enable the loco to resemble exactly the condition when it was originally named by The Duke of Norfolk in 1958.

The Territorial Army celebrates its centenary anniversary this year. To commemorate this event Britannia Class 4-6-2 no 70013 Oliver Cromwell was re-numbered & re-named as long scrapped classmate 70048 The Territorial Army 1908-1958. On the other side of the loco a new plate has been fitted - The Territorial Army 1908-2008. The ceremony was performed by HRH The Duke of Gloucester at Quorn station.

With an all steam hourly service from Loughborough with City of Truro & Leander theres was no way I was going to miss this. The sun again failed to provide the icing on the cake though.

I spent a pleasant day in the company of Mike Snow and Brian Burrows. Thanks for driving again Mike.

After the Tyseley Steam Open Day ended a photo charter event was held organised by Martin Creese and Phil Neale.

3 x Castles, 3 x Halls, a Dukedog & a Pannier tank loco.

The event was held in order to celebrate the re-commissioning of the ex-Barry scrapyard GWR Castle Class loco no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. A magnificent achievement.

Guest loco was 'Dukedog' 4-4-0 no 9017 Earl of Berkeley which masqueraded as 3200 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

I arrived at Tyseley late afternoon and sat in my car listening to the last few minutes of the Liverpool v Chelsea match that Liverppol WON! Hence only a couple of sunny shots.

Helped along the track with my zimmer frame by my chauffeur Mike Snow, he then pointed me in the direction of the approaching trains and I clicked as instructed. Thanks Mike.

A few photographs of the excellent trackbed clearance work undertaken by Steve Cramp and his band of volunteers at the bridge area at Swithland Road Mountsorrel.

5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe hauled its first passengers today on the Shakespeare Express schedule. It looked good and sounded fantastic but was failed with a hot axle box and all passengers detrained at Tyseley. The 2nd run was hauled by Brush no D1755 (47773)

Earl of Mount Edgcumbe ran light engine this evening to Stratford upon Avon. All looks to be running to plan for its mainline passenger hauling debut on Sunday.

Sunday dawned wet and miserable.... It stayed that way all day.

Overall though the Wet (sic) Somerset Railway put on yet another fabulous show with lots to see at most of the stations. It was such a shame the weather put such a dampener on the whole weekend though which I'm sure must have affected passenger numbers.

The weather forecast was not good but the rain held off until the afternoon.

A good start to the weekend with a trip on the shuttle service to Norton Fitzwarren hauled by 69621 & 5553 top 'n' tail decsended into a miserable dank overcast afternoon....

Castle Class no 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was steamed for the first time in 44 years on Friday evening at Tyseley Locomotive Works. I dropped in to record the preparations for 4936 & 5029. I was not aware that 5043 was in steam. Honestly!

I should like to congratulate the Tyseley team on a fantastic achievement. Another milestone in TLW history has been reached.
Video now uploaded to youtube - see links.

5029 Nunney Castle & 4936 Kinlet Hall were being prepared for mainline duties on Saturday. I ventured down there to catch a few shots

5029 Nunney Castle was a guest loco at the Mid Hants railway. A railtour was operated to bring the loco back to Tyseley. Outbound haulage was Brush no 47773 while the return was with Nunney Castle. A scheduled stop was at Warwick Parkway.

I finally got to see the brand new £3million A1 Pacific in steam today. STUNNING.

Another excellent day on the GCR. Even though this was a regular service day there was still plenty to see. Sadly I was driving so couldn't indulge in any of the many beers on sale in the beer tent but was able to buy one of the special GCR pint glasses from man of many talents Jamie Steele.

Day 2 of the SVR gala for me and I wanted to travel on some of the trains for a change. Most shots were taken from locations available to the general public.

My thanks to all the staff and crews on the SVR for an excellent display. I can vouch for the trains being full! I hope it broke all your previous receipt records. The weather certainly helped.

Day 1 for me but Day 2 of the Gala. SUNSHINE at last. Summer has finally arrived. How the SVR organised it I don't care. It was good to have warm sunshine. Stars of the gala for me were the two outside frame locos - 3440 City of Truro and 9017 Earl of Berkeley.

It was great to see so many photographers along the line enjoying the full sunshine. There were far too many to mention. Special thanks to Mike again for driving and to all the workers and volunteers for making this one of the best galas. It must have been successful as most trains appeared fully loaded.

Vintage Trains have just published a full colour booklet and a DVD to celebrate 10 years of operations from their Tyseley base south of Birmingham.

I am honoured to have several of my photos featured in the book as well as gracing the cover of the DVD. Copies will soon be available for purchase via the Vintage Trains website or on board The Shakespeare Express. All profits will go towards the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe fund.

Rood Ashton Hall produced a superb finale to the 2008 season with a storming display at Shrewley cutting. Nice one Ray.

Next run of The Shakespeare Express will be on Sunday 19th October with 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe as motive power...

A Diesel Slick! A very slick operation meant the whole gala ran very smoothly with all trains running to time as scheduled. An excellent day out. My thanks to all who put on this show.

I'm glad I hung around at Loughborough at the end of play today as 60163 was dragged to the station for a wedding day photoshoot.

Once again the weather was poor with heavy cloud. I journeyed into Stratford and then on the A46 bridge at Bishopton for the lunchtime run and then Hatton North junction for the afternoon.

This appalling weather appeared to put everybody else off from linesiding at the GCR today. I believe this was the last day that 30850 Lord Nelson will run so I was glad I made the effort.

Most pictures were taken while manipulating an umbrella in the almost incessant rain.

On yet another miserable, wet and dank afternoon that continues this appalling summer which, according to the weathermen is the worst on record, I ventured out to Hatton North Junction - simply to record the event.

Today was my first chance to see the £3MILLION newly built A1 Pacific no 60163 at the GCR. After seeing Paul Biggs superb shots of it in steam and hauling carriages I was very disappointed to see it cold and lifeless at Loughborough works. I'll have to pay another visit, and another...and an...

In the mid 1980's a series of steam specials ran for several years on a Sunday in September sponsored by The Southport Visitor newspaper.
The trips consisted of a morning run from Manchester, a lunchtime trip to Wigan and back - tender first from Southport -and finally a run back to Manchester in the afternoon.

These rather poor photos were taken in 1985 of the first year of the excursions running.

Another summer Sunday. I went to Henley in Arden, Stratford and Wilmcote for the lunchtime run of The Shakespeare Express and the footbridge north of Shrewley for the afternoon run.

I decided on a visit to Tyseley this morning. My first visit since the Tyseley Open Day.

Highlight was seeing progress on 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. A surprise celebrity visitor was Pete Waterman.

The lunchtime run was captured on the single track Bearley to Hatton branchline. It had been a pretty overcast morning but the weather brightened up just in time.

For the afternoon run I chose the rather noisy location at Rowington alongside the M40 motorway.

Some shots taken while travelling to Didcot.

My all-day Saturday pass arrived very late on Friday evening from the management after I'd already declined a kind invitation from Rick Eborall to join him on a visit to Didcot. I decided I'd go to Didcot anyway for a change and possibly meet up with Rick once there! Unfortunately he'd changed his plans and ended up at The Battlefield Line with a group of kids to look after... Ha ha. Rather him than me.

It was a steam day at Didcot and I was pleased to see two locos in steam with a third being lit up around lunchtime. My thanks to the team for a great day out.

On the day that the re-enactment of the 15 guinea special took place up north 'Vintage Trains' own Shakespeare Express ran with 4965 Rood Ashton Hall once again performing inpeccably as usual.

Why was I the ONLY photographer at hatton this afternoon? Was everybody else afraid of a bit of rain?

What dreadful summers weather! So lets go to the Great Central Railway this saturday. At least its got several bridges to shelter under! Yes that was the initial reasoning behind the decision. It was nothing to do with 63601 and 30850 Lord Nelson possibly being in steam together - honest.

For some videos of todays trains checkout Mike Snows website via the links.

This was my first chance to see Rood Ashton Hall with The Shakespeare Express this season. Sadly the weather was seriously overcast and no great works of art were possible,

With no Galas on at Midland based railways this weekend Mike Snow and I plumped for a visit to the G&WR. The weather was dull and threatened rain as we set off but it got better and better... Sadly so did South Africa in the test match and they won the series...

Checkout Mikes vids via the link.

I've seen these unusual and rare top and tailed Wrexham & Shropshire locomotive hauled trains several times but never had a chance to photograph one.

While awaiting Nunney Castle at Hatton North Junction I saw the southbound train go through and then soon after the northbound. In due course this very expensive operation using two powerful locos on 3 carriages will change with the introduction of Driver Vehicle Trailers (DVT)

Trying to find new and different locations for shots along the green tunnel between Bearley Junction and Hatton Junction is almost impossible. Here I tried a location south of the line beyond Claverdon where a break in the embankment shrubbery provides a view but after a 15minute walk I found that lineside grass would obscure the wheels. It was too late to find anywhere else. I got nettled getting here as well. Wearing shorts was not a good idea. The afternoon run was taken at Hatton North junction and the sun came out just in the nick of time.

Maunsell 4-6-0 Lord Nelson was the star of the show at the GCR on the hottest day of the year.

My thanks yet again to Mike who accompanied me and Brian Burrows on our day out. We met up with regulars Graeme B and Gordon M who we joined in taking a picnic lunch at Chanwood water. Very civilised for once.

With an early morning departure at very inconvenient o'clock I couldn't catch a shot of it outbound.
Castle Class loco no 5029 Nunney Castle was the motive power for Vintage Trains - 'The Bristolian'. After leaving the GCR I managed to reach Hatton in 45 minutes in time to see and hear the train storming Hatton Bank. For an alternative view checkout Cliff Jones website. I met up with Cliff on the bridge. Long time no see!

Following a kind invitation from Mike Snow my wife and I joind him and his wife for a trip to Cheltenham on the Fish & Chip Special. Haulage was GWR Small Prairie tank loco no. 5542. We were blessed with excellent warm weather and enjoyed a good evening out. Thanks Mike.

Kinlet Hall hauled the Shakespeare Express today but on arrival at Birmingham Snow Hill all was not what was expected.

I travelled on board Pullman style to celebrate our wedding anniversary so these images were taken using my mobile phone

During my visit to the L&HR on the previous Saturday I was told the boiler of Furness railway 0-4-0 no. 20 was being refitted during the week. I managed to catch a few shots as the first piece of boiler cladding was being fitted by the friendly team.
So what you may ask... Well this is the oldest operational ex mainline steam locomotive in the country

A second visit was made to the L&HR during the week of our holiday. Two locos in steam - saddletank locos Cumbria & Repulse.

The fact that the L&HR Steam gala took place while I was on a family holiday in the lake District was a happy co-incidence. (Honestly!)

Four locos in steam and a chance for me to see the other Fairburn tank loco - 42073.

The first Shakespeare Express of 2008 was hauled by Castle Class 4-6-0 no 5029 Nunney Castle. As usual it was driven by Ray Churchill with Alastair Meanley firing. What a performance though. A truly superb departure from Stratford up Bishopton bank was clearly cut slightly short as I was able to drive to Claverdon and catch other shot of the train storming through on the single track branchline towards Hatton.

However I was delayed by slower traffic and missed a further shot in the Shrewley cutting. I had hoped the train would be delayed turning off the branch at Hatton North Junction.

I woke to pouring rain today and really didn't rate my chances of anything... However with thanks to Mike Snow again... for driving the clouds began to break up as we reached Bewdley and we got some pleasant summer sunshine (and some showers).

The theme was wartime on the SVR.... and loosely based on July 1941

4965 Rood Ashton Hall was used by Vintage Trains for a private charter steam hauled excursion for Holmans Insurance Brokers from Didcot to Stratford upon Avon and back today.

For the crew it was an extreme test of endurance with a 6.46am booked time off Tyseley and a return time of 00.08! Ray Churchill was the driver for the morning with Ray Poole on the afternoon stretch.

To celebrate the Centenary of the opening of The North Warwickshire Railway from Tyseley to Bearley Junction a steam special was operated last night from Shirley to Stratford upon Avon. Of course with temperatures in the mid 20's all day with bright sunshine it was inevitable that heavy clouds and then a storm would dampen the spirits. The train arrived back at Shirley in pouring rain.... At least it was warm!

As promised these are the photos of diesels and not forgetting E3137 Les Ross.

2008 is the year of the Centenary of the opening of Tyseley Locomotive shed. It is also 100 years since the opening of the North Warwickshire Railway from Tyseley to Stratford upon Avon which will be celebrated on Tuesday 1st July with a steam special to Stratford hauled by Hawksworth pannier tank loco no 9466.

When they brought 42085 down to The Great Central Railway they brought the Lake District weather as well. I got soaked today. No masterpieces here but it will be many months before 42085 is seen out on the tracks again so it was a case of now or (almost) never as 42085 is scheduled for at least 9 months in the works at Loughborough.

GWR Hall Class 4-6-0 no 4936 Kinlet Hall took the Chiltern route this morning from Tyseley MPD to Cranmore where it is starring in the weekends gala.

I took a couple of shots while on the way to work as the loco and 3 carriages rocketed down Hatton Bank.

The star of the trains for me was the additional carriage added to the DMU set. To add to the entertainment it was shuttling back and forth between Eastgate and Walmington on Sea. Well done! On the steam front pre-war built 777 Sir Lamiel was supported by 1953 built Standard 2 no 78019. GWR Prairie tank loco hving failed earlier in the day meant D5185 was brought out.

I applaud the superb efforts of all the re-enactors who dressed in period costume. I thoroughly enjoyed photographing people for a change. Thanks to all.

I must also thank Mike Snow for doing the driving again. Check out his vids via the link...

<------ The Fairburn tank has arrived at the GCR!!
Well what were YOU expecting?

I drove into Tyseley to take some photos of Castle Class loco no. 5029 Nunney Castle as it was prepared for its departure hauling The Lincoln Imp. Thanks to Alastair Meanley & Ray Churchill for a superb departure.

On a very overcast Thursday I travelled across on the ferry from Armadale on the Isle of Skye to Mallaig. I arrived with just 10 minutes to spare before the arrival of The Jacobite steam hauled service from Fort William. I had heard of a failure the previous week resulting in the excursion being diesel hauled so I was delighted when Stanier Black 5 no 45407 appeared.

My first trip up to the Highlands of Scotland opened up a whole new world. It was a totally undiscovered country for me and one I shall certainly be visiting again in due course.

I hope you enjoy taking a look.

Another superb day at the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railways Steam Gala.

Thanks again to Mike for driving me around....

A few shots from saturday...

What a superb Gala. Thanks to all the volunteers who have put on such a superb show. I can't wait to get back again next saturday. Thanks to Mike Snow for doing the driving again so that I could get so many shots from so many locations.

A very damp and dreary day at the GCR on saturday has forced me to produce a B&W collection of photos. Get used to it! When Tornado arrives it will be in its undercoat so I guess it will be B&W ONLY.

Thanks again to Mike Snow for driving me around. Check out his vids via the links.

Comment has been made that these images are mostly too bright and give almost a snowscene effect. In due course I will review and replace as time permits.

A4 no 60019 Bittern was the motive power for the first of Steam Dreams visits to Stratford upon Avon for 2008.

But look who I spotted on the footplate...

On the trip south I heard from PT that 60019 had slipped several times on the climb out of Stratford station that left a black cloud over the town.

A grand re-dedication ceremony for Britannia Class loco no 70013 Oliver Cromwell was held at Loughborough Station on the Great Central Railway on Saturday.
The unveiling was performed by Tom Harris, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Railways.

Bank Holiday Monday with Britannia Class 4-6-2 no 70013 Oliver Cromwell at the Great Central Railway.

Britannia 4-6-2 Pacific no 70013 Oliver Cromwell hauled its first passenger train today after a restoration lasting almost 4 years.

I paid a visit to the SVR Diesel gala on Saturday. Without any doubt the star was the Western diesel with its distinctive engine noise evoking many memories of holidays in Cornwall in distant times. Steam was also on display with 45110 and 7802 Bradley Manor flying the flag. Well done to all for a superb day out.

After four years of effort by the team at the Great Central Railway Britannia Class 4-6-2 Pacific 70013 Oliver Cromwell will soon move again under its own steam.

This collection of photos were taken on 24th July 2004 when a Gala was held to display 70013 before restoration commenced. It was also the first day of operation for standard 2 no. 78019

Gresley A4 4-6-2 Pacific 60019 Bittern was the star attraction at the Severn Valley Railway on Saturday. It arrived from London hauling a Kingfisher Railtour that consisted of 11 carriages and a class 67 diesel.The carriages were outwardly an untidy collection of stock but they included the magnificent 1951 built Pegasus carriage from the Golden Arrow set.

As a bonus I was delighted to witness D821 Greyhound start one of its engines up in order to be turned on the table. Sadly the rain eventually arrived to spoil the main event.

Content overides the poor quality of these images. Please bare in mind that I was only 10/11 years old! .....
And the plastic camera cost 5/- (25p) from a Corn Flakes packet offer.

Maghull was a small dormitary town 7 miles north of Liverpool and at that time it was still quite countryfied. It was the main route north out of Liverpool Exchange with expresses regularly passing through to Glasgow, Blackpool and Blackburn and beyond. Regular passenger motive power was provided by Stanier black 5's, Jubs & standard 4's with WD 2-8-0 and Stanier 8F's hauling the freight. However celebrity visits were frequent with Clans, Brits, Semis (Duchess), Patriots and Scots being regular visitors.

David Shepherd, artist and owner of 9F no 92203 Black Prince was at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway this weekend to promote his Wildlife Foundation Fund that he set up to help the plight of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other critically endangered mammals.

With thanks again to Mike Snow for driving. However as he appears to be cursed with the wet weather spell perhaps it wasn't the wisest of decisions.

On yet another increasingly cold day I visited the G&WR for their Diesel Gala. The day started bright and sunny but clouds built rapidly and eventually heavy rain and hail arrived. However having met up with Paul Biggs we were enjoying a refreshing pint and a fine pair of BAPS in the local hostelry at this time. The storm passed and eventually sunshine arrived for some afternoon photos.

Having read Mike (aptly named) Snow's narrative for his visit to the NYMR this weekend I am SO glad I stayed local. I also could not be caught out by back to front locos!!!! Ha Ha....

I just read the sad news.... thanks to "Class47.co.uk"

March 6th 2008
47528, aka D1111; the final Brush Type 4 to be built at Crewe, ended its long sojourn at Doncaster today when it was moved by road to Ron Hull Jr, Rotherham for breaking.

A couple of shots of the brand new APT (Advanced Passenger Train) 370004 and my favorite small diesel 24081 at a Crewe Works Open Day in 1979.

24081 will be appearing at the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway Diesel Gala this weekend.

After seeing the Deltic climb the Lickey Incline I drove over to the SVR again. The weather was very overcast and sure enough it wasn't long before the persistant rain set in. Still it was an opportunity to go to Highley and see what The Engine House was like.

Pathfinder Tours ran their "Heart of Wales Explorer" on Saturday from Cardiff with the route involving a climb of the Lickey Incline. 55022 Royal Scots Grey tackled it unsassisted with 12 carriages and the sound from the engine(s) was superb.

I visited the SVR today in the excellent company of Mike Snow. Met Shirley (Fireboxchaser) & Nick at Bewdley and later Paul Martin at Oldbury viaduct.
It was bitterly cold all day and I felt more like an Emperor Penguin sheltering from the Arctic winds on occasions. However in the sunshine I managed to get some half-decent shots. I also caught a shot of a suicide victim!! A stupid peacock...

A small tribute to the Severn Valley Railway that re-opens today following massive repairs after flood damage in June & July 2007. These images are from 20 years ago. I'm sure you will agree that not much has changed. 600 & 4930 are now in the Highley Engine House museum, 6998 is at Didcot while 7812 has been given another lease of life after an overhaul. Long may that continue.

GWR Hall no 4953 Pitchford Hall on mixed freight.

I joined a photo charter at the Great Central Railway today with 4953 Pitchford Hall. The morning session was with the red & cream carriages.
I don'rt know how Russ managed to organise the sunshine today.... Well done.

Photos taken at Didcot during the visit by 4965 Rood Ashton Hall.

Photos taken at Tyseley before the 4965 Adieu Railtour departure

Collett "Hall" Class loco no 4965 Rood Ashton Hall has reached the end of its boiler certificate after 10 years of operation on the mainline. Its final run was from Solihull to Didcot and back. With Ray Churchill driving, 4965 gave a faultless performance. The anticipated storming of Hatton Bank was foiled though by amber signals on the approach.

Also view two further collections of photos taken at Tyseley and Didcot

I recently entered my first Photo Competition. I submitted six digital images for the Carol Burton Trophy for GCR images and was awarded two Highly Commended and one Commended. Prizes are being awarded on Friday evening at Oadby Leicester.

My good friend Brian Burrows carried off first & second prizes in the David Clarke Trophy for printed and mounted images. Well done AGAIN!

Day 2 of the WSR Gala dawned bright and sunny from our hotel room in Dunster. However there were some ominous large black clouds around and several very heavy bursts of rain would soon force everybody to run for cover. That was the pattern for the day - strong winds with squally showers.

The weather forecast was so bad I really wasn't looking forward to this but with a hotel already booked and lineside passes for both myself and my wife I had to go. Saturday started very overcast and eventually descended into light rain but I still captured several pleasing photos. Ihope you also enjoy them.

I travelled on no less than 7 service trains in order to achieve my target of capturing arrivals and departures of Les Ross's daytripper at Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street. On a day when there was severe problems caused by containers blown from freight trains on Shap and at Hemel Hempstead only one of my trains ran a few minutes late. An impressive achievement considering....
I've also added a few unusual railway shots... after viewing Martyn Fordhams website...

After enjoying a whistle-stop tour around Liverpool in the company of my brother and Richard Meanley it was time to head back to Lime Street Station for the return trip.

A seperate excursion was arranged for the turning manouvre from Liverpool to Preston hauled by D1755. This was driven by John Baker. John was also driver on board 86259 from Preston to Crewe and then Ray Poole was the driver of D1755 from Crewe back to Liverpool. Andy taylor was Traction Inspector.

WIP - More soon...

After 5 years of hard work and a not insignificant amount of money the restored Class 86 AC Electric Locomotive E3137 - 86259 Les Ross finally hauled its first mainline excursion on Saturday. A modest trip of 100 miles to Liverpool - 2008 Capital of Culture.

I was absolutely delighted when I saw the Commemorative Brochure for the trip. Les had signed every one of them.

With every man and his dog heading for the Churnet Valley railway I decided on a quiet day at the Great Central.

Even on a standard timetable day theres plenty to see and lots of photo opportunities.

I paid another visit to see the progress on the Nunckley Hill branchline, Some of the huge tree stumps had been removed during the week and were being burned. Pallets of rail chairs had been delivered to the site. Progress is rapid.

I took a few shots on the single track Leamington Spa to Coventry branch this morning.

In bitterly cold conditions Western Diesel-Hydraulic no D1015 Western Champion hauled The Irish Mail railtour from Ealing Broadway to Holyhead.

In glorious sunshine I arrived early at Didcot to catch a few shots of the preparations for the Evening Photo Charter

A small collection taken before and during the Didcot Photo Charter of King Edward 1 as it was dressed for the shoot.

Additional images of the King will appear in both the Preparations for Photoshoot collection and also the Photoshoot itself.

Congratulations and my thanks to the organisers for an excellent evening of photographic cameos.

Work in Progress. Come back for more soon.
Further update 17th Feb

A strong bitterly cold wind didn't stop me enjoying another day at the GCR. No sign of any pancakes though but with a promise of 44422 on the green set running a couple of turns it was a very enjoyable day out.

Thanks again to Mike Snow for driving me around - checkout his videos via my links.

A quarry branchline was constructed 100 years ago from Swithland to Nunckley Hill quarry. Work to re-instate the track is progressing well using a band of volunteer workers. Thanks to Steve, Dave, Elaine and Simon etc....

A collection of photos taken on Sunday at the GCR Winter gala.

My thanks to everybody involved in making this event one of the best ever. The frequency of trains was staggering....

As a reward for my efforts as a member of the Pitchford Hall Engine Society I was invited to ride on the footplate of the locomotive to Rothley Brook and back. There are no great works of art here but I hope you enjoy my sharing them with you.

My sincere thanks to the team and to Driver Andy Morgan and Fireman Ken Scriven for an unforgettable experience.

4953 Pitchford Hall was photographed at Oxford awaiting departure with an excursion to Bristol via Didcot.

The GCR's Winter steam Gala was titled "A hazy shade of Oxford" so with some poetic licence and given the fact that Pitchford Hall was in deep shade on platform 2 at Loughborough I've converted this collection to black & white. It also hides the odd hi-viz coat (John)

3 locomotives are being prepared for the mainline at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

I've been given the OK to release these images.

As a Vintage Trains member and volunteer worker I paid a visit to Tyseley today to catch up on what was happening. Here's a selection of photos of the Diesels, Electrics and cranes on the stock book.

A photo-shoot was organised at the GCR to kick-off the Winter steam gala. Here are a collection of shots taken on Friday evening + a Burns night dining special was organised that included wee drams of whisky on Loughborough platform to the accompaniment of a Scottish Piper.

As a member of The Pitchford Hall Engine Society I visited Quorn on saturday morning to help clean and polish the locomotive for its starring role at next weekends Gala.

The loco had been delivered on Friday afternoon but the tender arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday and provided a unique first of having both of Professor John Kennedy's locomotives together for the first time. His GWR Prairie tank loco 4141 was sent down the line from Loughborough to act as shunter on its debut run after an intermediate overhaul.

Another sunny day. My luck has changed. I ventured over to Loughborough for a visit to the GCR and after meeting up with ace videoman Mike Snow I caught some very pleasing shots.

However sunshine brings its own photographic challenges and the enormous contrast between deep shade and full sunshine particularly around the loco works required a fair amount of manipulation. I hope you enjoy taking a look.

The Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway ran their traditional end-of-year steam gala over the weekend. The sun made a rare appearance for me providing some very pleasing results. The weather forecast actually suggested Sunday would be the best but anybody who missed the Saturday sunshine will regret it.

Thanks to Mike Snow once again for doing all the driving around (checkout his videos via the links) and to all the railway volunteers for putting on such a superb show.

I am flattered that Steam Dreams felt my shot was good enough for their home page Christmas greeting but they should ask for permission first. The answer would be YES but common courtesy please.

The shot was taken back on 29th October 2003 when I was really only starting out on my photography interest.

Vintage Trains ran their traditional Dining excursion trains at the weekend hauled by 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. After visiting Tyseley to photograph the preparations on Saturday I took shots of the train as it climbed the steep bank out of the works. On Sunday shots were taken near Shrewley (outbound) and Hatton (return in the dark).

I uploaded these images originally in March 2005 as photo scans. Since then I've found the negatives and I can finally reveal the much improved versions...

A visit was made on Saturday to Rothley station on the GCR for the Edwardian evening. After a miserable wet day on the SVR the stars were out this evening...

Mulled wine, beer, hot chestnuts, mince pies and carols with musical accomaniment provided by Santa Claus on the organ and an elfin helper on the accordian.

WET WET WET!
Dreadful wet & windy weather and appalling light conditions for my first visit to the SVR to see the Santa specials.

Thanks again to Mike Snow for driving and keeping my spirits up with a dodgy auto-focus on a day spent underneath an umbrella most of the time.
What a professional, slick operation though. VERY impressive.

Two archive images of the Class 502 Electric units that ran on the Liverpool Exchange to Southport & Ormskirk lines from 1938 until 1985.

Funds are URGENTLY required to salvage what's left of the rotting and rusty 2-car unit that's been sitting in the open air at MOD Kineton depot in Warwickshire for the last 10 years. It's owned by the NRM but their priorities have been elsewhere.

Donate to 'Friends of the Class 502' via their website. Follow the link.

This annual event organised by the Warley MRC is now in its 40th year and continues to go from strength to strength. The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is its current home. For photography though its a nightmare....
1 The lighting in the NEC is yellow and results in all images looking jaundiced.
2 The light level for looking at details of the models is too low. Some displays thankfully provide their own lighting.
3 Model Railways require a long depth of field to avoid parts of the image being out of focus. However that requires a tripod and lots of time to set up. I had to make do with a monopod.
4 It pays to get there early as the crowds get thicker as the day rolls on.

After seeing Hall class 4965 Rood Ashton Hall depart Tyseley with "The City of Chester" I travelled over to the GCR for another quiet day on the railway. Weather was heavily overcast but it was still a great day out. Thanks especially to Richard Todd for an invitation onto the footplate of Riddles standard 2 no. 78019. Thanks also to Mike Snow for driving me around again.

I visited Tyseley early this morning for the steam hauled excursion to Chester hauled by 4965 Rood Ashton Hall.

The Lincoln Imp excursion had been scheduled for haulage by 4965 Rood Ashton hall. I was delighted to see the recent repairs have been completed to the flue tubes and the locomotive is in stunning condition. A credit to the team that works on it.

Shots taken at Tyseley, Bordesley junction in Birmingham, Hinckley station and Loughborough.

I nipped into Tyseley to witness and record the preparations for "The Lincoln Imp" steam hauled excursion from Tyseley Warwick Road. Whilst there I captured a few interesting shots around the site.

After seeing 4965 Rood Ashton Hall hauling 'The Lincoln Imp" at no less than 4 locations a visit was made to the Great Central Railway. 78019 & 48305 were the traction today.

Thanks to Mike Snow for acting as chauffeur again. Check-out his latest videos of the day by following the links...

This final collection covers the time from 2.30pm until 5.30pm.

With the approach of dusk there is always a chance of a Vanilla Sky. Barrow Hill did not let me down...

Star pairingat the Gala were the two surviving Thompson B1 class locos nos. 61264 & 61306. They were displayed to maximum effect

A further upload of images from Saturdays LNER gala covering the period from 12.30pm until 2.30pm

A further collection of diesel related photos including 3 Deltics!

These shots taken from 10.15am until 12.30pm. The crowds just got thicker and thicker. Some of these shots were taken under trying circumstances.... It was mostly good humoured though as everybody was fighting for that elusive perfect shot.

Checkout Mike Snow's superb vids of the event via the links...

Barrow Hill Roundhouse is home to a great number of diesel & electric locomotives. This collection covers everything other than steam locomotives seen during a visit for LNER Celebrations.

More to upload. Check back tomorrow...

What an amazing atmosphere. There was so much of it I came home with it in my hair, all over my face and on my clothes. These shots taken from 8.15am until 10.15am.

I met up with Simon Lathlane (who rather worryingly recognised me-probably from the Police most wanted posters) and Mike Snow.

9466 performed without fault this evening while on trial between Shirley and Stratford upon Avon. Thanks to all involved.

The rebuilding of Castle Class 4-6-0 no. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe took a major step forwards at Tyseley with the boiler lift taking place last week to re-unite boiler and frames.

Here are a few shots after the first elements of boiler cladding have been applied.

There is so much to see at Tyseley. There is always something happening.

Highlights were my first view of 47773 in its new livery, 30777 Sir lamiel en route to its London base and 4936 Kinlet Hall in steam.

After the GCR Gala and catching a show in Birmingham Symphony Hall (45 minutes flat from Loughborough to Birmingham!) I nipped into Tyseley to see The Queen Mother. She has made a rapid recovery from her recent death and was hauling the Vintage Trains trip to The Lake District. Sadly I was too early to witness the return of the ecs from New Street station. However what did I find?

Another superb Gala from the Great central Railway. Nowhere else can offer such an enormous variety or frequency of trains than the GCR.

Highlight has to be the return of Sir Lamiel and the footplate crew were not sparing the horses.. For sound and vision see Mike Snows superb films....via the links.

Further images from Sunday at the Autumn Steam gala.

For several stunning videos of the Gala checkout Mike Snow's website via my links. Recommended.

SUNDAY

<<<< This picture specially for Brian as he likes diesels so much.

After superb blue skies and warm weather for the Thursday and Friday I decided to venture down to enjoy the West Somerset Railway's Autumn Steam gala. Sadly the clouds rarely opened up for me AGAIN!

SATURDAY

After a visit to the Gala last week I thought a few archive images may be of interest. In 1987 I took a family holiday staying at Sleights Station House. A trip on the NYMR was essential.

Sods law was rife today. After a poor overcast morning the sun showed its face but almost every time a train appeared chimney first the sun was hidden behind clouds.

Many thanks again to Mike Snow for driving all day & Brian Burrows for his barn-storming actions. We also met up with Matt Allen who even brought his lovely wife to Moorgates to watch the final train of the day pass by. For an entertaining write up of the events at Eskdale can I suggest you read Mike Snows account via his NYMR web-page. Personally I want to forget all about it!

THE Severn Valley Autumn Steam Gala has been a 'must see' event on several occasions. 2007 will be remembered for the severe damage inflicted to the permanent way by floods and wash-outs in many places between Bewdley and Bridgnorth resulting in a short 31/2 mile stretch from Bewdley to Kidderminster remaining unscathed. To support the SVR, Vintage Trains and the respective loco owners of 4936, 4953 & 4965 offered their locos to the railway free of charge. In addition, and with considerable arm twisting I suspect, a shuttle service from Birmingham Snow Hill to the SVR was arranged. Sadly 4965 was failed before its fire was lit but the rest as they say is history........

I visited Tyseley for the preparations for the first of the Severn valley Phoenix Excursions. I then managed to photograph the train in 3 locations en route.

As the paint had dried on the smokebox of Rood Ashton Hall I pursuaded Kevin to lift the roller-shutter door to enable me to capture a couple of shots of the now withdrawn locomotive.

Three Halls are being prepared to appear at the SVR Autumn Steam Gala. I called into Tyseley to capture the preparations and found 4953 & 4936 in steam and ready for their departure LE to Kidderminster at 9am Thursday without a support coach but I got a pleasant surprise when I saw Rood Ashton Hall!

Both the preserved Class 502 and Class 503 units were in use on shuttle services in association with the Mersey Railway Centenary.... Little did I realise that both sets would be left outside exposed to the elements for 10 years to rot away! SHAMEFUL!

Join the Class 502 Society if you feel you can help.... Only £100,000 and a big shed are required. Oh and lots of time and patience. ...... www.class502.org.uk

The Noon train passes our hotel in Zante town.

Curzon Street Station building hosts a photography exhibition from 12th - 26th September with a broad railway theme. Don't miss an opportunity to see Birmingham's first mainline railway station building.

Exhibition is open each day from 11am until 6pm.

I finally paid a visit to Birmingham's Think Tank Museum at Millenium Point to photograph 46235 City of Birmingham.

Any comments about how this loco is displayed?.... e-mail them to me please...

This date was reserved for a ride on board. It was not known at the time that Duchess of Sutherland would be the rostered motive power. However it certainly pulled the crowds in and it was standing room only for some people on this pay on the day experience.

After a very cautious climb out of Stratford with Ray Churchill taking great care to avoid slipping it was gentle amble along the single line branch to Hatton Junction but then Ray opened up the regulator and within minutes we were up to maximum speed and it all appeared so easy.... A simply magical experience.

Stanier 4-6-2 Pacific no. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland made a delayed start from Tyseley this morning with The Duchess Bristolian. I caught a few shots of the preparations at Tyseley then headed over to Leamington Spa.

The return was photographed on Hatton Bank.

This was the penultimate running for the 2007 season of The Shakespeare Express. It was also the last time for GWR Hall class no. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. The loco will require an overhaul in 2008 as its 10 year boiler certificate expires in the spring.

Next week sees 46233 Duchess of Sutherland as the rostered locomotive. My tickets arrived last week. Can't wait..

2nd weekend of running for the two National railway Museum locomotives on the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway.

With thanks to Mike Snow who again acted as chauffeur.

These photos specially uploaded for Alastair Meanley. He knows why. Bring back any memories?

These images were taken during visits to the old museum in 1971 and new museum soon after it opened.

And before anybody comments about chopping the chimney off. I know!!!!

In view of the appalling weather later in the afternoon I only ventured down to Claverdon station for the lunchtime run.

Ray Churchill was clearly enjoying the performance of 4965 Rood Ashton Hall on the single track branchline from Bearley junction to Hatton Junction

City of Truro & Green Arrow were the rostered locomotives for today. After my visit to Tyseley earlier in the day I missed the first couple of runs but there was still plenty to see.

Sadly the rain started almost as soon as i arrived and it got heavier and darker....

I ventured into Tyseley to witness the preparations for 4965 Rood Ashton Hall and 4936 Kinlet Hall to haul the Steam Dreams excursion from Bescot to Chester and back.

The weather was somewhat unkind for the lunchtime arrival at stratford upon Avon with black clouds and light rain.

However the afternoon run captured on the stretch beyond Shrewley was back in sunshine

The Bluebell 125 Gala was celebrating 125 years since the opening of the Lewes to East Grinstead Railway of which The Bluebell is the only surviving part.

I visited on Saturday in the excellent company of fellow fotter Cliff Jones and chauffeur/Videographer extraordinaire Mike Snow. Thanks to both for the quick wit and repartie.

Checkout Mike Snow's videos via the links and for a slightly different view check Cliff Jones' website.

46233 Duchess of Sutherland is coming to Tyseley.

Saturday 1st September Solihull to Bristol
Sunday 2nd September - Shakespeare Express.

Finally a warm sunny day.

The lunchtime run was photographed at Danzey and Claverdon while the afternoon run was caught on the climb of Wilmcote Bank.

My last collection from The Bluebell Railway generated a significant number of hits. I know these are not great works of art but they may be of interest.

This Sundays lunchtime Shakespeare Express, hauled by 4936 Kinlet Hall, was photographed passing Solihull at speed.

For the afternoon run I chose a location near Shrewley - the train was accelerating in good style after cresting the brow of the hill.

There are some shots that have to be published.

The Mail by Rail Gala at the Great Central Railway was run in brilliant sunshine (how strange) using 3 steam and 3 diesel locos and the two car DMU. It was also my first chance to see the restored observation car E1719 in regular use. It provides a good opportunity to take some 'going away' shots.

Many thanks to Mike Snow, Cliff Jones and John Marriott for jokes, quick wit and repartee. Also Henry and the lovely DD - first outing since her centre page spread in HR, Graham Briggs, Gordon McCulloch and a late appearance by Brian Burrows. Look out for the outtakes soon! You have been warned.

With sincere thanks to Roy, Mal & Paul for a round trip footplate ride on Caprotti Standard 5 73129. Thanks are also due to Brian Radford, Vice President of The Midland Railway Trust for granting both myself and Mike access to The Royal saloon in order for us to get some interior photos and in Mike's case video. Checkout his video site via the links.

After finding out that 73129 was the loco in steam today Mike (from Steamontheweb) and I were keen to capture some action. We certainly did that.

The 2nd week of the 2007 season of The Shakespeare Express but this was the first full programme of two trains between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon. It was also the first time, in my experience, of a steam train stopping at Henley in Arden. To inaugurate the service the High Bailiff, Mr Ray Holding and his wife Ann welcomed the train into Henley station and then boarded to enjoy the full treatment of Pullman service. I was invited to join the train for the run from Henley to Stratford.

I visited the GCR when I realised that the normal timetable would be supplemented by additional type 2 diesel hauled services. This provided almost non-stop action in beautiful sunny warm weather. How unusual!

Battle of Britain 4-6-2 no. 34067 Tangmere, driven from Reading by Ray Churchill, was motive power for The Cathedrals Express from London Victoria to Stratford upon Avon. Meanwhile preserved class 50 loco 50049 Defiance had been brought from Tyseley to act as shunter to avoid the propelling manouvre out of platform 1.

This was a day of 3 seasons in one... Winter with a hailstorm, spring showers and summer sun with blue sky...

The first Shakespeare Express ran today on the afternoon schedule only.

I ventured to Henley-in-Arden for a shot of the train passing through non-stop for the one and only time this season, then onto Stratford upon Avon and finally a passing shot at the Langley footpath crossing.

In continuous, pouring rain the Family & Friends Open Day at Tyseley Maintrain maintenance depot in aid of Cancer Research took place on Saturday 30th June.

I was involved as a member of the team from the 4953 Pitchford Hall Engine Society.

I joined a cleaning party at tyseley to clean Pitchford Hall in readiness for display at the adjacent Maintrain Depot "Friends & family" open day. It is NOT open to the general public.

Pitchford Hall and 50049 Defiance were the locos to be used for the VT excursions over the Harringworth Viaduct. I believe late running engineering work on the mainline delayed the departure from Tyseley.

I called into Tyseley to see preparations for Sundays VT steam hauled special.

Oh and not forgetting 46229 "Duchess of Hamilton".

A couple of hours walking around Tyseley....

The Gloucester & Warwickshire Railways Cotswold Festival of Steam was held over four days. I visited on its opening day in the excellent company of Brian Burrows.

Saturday May 26th was designated "Community Rail Day" by OPSTA - The Ormskirk, Preston & Southport Travellers Association. I visited Rufford station and took a few photos. Sadly apart from the signalman in the portacabin I was the only other person there!

For many more photos of the marinas checkout my general photo gallery...

I was not expecting to be able to photograph 46233 Duchess of Sutherland on The Oxfordshire Express as I was having to making a trip up north on family duties. However a slight diversion was allowed (by the management) to call in at Water Orton to catch a shot of the train en route from Derby towards Birmingham. However all was not as expected....

STUNNING
This was another first for me. To travel behind a double header on the mainline. Wonderful stuff. Saturdays trip with 4953 Pitchford Hall and 4965 Rood Ashton Hall ran from Solihull to Bristol Temple Meads but it was only when the ecs arrived at Solihull was the "Bristolian" headboard revealed. A right on time arrival back at Solihull was the icing on the cake for me.

Photos of my BRISTOL tour - follow the link to my general photos

A few shots from the final preparations before the Two Halls to Bristol Steam hauled excursion.

With just 1 week to go before Vintage Trains "Two Halls to Bristol" Railtour I joined John Evans to help clean 4953 Pitchford Hall. Meanwhile bad news came through that The Pompey Vectis Explorer was on its way back prematurely....

Chiltern Trains chartered the Hall class loco and chocolate & cream coaching stock from Vintage trains in order to run a special from Birmingham to London. I caught a shot of it on the Birmingham city webcam crossing the viaduct south of Birmingham and then drove over to Hatton to see the real thing.

I took some photos of the return leg as Rood Ashton Hall powered away from Warwick Parkway station.

More from Tyseley.

I was there to apply some elbow grease on Pitchford Hall.

The ex- Virgin Railways Air-Con carriage had been superbly transformed but only on one side so far.

Heres a collection of shots taken at Tyseley on Saturday showing progress on the restoration of 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

Donations to the restoration fund can be made via Vintage Trains website. http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/tlw_5043_appeal.htm

I ventured into Tyseley on Saturday and took several shots of Les Ross's own Class 86 electric loco with The Man himself cleaning it!

E3137 was built at Doncaster in 1966. The loco was renumbered 86045 and finally 86259. It received the name "Peter Pan" in 1979 then in 1995 was named "Greater Manchester The Life & Soul Of Britain". Finally in 2002 when it was being used on the Birmingham to London Euston service it was named by Virgin trains after a well known Birmingham Radio Broadcaster "Les Ross". Les managed to purchase the loco last year.

The afternoon on the Llangollen Railway got hotter and hotter in many ways. The sun was bright and high in the sky and the sheer variety of loco combinations had to be seen to be believed.
I hope the 6880 Betton Grange Society made loads of money to justify the enormous efforts and sacrifices that the teams put in. I THANK YOU ALL.

In order to raise funds to enable speedy construction of no. 6880 Betton Grange the society decided to think BIG and put on one of the biggest steam galas yet. The response from the fare-paying public made this an over-whelming success. It was quite simply an event not to be missed. (Sorry Mike - You booked your holiday at the wrong time. You'd have loved it. There'll be a photo of one of your girlfriends in the next upload.)
More to upload yet. Mostly in the hot blazing sunshine.

With grateful thanks yet again to Mike Snow for acting as chauffeur I made my first visit to the Bluebell Railway for 13 years. What a wonderful railway this is. The attention to detail is superb.

Temperatures on the day reached 37degrees. (At least thats what Mikes car thermometer said!) so after the first couple of shots there was precious little steam effects to be captured.

In view of my first visit to the Bluebell railway in 13 years later today I thought I'd upload a few shots from the archives.

My final set of photos taken at the recent diesel gala. For viewers who thought I'd been influenced by "The Dark Side" towards Diesels then hopefully some of these may suggest otherwise.

A further set of shots taken at the recent diesel gala.
Still more to upload.....

3 x Class 37's were the stars at the latest Gloucester & Warwickshire railway Gala.

Work in Progress. Lots more to upload..

I ventured into Tyseley first thing to capture a few shots of the preparations before the departure of 4965 Rood Ashton Hall to Lincoln. Weather was appalling for any meaningful photos however - very misty and overcast.

Not much has changed in 44 years really.

With grateful thanks to Charles Winpenny for allowing me to show his photographs taken at Carbis Bay as Ian Riley's Stanier black 5 no. 45407 headed the first steam hauled train along the branchline for 40 years. (unless anybody can prove me wrong). A link to Charles's Cornwall Cam website has been added in the links section

The new livery for NETWORK WEST MIDLANDS was on show at Dorridge before the arrival of 6024 King Edward 1.
Text courtesy of The Railway Channel - Rail passengers in the West Midlands will notice a difference in the appearance of some local train services from weekending 24 March, as the region’s public transport body, Centro-WMPTA unveils a newly decorated Network West Midlands promotional train (150010).

The train is the first of six to be painted in a striking new design being introduced over the coming months on the Central Trains operated stock as part of the continuing roll out of Network West Midlands.

From Didcot to Tyseley Warwick Road via a long delay at Swindon...

The first trip of 2007 for 6024 King Edward 1 took place on Saturday. Commencing at Tyseley the first passenger pick up was Solihull followed by Dorridge. I ventured into Tyseley first thing in the morning to catch a few shots of the preparations before driving over to Dorridge to hop on. Events then unfolded....

The Severn valley Railway ran their Branchline Gala this weekend. I was only able to visit for a few hours on Sunday but with the Somerset & Dorset Railway's 2-8-0 no. 88 (53808) running a visit was essential. I was also delighted that they turned the loco at kidderminster for me to catch 2 shots of chimney first running.

I recently searched my archives and have presented a few photos from the 1987 Autumn Gala. In addition I've included a few other shots that may be of interest.

WithPrairie tank loco 4160 running for the last time at the G&WR before a move to the West Somerset I decided to capture a few photos.

Here’s a collection of photos taken during a trip from Rufford on the Ormskirk to Preston line, Preston to Wigan, Wigan to Southport, Southport to Liverpool and finally Liverpool back to Rufford via Ormskirk. I’ve been meaning to make this trip for years and it was good to relive a spot of nostalgia.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway ran its Steam Gala this weekend. I was fortunate to be invited by Mike Snow (again) to join him and Brian Burrows on the journey from the Midlands to enable me to use my newly purchased lineside pass. Thanks to Mike for all the driving. Cliff Jones joined us at Haworth. Lucky so n so was there for the full weekend. I was able to see Pitchford hall in action after spending so much time and effort on the brasswork over a couple of weekends recently. It was all worth while. Curious about your female footplate companions John! Please note I have removed several hi-vis vest wearing linesiders from these images.

The 2007 Shakespeare Express leaflet and timetable has now been published using one of my shots from the 2006 season.

New for this year is a stop at Henley-in-Arden.

For more info checkout.. http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/se.htm

The fire was lit this evening for the first time this year in the firebox of 4953 Pitchford Hall. It will be warmed gently ready for departure up north to appear as guest loco at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway steam gala.

It just gets better and better. The Great Central Railway put on what in my humble opinion was the best gala yet. With 5 locos in steam including Stanier Mogul 42968 and the Bowen Cooke Super "D" 49395 it was a stunning display with an intensive service that allowed capture of no less than three passing trains. Thats something unavailable to any other heritage line.

My sincere thanks to all the crews, volunteers and back room staff in the booking office for the enormous efforts and contribution that they all made towards the success of this event. How on earth can you improve on this one?

I received the new GCR timetable leaflet in the post last week. The front page picture looked slightly familiar.

I had a good search at the weekend and found it was a shot I'd taken at the 2005 Winter Gala. I really think somebody should ask first though before "pinching" the uploaded image. I would have run it through Photoshop to improve it for such a prestigeous end use.

See the latest collection of photos by clicking on the BLUE index hyperlink. The fire was lit on Valentines evening. Its on the way....

More photos added 3rd February. The location of the loco has changed.

I managed to catch some sunshine at Tyseley for a change. Pitchford Hall stands where it was left two weeks ago.

It will soon be prepared for its trip to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR) where it will be operating for their Steam Gala weekend on 17th & 18th February.

Here's a bit of a teaser... Where is this located? And for a bonus point - What on earth is this fossilised remnant of Jubilee class 45565 Victoria doing stuffed and mounted like this?
I know where it is of course but I'm very curious about why its there...

Well Done Cliff - Swansea it is. For more Swansea pictures follow the link to my general photos.

I visited the Churnet Valley Railway to see Gresley K4 2-6-0 no. 61994 The Great Marquess running-in after its recent overhaul. The loco moves north of the border to a new home in Scotland shortly and I may never see it again. Weather was not good with overcast grey cloud almost all day.

With special thanks to Mike Snow (my chauffeur for the day) and Brian Burrows for the quick wit and entertainment all day. Cheers... Checkout Mike's videos taken on the day via the link to his website

Gresley 3 cylinder K4 2-6-0 no. 61994 The Great Marquess is running this weekend at The Churnet Valley Railway after its long overhaul. It will soon be moving north of the border to a new home in Scotland....

I recently received an invitation to join a working party to help clean down GWR Hall class locomotive 4953 Pitchford Hall from loco owner John Kennedy. I finally got my hands dirty and enjoyed every minute of it! Thankyou.

I also include a few shots taken in the "KING" shed during a boiler washout and other maintenance.

In appalling weather the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway ran its Centenary Christmas Cracker Gala over the weekend. I visited on Sunday and with a very strong east wind coupled with heavy overcast clouds it was certainly going to be a testing day. Highlight was the pairing of 35005 & 92203 but with a 3pm departure from Toddington it would be almost impossible to capture a chimney first shot .... How right I was.

Also its BAD NEWS about loco - King George...

I was recently approached by a fellow enthusiast for information regarding Rufford Station as he had seen some of my archive shots taken there in the '80's. He was preparing a series of articles for publishing in The Stephenson Locomotive Society Journal and needed a more recent shot to use alongside the older images. I therefore decided to capture theses images of Rufford today. To get an idea of the geography of this location please use GOOGLE MAPS. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps
The aerial image of Rufford is very hi-definition but shows the area before the marinas were constructed.

My sincere thanks go to the signalman, Jim Turner, who described in great detail how the signalling process worked.

Vintage Trains steam hauled "End of Year Special" was hauled throughout by 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. The outbound run was quite a sedate affair which ran over the freight only line from Leicester via Coalville to Burton. This line is speed restricted to 30mph and we passed several out of gauge trees that scratched and scraped down the side of the carriages. The return run was more direct and produced some exhilarating running. A superb day out. Shame about the weather...

A diesel day took place at the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway today. The weather started out very overcast but soon the sunshine broke through. Highlights included 2 x class37's, 2 x class47's and a regular brake van service between Toddington & Winchcombe.

My thanks to all the volunteers who made the day happen. And also a big thankyou to fellow photter Wilf for advice, friendship and general chat.

The first of the Vintage Trains Christmas Luncheon Specials took place today. In thick fog 4965 Rood Ashton Hall was photographed on its return to Dorridge.

After the excitement of the mainline I ventured over to the Great central railway to photograph the Santa specials. I first went to Quorn, then found my way to Swithland and finally Loughborough. I gave up on the plan to go to the Battlefield line. Maybe some other time when i've got a navigator on board.

While waiting for the steam specials I took a few shots of the regular train movements.

With two steam charters scheduled to run north on the Midland Mainline I ventured over to Cossington just north of Syston junction to capture 4953. The brilliant sunshine was a problem but after a period of about 15 minutes with nothing happening - yes you guessed it - a southbound HST ran past just at the wrong moment and further shots were ruined.....

I headed north to Loughborough for the 2nd train but reports came through it was 75 minutes down... Overall it was a pleasant wait in warm sunshine with a chair provided in the form of the bridge crash barrier. I'm glad I wasn't standing in a cold muddy field! (Brian & Mike take note)

I paid a visit to the Warley Exhibition on Sunday morning travelling 2 stations from Berkswell (where parking is free & easy) to Birmingham International (where parking costs £7)
The photos taken inside the National Exhibition Centre (NEC)hopefully capture the event. It's never easy manipulating images taken under the yellow lights at the NEC.
In addition these are personal images and not to be used for any other purpose in line with NEC rules....

Pathfinder Tours ran "The Son of Christmas Cracker" from Manchester to Salisbury with preserved English Electric Class 40 no. 40145 hauling throughout. In pouring rain and appalingly dark overcast conditions I caught shots at both Berkswell and, after a quick drive, at Leamington Spa 14 miles further south.

I rented the old Station House for a holiday back in May 1987. In the house was a superb framed photograph of the house way back about the turn of the century. Check out the differences.

The schedule for 4965 Rood Ashton Hall stated 9.05am from Tyseley. I arrived at Bordesley Junction in good time to capture the move up the bank which should have occurred at 9.14am.
For reasons unknown the train did not show until 9.54 and I was lucky with a brief spell of bright sunshine.

Update... Ray Churchill was holding the train back until the sun came out especially for me to capture these shots... Thanks Ray. (Yeright!)

A trip over to the Severn Valley Railway found no less than 5 locos in steam. In addition it was the Kidderminster Station festival with a whole host of events to celebrate the completion of building works.

Another superb gala from the team at the Great Central Railway. After so much hard work it was a pity the Robinson O4 was failed but the replacement 2 x class 20 diesels were on hand to act as substitute.

Highlights were the TPO runs, the sight of the Beavertail observation carriage in operation and also the final chance to see 35005 Canadian Pacific.

In torrential rain with thunder and lightning 4965 Rood Ashton Hall arrived at Leamington Spa en route to Didcot with a special charter train. It sat in the middle road for 20 minutes while firstly a Virgin Voyager and then a Chiltern Turbo passed by before gaining the road southbound.

The return was filmed at Hatton Bank where Rood Ashton Hall was really opened up. The approaching locomotive noise was awesome.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway Autumn steam Gala was held over three days. I was invited to ride up there by Mike Snow who has uploaded several videos of the days trains to his website - check the link.

The final Shakespeare Express of the season was again running over the traditional route of the North Warwickshire line back to Birmingham today. I ventured to Wood End station to catch a shot as the train exited Wood End tunnel.

The late afternoon run was also captured at Wood End.

The Severn Valley Railway Autumn Steam Gala took place over the weekend. I visited on a warm and sunny Saturday. Highlights were the two Stanier Pacifics 6201 and 6233 together with the NRM "Super D" 49395. Thanks to Mike Snow (again) for accompanying me and acting as chauffeur. Check out his website link.

Due to engineering work the Shakespeare Line was used for the first time in 5 years on the run back to Birmingham.

The train was photographed at Henley in Arden.

For two whole weeks this is the ONLY train I've seen!!!!!

In answer to the anonymous e-mailer who asked why my site hasn't been updated recently!

This Vintage Trains excursion was planned to be topped and tailed with a "Heritage Diesel" and 4965 Rood Ashton Hall but the details of which diesel loco would be used were kept as a dark secret. I ventured into Tyseley to take a couple of shots of the final preparations before departure and then to Bordesley/St Andrews junctions where a surprising number of trains passed by in the 20 minutes I was there.

I'm on the search for new locations. Heres a few photos taken during my search.

I was only able to photograph the lunchtime run today.

The lunchtime run was photographed opposite the site of the original station in Claverdon. The station was taken out of use in 1939 when the line was doubled from Hatton Junction through to Bearley Junction. A new station was constructed on the far side of the bridge.

The afternoon run was photographed at Stratford upon Avon and then a new location at Pinley Abbey.

The schedule for Hertfordshire Railtours Blue Pullman run from London Kings Cross to Stratford was via Hatton North Junction. I had never seen a train make that move from the mainline to the branchline so recording it was essential. After waiting 1 and a half hours I found out that it was running 150 minutes late. Meanwhile two horses were loose on the track and were hit by a freightliner train. The Pullman had diverted via the N. Warwickshire line due to the driver only signing for that line, not Hatton/Claverdon....(thanks for the info PT)

On a miserable overcast wet and windy day there was no chance of taking any award winning shots but after Liverpool beat Chelsea AGAIN I simply didn't care!
Lunchtime run was photted at Henley-in-Arden then Stratford-upon-Avon and then on the Wilmcote climb where I met Mike Snow (and his lovely wife Helen) check his website.

The afternoon run was photted at another new location - the bridge at Rowington. Rood Ashton Hall was storming with 8 carriages.

I travelled on the Birmingham metro system for the first time today from Snow Hill to West Bromwich. The route follows the old GWR trackbed from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton. It was easy, comfortable and quick - recommended.

There is simply nothing to beat a trip on the mainline behind a steam loco travelling at mainline speeds. Heritage lines are mostly limited to 25mph. Try a trip on The Shakespeare Express and see for youself. Its the best value around.

This collection has been set up to cover all the photos excluding The Northern Belle. Locomotive disposal was undertaken by Kian assisting the crews at Bewdley for the last couple of locos. He was working at 9.30am when I arrived on the SVR and he was still working 10 hours later and he certainly appeared to enjoy every minute by doing his job competantly and efficiently. A real credit to the line.
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A special timetable was listed on the web for today. That raised my curiosity so a visit was essential. I soon found out that the this was due to the scheduling of The all-Pullman Northern Belle from Manchester/Warrington/Crewe & Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth.

Network rail had imposed a blanket ban on steam hauled trains on their network on Friday afternoon due to potential fire risk after weeks of hot dry weather. However it rained overnight so The Shakespeare Express ran with 4965 Rood Ashton Hall in "light" steam assisted by a West Coast rail Brush class 47 No. 47245.
The lunchtime train was photographed climbing Wilmcote Bank.
The afternoon train was captured at Hatton North Junction.

Thanks must also go to Geoff Treadwell, the Footpaths Officer of Warwick County Council for action following my complaint about the appalling condition of the footpath. Thanks Geoff...

Mail by Rail - Another superb railway gala at The Great Central Railway.

Thanks to Ben & Peter B. for putting up with me and providing the days entertainment. Check out their websites - links have been added to the list.

Late news - I got myself my first Front Cover photo on a national magazine with this picture!! Heritage Railway - September 2006.

Late NEWS - 17th September 2006
The locomotive has now moved to The Swindon & Cricklade Railway

Electro-Diesel E6003 will be leaving the Great Central Railway soon.....

Here are two shots - with and without its wrapping....

The lunchtime run was photographed at the Langley crossing again. While the afternoon run was photographed at my local station of Claverdon.

I wonder what the "100" indicates... 100th Shakespeare Express perhaps?

It was the 100th running of "The Shakespeare Express" hauled by Rood Ashton Hall

The day started overcast and showers were expected. However it soon began to tipple down and photography was rather difficult to say the least.

I met up with Mike Snow who took several vids alongside me. These can be viewed on his website. http://steamontheweb.co.uk/

The lunchtime run was photographed at a small crossing near langley on the branch between Bearly Junction and Hatton Junction. I tried to do too much and perhaps i failed in capturing the best out of all three!

The afternoon run was photographed at Hatton North junction.

A summer saturday at the GCR. I appeared to be the only linesider today.

This was another first visit and certainly not the last. Its a well run railway with over 20 miles of track and superb coastal and country scenery.

Although I had been provided with map references for all the best passing shots I wanted to travel on the railway. Consequently there are lots of scenery shots in my collection.

The number of first generation diesels at the site was amazing. Included in the collection is D1048 Western Lady that I last saw at Horwich Works open day in 1980 and also one of the original "Peak" type 4's D4 Great Gable which I first saw in Lime Street station Liverpool in 1961/2!
Count them - 1 x class 50, 1 x 37, 1 x 40, 1 x 33, 3 x 31, 3 x 20, 1 x 52, 4 x 44/45/46 + miscellaneous shunters including D2858 that was shedded at Bank hall in Liverpool and I often saw it when travelling into Liverpool Exchange in the 1960's.

A first visit to The Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. There was so much to see it was difficult to fit it all in and be ready to photograph the steam loco as it passed. The loco in steam was the unique Standard class 5 with Caprotti valve gear. Later in the day I ventured to ask the driver if it might be possible to take a footplate ride on one of the run arounds. I was surprised and absolutely delighted when he allowed me to stay on board for a full run to Riddings junction and back followed by the light engine move to Swanwick for loco disposal. Wow. The crew of Caprotti Standard class 5 No. 73129 are stars of the highest magnitude... My special thanks to Tony Morton.

A day I shall never forget.

A first visit to The Churnet valley railway. A small line but with lots of friendly and helpful staff.

However I achieved an ambition today at least!. I actually rode on the footplate! First time since 1963. Thanks to John, Chris and Pete.

<------- This shot is specially for Mike Snow....

A mid-week visit to the Severn Valley railway. There were 3 locos in operation - Stanier black 5 no. 45110, GWR Prairie tank no 5164 and GWR pannier tank no 5764 with the 8F 48773 in steam on shed.

Following the run on the Llangollen railway I drove over to Portmadoc and arrived just in time to catch the 4pm to Minffordd. Its a short walk to Portmeirion where an excellent cup of tea at Castell Deudraeth can be enjoyed while sitting in the gardens.

After the tour around the works I took a round trip along this wonderful scenic line.

I paid my first visit to the Llangollen railway today. Here's a collection of shots taken around the railway workshops.

An overcast morning. I raced into Stratford at 11.30 and caught a couple of shots at the station, then onto the A46 bridge at Bishopton for the uphill departure and finally at my local station of Claverdon again.

The afternoon run was photographed at a new location for me. Its the public footbridge to the north of Shrewley cutting. The bridge adjacent to The Durham Ox pub can be seen in the background.

Three Pacific locos were used in June 1995 to run a weekend of steam between Bishops Stortford and Ely. 60007, 60009 and 70000.

I've uploaded this photo in tribute to the completion of the rebuild of Sir Nigel Gresley on the NYMR

With brilliant sunshine at midday and temperatures up to 30degrees I would not want to be on a steam loco footplate. (Yes I would!)

I took a trip over to the G&WR to see 35005 Canadian Pacific. It was not in steam but after being shunted over the ash pit outside Toddington shed it was being given a thorough going over by a huge team of works staff.

The run was to take place over part of the route of the Shakespeare Express and with a major section being the mainline from Hatton Junction to Tyseley on the return towards Birmingham there was plenty of scope for the crew to stretch the legs of Sir Lamiel

An empty coaching stock run using Maunsell 4-6-0 30777 Sir Lamiel was organised during the afternoon of Thursday 29th June. I ventured over to Wilmcote to see the train pass through - tender first - but it was running late. Then it sneaked past me when I wasn't looking! I then moved over to Stratford station.

I look back at the early 1960's era in black and white so I’ve created this collection for a nostalgic revisit...

(OK it was cloudy and dull at the GCR last Sunday)

30777 Sir Lamiel was supposed to have been hauling The Shakespeare Express today from Birmingham to Stratford upon Avon but due to "gauging issues" it stayed at the GCR for a further week. A series of "shuttle" trains were programmed into the regular timetable involving a top and tail arrangement with class 20 diesel D8048.

I shall have to wait until July to travel behind her on the fast mainline from Hatton Junction to Birmingham as I'm hoping that the loco may be used to start the 2006 Shakespeare season off in fine style on 2nd July 2006. Can't wait! Don't miss it. Late news.... 30777 is now a possability on the SE NOT a probability. Rats.

The 6024 King Edward 1 Locomotive Preservation Society held its members day on the Severn valley railway today. The SVR brought their own flagship loco Gresley A4 pacific no 60009 Union of South Africa out of its box and with the Stanier 8F no 48773 and a Western diesel it became a Big Engine weekend. Sunshine was wall to wall all day and I was grateful to be chauffered up and down the valley by Mike Snow who knows all the best locations. Thanks again Mike.

Finally a charter wedding train hauled by Ivatt mogul 2-6-0 no 46443 was a brilliant addition and provided some welcome humour to my collection (see last photo)

Please let me know what your thoughts are about these shots. One immediate benefit is it hides hi-res jackets very easily.

What a difference a week can make! Last saturday it was pouring rain. This time it was blue sky all day.

Includes a special GOTCHA award

Just to wind Brian & Mike up!
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What on earth are you trying to do! You might as well christen the site \"I love diesels\". I am sure Brian is equally disgusted. With all those nice steam engines too!
yours
Livid of Leicester----------"Thanks Mike! Glad you enjoyed them."
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"And this from Brian" --- You must curb this bad habit of shooting pictures of diesels though Clive, I think you can get patches for it. ---- "Nice one Brian"

WET, wet, wet
The first day of the week long Centenary Festival got off to a VERY wet start. However the effort that has been made by all the volunteers is fantastic. With so many locos in steam and with freight trains, the auto coach and the prospect of double headed 9F's it was unmissable.

This was my first chance to see the the Southern Region Maunsell N15 4-6-0 No. 30777 Sir Lamiel since the completion of its overhaul that they tell me took 9 years! Alongside it was the recently repaired LNER V2 No. 4771 Green Arrow. For the GWR was Large Prairie No. 4141 and from the LMS was my favorite Stanier black 5 No. 45305. An impressive line-up. Sadly the weather was poor with the sun only sporadically making an appearance and with frequent heavy showers it was a case of snatching whatever shots I could. Well done to the GCR again. Brilliant!
I should add that I do have a valid lineside pass. It is never my intention to trespass or break any access rules.

Maunsell 4-6-0 30850 Lord Nelson was officially unveiled this week by Princess Anne. Here's the only shot I took of the loco when it was shedded at Carnforth in the 1970's. I do approve of the current livery with all black smoke deflectors. Well done to the team who put the loco back on the mainline.

After the AGM for the Vintage Trains Society on Saturday morning 22nd April a tour of the locomotive works was made available to members. With a bit of pursuasion the keys to the inner sanctum in the top shed were obtained and I managed to get a few shots of the two "Hall" class locos, 4965 and 4953

A visit to the G & WR on Good Friday was blessed with sunshine from mid morning. David Shepherd's 2-10-0 9F 92203 Black Prince and GWR Hall class 4-6-0 7903 Foremarke Hall were the locos in steam.

After watching Leander run through (see photos below) Water Orton I went in search of an acceptable sunny-side location. These photos were the result...I hasten to add that I believe these to be taken in a non-trespass location. If I'm wrong then ..... tell me

Leander was the motive power for "The Midlander" Vintage Trains run from Tyseley Warwick Road to St Albans.

48151 Gauge O Guild and 45690 Leander were photographed passing through Warwick Parkway station this evening. 2 minutes after the train passed the sun came out! Typical.

The unusual site of the GWR v LMS push me - pull you heading through Small Heath early on Saturday morning prompted me to drag myself out of bed at 6am. After reversal at Washwood Heath 5690 Leander departed heading west through the Birmingham suburbs. I drove over to the Lickey incline later to witness the spectacle of Leander storming up the hill.... Finally you can HEAR the awesome sound of Leander storming the 1/37 Lickey incline at this website. http://www.steamsounds.org.uk/0603.html

Content overrides the quality. I did not know I had this one in the archives. Hey! I was 12 years old when I took this photo....This is one of the first batch of Warship class locos that were all sent for scrap in 1967- thats before steam was eradicated from British railways. I think their design was actually better than the later versions. Sadly none were saved.

My first, long overdue, visit to The Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway took place on Saturday in the excellent company of videoman Mike Snow. It was a "One engine in steam" operation but that engine was none other than GWR 4-4-0 City of Truro. However there was plenty of atmosphere to soak up and in fact there were another 3 diesel locos in action. Class 73 electro-diesel on the permanent way train that headed towards Broadway, a shunter at Winchcombe and finally class 47 No 47105 was hauling the last train of the day.

Stanier Jubilee class 4-6-0 No. 5690 Leander hauled the Vintage Trains "Leander 70th Birthday Tour" to Chester today. I froze on Small Heath station which is a mile or so north of Tyseley in order to catch a shot.

The famous image of the impossible task ahead. Stanier 8F No. 48305 stands in the yard at Loughborough about 1989. This loco is now scheduled to return to the GCR from the Churnet valley railway to haul scheduled services.

Stanier's masterpiece hauled "The Midlander" over the Lickey Incline on Saturday 18th February from Derby to Bristol Temple Meads. I photographed the train going DOWN the Lickey incline at lunchtime. I also saw the train an hour earlier in the day at a very misty Water Orton. Sadly I missed the ascent in the dark but I was told that the train was being shoved hard by a class 66 diesel.

The SVR was heaving with people for this event but you wouldn't know it from my photos. However the regulars were swelled by a Hertfordshire Railtour from ermmm.... Hertfordshire using the BLUE PULLMAN. I only saw it as it was departing from the Network station adjacent to the SVR so no photos!

A good range of old vehicles were on display today. These are just a few of them.

A tribute to the efforts of the team responsible for bringing this locomotive back from the dead. Support them on www.4953pitchfordhall.com

Some archive photos taken at Carnforth shed in the 1970's & 80's. Both Sir Nigel Gresley and Flying Scotsman were used regularly to haul the Cumbrian Coast and Cumbrian Mountain Expresses at this time. I've included a couple of shots taken on the coast. Apologies for the poor quality of some of these negscans. However i feel the content deserves an airing. When I eventually find my negative of 45699 Galatea from 1984 it will be added.

The Great central railway ran their Winter gala this weekend. In sub zero temperatures I must be mad!

45305 hauled the Mince Pie Special from Tyseley to Chester via the WCML and back via Shrewsbury. The day started badly with icy rain falling and the prospects for an enjoyable day out were not good. However within 15 minutes of arrival blue sky and sunshine arrived and what a difference it made. The highlight on the return journey was a 50mph max at the top of Gresford Bank.

6024 King Edward 1 hauled a VERY late running Express from Paddington to Stratford. After the hyperthermia had set in I did not feel like going to Stratford

4965 Rood Ashton Hall was the chosen motive power for this short 5 carriage special. I photographed it descending Hatton bank in freezing temperatures

Flying Scotsman hauled a Christmas Luncheon Excursion from Dorridge to Leicester and the East Midlands on Saturday. This could well be the last run with the loco for over a year as a comprehensive overhaul is now scheduled at The National Railway Museum at York

Ian Riley's black 5 45407 took over haulage of the Past-Time Rail promoted Chester Chuffer at Birmingham International. The train had been hauled from London Euston by 90028

4953 Pitchford Hall ran an empty trial from Tyseley to Stratford upon Avon hauling just 1 support coach. The evening run hauling a full rake of coaches arrived at Stratford in fog and after the usual shunt and run around the loco made a good departure with only a few slips as she climbed the hill. (To clarify my position--- I saw details of the passenger run advertised via Vintage Trains website. I GUESSED a test run would be needed and further GUESSED it would take place in the midday slot ex Stratford on Sunday. I was correct!.)

Stanier black 5 no. 45305 was the surprise loco power hauling this special from Tyseley Warwick Road to Ely. I took these photos as the train departed from Water Orton. Weather had been quite good earlier but it was raining as usual when the train appeared. ---UPDATE --- A late notified bridge height restriction was given as the reason for change of motive power from 4965 Rood Ashton Hall to 45305.

Vintage Trains of Tyseley ran the second of their Autumn Luncheon Specials from Solihull to Oxford and Didcot. Sadly the weather was attrocious and a complete contrast to a fortnight earlier. However with an 8 minute layover in the centre road while a Virgin Voyager passed by gave plenty of time for some shots even with the usual phalanx of photographers all around.

Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa hauled the Steam Dreams promoted Cathedrals Express from Alton in Hampshire to Stratford upon Avon on Saturday 22nd October.

LNER A3 Pacific No. 4472 Flying Scotsman hauled a dining special from Solihull and Dorridge to Oxford and Didcot. I photographed the train at Leamington Spa while it awaited its southbound path. On the return run I photographed it on Hatton Bank BUT it was then held at the top of the bank for almost and hour before it moved and ran through Hatton Station. (Evening shots were taken using a 1600ASA digital setting hence very grainy effect)

The Great Central Railway Autumn Steam Gala. Weather was overcast all day and rain from 2pm but it didn't dampen my spirits. I managed to get a few reasonable photos though. Thanks to all concerned.

The final Shakespeare Express of the 2005 season ran on Sunday 25th September. It was hauled by 4965 Rood Ashton Hall and is seen at Hatton North junction joining the main line towards Birmingham from the branchline from Stratford upon Avon. It was heavily overcast and these shots do no more than capture the event.

Actress Jenny Agutter is celebrating the centenary of the story which made her a star. This year is the centenary of Edith Nesbit's timeless classic The Railway Children, an enchanting tale following the fortunes and adventures of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis after they move from London to a house near the railway line in the country.

The book was first published in 1905 and a hundred years on a unique new edition of the book, complete with illustrations, has been published by Silver Link Publishing. Jenny Agutter, who played the role of Roberta in the BBC's serialisation of the novel in 1967 and the subsequent 1970 film, has contributed a foreword to the book in exchange for a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The theme of this years Autumn Steam Gala was The Great Western. My particular highlights were the trip from Kidderminster pulled by Foremarke Hall first thing in the morning and seeing 34036 Westward Ho (aka Taw valley).

A collision occurred on the Severn valley railway today when A4 Pacific 60009 Union of South Africa collided with a support coach. Painters Barry Bentley and Robin Pearson were hard at work when the locomotive appeared. Ace photographer Clive Hanley was there to capture the moment of impact.

What a pleasant surprise on the Severn Valley Railway Autumn Gala. I'll drink to that.

Steam Railway Magazine ran a steam hauled special from Nuneaton to Crewe for The Great Gathering exhibition at the old Crewe Locomotive works - now Bombadier Transportation. These images were the best on a very overcast and wet day.

Pathfinder Tours steam hauled special from Taunton to Stratford-upon-Avon on Wednesday 7th September was hauled by GWR King class locomotive 6024 King Edward 1. I photographed it firstly as it climbed Hatton bank then drove into Stratford and took a few shots as it shunted the ecs out of platform 1 and then brought them into platform 2. Later that evening I photographed the train approaching Warwick Parkway station already 25 minutes down on schedule .

Guest loco today was Stanier 5MT 4-6-0 Black Five No. 45305 after its low loader journey last week from its home on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough. Its next big adventure will be to haul a VINTAGE TRAINS special to Crewe on Saturday 10th September from Nuneaton. The loco will then run light engine into Crewe Works to join all its brothers and sisters at The Great Gathering. Have you got your ticket yet?

These will be transferred to my archive folder after a couple of weeks. Again no masterpieces but they are worth sharing I think.

Stanier Jubilee class No. 5690 Leander hauled The Blackpool belle on August Bank Holiday Monday. I photographed the train during the ecs arrival at Nuneaton from Tyseley and the departure. Taking shots into the sun was not going to produce a good image so I thought I would take a going away shot to catch the best light. I had NOT planned on the volume of drifting smoke towards me!!!

4965 Rood Ashton Hall was again the motive power for the Shakespeare Express today. I took a couple of shots through Wimcote Station for the 12.00 noon departure from Stratford and then Hatton North Jinction for the afternoon run.

4965 Rood Ashton Hall was the motive power hauling The Shakespeare Express between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon this Sunday. Inspired by Ivo Peters I managed to chase both the 12 noon and the 5pm departure from Stratford and photograph them both at 3 different locations.

71000 Duke of Gloucester moved from the Mid Hants railway to the East Lancashire railway on Thursday 18th August. I caught my shot as it ran through the middle track at Leamington Spa dead on time at 14.04 hauling just 1 support coach.

Thanks once again to UK Steam for timing details.

4965 Rood Ashton Hall powered the Shakespeare Express again. I photographed it at Langley for the midday departure and then at Claverdon station for the 5pm departure. Sods law took over again and after an afternoon of blue sky and white fluffy clouds all afternoon a very dark black cloud came over and spoilt the effect at Claverdon. Try again next week.

4965 Rood Ashton Hall again hauled the SE this week. I photographed it at Hatton North junction at lunchtime and then at a new location near Langley for the 5pm departure. Unfortunately a very dark black cloud came over to spoil the sunny view just while Mike Snow (video ace) and I were waiting.

Isle of Man Railway Enthusiasts weekend.

The events included unusual power car and trailer combinations on the Manx Electric Railway, a number of events on the Groudle Glen Railway that I was unfortunately not able to visit and on Monday 25th July there was to be double-headed operations on the Manx Steam Railway. Finally there was an evening excursion from Douglas to Port Erin on the MSR and back at 19.00. Sadly my plane departed at 18.00!

I can say that 'cause I'm a scouser. Check out this web site for the NOW shot http://www.the-siding.co.uk/steam/pages/76079.htm

Leander ventured out again on Sunday to haul the Shakespeare Express between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon.

No preserved line can compete with the high speed running on the mainline back to Birmingham. Why not ride the train in the morning and photograph it during its afternoon run. You get the best of both worlds then. Use it or lose it.

The 2005 season of The Shakespeare Express commenced its summer Sunday season on 3rd July with guest locomotive ex-LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0 no. 5690 Leander doing the honours. I had planned to ride on board but a change to the domestic arrangements meant all I could do was photograph the lunchtime run through Claverdon Station.

The Hereward Express was scheduled to run through Water Orton on Saturday 2nd July en route to Ely. Locomotive was the GCR based LMS Stanier Black 5 no. 45305.

It was quite suprising to find such a variety of trains passing through including a couple of Thunderbird hauled Pendolino's from Birmingham to Nuneaton.

RA Riddles unique class 8P standard class locomotive no. 71000 Duke of Gloucester hauled The Cathedrals Express from Alton in Hampshire to Stratford upon Avon on Saturday 2nd July. Due to the tunnel collapse at Gerrards Cross the train was diverted via Reading and Oxford but arrived "on time" to the revised schedule at 13.42. However 2 hours was a little optimistic to detrain the passengers, shunt the ecs (empty carriage stock) into platform 2, run the locomotive LE (light engine) to Hatton triangle for turning and then coal and water it. All this while trying to avoid any delays to regular service trains. The result was a 1 hour late departure but what a departure. The sight of the train hauling its 10 carriages up the grade at Bishopton was wonderful.

On Saturday 25th June 2005 after a night of torrential rain over the Warwick area the station at my home village of Claverdon was flooded. I got down there just before noon as Network Rail were checking it but apparently at 6.30am that morning the floodwater was just one foot (30cm) below the platform level. I drove down into Warwick which was also suffering and took a few photos around the Racecourse. The ancient Lord Leycester Hospital in the town was having one of its support walls shored up due to the weight of water. Several shops in Leamington Spa had their cellers flooded.

The Great Central Railway held its celebrations over the weekend 17/18/19 June 2005 for the 60th Anniversary since the end of WWII. The station at Quorn was the base for the Allied forces. The car parking area was full of military vehicles and most of the occupants wore uniforms of the 1940's. meanwhile at Rothley on the other side of the English Channel (Swithland Reservoir) the German army had set up their camp in the car park and a "skirmish" took place at 2.30 between the respective troops in a re-enactment . This was staged using "dummy" bullets from machine guns, rifles and even a mortar with smoke bombs. There was action, noise and plenty of drama to entertain the crowds. Meanwhile at 3pm a Spitfire flypast took place at Quorn and that was followed by a "bombing" run at 4pm that unfortunately set fire to a small area of embankment. Overall though it was an excellent day.

The GCR organised an event to commemorate the 60th anniversary since the end of WWII. A brilliant time was had by all. The soldiers deserve a medal for wearing heavy battledress in 90 degree temperatures.

After a delay in its mainline preparations (see my other galleries with Leander as a 4-4-0) a run to Stratford upon Avon was hastily arranged on Tuesday 7th June. It was to run from Shirley to Stratford then back down the mainline to Birmingham Snow Hill.

It was certainly going to be a challenge for my photography as departure was 20.18, arrival at Stratford was 20.40 and departure again at 21.35. Im glad I invested in a good flashgun at Christmas.

Black 5 45305, newly arrived at Tyseley from the Great Central Railway, was the replacement loco used due to 5690 Leander being unavailable for the Birmingham to Didcot special on 28th May.

Several shots in b&w and a couple of scanned slides of diesels in the West Country and South Wales from the 1960's and 70's. There are no great works of art but capture that moment.

I nipped into Tyseley as I was passing. No sign of 45305 though. I was told it was being worked on in a shed. Around the back of the works I found the very sad sight of a Pullman carriage that had been subjected to the mindless attention of graffitti destroyers. (I refuse to use the word artists because they're not).

I managed to get over to Leamington Spa station to see 6024 King Edward I pass through on its way from Tyseley to Old Oak Common. It was held in the centre road for 20 minutes awaiting its path southwards.

Taken during several visits to this most unique railway. More images will be added as and when I find them in my archives. If you've ever been searching for that elusive record or CD to complete your collection then don't hesitate to try the Cob Record Centre just over the road from Portmadoc Station. I've found some great stuff in there over the years.

A Tour of Didcot Railway Centre. A working party was engaged on setting the valve timing on 6023 King Edward II, the broad gauge replica Firefly was unfortunately not in steam but overall a very enjoyable visit. After 6023 work will switch to 4079 I believe.

A visit to Didcot was made on Saturday 7th May in order to see Bullied Battle of Britain 4-6-2 locomotive 34067 Tangmere hauling the Orient Express to Oxford. These photos were taken of modern traction seen that day.

34067 Tangmere hauled the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) from London Victoria to Oxford on Saturday 7th May 2005. I was able to photograph it at Didcot where the train stopped and moved forwrds towards Foxhall junction where it reversed and took the Didcot west junction and Didcot North junction towards Oxford. Later I photographed it at rest in sidings nortjh of Oxford station where in coversation with the driver he told me that the engine had performed superbly. All images were taken from a non-trespass location (even though I did ask if I could venture on board!)

Grand National day often turned up some rare locomotive hauled specials. Since the truncation of the northbound main line from Liverpool Exchange at Ormskirk the only trains my brother & I saw were EMU's so it was good to see locomotive hauled trains once a year at Aintree two stops away from our home at Maghull. I visited on several occasions and took many photos but sadly I did not record the dates. The only date I can be certain of is for The Mersey Punter railtour - (details courtesy of 6 bells junction - check their website).Also here are a couple of images taken in the 1980's at the now closed container terminal near the National Giro off Orrel Lane. Close inspection of all these photos will reveal the slow gradual removal of infrastructure such as signals, tracks and buildings. Quite sad really. Pure nostalgia. Apologies for the relatively poor quality of the images and wonky horizons (I was not drunk - honestly) However they are displayed for all to see - warts and all.

Last July 2004 I noted on UK STEAM that 6233 was scheduled to haul The Mancunion from Euston to Manchester. However of more interest was the fact that in order to get the loco down to Old Oak Common it was planned to take it through Leamington Spa. I managed to take these photos while the special was in the centre road at leamington waiting for its path heading south.

In early October 2004 after the locomotive was rebuilt it needed a test run on the main line. This was undertaken on Thursday evening 7th October with no fanfare just in case anything went wrong. In fact it went without a hitch. After arrival from Tyseley tender first into platform 1 the loco ran around and was thoroughly examined. Without a whistle and with no announcements the empty train disappeared back into the night heading for Birmingham. As can be seen from the pictures I was the only photographer around to record the event.

The 2005 AGM for the Vintage Trains Society took place on Saturday 9th April. I arrived a bit too early and wandered over to Tyseley Station to take a few photos. After the AGM for The Vintage trains Society I took the opportunity of a guided tour of the works. It was interesting to see Jubilee 45690 Leander as a 4-4-0!

Monday 28th March 2005.

The Vintage Trains Bank Holiday Pullman dining special from Dorridge.

I was only able to get to Dorridge for the departure of this excursion but there was lots to record. NB. I had NOT changed the time in my camera to BST! All camera times are 1 hour early. Sorry

This was one of the coldest days of the year. I had been dropped off at Tyseley as a blizzard was just starting and then had to wait ages before being allowed to board the train I was frozen before the trip began. I finally baled out with frostbite at Leamington Spa. Spot the celebrity on the footplate at Leamington Spa in the darkness! Any camera shake on these photos was caused by the onset of hypothermia!

The 2005 Isle of Man steam operation got off to a wet start on 21st March. I managed to get over to Port Erin to photograph the 12.15 departure for Douglas - the 2nd train of the day. This was hauled by a loco built in 1894 2-4-0T No 8 Fenella. The loco was restored back to service in September 2003 after 35 years out of use.

The Severn Valley Railway ran its Branch line Gala at the weekend. Star attraction was 473 Birch Grove running as 32473 in black BR livery. My personal view is that the loco looks much better in black. I'd be interested to hear other opinions.

I chose Saturday to visit and was rewarded with excellent sunshine most of the day but interspersed with icy rain and snow flurries.

An excellent day overall.

Another "not to be missed"trip. This time with 71000 Duke of Gloucester. (This was the first time I'd seen the engine in 42 years! Last time was outside Edge Hill sheds while I was en route to Crewe. I was 9 at the time) 11th December 2004.
During the morning I drove into Stratford and parked up in the station car park. I took a service train to Warwick and joined the steam hauled excursion during its scheduled stop. After arrival at Stratford I drove back over to Hatton station to photograph the light engine movement while the loco was turned. Unfortunately my planning was out somewhat as the loco was re-fuelled and watered at Stratford before turning on the Hatton triangle so I spent a couple of hours waiting patiently at Hatton for DOG to show up. The light was almost gone when it finally arrived.

A tour around the Midlands hauled by 3440 City of Truro was a not to be missed opportunity. It ran through Claverdon as well!

This was my first visit to the Great Central with a lineside pass. This enabled me to go almost anywhere in search of that elusive perfect shot.

The sun came out for the first half hour then overcast and even a spot of drizzle. Typical English winters day.

These were taken 1986/87 during or soon after the Great Train Robbery film "Buster"with Phil Collins was filmed on the railway. The type 4 Diesel and the mail train are spotless.

The terminus station has been completely rebuilt and when its finally reconnected to the main line (in 2006?) will provide a pleasant atmosphere for all travellers on the route from Birmingham through Leamington Spa, Banbury to London Marylebone. Anything to avoid the horrors of New Street Station.

It is also hoped that a more regular steam hauled service can be provided to Stratford upon Avon for The Shakespeare Express.

My first visit to Bromsgrove and the Lickey incline. I played safe and went to the train station for my first set of shots.

For the main event I got the map out and followed the crowds onto the fields overlooking the railway. After a few service trains went by the KING arrived... Ray Churchill was driving the engine like there's no tomorrow. Brilliant!

Photos taken as the excursion negotiated the tracks from the main line onto the branchline to Stratford at Hatton station. And then at Stratford station.

The best show of the year is always the Severn valley Autumn Steam gala.

They didn't let me down. Superb.

Oh and dont forget to go into the towns of Bridgnorth and Bewdley if you visit.

The Thames Avon Express had been planned to run at the end of October 2004 and its arrival at Stratford upon Avon was to co-incide with the Mayor of Stratford's unveiling of the new steam centre. However due to industrial action it was postponed until December.

I parked my car at Stratford and hopped onto a local train for the short ride to Warwick. I would then have half an hour to wait for the Express to arrive from the south. I then hopped on the train and enjoyed the ride back to Stratford behind a steam engine through my home village of Claverdon.

Some of these images are from scanned 35mm negatives and 120 film negatives from a "Box" camera.

No great works of art but they capture a moment in time.

These photos have no great artistic value but are of increasing historical value. I wish I\'d taken more....

The first and only time I ever went to Horwich in Lancashire. It was closed soon afterwards. I was very surprised by the sheer variety of stock that was routinely sent to the western foothills of the pennine town for maintenance.

These images are from scanned 35mm negatives. They have NOT survived the last 25 years without a degree of suffering!

The problem with travelling on steam excursions is that its difficult to capture the best images. This was an evening departure from Dorridge and by the time the train arrived at Didcot the sun was very low in the sky.

Locomotives were 3440 City of Truro as pilot and 4965 Rood Ashton Hall as train engine. 3440 remained at Didcot while 4965 returned the train back to Dorridge.

"With my plan to attend the K&WVR later this month I've resurrected this gallery of shots from the 1980's. The photos are not up to modern standards but I hope you enjoy taking a look."

It ALWAYS rains when I go to the KWVR. These images are taken from 35mm negative scans from my archives. No dates Im afraid. Suspect they are late 1980's

Following a total rebuild of King Class locomotive 6024 King Edward 1 at Tyseley and after a successful empty coaching stock (ecs) trip on 7th October 2004 a week long series of evening trips between Birmingham Acocks Green and Stratford and back to Birmingham Snow Hill were arranged to run-in the engine. I was able to travel on Thursday run but was able to get to Stratford on the Tuesday to capture some photos prior to departure.

This one specially for Peter and Ben.

Image of a Western diesel at St Erth. Name?????

After my father passed away my brother was sorting through his photos and came across this shot of a Western at St Erth. I have no other details but the name is NOT the standard one. What is the story behind this name?