Wednesday 20 June 2012

Put the kettle on…

70013-20120527BR Class 7MT 4-6-2 70013 OLIVER CROMWELL at Cromford, 27/5/12

By my reckoning it's been 27 years since I last stood by the lineside to photograph a steam railtour on the mainline but Sunday 27th May saw me standing in a field waiting for 'The Peak Forester' to pass on its way to Peak Rail at Matlock.
By the time 70013 OLIVER CROMWELL passed Cromford Meadows just south of Matlock, the tour was running roughly two hours late thanks to a combination of a track machine blocking in the stock used for the charter and a footplate incident which caused injury to some members of the crew. The warm and sunny weather (and a picnic) made the wait a pleasant one though so I can't complain.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Aah! Bliss!

25057-2012042825057 at Weybourne station, 28/4/12

A recent visit to the North Norfolk Railway reminded me just how unpleasant the British seaside can be when subjected to constant rain and biting winds but just when I'd giving up all hope of ever being warm again 25057 (the former D5207) pulled into Weybourne station with a rake of Mk.1 coaching stock all made cosy and warm by its working steam-heating boiler!

I'm a big fan of the North Norfolk Railway, everything is clean and tidy (as far as is possible on a heritage railway), the staff are friendly, the catering top notch and an interesting mixture of locos and rolling stock can be found handling services up and down the line.