An Irish interlude for St Patrick's Day

It being St Patrick's Day tomorrow I thought I'd post a few photos taken during a trip to Dublin that Dad and I took way back in 2004.

A Ryanair flight and a quick bus journey got us to Dublin Connolly station/Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile by mid-morning and we spent some time photographing the Irish Rail/Iarnród Éireann diesel locos that were pottering about…

Iarnród Éireann 141 class Bo-Bo DE 156 at Dublin Connolly station/Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile, 30/6/04

The Locomotive Shed at Dublin Connolly station/Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile, 30/6/04

Then a tip-off from a member of station staff led us around the corner to see this…

LMS Northern Counties Committee Class WT 2-6-4T No.4, 30/6/04

No.4, a Class WT 2-6-4T, was built at Derby in 1947 for the London Midland & Scottish Railway's Northern Counties Committee. Preserved by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland No.4 was (and still is) regularly in use on special trains on the main line.

A less friendly member of staff then told us to 'clear off!' so we had a ride down the coast to Greystones station/Stáisiún na Clocha Liatha on a DART unit (Dublin Area Rapid Transit).

Greystones station/Stáisiún na Clocha Liatha with DART 8510 class 8614 heading for Howth in the platform, 30/6/04

A dash back across Dublin gave us enough time to take a few photos at Heuston station/Stáisiún Heuston (and enjoy a pint of Guinness!) before our flight home.

Iarnród Éireann 201 class Co-Co DE 234 at Dublin Heuston station/Stáisiún Heuston, 30/6/04

Sláinte!

Spotted today - 'Proper' locomotives at Derby

For a long time dad has been running a 'scene today' series of entries on his blog (Rails, Roads & Runways) and I thought it was time I did something similar…

On my way to Sheffield today (coincidentally dad's home town) I was pleased to spot a couple of 'proper' locomotives at Derby amongst the 'Turbostars', 'Meridians' and 'Voyagers' that populate the modern railway scene.

31601 & 31190 stand at Derby station, 24/4/15

Two class 31s (or Brush type 2 if you prefer) were sitting in the sunshine in the north dock siding and I quickly took a couple of snaps before boarding an East Midlands Trains class 222 'Meridian' unit northwards.

31601 (the former 31186, originally D5609) carries a plain green livery with DCR (Devon & Cornwall Railways) branding whilst 31190 (the former D5613) not only carries British Railways green livery (complete with white stripes and small yellow warning panel) but its original number too!

31190 stands at Derby station, 24/4/15

Both locos are owned by British American Rail Services and are often to be seen moving other locos and rolling stock around the country and don't look half bad considering they entered service 55 years ago!

Return to Butterley… Chop! Chop!

After the grumbling about the Midland Railway-Butterley in my last post you might be surprised to know that I was back there today buying a ticket!

The reason for my return visit was the news that not one but two Class 20s would be running today, one of them for the first time in preservation.

20205 (the former D8305) not only had never run in preservation but is believed to have not worked a train at all since 1989! (apart from a test train yesterday that is).

20205 & 20189 arrive at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

Also running were Balfour Beatty liveried 20189 (the former D8189) and MR-B resident 20048 (the former D8048), topping and tailing a packed rake of six BR Mk.1 coaches with 20205 swapping ends throughout the day.

The published timetable (on the PLEG website) was thrown into disarray quite early on by unscheduled stops at Butterley (to cope with the volume of passengers I suspect) and 20048 running out of fuel part way through the day didn't help either!

20205 drags 20048 off to be fuelled at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

On display at Swanwick Junction were fellow class members 20142 (the former D8142) and 20057 (the former D8057), looking a lot less tatty than it did when it arrived at the MR-B a year ago.

D8057 (20057) at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

20142 at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

The mild weather made up for the lack of train heating and brought out the lineside photographers in force! (Including my Dad, read his blog post here).

I understand that 20205 is to join the ranks of its classmates (known as 'Choppers' by enthusiasts) in action on the national network (including 20189 and 20142) where they are put to a variety of uses day in and day out…

Heads out of windows to enjoy 20205 & 20048, 8/2/15

HST Power Cars - A selection of liveries

It's funny how a person's opinion of something can change over the years… As an avid trainspotter in my teens whenever a High Speed Train (HST) turned up on a passenger train (instead of the much preferred 'Peak' or class 47) I'd be very disappointed and mutter under my breath 'tram!'

Fast forward 30-odd years though and things have changed… HSTs now make a very pleasant change from the passenger train norm of DMUs and EMUs and I go out of my way to photograph them and where possible travel on them too.

A brief trip to London recently gave me the opportunity to do both…

43049 Neville Hill stands at London St Pancras International, 7/1/15

I travelled down to London on the 08.32 East Midlands Trains (EMT) service from Nottingham, a train originating at Leeds that is 'booked' for an HST, in this case class 43 power cars 43049 Neville Hill (named after the Leeds depot where EMT's HSTs are serviced) and 43061 were in charge.

Having arrived at St Pancras International I crossed Pancras Road to pay a visit to King's Cross, a station I hadn't visited since 1988.

43302 stands at London King's Cross, 7/1/15

43302 (the former 43102) and 43310 (the former 43110) were waiting to depart with the 12.03 East Coast service to Leeds and I grabbed a quick photo of 43302 before going for a spot of lunch.

Fortified, I returned to the platforms to find 43465 (the former 43065) and 43423 (the former 43123) standing at platform 8 with the 12.53 Grand Central service to Sunderland. 43423 carries the name 'VALENTA' 1972-2010 which refers to the Paxman Valenta engines that were originally fitted to the HST power cars (since replaced by MTU 16V400 or Paxman VP185 engines, 43123 being one of the final two power cars to be refurbished in 2010).

43465 stands at London King's Cross, 7/1/15

So, no 'Peaks' at St Pancras, no 'Deltics' at King's Cross… but for the moment we've still got the venerable HSTs… I can live with that.

From the (digital) archives - The Garabit Viaduct

Following on from my last post, a short distance south from St Flour - Chaude Aigues on the ligne des Causses is the Garabit Viaduct that spans the Truyère River.

The Garabit Viaduct, 14/9/07

Constructed between 1882 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1885 the viaduct was, when built, the highest in the world at 122m (400ft). With a length of 565m (1,853ft) and a principal arch of 165m (541ft) it is a very impressive sight, one that can be enjoyed from a rest stop (Aire de Repos de Garabit) alongside La Méridienne, the A75 autoroute linking Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers.

After an overnight stay in St Flour breakfast was a picnic overlooking the viaduct (in very dull weather) and we were just about to continue on our journey when a train rumbled into view with a pair of FRET-liveried SNCF class BB 67400 diesels in charge, 467467 and 467448.

SNCF class BB 67400s 467467 and 467448 head north across the Garabit Viaduct, 14/9/07

The train consisted of empty steel wagons returning to Clermont-Ferrand from the Arcelor Mittal plant at Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, the loaded trains, even double-headed by two 2,367hp locos, run south in two portions due to the severe gradients on the line.

One fact that always pops up whenever the Garabit Viaduct is mentioned (and I'm not going to miss the opportunity to mention it myself) is that it was used in the 1976 film The Cassandra Crossing that starred Sophia Loren, Richard Harris and Burt Lancaster but was universally panned by critics and audiences alike.

Industrial Action - An unsympathetic rebuild…

I.C.I. Ltd's 1960 rebuild of Avonside Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0ST RS8 (works no.1913 of 1923), 1/3/14

This monstrosity, displayed at the National Stone Centre in Wirksworth started out as an 0-4-0ST built by the Avonside Engine Co Ltd of Bristol in 1923 as works no.1913.

The rear view…

The Avonside name cast into one of the buffers.

As far as I am aware it spent the majority of its working life at Tunstead Quarry in Derbyshire where it carried the number RS8. When steam working at the quarry ceased in 1960 it was converted to diesel power with hydraulic transmission (making it an 0-4-0DH) at the I.C.I. Ltd's South Central Workshops at Tunstead and continued to work there until 1974 when it entered preservation with the Bahamas Locomotive Society at the Dinting Railway Centre.

Upon Dinting's closure it was put on display in the car park of the National Stone Centre beside of the trackbed of the Cromford & High Peak Railway, now known as the High Peak Trail.

I've been unable to track down a photo of RS8 before it suffered its rebuild but would imagine that it bore more than a passing resemblance to this…

Avonside Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0ST DORA (works no.1973 of 1927) at the Rutland Railway Museum, 29/8/99

A brand new loco!

On our way home from the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society's members' day at the North Norfolk Railway last month Joy and I popped into Wells-next-the-Sea for a bite to eat by the harbour and half way through my sandwich the sound of a diesel horn drew my attention to this…

Alan Keef Ltd 0-6-0DH THE DUKE approaches the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

The Wells Harbour Railway is a 10.25in gauge line linking the harbour (where else?) with the Pinewoods Holiday Park at the seaward end of the line, a distance of roughly 1200 yards.

Although I'd seen the line in operation before I hadn't seen this particular loco and a closer inspection revealed that it had been built this year by Alan Keef Ltd of Ross-on-Wye.

Alan Keef Ltd 0-6-0DH THE DUKE stands at the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

Alan Keef Ltd works plate on 10.25in gauge 0-6-0DH THE DUKE on the Wells Harbour Railway, 5/10/14

An 0-6-0DH (diesel engine, hydraulic transmission) 'THE DUKE' is the third loco to be built by Alan Keef Ltd for the WHR (DENSIL b.1998 and HOWARD b.2005 are the others) and is the first that hasn't been made to resemble a steam engine.

Alan Keef Ltd steam outline 0-6-0DH HOWARD (complete with dummy saddle tank and chimney) arrives at the Harbour station on the Wells Harbour Railway, 9/7/10

Industrial Action - BTH Bo-BoDE 'Ford No.1'

BTH Bo-BoDE 'Ford No.1 (b.1932) at Rolvenden on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, 8/9/09

This boxy, American-looking locomotive was actually one of three built in Britain for the Ford Motor Company in 1932 for their new car plant at Dagenham in Essex.

The original specification was for a 150hp diesel electric locomotive with a weight of 44 tons and also stated that "all materials will be of British manufacture", something difficult to imagine these days.

The locomotives were fitted with American fixed-pattern buckeye couplers, sanding equipment, automatic bell and air whistles and at the time of building were unique in Britain and attracted considerable interest being regularly seen crossing the former London, Tilbury & Southend Railway mainline that passed between Ford's sidings to the north and the company's jetty on the River Thames to the south.

Built by British Thomson-Houston Co Ltd in Rugby they had bodies and frames made from Sheffield steel by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co Ltd and six-cylinder engines supplied by W.H. Allen, Sons & Co Ltd of Bedford thus fulfilling the 'British manufacture' part of the specification.

BTH Bo-BoDE 'Ford No.1 (b.1932) at Rolvenden on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, 8/9/09

After 34 years of service at Dagenham, Ford No.1 was acquired by the Kent & East Sussex Railway where I photographed it (at Rolvenden) in 2009 and it still sees occasional use at special events.

A South-western Ramble, part 3 - Two Beres please!

Having already travelled over the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall I decided to travel under it (by rail, not river) with a trip up the 'Tamar Valley Line' to Gunnislake.

The line splits off the West of England main line west of Plymouth at St Budeaux Junction and winds its way up the Tamar estuary to Bere Alston before reversing onto the line to Gunnislake passing over the Calstock Viaduct (and into Cornwall) roughly three miles from Gunnislake station.

150126 at Bere Alston, 6/8/14

I hopped off the train at Bere Alston and snatched a quick photo of 150126 as the guard abandoned his ticket machine on the platform and went off to change the points for the line to Gunnislake completely missing this!

Bere Alston signalbox, 6/8/14

Having swapped sides for the journey back to Plymouth I spotted the signalbox on the now disused island platform as the train pulled back into Bere Alston and I detrained once more to investigate. A London & South Western Railway type 3b box dating from 1890 it was closed in 1970 and is now apparently used by the owner of the former station-master's house… I'm not sure what for but wouldn't it make a superb summer house?

Bere Ferrers is the last station before the line re-enters the Plymouth suburbs and is home to The Tamar Belle, a small railway heritage centre that also offers overnight accommodation in a pair of London & North Eastern Railway carriages! Sadly, a lack of time prevented a visit but I managed to take a photo of a couple of the centre's locomotives before continuing on my way.

Hunslet Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0DM (works no.3133 of 1944) and Peckett & Sons Ltd 0-4-0ST 'Hilda' (works no.1963 of 1938) at the Tamar Belle Railway Heritage Centre, Bere Ferrers, 6/8/14

Information on this pair is sketchy but the diesel is a Hunslet Engine Co Ltd product, an 0-4-0DM and believed to be works no.3133 of 1944, supplied new to the Admiralty's Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway in Kent and subsequently moved to the Admiralty depot at Bullpoint, Plymouth in 1962. The 0-4-0ST was built by Peckett & Sons Ltd in 1938 as works no.1963 and I would welcome any details as to its history.

A South-western Ramble, part 2 - Now that's more like it!

You may remember that last year I photographed the First Great Western 'Night Riviera' service as it passed through Exeter St Davids on its way to London Paddington.

Last year 57602 Restormel Castle was in charge of the train, wearing the First Group dark blue livery that I thought was applied to all of FGW's locomotives and HST power cars…

So I was pleasantly surprised when this turned up!

57604 PENDENNIS CASTLE at Exeter St Davids, 6/8/14

57604 PENDENNIS CASTLE (converted from Class 47, 47209 in 2004) wearing Great Western Railway lined green complete with the GWR coat-of-arms on the cabside, a much more attractive and 'railway-like' livery than those applied to the rest of FGW's fleet in my opinion.

And (almost) 85 miles later…

I actually was on my way to Holyhead when I took the photo used in my last post and was pleasantly surprised to find my second ’Industrial Action’ item a short distance from Holyhead station.

Anglesey Aluminium began to produce Aluminium at its smelter near Holyhead in 1971 and at its height was one of the largest employers on Anglesey with over 500 staff. Also employed was this Hunslet Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0DH (diesel engine, hydraulic transmission) locomotive built in 1971 as works no.7183.

Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-4-0DH (works no.7183 of 1970) at Anglesey Aluminium's Penrhos Works at Holyhead, 25/6/14

The plant closed down in 2009 following the end of an energy deal with the nearby Wylfa nuclear power station and is mothballed pending the possible opening of a biomass power plant on site.

Assuming that the loco is also mothballed I'm surprised that a spot for it couldn't be found under cover, somewhere away from the coastal weather.

I managed the above shot (through a mucky Class 158 window) by setting the camera's focus on infinity and cranking the ISO up to 800 to allow a fast enough shutter speed to counter the movement of the train. The image is also cropped quite severely from the original thanks to the wide(ish) lens used.

WD 820, D-Day veteran…

I’m a bit late with this piece given that the 70th anniversary of The Normandy Landings was on Friday but better late than never eh?

Drewry Car Co. 153hp 0-4-0DM WD 820 stands at Caverswall Road station on the Foxfield Railway on 25/7/12

WD 820 was built by Vulcan Foundry in 1941 (from mechanical components supplied by the Drewry Car Co. and frames, wheels and bodywork supplied by English Electric) as part of an order for the Ministry of Supply. Overhauled at the Longmoor Military Railway in April 1944, WD 820 (then numbered WD 30) and three sister locomotives, WD 29, WD 32 and WD 33 crossed the English Channel during Operation Neptune, better known as D-Day, and was one of two locomotives actually landed on Utah Beach!

When relieved by larger locomotives in August 1944 WD 30 was posted further inland, taking up shunting duties around Bayeaux and was renumbered as 70030.

Returning to the UK in 1946 the locomotive was overhauled at Baguley’s works in Burton-on-Trent before being posted to the MoD depot at Bicester where it was renumbered again as WD 820 in 1952. A further tour of duty abroad to Germany followed from 1958-1969 at a British Army of the Rhine (BAoR) depot.

Upon returning to the UK (again) it was posted to two Royal Ordnance Factories, the first being at RoF Birley in Co.Durham and then RoF Radway Green in Cheshire before finally being preserved in 1992.

The photograph was taken during a visit to the Foxfield Railway that Dad and I made in 2012 and at the time I don't think that either of us recognised the significance of this tiny diesel that was tucked away in a corner…

'Twas on a fine May morning…

Except that it wasn't… It was an awful morning with horizontal rain and just enough of a breeze to chill you through once you were soaked!

But I'd made up my mind to pop out and photograph Compass Tours 'The Canterbury Tales Explorer' rail tour as it stopped at Langley Mill this morning so off I went…

37402 and 37405 pause at Langley Mill, 28/05/14

The tour started off from Crewe at 05.23 and was due to arrive in Canterbury (via a circuitous route) at 13.46 for a three hour stop before making the return trip. 37402 Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954-8.6.2013 and 37405 seemed to be making light work of a multicoloured rake of nine coaches and departed bang on time at 08.05.

Compass Tours have an interesting and varied programme of trips with starting points all over the country and although I haven't yet travelled with them I've heard very good reports from those who have and I'm very tempted by one of their Scottish tours.

Now, if only they could do something about the weather!

A Norfolk Ramble, part 1 - Middleton Towers

I usually manage to fit in a railway-related detour on any long car journey and last week's trip to North Norfolk was no exception with a brief stop being made to photograph a sand train at Middleton Towers.

Located on the former Great Eastern Railway (originally Lynn & Dereham Railway) line between King's Lynn and Swaffham the former Middleton Towers station site is now used as a loading point for sand trains from the SIBELCO UK quarry at Leziate.

66722 prepares to depart from Middleton Towers with train 6E84, 11/04/14

We arrived just as GB Railfreight's 66722 Sir Edward Watkin was about to leave (27 minutes early) with train 6E84, the 08.20 Mondays and Fridays only (MFO) service to Rockware Glass at Doncaster.

66722 makes its way across the level-crossing at Middleton towers, 11/04/14

Sir Edward Watkin (1819-1901) had links with numerous railway companies and projects but is probably best known for being Chairman of both the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (that changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897) and the South Eastern Railway and for his aborted scheme to build a railway tunnel under the English Channel. Work began on the latter in 1880 and a pilot tunnel extended over 6,000 ft from Shakespeare Cliff before Parliament brought the project to a halt believing it would 'compromise Britain's national defences.'

The '3M 11C' marking on the crossing gatepost refers to the location's distance of 3 miles and 11 chains from the station at King's Lynn, a chain being a unit of length that measures 66 feet (there are 80 chains in one mile).

66722 heads for King's Lynn, 11/04/14

Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Marylebone?

With some time to kill whilst in Birmingham this week I decided to take advantage of a Chiltern Railways offer of a Super off Peak return ticket from Moor Street station to London Marylebone for only £28.90.

Having just missed the 09.55 service, the first train I could have caught was this…

168004 departs from Birmingham Moor Street, 19/02/14

The 10.15 (10.12 from Snow Hill) in the shape of 168004 but I was waiting for this…

67014 Thomas Telford at Birmingham Moor Street, 19/02/14

The 10.55 Mainline service hauled by 67014 Thomas Telford.

A fleet of BR Mk.3a coaches has been extensively modified for Chiltern with sliding plug doors and toilets with retention tanks and they are extremely quiet and very comfortable, and best of all, the seats line up with the windows giving a good view of the countryside slipping past (at speed!)

BR Mk.3a TSO 12602 at London Marylebone, 19/02/14

I had just enough time at Marylebone to take a couple of photos and grab a coffee before climbing back aboard for the return trip, now with 67014 propelling and the driver doing his stuff up front in the BR Mk.3b Driving Van Trailer 82301.

BR Mk.3b DVT 82301 at London Marylebone, 19/02/14

Both trains were well loaded but not unpleasantly so and I can easily see why people choose Chiltern over the competition for a journey from the West Midlands to London.

I must thank the ticket office staff at Moor Street station for insisting on checking whether the 10.55 was going to be loco-hauled or not before I parted with my money, such consideration is rare but very welcome to us enthusiast types.

The Night Riviera

I've always been fascinated by the idea of sleeper trains, I'd love to climb aboard a train in London, retire to a compartment and wake up in the highlands of Scotland or the far tip of Cornwall. Thanks to ScotRail and First Great Western (and government subsidies) such things are still possible in this country but as yet aren't something I've been able to sample for myself.

So when I found myself staying in a hotel just across the road from Exeter St Davids station a couple of months ago I couldn't resist a late night in order to photograph the 'up' (London bound) 'Night Riviera' as it passed through. The train takes almost eight hours to cover the 300 miles from Penzance to London Paddington and usually calls at Exeter at around 1.00am, stopping for 10 minutes or so to change crews and thus making photography possible.

57602 Restormel Castle at Exeter St Davids, 7/8/13

57602 Restormel Castle (converted from Class 47, 47337 in 2003), is one of four Class 57s in use on Night Riviera services and was bang on time having departed Penzance at 9.45pm with its load of seven BR Mk.3 carriages, five of which were sleepers and would eventually arrive at London Paddington eighteen minutes early at 5.05am. If that seems a bit early in the day to be getting out of bed into a west London morning then I should point out that 'passengers may remain on board until 07.00' according to the FGW website.

Having packed up my tripod and watched 57602 depart into the night I discovered that Exeter St Davids station gets locked up for a couple of hours after the 'up' train has departed until the 'down' service passes through, luckily a member of the station staff had spotted me and let me out of a side gate so that I could make my way back to my hotel and bed.

From the (Vuescanned) archives - Vic Berry

Easter 1987. I'd lost interest in railways for a little while (for the usual reasons, girls, beer, music, not necessarily in that order though) and was travelling through Leicester by coach when I spotted this.

Vic Berry's scrapyard in Leicester, 1987

Vic Berry's scrapyard, smack bang in the centre of Leicester. I fired off a few frames with my increasingly unreliable Zenit TTL camera and this is the only one that survives.

Piles of EMU and Mk.1 coach bodies on the left, a stack of what look like Mk.1 GUV bodies on the right (in the background) and a heap of Class 25 cabs in the foreground! The wasp-striped end of the yard's shunter 03069 (the former D2069) is also just visible on the right hand side.

The yard was on the site of the former Great Central Railway Braunstone Gate goods yard and the former GCR warehouse can be seen in centre of the picture. A serious fire in 1991 led to the yard's closure and in 1996/97 the site was redeveloped as 'Bede Island' a small commercial and residential area with streets named after herbs and spices. Even the bridge the photo was taken from is no more, Upperton road has been considerably lowered and apart from the River Soar only a footpath passes beneath now.

My interest in railways returned but I regret not making the short journey back to Leicester (with the Zenit's replacement, an Olympus OM-1) for another look.

Incidentally, 03069 managed to survive the scrapyard's clutches and the fire and can now be found at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

Cab ride in 33035!

This weekend I got to do something that I've never managed to do before, have a cab ride in a mainline diesel loco. The Pioneer Diesel Locomotive Group's 33035 (the former D6553) was the locomotive in question and although the ride was a short one what it lacked in length in made up for in steepness!

33035 at the top of the Ravenstor Incline, 5/10/13

After spending five months under repair 33035 was undergoing testing of its electrical system on the 1 in 27 Ravenstor Incline at Wirksworth on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in Derbyshire.

View of the Ravenstor Incline from the Secondman's seat of 33035, 5/10/13

After a spirited ride up the incline there was time for a brief chat with Mike Jacobs and James from the PDLG about the loco itself, the railway and the local quarries that were one of the reasons that the line was built in the first place (and why it remained open until the late 1980s) before a more sedate trip back down to Wirksworth station.

Thanks must go to the The Pioneer Diesel Locomotive Group and John Evans, the Duty Manager at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway for making it possible.

From the (Vuescanned) archives - part 1

A recent purchase of the excellent Vuescan software has led to me digging out my files of old negatives and slides. Surprisingly (considering my somewhat anal-retentive nature) they don't seem to be in any sort of order but hopefully something of interest will appear here from time to time.

37381 at Derby station, 1/8/88

First up is a negative of 37381 taken at Derby on 1st August 1988. Renumbered from 37284 less than two months earlier when fitted with regeared 'CP7' bogies 37381 stands underneath the footbridge at the south end of the station that led to Derby locomotive works. 37381 (originally D6984) was stored unserviceable in October 1993 and finally went to the cutters' torch in May 2000 at Frodingham MPD.

I didn't make any notes regarding train services or operation in those days, something that websites such as Freightmaster now help enormously with but can only assume some kind of North-east to South Wales steel working, if anybody out there can enlighten me then please do.

Aah! Bliss!

25057 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.