A railway related pint - The M&GN Bar

'Muddle and Go Nowhere Bar' beer mat, 12/04/14

I've mentioned my fondness for combining railways and real ale before and that combination was my other reason for my second visit in two days to the North Norfolk Railway a couple of weekends ago.

The 'Muddle and Go Nowhere* Bar' is housed in a beautifully restored London & North Eastern Railway Gresley Buffet Car (b.1937, York) currently turned out in British Railways crimson and cream livery and carrying the number E9128E.

The 'Muddle and Go Nowhere Bar' Gresley Buffet Car E9128E, 12/04/14

The car is expected to be running during special events at the NNR and a number of other weekends besides, provisional details of which can be found on the M&GN Joint Railway Society website here.

It being an out of season visit only one real ale was available on draught, 'Wolf Ale' from Norfolk's own Wolf Brewery at Besthorpe near Attleborough and after what I can only describe as 'extensive tests' I can report that it's a delicious, copper coloured brew with just the right amount of hops (Goldings and Challenger, should you be curious) resulting in what I'd call 'a proper pint' and I'm certainly looking forward to sampling more Wolf Brewery beers in the future.

* The phrase 'Muddle & Go Nowhere' was an affectionate nickname bestowed on the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway as a result of its route serving mostly rural areas of Lincolnshire and Norfolk.

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.

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.