'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 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.

A Norfolk Ramble, part 3 - The bus stop's here!

Bus shelter at Sheringham, 11/04/14

This little structure stands on Railway Approach in Sheringham, just by the entrance to the North Norfolk Railway station. I can't tell you much about it other than I believe it dates from the 1930s and I'm guessing that it once had Crittall windows filling those huge holes in the walls.

But take a closer look at what's inside!

M&GNJR locomotive mural, 11/04/14

A mural depicting a Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway class C 4-4-0 steam locomotive, a type that would have operated on the former M&GNJR line that runs a few yards behind the shelter. This area became known as Poppy Land after the term was coined in the 19th century by the poet and theatre critic Clement Scott and the NNR is marketed as 'The Poppy Line' hence the abundance of Poppies in the mural.

Unfortunately I've no idea who the artist is, if anyone can furnish me with that information I'd be grateful.

Edit:Thanks to Clive Hughes for letting me know that Colin Seal is the artist in question, for more information on Colin's work see this BBC Norfolk article.

A Norfolk Ramble, part 2 - North Norfolk Railway

As usual, a trip to Norfolk means a visit to the North Norfolk Railway, easily one of my favourite heritage lines.

The warm weather had certainly brought plenty of visitors and even the first train of the day (the 09.45 from Sheringham-Holt) was pretty full. NNR stalwart 8572 (a London & North Eastern Railway B12 class 4-6-0) had no problems with its train of four coaches and one parcels van though.

LNER B12 class 4-6-0 8572 runs round its train at Holt, 11/04/14

The NNR is home to all sorts of beautifully restored items, from locomotives, carriages and buildings right down to this set of fire buckets, complete with Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway cast sign.

Fire buckets at Sheringham station, 11/04/14

A return visit was made the following day (more on this later) as I was hoping to photograph BR Standard class 4MT 2-6-0 76084 in action (I'd missed getting a shot of it the day before) but it wasn't to be… Great Northern Railway N2 class 0-6-2T 1744 (visiting from the Great Central Railway) was out and about instead.

GNR N2 class 0-6-2T 1744 departs Weybourne with the 13.44 service to Holt, 12/04/14

I thoroughly recommend a visit to the North Norfolk Railway if you're in the area, I'd even go as far as to say make a special trip if not! The combination of steam, sea views and (if you're lucky) sunshine really is unbeatable!

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

Double-heading at the MR-B

This weekend was the Winter Steam Event at the Midland Railway-Butterley, a fairly low-key affair in comparison with other railways perhaps but still worth a visit (especially as it’s just down the road from me) so today I spent a couple of hours by Butterley Reservoir photographing the trains crossing the causeway to and from the Hammersmith end of the line.

I'd photographed the 'usual suspects' in the shape of 'Jinty' No.23, the 'Caprotti Five' 73129 and Peckett 0-4-0ST WHITEHEAD but kept hoping that visiting Ivatt class 2MT 2-6-0 46521 (from the Great Central Railway) would put in an appearance…

Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 46521 & Standard 5MT 4-6-0 73129 cross Butterley Reservoir, 9/3/14

After a lengthy pause in operations my patience was eventually rewarded with an earlier than timetabled train double-headed by 46521 and 73129 that were making very light work of four BR Mk.1 coaches.

I did hear a number of people grumble about the inaccuracies in the published timetable, indeed the above working was almost an hour early which not only caught out lineside photographers but also (and more importantly) paying passengers. Whilst I understand that there will always be problems when it comes to running a timetabled event I do wish that some railways would try harder to get these things right on the day.

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.