West Somerset Railway 21st Gala March 1997; My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 7 Chapter 2

Continuing from last Saturday’s post is the final chapter of part 7 in my journey in becoming a steam enthusiast.  I hope all locoyard followers will enjoy these photographs! Todays post begins in Minehead and then follows 43xx Class 7325 and Castle Class 7029 Clun Castle double-heading to Bishops Lydeard. Post thread continues – click…

Havenstreet

As promised in the previous article on the Isle of Wight steam railway, we take a closer look at Havenstreet, the headquarters of the railway. Most people join the train at Havenstreet and it has a large car park.  It isn’t the terminus of the railway however and the train will travel to Wootton, return…

West Somerset Railway 21st Gala March 1997; My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 7 Chapter 1

Following on from my previous post, this is one of the final of this series of memories and a fantastic one at that!  One of my most fond steam memories from my younger years came from a visit to the West Somerset Railway when it was celebrating its 21st anniversary in March 1997.  An incredible…

8750 Class Pannier Tank 3738 at Didcot Halt

During last week’s visit to Didcot Railway Centre, British Standard 7MT 70000 Britannia was not the only locomotive in steam.  On another demonstration line, pulling an auto-coach was GWR black liveried 8750 class pannier tank 3738.  This locomotive was operated from “Didcot Halt”, a faithful recreation of a GWR branchline. A Great Western themed attraction would not be complete without…

Locoyard becomes a Southern Railway Depot

A quick catch-up tonight from Locoyard to show that it has, as promised, gone back in time to the 1930 – 1940’s.  A bit of an unlikely mix of liveries to be fair, with a combination of Maunsell’s olive-green and Bulleid’s malachite green with sunshine lettering.  The malachite green in particular has brightened the layout and indeed the room…

The British Connection: My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 7 (chapter 2)

Following my previous post about the official Thomas the Tank engine on the Nene Valley Railway, I wanted to share a few more pictures taken.  The railway was and still is home to some European locomotives that make the collection very unique in the UK (to be found in the next post in this series,…

Hornby Unrebuilt West Country / Battle of Britain class review

Class: Original (unrebuilt) West Country / Battle of Britain class Use: Express Passenger and Express Goods Region: Southern Era: 1945-1967 Preserved examples: 34007 21C107 Wadebridge – Mid Hants Railway – operational 34023 21C123 Blackmoor Vale/Blackmore Vale – Bluebell Railway (as-built, Coat of Arms added in preservation) – Static Display pending overhaul 34051 21C151 Winston Churchill – National Railway Museum – Static…