Thanks to the joys of moving home, this blog has been in the very capable hands of Simon, Alex and Jonathan for the past couple of weeks. Today I have a rare respite to moving, allowing a brief chance to write a blog post before getting back to the stress of moving home! Today we (at long…
Good evening, Ashey is the Isle of Wight’s forgotten station with it being a request only stop most people don’t notice it as the train speeds past. Ashey station was originally built on the Ryde to Newport line to serve the small village of Ashey. Calbourne leaving Ashey with the old station house in the…
Hello This post is due to be published on the 6th June ,which is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France. I thought it was important that we marked this historic day with a quick message to say thank you and to celebrate the bravery, honor and sacrifice of those who fought for…
Good evening Despite Newport being the headliner at the spring gala the locomotive I was most impressed with was number 24 Calbourne. Calbourne leaving Ashey
This weekend, the Asperger’s Flyer commemorates D Day! On Saturday 7th June, the Flyer will travel on the world famous North Yorkshire Moors.
The next locomotive in the series from Simon’s 35005 ‘Canadian Pacific’ is 35006 ‘Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.’ (usually called P&O!) and is a rebuilt Merchant Navy Class. During its working life it had a very similar life to Canadian Pacific being rebuilt some time in the 50’s. 35005 was of course bought by Steamtown…
5542 is a very popular engine full of character, known to many as the “Sweet sixteen” (sum of its digits) or the PFP (Planet’s favourite prairie) it is a regular runner to the GWSR, as well as many other lines including the South Devon Railway and the West Somerset Railway. Somehow I managed to…
Although not especially fitting in with the theme of the gala, 4270 was definitely one of the stars of the weekend, hauling her first service trains for the first time in 50 years or so. After a 10 year long restoration she only had steam in her belly 4 days before the gala and…
A relatively new home fleet locomotive for the GWSR, Dinmore Manor made its gala debut at the railway in style, carrying a number of different headboards over the weekend and double heading with the group’s other locomotive on loan, 3580. Appearing in unlined black livery, it really looked the part on the freight train,…
Owned by the Dinmore Manor group, 3850 appeared along with the group’s flagship loco Dinmore manor and their latest rust bucket, 2874. I might write a bit more about the Dinmore manor LTD’s aims in another post, but they seem to have some good solid plans to ensure the future of all four…
Loco Yard 