As I passed by on the Watercress Line’s Heritage DMU Thumper Unit 1125 (click here for more), I spied a visitor sitting in Ropley loco yard sitting next to a class 08 diesel shunter (click here for more), as can be seen in the picture above. The visitor was BR Standard class 7MT 70000 Britannia,…
As many long term readers of this blog will know, Dave’s local heritage childhood railway was the Kent and East Sussex Railway and ever since it has been one of his favourites. I recently had a nice chat with one of the volunteers working in there Saturday Gang and thought I’d dedicate a post to…
Hello everyone, just a quickie to say that the GWSR’s gala on the 24th – 26th of May is fast approaching, and the timetable has now been released here, listing all the things to do, including tours of the C+W workshops. If you’re there, do stop by and take look around, I’ll be there for…
Seeing as the reason for the May bank holiday weekend trip to the Watercress Line was to see and ride on heritage DMU Thumper 1125 in action (click here to read more), it seemed fitting when at Ropley to look at another heritage diesel locomotive a little closer than usual! 08032 is one of a…
In the midst of a busy time, a visit to the Swanage Railway provided a lovely respite! The railway runs from Norden via Corfe Castle, Harmans Cross (below) to the lovely beach and seaside town of Swanage. My wife and I had a lovely day out and I highly recommend a visit to the line. …
Today marked the first of a series of celebrations at various preserved railways around the country marking ten years since the withdrawal of Class 201-207’s, affectionately known as “Thumpers”. Ten years ago the last of this type on still working on the mainline ran “The Last Thump”, so fittingly these celebrations have been called “Not…
Hello Welcome to my final post in our mini series looking at Merchant Navy class locomotive Canadian Pacific. My recent blogs posting about her stripping down for costing and parts inspection has proved very popular and have taken the decision to write a mini series looking at her history. The first post looked at her…
Corfe Castle is without doubt one of the most iconic landmarks of southern England. With a history going back over a thousand years, it has been a feature of the landscape for far longer than the railway has and provides a fascinating contrast and depth to the heritage railway. Anyone who visits the Swanage Railway…
A shameless plug for my home railway’s upcoming gala – the Cotswold Festival of Steam on the May bank holiday – 24th to 26th May 2014. The theme for this year’s gala is “Back to Black” featuring most locos in BR black. After all, black was by far the most common livery on the national network; green…
The two locomotives in service on Easter Monday were M7 tank 30053 (click here for more) and rebuilt West Country pacific 34028 Eddystone (click here for more). However, there was more to see at Swanage, particularly when passing by on the train (note to enthusiasts – be ready by an open window before the train…
Loco Yard 