It’s not often that I’ve seen GWR 28xx class steam engines. So during my whistle stop ride on the Severn Valley Railway, it was good to see an example, no. 2857 sitting in Bridgnorth’s loco yard. As with many of Churchward’s creations, the 28xx class was revolutionary for its time. It was the first 2-8-0…
Only one tender engine featured at the East Lancashire’s small engines weekend and it was a very special one. The only survivor of a class of 484, this Lancashire and Yorkshire 0-6-0 class 27 (also known as class A,) it was built in Horwich in 1896. Designed by John Aspinall, these powerful and useful locomotives were such a success that 50 examples…
One of the things that a tour of Haverthwaite engine shed reminded me of was that our railway heritage is both complex and interesting. The star of the shed was arguably Charles Fairburn‘s large 2-6-4T 4MT steam engine 42085, whilst a diesel shunter at the back of the shed the opposite end of the glamour spectrum! Although…
Following yesterday’s blog post that shared the exciting news that the LMS-Patriot Company that they will be recreating the long lost Fowler 2-6-4T 4P class, today we look at a class that can be regarded as the granddaughter of Fowler’s machine – Charles Fairburn’s 4MT 2-6-4T. My interest in the class was sparked by purchasing…
Today’s blog post looks at ex-GWR 45xx class small prairie tank 4566 of the Severn Valley Railway.
Bellerophon was a hero of Greek legend, famous for riding Pegasus and slaying the Chimera – a fire breathing beast. Being one of the greatest names of mythology, it comes as no surprise that it has been used for a number of warships. A little more surprisingly though, is that is name of a quirky…
Finally, for our return journey from Williton back to Bishop’s Lydeard, we passed Kinlet hall at Crowcombe Heathfield. Once we arrived back there was time to explore the station, as when we arrived everything was still being set up. Once again Odney Manor greeted us, this picture shows quite well the fact that the boiler…
Our penultimate stop off at the WSR gala was at Williton. This is one of the main passing places on the line so is a good place to watch the trains go by. Also at Williton are some of the railway’s workshops. Here they restore some of the WSR’s stock as well as undertaking contract…
We spent an hour or so at Minehead, the railway’s seaside terminus, during the gala, although there was so much to do we never got to see the sea. The most important thing first of all of course was to find lunch, a perusal of the menu in the turntable cafe suggested a breakfast bap…
After leaving Washford, we had a brief pause at Blue Anchor station. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to get off here, but I stuck my camera out of the window and it looked a delightful station; we’re looking at staying in the area at some point soon to take in the rest of the…
Loco Yard 