The Giant Coffee Shaker
You may have heard the term “coffee pot” to describe a steam engine with a verticle boiler, or as a nickname for Bulleid’s Q1 class. However, this locomotive proved to be a coffee shaker…
The Lynton and Barnstaple Spell
Being a fan of the old Southern Railway, the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway has always been a line that has caught my attention in books and in the media. The Southern Railway’s history is largely a progressive one – a tale of early electrification and suburbanisation. The thought of this company owning and running a…
Best Laid Plans…
I think I must be allergic to the Severn Valley’s Autumn steam galas, last year I had tonsilitus, and this year all didn’t exactly go to plan, yet again. Before this weekend I was expecting to be able to spend a half decent amount of time at the SVR gala, considering I wasn’t actually in…
Study in Steel – LMS Documentry – 1935
Good evening, This evening we are looking at something special on YouTube in the form a a fascinating series of films produced by The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). This video called “A Study of Steel” takes us into the Crewe workshops to watch a Princess Royal Class steam locomotive being built. The locomotive seen…
Braunton on the Solent and Sacrum
Good evening, Yesterday rebuilt Bulleid Light Pacific locomotive no 34046 Braunton hauled the Solent and Sacrum railtour out of London Waterloo heading for Salisbury, on the return trip she travelled down the south coast to Fareham before thundering up the Portsmouth direct to London Waterloo. Itis quite rare that a steam service is allowed up this…
The last Dorset Coast Express of 2014
Good evening, Today was the last Dorset Coast Express service of the season, the weekly express which runs from London Victoria to Weymouth is a favorite of mine and allows me to see some great mainline steam before working on 35005 Canadian Pacific inside Eastleigh works. The last service was hauled by unrebuilt Battle of…
A Tasty Sighting!
Rather remarkably, somehow I managed to skip this this beautiful locomotive when reporting about my visit to the Bluebell Line (click here to read more.) This was probably because I only saw it briefly as it pulled away with the line’s Wealden Rambler. It had been many years since I had seen this locomotive in…
A Little More Southern Inspiration
Following from yesterdays ramblings and being gifted a little free time this afternoon, I sat back and watched this fantastic film of Southern steam on YouTube. It is one of a set that I’ll be watching in due course. Some of the footage in this video was taken in the 1930’s. From observing this, I…
Holiday Snaps!
A highlight of our holiday in Devon was a ride in the Devon Belle observation car (click here to read all about it.) However, we did see a little more of the line whilst waiting at stations and on the return trip. Bellow is a gallery of the remainder of this delightful trip on this…
A Room With A View
With the exception of the picture at the top of this blog post, every picture you will see here was taken from the “Devon Belle” Pullman observation car on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway (PDSR) . The carriage is one of two that ran on the Southern Railway’s Devon Belle express from London Waterloo…
Loco Yard 