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…
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…
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…
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…
No visit to the Bluebell Railway is complete without a peak inside the engine shed, which is home to the largest collection of locomotives of (UK) Southern origin. The Bluebell Line has another remarkable claim to fame to add to this – it has the largest collection of BR Standard Classes. Indeed, this collection is…
This beautifully finished locomotive is no stranger to this blog! All being well, the links to blog posts featuring this locomotive will appear automatically at the bottom of this post. 592 was built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) in 1902 at Longhedge Works to a design by Chief Mechanical Engineer Harry Wainwright. …
Last Sunday during a trip to Alton, I saw for what is probably the last time in Hampshire (for me at least), U class 31806. This weekend is likely to be this locomotive’s last on the Watercress Line, so if you want to see it, this might be your last chance! It is seen above…
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…
The Watercress Festival in Alresford is one of those events that my wife and I try to put into the heritage railway diary. This is despite the fact that it’s not really a railway event as such, but an important one that the railway supports in a big way. The event is all about food…
A trip to the Watercress Line is always well worth it and this visit was no exception! The railway has a large fleet of locomotives that is regularly supplemented by visitors. What made this visit particularly special was of course the Heritage DMU Thumper Unit 1125 (click here for more) celebrating ten years since withdrawal…
Loco Yard 