First visit to the Watercress Line 2013 part 2 – Ropley

Last Sunday, after exploring Alton (click here to read that article) I dropped into Ropley. As ever, there was much going on there;

First visit to the Watercress Line 2013 – Chasing a Schools Class and Exploring Alton

December 2012 was an excellent steam-filled month, with three visits to the Watercress Line, two mainline tours and a visit to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (see the Steam Diary to read more). With the exception of a visit to Eastleigh’s miniature railway (click here to read), January has been much quieter, but today’s…

Dukedog 9017 – A Vanishing Act!

In 2009, I witnessed the spectacle all steam enthusiasts love to see – a locomotive creating a massive cloud of steam that it disappeared in! Mistakenly I assumed that this was blowing steam out of every valve but I’ve been since corrected that the cause is likely to be caused by water coming out of…

Busy Christmas Scenes at Ropley

Today’s Blog Post is a selection of Santa Special pictures and scenes from around the site taken

Christmas at Medstead and Four Marks

A selection of Christmas scenes from Medstead and Four Marks, Saturday 15th December 2012. There’s still time submit your pictures to be published on Locoyard.com on Christmas Day! Click here for more details.

Santa’s Other Train – 925 Cheltenham on the Mid-Hants Railway

Hauling Heavy Santa Services this December on the Watercress Line with U class 31806 has been the National Collection’s

Winter Scenes at a real Loco Yard

After several locomotives having returned from visits to other railways, Ropley loco yard is back to looking

Hornby Schools Class Front Bogey Misbehaving

The biggest and only significant criticism that the review of Hornby’s super-detailed schools class found was the problematic front bogey. It isn’t alone in this respect and I have two other

Schools Class V – 925 Cheltenham at Ropley

In a change to the scheduled post, tonight I wanted to share with my followers my first proper look of recently restored Schools class 925 Cheltenham, that I was fortunate to catch today in a rather sunny Ropley loco yard. Restored to working order in Eastleigh works (the locomotive’s birthplace) in just two years; it…