Part 9 concludes a long series of posts looking at experiences during my childhood of steam on preserved lines. These have included watching small tank engines working hard up Tenterden Bank on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, having a cab ride on an Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 on the Lavender Line, being astounded by the historic Bluebell…
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…
The next locomotive (after the previous article on U class 1638) to feature on locoyard following last Sunday’s visit to the Bluebell Railway is a unique survivor of the LBSCR’s E4 class. Purchased straight from British Railways in 1962, B473 is the last remaining member of Billinton’s 0-6-2 radial tank . Built in 1898 for…
After updating the review of Bachmann’s N class, I took a look at the model reviewing poll conducted in July. The poll lead to both the N class review taking place and also the review of the Hornby A4 class and since then a review of Hornby’s unrebuilt West country pacific has also been completed. …
Following from my previous blog post (click here) on my visit to the Bluebell Railway, here are some pictures of the Maunsell U class 1638 that was in operation that day. The U class is no stranger to this website or to me and I’m happy to say that I’ve seen all four that survive…
In July, Locoyard followers were given the opportunity to vote for the next model review. The Bachmann N class and Hornby A4 won with the same number of votes. Therefore the Bachmann N class will go through the Locoyardometer! This review has been updated on 28th August 2012 with additional pictures of slope-sided tender version number…
Yesterday I enjoyed a fantastic visit to what is still my favourite place in the railway world. My decision to visit the railway was fairly spontaneous. I try to visit when I can, which unfortunately is usually only once a year. It would be much more frequent if it wasn’t for it being a long…
As the number of models reviewed here at Locoyard increases, the Loco Model Reviews Page receives a regular level of hits. Interestingly it is not necessarily the latest reviews that are looked at the most, presumably people thinking of purchasing a model seek out a review. The key here is to have a good selection…
In an attempt to organise locoyard blog entries, a new web page gas been created as a one-stop shop for visits made to steam railways and mainline viewings. Click here to view this exciting new page. This will help those of you who would like to see real steam engines and guides without anything else getting…
Having already written a blog post about the official Thomas the Tank engine, I thought it was about time I put together a blog post about another famous steam engine from fiction. This is of course, no other than Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express! Although named Hogwart’s Castle in the books and films, the locomotive that…
Loco Yard 