One of the worst kept secrets of steam locomotive colour schemes was discovered a long time before Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Castle (click here for more). It is a secret that many of a western persuasion would probably keep to themselves… The secret being that Great Western Railway locomotives painted red look very good.
If you ask a railway enthusiast to name a great locomotive works, you could get many replies. Doncaster, Derby, Swindon, Crewe, Eastleigh, St Rollox, Darlington, Brighton… a list could on and on. But these days things are different, most of the former works have declined, disappeared or evolved into a new use. However, there are…
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. …
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…
As I passed by on the Watercress Line’s Heritage DMU Thumper Unit 1125 (click here for more), I spied a visitor sitting in Ropley loco yard sitting next to a class 08 diesel shunter (click here for more), as can be seen in the picture above. The visitor was BR Standard class 7MT 70000 Britannia,…
Those of you who follow this blog on Facebook may know that it was my birthday a few weeks ago. I was fortunate to have been gifted a new model by Mrs Locoyard, chosen because she knew how I love the Bluebell Railway – the heritage railway where the prototype of this locomotive runs. So…
The second locomotive in action at the Swanage Railway was rebuilt West Country Pacific 34028 Eddystone (the other being M7 tank 30053 – click here for more). Here are a few pictures of this large steam engine running on Easter Monday.
On Easter Monday I had the pleasure of visiting and traveling on the Swanage Railway in Dorset with Mrs Locoyard. Two locomotives were in steam, including BR lined black liveried M7 tank engine 30053 (the other being 34028 Eddystone). This characterful 0-4-4T locomotive has featured several times on this blog, but despite seeing it several…
Loco Yard 