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…

My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 6 – The Watercress Line (1997)

1997 was a significant year for the Watercress Line, as it marked it’s 20th anniversary as a preserved railway.  My father and I visited the line twice that year.  The line’s impressive home fleet was supplemented by some very special visitors.  Continuing from last week’s post, here are a selection of photographs of the Watercress…

My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 6 – The Watercress Line (up to and including 1996)

Regular readers of this blog will no doubt be very familiar with the Watercress Line!  It is a railway I visit regularly now, but when growing up one that I visited relatively infrequently.  However, these early visits nevertheless were regular and enjoyable enough to go a long way in sowing the seeds of becoming a steam enthusiast! Going back…

My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 5 – 60103 Flying Scotsman at the Paignton and Dartmouth Railway

It probably didn’t take long to guess that after my previous blog post on the influence that the South Devon Railway had in my journey in becoming a steam enthusiast that the next would be on the Paignton and Dartmouth steam railway.  Hopefully the presence of a brunswick green A3 class pacific wasn’t quite as predictable! Ever…

Models on Display Part 1

Over the next few days I shall be moving away from the yard to show some of the locomotives/scenes on display.  Today we shall start with my Corgi Diecast model of the Rocket.  It is almost the right 1:76 scale, but unfortunately can not sit on 00 scale track.  It does look good however and…