Santa special at Oxenhope

BR Standard 4 tank hauls the Santa Special into Oxenhope. They have worked hard to make it Santaland There is a winter wonderland display in the museum among with a Santas Grotto and of course Crib to remind us what Chrismas is really about.

4F at Haworth

A lovely loco which has just undergone a long heavy overhaul so it should be available for some years to come.

Harrow and Wealdstone

Imprinted firmly on my memory was the Harrow and  Wealdstone accident. I was about eight and remember the aerial views on newspapers at home and all over. It was the major topic of conversation and my young ears caught it all

A London and North Western Railway station we see it here at the turn of the last century

Haworths Derby 4F 43924

Yesterday was not too gloomy so I took a drive up to Haworth and there was Derby 4F posed perfectly for me

As can be seen Haworth is a very clean and tidy yard and they are to be highly commended for this.

Do visit them at http://www.kwvr.co.uk/ The santa specials are running now every weekend till Christmas

Great Eastern Railway turn of the last century

Statfold the story at the L&B

Statfold is a brand new steam engine built by the Hunslet Engine Company in 2005. The locomotive’s initial visit to the Lynton & Barnstaple was its first visit away from where it was built and was used on passenger trains for several periods during the 2006 season. Statfold returned to the L&B for the 2007 summer season, and again for the 2008 summer season.

The locomotive is built to the standard Hunslet Quarry Tank design. The original locomotives were built as small industrial workhorses for use predominently in the welsh slate quarries. Many examples still survive of the earlier locomotives, but this locomotive is a little different to the others in that it is the first to ever be built by Hunslet, purely for employment on heritage tourist railways.

GWR Prairie tank 4160

The Prairies were the backbone of rural and secondary line service on both passenger and goods

Departure Minhead for Bishops Lydeard

West Somerset's controversial mogul leaves Minhead for Bishops Lydeard and all station on route.

Minhead in the summer past.

As the chilly weather starts, a little reminder of our summer past and train chasing days

GWR Goods 2 8 0 No 3850 at Minehead

West Somerset Ralways GWR 2 8 0

Woody Bays diesels

As with all preserved railways there is some diesel propulsion here we see Woody Bays Hunslet

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Woody Bay departure

Memories of a summer past.

Well the winters here but do visit the website at http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/

Statfold runs around at Woody Bay Station

A good video for the technically minded who would want to see the motion in action

Statfolds running gear

For the technically minded here is Statfolds cylinders and running gear

Statfold on the Lynton & Barnstaple

Statfold is a lovely locomotive and was running on the Lynton and Barnstaple four years ago. Built at Leeds by the Hunslet Engine Company.

Statfold at Woody Bay

I have found several pics and vids from about three years ago which I had thought I had lost

Bishops Lydeard

Simmering in Somerset. Bishops Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway

Fairburn Tank engines

 Passing Staningly on a Leeds Bradford local

Above at Low Moor Shed. The principle shed for Bradford South.

Fairburns tanks were a very common sight in and around the West Riding and Heavy woolen districts. Here below we see a Bradford bound train from Dewsbury. Above a Fairburn shunts at Staningly

My thanks to D Bailey via Wikepedia for the top three pictures

North East Railway No 66

Look at that graining on the inside of the cab, there's pride for you.

GNR restored for the national collection

Fletcher design for the North Eastern Railway (NER) and London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) 901 Class 2-4-0 locomotive No 910 built in 1875. These locomotives hauled express passenger trains on the North East Coast mainline.

Ivatt's design for the Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class J13 0-6-0ST saddle tank design built in 1899, GNR No 1247.

My thanks to Docbrown for these excellent pics at the NRM Shildon

Well kown GNR locomotives

The above is possibly an E1 class by Patrick Sterling

Darlington North Rd

Another hidded gem is Darlington North Rd Station now a museum of the railways around this the birthplace of the railways

Barrow Hill near Stavely

Not the NRM but a working roundhouse storing working locos many of which we know and love

 Open to the public at weekends well worth a visit

Barrow Hill is Britain's last surviving working Roundhouse - a truly enthralling and atmospheric place to be, especially when galas and events take place in the unique surroundings.

Open Saturdays and Sundays 10am-4pm.

Visit on line at http://www.barrowhill.org/

Grassington Station

I came across this whilst surfing the net. Wonder if it could ever be a reality again as Bolton Abbey is now. There will still be the trackbed running from the existing mineral lines to Cracoe to Skipton. Hopefully the YDR will be rejoining the main line there soon just after Holywell Halt, and few tantalising yards to reconnection..

Holmfield on the Queensbury lines

Here a number of views of Holmfield on the GNR Queensbury lines.

Holmfield was a very busy station and junction. It came just before the line disappeared into the tunnel under Illingworth Moor.

It was also the Junction for the line across to Pellon and St Pauls

As we see from the cattle docks it was a very mixed economy with mils and agriculture.

Low Moor MPD

The view is looking towards Bradford with the station behind the train, the two tracks to the right go off towards Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike and formed a triangle with the line from Bradford that ran behind the carriage sidings in the distance....Photo. D. Holmes.

The engine by the way is 'Jubilee' 45688 'Polyphemus'.

Photos by D Holmes

Low moor was one of three MPD's serving the city of Bradford, the others being Hammerton St and Manningham. Originally a Lancashire and Yorkshire railway engine shed it grew in importance with the growth of the iron and steel works at Low Moor. Low Moor suffered a very serious explosion in a munitions works during the first world war. No real explanation has ever been given for it, was it sabotage??
Here a brief description
Detonations loud and small continued and at about six o'clock the upper sifting and packing shed exploded. The explosions went on for two days. There were about twenty-two on the Monday, and the fires had not all been extinguished three days later. The munitions factory was extensively damaged and Sharp's Dyeworks, which caught fire after the first expolsion, was almost gutted. Two gasometers at the Corporation Gas Works on Cleckheaton Road were destroyed and there was also much damage at the Low Moor Iron Works. Property belonging to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, including a row of cottages called Railway Terrace, suffered considerably, and rolling stock on the sidings was severely damaged by fire. According to an estimate made by the City Engineer and Surveyor's Office (about 2,000 dwelling houses and premises of all kinds in the neighbourhood were affected, about 50 houses being virtually demolished. The cost of the damage, other than to the Low Moor Munitions Company, the BDA and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, was put at about £40,000. A claim was submitted for property damaged at Hightown Council School, which was 2¾ miles from the site of the explosions.


My thanks to D Holmes for this great series of pictures around the 1960's

Another lost railway

Cleckheaton was a very busy station and goods yard. Now all those people travel in cars and an occasional bus and all those goods are carried on the overcrowded roads