Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: me

Kicking the railings at the end of the prom.

I was firing LNER B1 4-6-0 61264 for only the second time & this was the first time I had fired any engine on the TPO at the Winter Steam Gala. We had been held at the Advanced Starter but by this time we were cracking along. The photo obviously was not taken by me.

LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 61264 on the TPO special at the Winter Steam Gala. The engine is at Rothley Brook after the TPO coaches seen in distance had been pulled back into the station by another engine. This was the first time I had fired the Mail train & it was a real treat. We are blowing off because I had built a huge fire for the race to Quorn & the mail bag pick-up/drop-off & then we just cruised to Rothley. In fact I didn't really need such a big fire as long as the grate was covered. Built in 1947 & withdrawn in 1965 it survived as a Deparmental Loco until 1968 and was sent for scrap to Woodham's in Barry, the only LNER engine to go there. 61264 was restored on the GCR but has moved on & has spent many years on the main line on, among others, Maillaig-Fort William trains on the West Highland Line in Scotland.

GCR LMS Stanier 8F 2-8-0 48305. My first turn on this engine & I am cleaning out the fire prior to raising steam - the wheelbarrow is for the clinker which has to be paddled out with a long shovel as the engine does not have a rocking grate . LNER O4 63601 behind is off shed first to pull the first train of the day

Our last night before returning to the UK was spent sleeping on a Dunkirk beach after a six month road trip in my minivan around Europe & Turkey & a rail excursion to the Lebanon. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Sheffield 1970

Great Central Railway. A firing turn on BR Standard 2MT 78019. I'm in Loughborough yard before working the afternoon train. The steam pressure looks healthy enough.

My 1964 Minivan AVE308B in the Jura Mountains, France. Three of us spent 3 weeks doing an anti-clockwise circular tour of France & this was on the way back north. The nearside wing is a bit crumpled after a slight accident in Sete on the Mediterranean coast. We were in a line of slow moving traffic & I had taken my eye of the road for a second to look at a train passing on the adjacent railway line. This will come as no surprise to anyone that knows me! Hard braking wasn't going to do it so I had to make a split-second decision - swerve right either into the canal or the line of trees by the canal, swerve left into the oncoming traffic or continue straight on into the car in front. The collision of choice was into the car in front. Fortunately I could pull the wing away from the wheel & drive away although we only had one headlamp. When we tried to cross into West Germany the border guards (no open-borders EU in those days) turned us back & wouldn't allow such a heap of junk onto the pristine roads of the Federal Republic. Two years later I had a similar push-back in the same vehicle from East German border guards who wouldn't let us onto the not-so-pristine roads of the Democratic Republic without replacing a partially worn tyre.

Great Central Railway. Firing Great Western Railway Large Prairie 4141 in Steam Gala. We are laying over in Rothley station Up sidings waiting to take over a steam hauled freight train working bunker first back to Loughborough.

LNER in Great Western Railway territory! This was taken at Llangollen station when I was on a Steam Engine Driving Experience with 60103 - a great experience I must say. LNER A3 60103 was in its British Railways Brunswick Green livery & fitted with German-style smoke deflecters, ie in a historically correct livery. It poured with rain the whole day but that made no difference. I don't know if the rain made Berwyn tunnel wetter but she slipped like crazy just inside. Inexperienced as I was I didn't realise but wondered why the speedometer suddenly shot up to 60mph!! The real driver knew why of course & shut the regulator for me. Note that there is a regulator handle visible through the right-hand cab window. However it is a duplicate because this is the fireman's side of the cab.

Great Central Railway TPO near Quorn. I'm firing LNER B1 61264 for the first time on the TPO. Obviously the photo was not taken by me. The conditions were perfect - cold January air so that the condensed steam hung along the train & clear blue skies so the sun picked out the gleaming paintwork.

Holland - flying to Ameland with Bert in his Cessna 182. About to take off to return to Rotterdam airport.

Holland cycling on Ameland with Bert & Sarah who is on the back of my tandem.

GCR Firing 78019 with John

GCR. Rule 40 "Going Under"

GCR. LNER/GCR 04 2-8-0 63601 departs Loughborough station from the Down Loop on a mineral train for Rothley Brook during the Autumn Gala. As I am firing obviously the photo was taken by someone else so I can't take any credit for this fine shot but at least I did set it up by generating the steam! I'm not sure where it came from but if anyone recognises their photo please let me know. I will acknowledge you or remove it as you wish. I am looking out of the cab to make sure the photographer is not going to jump in front of us and not posing. Honest!.

Great Central Railway, driving Class 20 diesel D8098 23rd Jan 2005

My first "solo" turn after passing out as a fireman on GCR O4 2-8-0 63601. No wonder I look so smug!