Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: Southern

When in 1893 the North Cornwall Railway was extended to Wadebridge and beyond, the station here was named Delabole after the nearby Devonian Delabole Slate quarry. The slate was exported via the railway until closure to goods in 1964. This Southern Railway sign was seen on the slate wall of a house alongside the now closed line. HWW to everyone. Enjoy your mid-week.

A shot at Kinchley Lane during the GCR Winter Gala. This is Southern Urie S15 4-6-0 506 on the 13.30 mixed freight train from Loughborough to Swithland.

We were on the shed road 2 ash pit at Loughborough while prepping Southern Railway N15 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel for the Wartime Weekend. I have posted shots of a steam engine's fire from the footplate before but this shot of the fire is from underneath through the damper door showing the ashpan and firegrate ! Not for the fainthearted... The firebars in the grate are not really aligned in parts & there is a gap on the left. This is to a certain extent the legacy of using Welsh coal which burns very hot & has distorted them. The grate was later replaced with new bars. The curved pipe on the left is actually the hose pipe I had introduced through the damper door & used to damp down the ashes before raking out the pan so no loose abrasive particles get into the bearings, etc.

Southern rebuilt West Country pacific 34046 Braunton has just breasted the southbound gradient at Copy Pit summit and the driver has shut-off. This is the Pennine Moor Christmas Explorer, Locomotive Services 1Z87, the 14.37 Blackburn to Birmingham International special. Copy Pit signal box used to stand to the right of the engine by the brick wall beyond which the Todmorden to Burnley road parallels the railway on the far right.

The ex-London and South Western Railway line from Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside station opened in 1849. Now known as the Windsor Line it passes through Sunnymeads station although the station wasn't actually opened until 1927 by the Southern Railway. Seen from Welley Road bridge as we walked from a friend's house in the early hours of the morning following birthday celebrations. Night-time perambulations were not part of our original plan but due to the failure of our "Uber" to turn up as booked... Still, you do sober up more quickly in the cool night air!

With the fixed Distant signal indicating permanent caution Southern Bulleid West Country pacific 34092 City of Wells drops down towards the Birstall foot crossing en route to Leicester North on its first trip on the first day of the Autumn Gala.

My mate Barry in Barry! We drove down from Sheffield in his dad's car to see the railway wonder that was Woodham's scrapyard. This was my first visit and to see 200+ engines lined up was amazing. The fact that most of them survived is even more amazing, not that we could have even imagined that would happen at that time. Here ex-Southern Bulleid pacifics West Country 34101 Hartland and Merchant Navy 35022 Holland-America Line were alongside an empty line so you could get far enough away to capture a half-decent shot - at least you could if you had a half-decent camera. 34101 is based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway these days and is under restoration. The latest bulletin : New inner firebox being fabricated. Boiler rebuild in hand. New firebox outer wrapper plates inserted. Frames on stands in repair shop for descaling , painting, re-assembly. All wheels out ready for tyre turning. In theory it should be back in steam during 2018.

Southern Railway King Arthur N15 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel runs off shed to work the 10.00 service to Leicester North.

Southern Q 0-6-0 30541 departs from Loughborough Central with the van train during a Photo Special Charter

Jon & Liam clean out the ashpit on shed at Loughborough. Southern Railway N15 King Arthur Class 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel is stabled on the adjacent track.

On shed at Loughborough, Southern N15 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel and British Railways Standard 9F 2-10-0 92214.

I'm very pleased to say that I got the chance to fire U Boat 2-6-0 31806 today as I was rostered fireman on the 10.00 and 12.15 "Southern Weekend" trains. The engine had been disposed properly by the Monday Gang and Dave had put an excellent warming fire in overnight so prepping at 06.00 was made much easier. It was also conveniently parked under Empress Road bridge so I was nice and dry!! By 08.10 it was hardly getting light & there was 70psi on the gauge. The other engine out this weekend is Fowler 3F 0-6-0T 47406 being used for fireman training and here they were prepping her on the pit ahead of us.

I only made a quick visit to Birstall this afternoon - I'm participating in the Gala tomorrow and Sunday - but in the 45 minutes I was by the foot crossing two trains made it up the "branch" to Leicester North. The second visitor was Southern Maunsell U Class 2-6-0 31806 on the 15.15 from Leicester. It is a right-hand drive engine so it's James the fireman leaning out of the cab window.

The first of our Southern Railway Gala visitors was on shed at Loughborough today. SR Maunsell U Class 2-6-0 31806 sits in shed road 2 in front of Ivatt 2MT 46521 and Modified Hall 6990 Witherslack Hall.

Arrival at 10.53pm on Platform 16 at London Waterloo station of the Steam Dreams Cathedrals Express (1Z83) hauled by Southern Railway King Arthur Class 4-6-0 30777 Sir Lamiel. A real time warp.

Bulleid Pacific West Country 34027 Taw Valley crosses over from shed road 2 to road 1 prior to backing down to take water. Its stock waits in Platform 1 behind in Loughborough Central station. The cold morning air is filled with the engine's exhaust giving the scene a steamy atmosphere.

Southern Railway Schools 4-4-0 925 heading north past Swithland signal box.

Southern Railway N15 King Arthur 4-6-0 777 Sir Lamiel is signalled into the Up Loop & runs towards Swithland signal box.