Peak Rail / Heritage Shunter Trust

Well last month i was disappointed by a trip to Matlock to find Peak Rail was out of service, but i gave them a second chance last weekend and i'm very glad i did. I travelled on their line up to Rowsley South through the Derbyshire Dales. Then i had a look around their base and had a great tour of the Heritage Shunter Trust's sheds seeing a lot of rare diesel shunter classes for the first time. A great heritage line for sure and always enjoyable to travel behind a Class 14 (of which they have a few on the line). You can see my photos here.

66 Gala

Last weekend the lovely Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway held a special gala with a DB Cargo Class 66 as special guest. It was enjoyable being hauled up the line by the 66, the first time i have been on a train hauled by the freight locomotive. Also novel was the fact the train i was on and being hauled was the CPPR's 3-CEP EMU. This is a train i love (and indeed own one myself... albeit in model form!)

Galas are always fun to visit as you get these unusual combinations and also a lot more trains than on a usual service day. You can see my photos here.

Hidden Euston

At the weekend i went on another Hidden London tour of the Underground's secrets, unlike Aldwych in January this new tour was of an operating (and busy) tube station and included obligatory wearing of hi-viz! The tour was of Euston underground station and involved exploring parts of the station now restricted normally to the general public. The tour was wonderful and included walking along a ventilation tunnel where you could see the platforms (and some passengers) through the grills below! You can see my photos here.

Leamington stop

After a week of railway photography, and hanging about on platforms waiting for something to happen, where better to end it than at Leamington Spa which is probably my favourite station to visit for a number of reasons. One of the main ones being that there is a seat at the end of platform 2 where you are far enough away from the tannoy that you can't hear the endless announcements about unattended baggage and light refreshments! You can see my photos here.

Severn Valley Railway Spring Diesel Festival

The highlight of my calendar for the last few years has been the Diesel Gala on the Severn Valley Railway, this year they have moved it to May (its usually been in early October) and called it a Spring Festival. The reason they moved the date, they say, is because it is more difficult to get guest locos in October compared to the (late) Spring...

They certainly pulled out all the stops this year, there was a huge line-up of guest locos. I spent most of my time at Kidderminster yesterday and at times i didn't know where to look! On one side you had a Class 31 idling, going past at a Class 46 Peak and the other side a Network Rail Class 73. I haven't seen this variety of diesel locomotive all operating in the same place since the 1980s. The SVR must be congratulated for the amazing event they have pulled off (and continues until Saturday), moving it to May certainly has worked. You can see my photographs from Day 1 of the festival here.

Derby ultrasonic

I did plan to go on a canal walk today but the rain put paid to that, no instead i needed to do something outdoors but under shelter so went to Derby instead to take some photographs. Derby is the home of the railway's research and test division so i saw 2 test trains, both ultrasonic test trains though nothing else out of the ordinary. The lighting wasn't that good but some of the photos arn't bad. You can see my photos here and judge for yourself!