Tag Archives: locomotive

An A-4 Pacific in the Neighbourhood

The Watercress Line had a steam gala in the autumn and, while I was planning on going there for the event, I did end up with a little spare time at the end of Saturday and decided to nip across the see if I could see the trains – specifically one of their headline attractions.They had many locos taking part but the Sir Nigel Gresley was probably the one that attracted a lot of attention and was probably why I was there. I hadn’t seen an A-4 Pacific in motion (although I did recently post about Mallard in my visit to the National Railway Museum).

There is a footpath that crosses the line between Alresford and Ropley and I thought I would try this out. When I walked there, I found a few other people that had shared the idea. It wasn’t crowded so we could all have space from which to shoot. Because we were right by the track (although behind a fence), I decided that going for a low angle would be best. Earlier in the day, the light would have been more favourable but, the day had been quite overcast so I wasn’t so worried. As it was, the sun did pop out at the right time and provided a little extra pop to the paint.

This crossing is just around the curve from a section of track through trees and a cutting. It is a climb from Alresford towards Ropley so the loco is working hard. Consequently, you get a lot of smoke/steam from the smokestack. That also means that you can hear it coming before you see it. When the train came around the corner, it was framed nicely by the trees and embankment. I was able to get a few different types of shot as it approached.

I had decided to go with a longer zoom when I walked up to the crossing. This meant that I wasn’t going to get a wide shot as the train passed me, but this avoided any fumbling to change cameras at the last moment. Instead, I just shot tighter and tighter as it approached until it was too large to get it in frame. Staying low to the ground gave a more dramatic look to the train is it steamed towards me. Having a cloudy background was not ideal because I would have liked more distinction between the smoke from the loco and the background but a bit of work in processing helped sort that out.

Having had some success with this, I did try heading to a bridge further down the track later in the afternoon when it was due back. It made the return journey in reverse as it pulled the train back to Alresford. I had anticipated that it would then run around to the front of the train so you can image I was a bit annoyed to find that they put another loco on the front and left the A-4 on the back. Not so photogenic.

Despite this, I did think that the bridge might be a good spot in the morning and, while Nancy and I had plans to head out on Sunday, I did zip back early to see what there was to see. Again, I was not alone. Quite a few photographers and videographers had come out. This time the conditions were really lovely with the low sun angle providing great illumination. This spot provides a long shot towards Alresford which means you see the train as it starts its climb before it comes around onto a straight section heading to the bridge. The sun really picked out the blue of the loco while it was clearly pulling hard on the climb. A few shots grabbed and then time to head home for the the rest of our day.

A Hoover for Those I Know That Appreciate Them

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There are some people I know (and might be related to) that have a fondness for Class 50 locomotives. I remember when they were still in regular service and were operating the services from Waterloo down to the southwest of England. While they were all retired, plenty made their way into preservation. It isn’t unusual to see them at events and there are some that still have commercial uses. I was at the Severn Valley Railway for their Rail200 event where we were exhibiting one of our trains and their Class 50 was in use. I grabbed a few shots of it as I know it will please a few peeps.

Scots Guardsman

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I was walking across the concourse in Kidderminster when we were exhibiting the HydroFLEX unit when I overheard one of the staff asking a father and son whether they were getting on the train that was about to depart. Their response was that they were waiting for Scots Guardsman. I had no idea what this was but assumed that, since they were waiting for it, it would be a special part of the day.

Apparently, it was visiting for the weekend. When it came in, it was certainly an impressive looking loco. I took a photo when it arrived and then, later in the weekend, I managed to get some more images of it as it brought a train into the station. For those that know their locos, this may well mean something. To me it was just an interesting steam loco to see. I didn’t have quite the level of enthusiasm as one guy who was intent on sharing with one of my colleagues the sound of it climbing a grade.

How It Works – The Steam Locomotive

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A Ladybird Book reference in the title for some of you of a certain age from a certain country. An exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York is a sectioned steam locomotive. One of the guides at the museum showed us the various stages of the process of turning coal and water into power for the loco. I hadn’t understood the process fully before (and probably still need some additional education to be honest) but having the side of the loco cut open to show the various processes and the flow of the steam really made it easier to understand. I was going to say visualise, but it isn’t really visualising when you are looking right at it!

Crewe Seems to be Home to Old Locos

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It has been a long time since I was last at Crewe, and I recently found myself back up there on a delightfully sunny day. In days gone by, Crewe would always be a location that had a variety of unusual rolling stock parked up and, apparently, that hasn’t changed. The interesting change is that, in the old days, a lot of the oddities looked like they had seen better days. This time everything looked in great condition.

There was an HST set that seemed to be marked up for excursions to Scotland. It was painted in a scheme like the old Blue Pullman sets. I don’t know the service details, but it looked like it was set up nicely. There were some old locos too. A Class 90 was gleaming in a great paint finish but the one that really caught my eye, even if it was a bit poorly located for getting a photo, was the Class 89.

This is a unique loco. Built in the 80s, it was never selected for production. I remember seeing it when I lived in Huntingdon when it would be used on the east coast main line. I understand it had been stored for a long time but now it seems like it has been well restored, and I am told that it will be running in service before too long. I have no idea how difficult it is maintaining a one off electric loco but I wish them well.

Some Unusual Maintenance Vehicles from CPKC

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While we were staying in Canmore, we got plenty of train traffic passing us by. Most of the time, it was just the regular freight train movements but there was some maintenance work underway in the vicinity and we had a train come by that was not like the others. The locomotive was a different looking beast and it was pulling some flat cars including one with a backhoe loaded on it. I assume that they were heading to or from a work site, but I don’t know where it might have been. They train did look pretty clean so maybe it was not that old?

Plenty of Rail Traffic Through Canmore

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The location we were staying at in Canmore was very close to the railroad. This is the Canadian Pacific mainline across Canada after leaving Calgary. We had a lot of trains come through night and day, but it was really not terribly disturbing. Not long ago, Canadian Pacific merged with Kansas City Southern to create CPKC. The trains often had a mix of locos from both original companies. I imagine it will be a long time before they are all painted in new colors. Quite a scenic view with the trains in the foreground and the mountains in the background. We did have other operator equipment occasionally showing up in the trains but not too often. I knew someone that would be fascinated by the length of the trains, so I videoed one as it passed. It makes for a long video so be prepared if you watch the link below.

Kenyan Locomotives

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A combination of a travel image and the job stuff today. We were driving from Nairobi to Amboseli on our first full day in Kenya. The road we took initially is the main road to Mombasa which is the principal port for not only Kenya but some of its neighboring countries. Parallel with the road is a railway and, as we headed southeast, a train was coming the other way. A pair of diesel locomotives were pulling the train, and they had a message on the side about their role. I understand they were built by CRRC in China. One for the rail fans who read my blog, I think.

The Tehachapi Loop

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When I first started planning to trip to the Mojave Desert for the Edwards AFB show, a friend of mine in the Midwest was also planning on being there. He said he was also going to visit the Tehachapi Loop. I was vaguely aware of it but decided to look it up. While he ended up not making the trip, I took some time on my last day to go across to see the loop for myself. The Tehachapi Pass is a steep climb for a train to make and, in order for it to climb sufficiently in one section, the engineers that laid out the alignment put in a special configuration.

The trains make a 360 degree climbing turn and, given the length of the trains, the leading part of the train will pass over the top of the back end of the train as it climbs. It is quite something to have a long train twisting around on itself as it climbs the grade. Of course, descending is the reverse but that is less dramatic because the train is braking whereas the climbing trains are working flat out to make it up the hill. The sounds of the locomotives at high power reaches you long before they come in to sight.

When I got there, I had no idea whether I would see a train or not. I had plenty of time but I didn’t know whether the trains were regular on a Sunday. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a train came into the loop heading down the hill. I watched it negotiate the curves and the parts of the train appear and disappear. The interesting news was, as it got a little further down the hill, it stopped. This looked promising in that it was probably holding for a train coming up the other way. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the sounds of multiple locos pulling hard came up the slope.

There were four locos on the front of the train dragging their load towards the summit of the pass. The cars were stretched out behind them down the grade and, at the back (long after the lead locos had gone), another pair of locos were bringing up the rear. With the train safely by, I decided I wouldn’t hang around to see if there was more traffic. I had a drive back to the airport to do and didn’t need to wait around just in case.

Trains Through Steilacoom

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Another post for the rail fans out there. My visit to Steilacoom has yielded posts about the ferry and McNeil Island but it would be remiss to not discuss the rail line that runs along the waterfront. The weekend day I was there, there seemed to be a lot of traffic. This is the BNSF line along the coast but it is also currently used by Amtrak services. That was due to have stopped a while back with the Point Defiance Bypass having opened but, with an accident on the opening run, trains have continued to use the old route. That will transition at some point this year, though.

A bunch of trains came through while I was there. Most of these were freight services but one was an Amtrak Cascades train. It was being operated with a Talgo Series 8 train owned by Oregon DOT and on which I have done a bunch of work over recent years. Since only one train is running per day in each direction as a result of the pandemic, it was a lucky coincidence that I was there when it came through. I did get a nice wave from the engineer.