Tuesday 9th April 2024 I paid a visit to the Didcot Railway Centre over the Easter weekend. Never having been before, it had been on a list of interesting looking places to visit for a long time having always given it a good stare out of the window when travelling on trains between Reading and... Continue Reading →
M is for Isle of Man Transport (Part 2: Steam Railway)
Sunday 18th June 2023 Welcome to the second part of this week long daily blog special featuring Isle of Man Transport. Today we take a ride on the Island's Steam Railway. It's celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year. The railway runs 15 and a half miles from Douglas south to Port Erin with a journey... Continue Reading →
Trains are back between Swanage and Wareham
Tuesday 11th April 2023 The ten mile heritage railway line run by Swanage Railway saw trains reconnected to the National Rail network again last week with a three/four journey a day four-days-a-week service through to Wareham. The line was severed in 1972 when British Rail ripped up the tracks after the train service was withdrawn... Continue Reading →
1938 Stock’s Amersham outing
Thursday 8th September 2022 A shorter blog than usual this morning; appropriately about a shortened 4 car Underground train. London Transport Museum has a beautifully restored four car Underground train dating back to 1938 in its Acton based collection which occasionally runs on bookable special trips on the network. The train which was restored in... Continue Reading →
Blooming bluebells at the Bluebell
Thursday 5th May 2022 I took a ride on the wonderful Bluebell Railway on (Bank Holiday) Monday. I almost left it too late this year with peak bluebell season nearly over but I wasn’t disappointed. Unlike many heritage railways the Bluebell wasn’t a victim of the Beeching axe. British Railways actually closed the line as... Continue Reading →
Going loco in Appleby
Monday 16th August 2020 Heritage Railways have had it tough these last few months. No 'Emergency Measures Agreements' for them, nor any help for charter train companies either. So it was a surprise a few weeks ago when I saw news a new charter train service would be starting up from Monday 20th July running... Continue Reading →
Crossing the Pennines
Saturday 31st August 2019 Route 888 between Newcastle and Keswick is the lesser known bus service across the Pennines. Whereas the more famous route 685 takes a direct westerly trajectory along the A69 to Carlisle via Hexham and Haltwhistle, the 888 also serves Hexham but then follows a south westerly route via Alston and Langwathby... Continue Reading →
Railway rides in Aviemore and Launceston
Friday 5th July 2019 There are over 150 standard and narrow gauge 'heritage' railways operating in Great Britain. Most are run by enthusiastic volunteers who put in many hours of dedicated service. I try and visit one or two every few weeks on my travels and have managed to tick off a long list, but... Continue Reading →
All steamed up in Ongar
Sunday 9th June 2019 The Epping Ongar Railway is having one of its popular steam weekends this weekend and I took a ride to the end of the Central Line to have a look. Thanks to Roger Wright's ownership interests, you can always count on decent bus connections from right outside Epping Station to North... Continue Reading →
