Steam Recreations

WENFORD LIVES ON

Friday, 16th October 2009

Bodmin & Wenford Railway

On Friday 16th October we made use of Beattie Well Tank No. 30587 on a short mixed goods. Parts of the Bodmin line really do exude the atmosphere of the Wenford goods branch on which the engine was of course so famous.

Another mostly cloudy day, under a high pressure, however we did get a limited number of sunny images.

Weather rating 5/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

BODMIN WESTERN RECREATION

Thursday, 15th October 2009

Bodmin & Wenford Railway

Two annoyingly cloudy days under a high pressure ridge after 3 days of wall to wall sunshine and a forecast for good weather over the two days following the charter.

However we did get a limited number of sunny images on both days, more espically on the Friday with 30587.

Weather rating 3/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

DUB DEE MINERALS

Tuesday, 6th October 2009

Great Central Railway

A generally cloudy day with only short glimpes of sun in the afternoon, we did get one run past in good light but others in cloudy conditions. However the cloudy conditions did produce some reasonable black & white images which somehow look right for a WD on coal wagons!

Weather rating 3/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

DUKEDOG DOUBLE HEADER

Tuesday, 28th April 2009

Llangollen Railway

After a number of requests I somewhat put my neck on the block and made efforts to put together a full days charter with BR Black Dukedog No. 9017 & BR Black Prairie No. 5526 on a rake of red/cream coaches on Tuesday 28th April.

sadly the day was greeted with cloudy damp conditions throughout and only a few shots in "brighter" lighting were to be had.

This authentic pairing was a very rare opportunity and very unlikely to be repeated in the foreseeable future.

A Dukedog & small Prairie was quite common (including on the Cambrian Coast express portions) and a number of pictures appear in various volumes on Cambrian steam.

Weather rating 2/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

WESTERN BRANCH PASSENGER

Wednesday, 22nd April 2009

South Devon Railway

A chance to recreate a classic BR Western branch line scene, a BR Black Pannier hauled branch passenger of two red & cream coaches.

Generally good weather conditions prevailed for the two days of these charters which produced some decent images of both branch passenger and goods traffic.

Weather rating 9/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

WESTERN BRANCH GOODS

Tuesday, 21st April 2009

South Devon Railway

A chance to recreate a classic BR Western branch line scene, a BR Black Pannier hauled goods.

Generally good weather conditions prevailed for the two days of these charters which produced some decent images of both branch passenger and goods traffic.

Weather rating 9/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

CAMBRIAN DREAM - DAY 2

Tuesday, 31st March 2009

Llangollen Railway

The surviving GWR Dukedog 4-4-0 No. 9017 was painted BR Black and returned to its former haunts in the Welsh hills, thanks to the efforts of the Betton Grange society.

Day 2 of our two day event saw No. 9017 hauling a mixed goods train. The day was again mostly cloudy but some brighter/sunny spells were enjoyed.

Weather rating 5/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

CAMBRIAN DREAM - DAY 1

Monday, 30th March 2009

Llangollen Railway

The surviving GWR Dukedog 4-4-0 No. 9017 was painted BR Black and returned to its former haunts in the Welsh hills, thanks to the efforts of the Betton Grange society.

Day 1 of our two day event witnessed No. 9017 hauling a red/cream and Maroon mix of stock with a van. A mostly cloudy day unfortunately but with some sunny spells to get some very valuable shots.

Weather rating 5/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

NORTH EAST MINERALS

Monday, 19th January 2009

Great Central Railway

The visit of NELPG’s Q6 No. 63395 to the Great Central Railway for the lines winter gala presented the unusual opportunity to do a charter with this classic 0-8-0 goods engine.

We had a full day’s winter steam photography with the Q6 on a rake of 16 of the 16 ton mineral wagons.

Generally a mixed day of sunshine and cloud with a brisk westerly wind. We had some quite reasonable shots as shown on the website page, but did not get all of the shots we would have liked.

Weather rating 8/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

SOMERSET & DORSET CLASSIC

Tuesday, 18th November 2008

Bluebell Railway

An opportunity to recreate a classic S&D scene – the wonderful S&D 7F 2-8-0 No. 53809 in BR Black livery running with a rake of Southern Maunsell and Bulleid coaches to recreate a typical through express service over the long closed S&D route. The regular Cleethorpes – Exmouth and return workings were rostered 7F turns and one train set was often Southern green stock and the other maroon/red & cream Eastern region stock.

The Autumn colours were quite pleasant in the autumn sunshine on what was a generally fine day.

Weather rating 8/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

DUKEDOG LOCAL

Monday, 6th October 2008

Severn Valley Railway

Our second SVR GWR Double Frame 4-4-0 charter this Autumn with Dukedog No. 9017 Earl of Berkeley and a short rake of 4/5 GWR coaches.

A day with some great sunshine for the first hour then cloudy conditions for the rest of the day - still the shots were in the bag by then!

Weather rating 6/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

DOUBLE DOUBLE FRAMERS

Wednesday, 1st October 2008

Severn Valley Railway

This charter featured the very rare pairing of GWR Double Framers No. 3440 City of Truro & Dukedog No. 9017 Earl of Berkeley heading an appropriate rake of GWR coaches. These are of course the only surviving GWR outside frame 4-4-0 locos which were once numerous on the GWR network.

A glorious autumn day when we got shots at all locations we attempted, particularly good last shot at Eardington with dark sky in the background.

Weather rating 9/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Cambrian Standard

Monday, 16th April 2007

West Somerset Railway

Our third WSR charter offering for this spring was a recreation of a 1960's period local train on the Welsh Cambrian system when the BR Standard 80xxx 2-6-4 tanks had taken over many of the services in that area.

The charter ran with Std tank No. 80136 with 5 Maroon coaches between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard. The morning session was reasonably successful with mainly bright/sunny but hazy skies. The afternoon proved more difficult due to operating issues and the weather was also rather less sunny.

Weather rating 5/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Summer Saturdays in the West

Friday, 16th March 2007

West Somerset Railway

SPRING 2007 GALA EVENT CHARTERS

FRIDAY 16TH MARCH 2007.

Castle 5051 Earl Bathurst & large Prairie No. 4160

A very authentic combination from the Devon banks in the 50’s & 60’s is a large Prairie tank, Newton Abbot shed had a large allocation for this purpose, piloting an express 4-6-0 – often coupled inside as well as on the front of Castle’s and King’s etc.

This combination was recreated for the cameras on 16th March 2007, pretty much 50 years since it was a regular sight in Devon!

The day started bright and sunny and a number of good shots were obtained during the morning session before more cloud appeared after lunch meaning only one location was possible in good light during the afternoon. My own results can be viewed in the steam galleries section of the site.

Weather rating 7/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Summer Saturdays in the West

Tuesday, 13th March 2007

West Somerset Railway

SPRING 2007 GALA EVENT CHARTERS.

TUESDAY 13TH MARCH 2007.

Castle 5051 Earl Bathurst & Manor 7822 Foxcote Manor

The first of our two WSR Summer Saturday's in the West charters was greeted by a wonderfull cool early and sunny eary spring morning - perfect for steam photography. Although a little cloud was present during the morning session in remained largly sunny throughout the day.

The train made up of 8 SRPS Maroon MK1 coaches hauled by 7822 Foxcote Manor & 5051 Earl Bathurst looked superb. A number of different locations along the WSR line were covered through the day, the results can be viewed in the steam galleries section of the site.

Weather rating 9/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

The Churnet Valley Marquess

Saturday, 3rd February 2007

Churnet Valley Railway, Cheddleton

A simply stunning day - full sun and clear skies all day!

The long out of service K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess looked great with it's 5 coach passenger train with two vans added to the front to give the appearance of a Scottish Highlands train of the 1950's.

See a sample of the images available on the day in our galleries.

Weather rating 10/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Goods for Ashburton

Saturday, 11th November 2006

South Devon Railway

Using the South Devon Railway's small Prairie tank No. 5526 in BR Black livery, the charter recreated the atmosphere of the daily Ashburton goods train of the 1950's. The train consisted of a 4 wagon BR bauxite livieried train.

The weather was quite good in the morning with some sunny spells, however it did cloud over by the afternoon making photography quite difficult.

Weather rating 6/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Somerset & Dorset Recreations

Monday, 27th March 2006

West Somerset Railway

The fourth of our S&D recreations charters, an extra date added to satisfy demand. This charter employed S&D 7F 2-8-0 No. 53809 in the morning and BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No.92203 in the afternoon - classic S&D single headed trains using the SRPS Maroon stock.

This was possibly the worst day of the 4 for the weather! Rain on and off throughout the day made photography quite difficult. Again a few black & white images were possible.

Weather rating 2/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Somerset & Dorset Recreations

Wednesday, 22nd March 2006

West Somerset Railway

Day 3 of the S&D recreations, and this time we put the 4F & 7F together, both in BR Black livery, to recreate what for many is THE S&D classic - two older design good's engine's on a passenger train. Like the other two days the train operated throughout the day between Bishops Lydeard & Williton where the scenary is not too dissimilar to that around the old S&D route itself. Again we used the Maroon coaching stock hired from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society.

A little brightness was experienced on this day, but no real "full sun" shots, so at least everyone went home with something.

Weather rating 4/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Somerset & Dorset Recreations

Tuesday, 21st March 2006

West Somerset Railway

Day 2 of the S&D recreations at the WSR, on this date we exchanged the 4F for a classic Somerset & Dorset 7F 2-8-0 goods engine. The WSR had hired in 7F No. 53809 from the Midland Railway Centre (to accompany their own 7F No. 88) and we paired it the Bulleid No.34067 Tangmere to doublehead our train, again a classic S&D scene. This train was also formed of the Maroon Mk.1 coaching stock hired from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society through the kind offices of FM Rail.

Again the weather was cold and cloudy for much of the day, however a few classic black & white images were possible to record the event.

Weather rating 3/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Somerset & Dorset Recreations

Monday, 20th March 2006

West Somerset Railway

Day 1 of our special S&D recreations at the West Somerset Railway employed 4F No. 44422 and Bulleid "Battle of Britain" Pacific No.34067 Tangmere doubleheaded to recreate a classic S&D scene of a holiday express of the 1950's or even the famous "Pines Express". The train was formed of Maroon coaching stock hired from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society through the kind offices of FM Rail.

Sadly the weather did not live up to expectations, being cold and cloudy all day. The images shown herewith give an example though of what a truly authentic recreation of the S&D this was.

Weather rating 2/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Great Western country station scenes

Monday, 23rd January 2006

Severn Valley Railway

This charter was to recreate that classic branch line image of the GWR. A Pannier tank hauling 2 genuine vintage GW coaches. A full days charter with 57xx class Pannier No. 5764 with an emphasis on shots around about the SVR's superbly restored stations and infrastructure by way of a change from the more usual landscape countryside shots. Unfortunately the weather was poor - cloudy & cold all day - so only Black & white photography was really possible, except for some after dark time exposures in Bewdley station that evening. As there is clearly plenty of opportunity in this charter it will be re run soon - keep an eye on this site for details.

Weather rating 2/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Auto Pannier WSR

Friday, 30th December 2005

West Somerset Railway

A Christmas week "excursion" to enjoy the sight of a small Pannier tank hauling its single coach Auto train. Unfortunately the weather was rather poor, cloudy & damp all day, but some nice after drak shots were obtained at Williton station.

Weather rating 3/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

LMR local train

Monday, 31st October 2005

Severn Valley Railway

A second attempt at this one, the first had been greeted with "disappointing" weather! Our loco was SVR home based Stanier Mogul No. 42968 now in BR Black livery and coupled to a short rake of LMS coaches to recreate an Cross Country local train such as those that worked many secondary lines in the Midland region of BR. The weather on this occasion was also bad in the morning but brightened up for a while in the afternoon allowing two locations to be covered.

Weather rating 5/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

E4 Bluebell

Thursday, 3rd March 2005

Bluebell Railway

A number of photographic charter organisers clubbed together to fund the repaint of the Bluebell Rlys E4 0-6-2T in BR Black livery and run a programme of photo charters with the engine. I paired it with two Maunsell design coaches for a Steam Recreations event on 3rd March 2005. Weather was very good generally with a few snow showers.

Weather rating 7/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Dart Valley branch locals

Sunday, 25th April 2004

South Devon Railway

A two day visit to the South Devon Railway in April 2004 featuring No. 5526. together with different two coach local trains formed of two Great Western coaches in Chocolate & Cream coaches and two Carmine liveried coaches, very much as they would have appeared in the early 50's. Weather on both days was very good.

Weather rating 8/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Dee Valley local

Wednesday, 7th April 2004

Llangollen Railway

A typical BR Western Region local train of the late 1950's period with mixed livery coaching stock - Maroon and Blood/Custard - hauled by Llangollen based large Prairie tank No. 5199. Waether was generally good, particularly in the afternoon.

Weather rating 7/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Great Eastern goes west

Monday, 22nd March 2004

West Somerset Railway

As the WSR's special events planning team had secured a rare visit by the little Great Eastern J15 0-6-0 No. 65462 the opportunity was taken to work a goods train along the line with this loco. The day was sunny throughout.

Weather rating 9/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »

Cornish clay classics

Saturday, 18th October 2003

Bodmin Railway

One of these two charters, operated on 10th April 2005 formed a sight I thought I would never see a few years ago - a Beattie Well Tank back working around Bodmin in Cornwall. The charter was to recreate the quite unique sight of the little 2-4-0WT working a china clay train along the Boscarne Junc - Wenford bridge line as it had so many times in the past.

It had followed a previous charter with a similar theme operted on 18th October 2003 featuring BR Green Prairie tank No. 5552, back working as it did some 40 years ago on china clay trains on the branch lines of Cornwall. Weather was very good with good sunny spells throughout on both dates.

Weather rating 8/10.

Pictures from this charter are now available in our gallery store »