Showers at Shibden

I met my daughter and granddaughters (and their dog!) at Shibden Park recently, for a couple of hours. We had a great time, exploring the park and the playground. There was opportunity for that ageless tradition of 'feeding the ducks' - and yes, we used proper bird food, not bread. It was a windy day and there were some very sharp showers but we managed to dodge the worst of them.

Then we had a ride on the little train, which happily has started running again with suitable modifications to promote hygiene during this time of coronavirus. They were spreading families out in separate carriages and staff were disinfecting the seats between trips. It is quite hard, I find, to remember to keep sanitising hands and so on. The little ones are better drilled in it than I am - but then, I rarely touch things when I'm out, whereas they were using the play equipment and so on.

My youngest granddaughter, in particular, has always been super-excited by this little train, ever since she was tiny - but for all of us, it was refreshing to do something 'normal' and joyful for a change.

We tried a 'selfie'... It wasn't especially successful as I had the phone on the wrong setting - doh! But then, these days, I am better a little blurred!

Another steam train!

I seem, inadvertently, to be turning into a bit of a steam loco anorak! I just seem to be bumping into them all over the place. There I was, on Keighley station, minding my own business and waiting for a train, when I noticed one or two chaps hanging around who looked vaguely train-spotter-ish. Since the main line there is adjacent to the Keighley and Worth Valley heritage line, that is not in itself unusual but nothing much was happening over at the KWVR side. Then I heard one of them say something to another about 'It's just left Hellifield' (a station further up the line).  Hmm, thought I, I wonder if a steam train is due? Then... chuff, chuff... could that be a steam loco I hear? Yes, it was! I just managed to get a quick photo - and I had to be quick as it was moving at quite a lick.

I've googled it since (as you do) and discovered it was No 60009 Union of South Africa, which was being moved from the Bury East Lancs railway all the way over to Grosmont and the North York Moors railway. (I'm not sure what the Flying Scotsman sign was about, as it isn't the famous Flying Scotsman engine.) For those that like to know these things, it is an LNER class A4 locomotive, built in Doncaster in 1937 specifically for the East Coast main line. Designed by Nigel Gresley, these streamlined locos were capable of high speeds. In fact, the world speed record for a steam train (126 mph) is held by the Mallard, a similar A4 locomotive. Union Of South Africa was withdrawn from regular service in 1966, having hauled the last booked steam train service from Kings Cross to Edinburgh in 1964.  It's not an especially beautiful train (to me anyway). I prefer more conventional shapes, like the one I saw on Leeds station HERE. Still a real thrill to see steam locos pass through... yes, I might be turning into a proper anorak.

Chuffed

I was on my way to catch my train home at Leeds station one Sunday evening, when I suddenly realised that the imminent arrival at Platform 8 was no ordinary train. It came steaming into the station and I had to run the length of the platform (and it is long, believe me!) to catch this shot of the locomotive: steam locomotive no. 45596 Bahamas. It was hauling one of the special summer 'Waverley' day excursions that run along the scenically beautiful Settle-Carlisle line. It actually travels through Saltaire periodically, but I've long since given up trying to get a decent photo of it locally, as there are so many obstacles, overhead lines, gantries and so on. (I did once get some shots of the Flying Scotsman in Saltaire - see HERE)

If you have £109 to spare, you can book a seat on an excursion. (£164 for a seat in the rather romantic First Class carriages, below, or £264 if you want full English breakfast going out, and a four course silver service dinner on the way home.)

Having run the length of the station, I snapped these quick shots. I actually had my tripod with me, use of which would have helped, but I didn't have time to set it up. I then had to run all the way back for my own train, catching it by the skin of my teeth! The steam loco was a lovely sight though, and I was chuffed to get a picture of it. (Sorry... I'll just get my coat!)

The Flying Scotsman

During the summer there are sometimes steam-hauled train excursions that pass through Saltaire and I've tried, without much success, to photograph them before. When a neighbour tipped me off that the most famous steam locomotive of all - The Flying Scotsman - was coming, I was determined to capture it as best I could. So here you are!

After many adventures, including being the first steam engine officially to reach 100mph (in 1934), this lovely old locomotive, originally built in 1923, retired from regular service in 1963. It passed into private ownership and travelled in the USA, Canada and Australia, before being bought by the National Railway Museum in York in 2004. It has been thoroughly overhauled and rebuilt over the last ten years and is now allowed to run on our main rail lines. 

It is pulling excursions all over the country this year. This particular trip is billed as 'The Waverley Excursion', a day's journey from York to Carlisle and back. 

I got the shutter speed right... zoomed in, you can clearly read the name on the side. It is, however, really difficult to know where to stand for a good view locally, especially in summer when there's lots of vegetation along the lineside. I elected to wait in the one spot beside a bridge where I knew I could see down the line and have recognisably 'Saltaire' things (like the church tower) in the background. The overhead cables and gantrys for the usual electric trains rather spoil the view though.

Trains, cars and hot dinners

I've shown variations of this picture before, but the scene still pleases me. It is a high viewpoint you can only get on the rare occasions that the top floor of Salts Mill is opened to the public. The grimy windows only add to its appeal, I think. The window overlooks Saltaire station; a train to Leeds is just drawing up to the platform. The building across the road is now part of Shipley College and was the Dining Hall in Victorian Saltaire, built to supply the mill workers with nutritious hot meals. There is a tunnel under the road, connecting the Mill to the Dining Hall.

I notice that part of Victoria Road has recently been marked out as bays for 'Car Club only'. I was not aware that there was a Car Club in the area, though they have been talking about it for years. For many years I didn't have a car and longed for the facility to be available locally, just for those occasions when I really needed a vehicle for a short time. Now I have a car... so I don't need the Car Club. Typical!

(Photo taken a few weeks ago before the trees started to look very autumnal.)

The Glen Tramway

The only remaining attraction from those Victorian pleasure grounds is the Shipley Glen Cable Tramway, a funicular (cable railway) with two carriages that takes people up and down the steep hillside from Saltaire to Shipley Glen.

It was lovely to see people flocking to use it. It is maintained and run on a shoestring by volunteers. It unfortunately suffered badly in the devastating rainfall on Boxing Day, when the valley was flooded and water cascading down the hill washed away a lot of the track and meant extensive repair work has had to be undertaken to restore and make it safe to use again.

The staff were dressed in Victorian costume, entering into the Festival spirit. I would have liked a ride to the top but I had woken with a migraine and wasn't feeling anything like my usual self, so it was a short visit just to take a few photos.

T-rain!

Oh dear, I'm having one of those spells when every time I'm free to go out with my camera the weather decides to be horrible - and when I'm stuck in at work or otherwise engaged, the sun comes out and all is hunky-dory. On my way to meet a friend the other day, I was held up for ages at a level-crossing during a cloudburst. There are very few level crossings in this area; most of the railways go over or under the roads on bridges. This crossing is on the busy Leeds to Skipton line and every quarter of an hour or so the gates close for what feels like a good five minutes. (Perhaps not that long, but it feels like forever when you're in a hurry!)  Anyway, so desperate am I for pictures that I decided to use the time productively.

Voilà ... we have 'watching the rain fall'  and ... quick wipe of the windscreen, to show.... 'train passing'.

I do hope you enjoyed that. Right, we can continue our journey now...

End of the line

The Leeds Industrial Museum didn't seem quite as 'tidy' and well-displayed as Bradford's Industrial Museum, though in a way that provided its own charm. Behind the buildings was an area of wasteland strewn about with old rusty things. I had no idea what most of them were, though this is recognisably a locomotive of some sort. I thought it was quite photogenic. Perhaps I will be too when I'm that ancient and rusty.

Standedge Tunnel

This is the point where the Huddersfield Narrow Canal enters the 5.2 km long Standedge Tunnel underneath the Pennines. The boat - an electric tug-boat with an attached passenger barge - offers short tours inside the tunnel, so I took a ride. I couldn't hear the commentary (one of the trials of being deaf) but there are plenty of interesting facts about the tunnel on the internet (here). Its construction was initially so badly planned and executed that the excavations from each end were not going to meet up in the middle. In 1807, they had finally to involve the famous engineer Thomas Telford to sort it all out!

Inside the tunnel is very narrow, with only room for one boat to travel. It has a few wider passing places, but they had to have a system to control the barges travelling through. You can view the various different portions of the tunnel - rough rock, stone, original brickwork and more modern brickwork from when it was restored. You can also see shafts that connect the tunnel with the adjacent rail tunnel, built later. (The railway company bought the canal and used the canal tunnel to carry away the spoil from their excavations of the rail tunnel.) In my photo, you can see a train disappearing into the rail tunnel.

There is no towpath so boat-horses used to be walked up and over the moors, whilst the barges were 'legged through' by two men lying on their backs. With the tour boat's electric lights on, all seemed fine but when they switched them off it was pitch black and quite scary. I couldn't help but think of the weight of rock and earth above me! The 'leggers' would only have had candles for illumination. It took a good three hours to leg a loaded barge through, for which the professional 'leggers' were paid 1 shilling and 6 pence. (I photographed one of the pictures in the exhibition centre, as I thought it was so interesting. A bit naughty...I hope no-one minds!)                                                                                                                                                                                          

Inside the tunnel, photographed by me from the tour boat

'Legging' a barge through the tunnel - a photograph of a photograph in the Tunnel's exhibition centre

The romance of steam

The trouble I went to, to get this photo... (and it's not even that brilliant, but never mind that). Over the summer, the Railway Touring Company run a few Sunday steam train excursions (The Waverley Tour) from York to Carlisle on the famous Settle-Carlisle line, over Ribblehead Viaduct. On the way, of course, they have to pass through Saltaire. I have many times heard the familiar chug-chug from my house and thought "one day I must go out and take a photo of that". So I got up especially early one Sunday morning (I normally enjoy my lie-in!) and stood on the bridge and waited... and waited... and it didn't come. A couple of Sundays later I got up again and this time it did come, but my photos didn't turn out very good at all from the high bridge viewpoint - too many cables in the way and other distractions. This last Sunday I got up again and staked out a place on the station platform. The train was a good half-hour later than scheduled but at least it came.  With the camera on 'continuous' shooting, I almost have a video (!) but this is possibly the best of the bunch.

The hauling locomotive is LMS 'Black Five' No 45305.  There are lots of great photos of it on Flickr - and this video, also taken on Sunday somewhere further up the line.

I love steam trains anyway, and to be in such close proximity to one, going at quite a lick (as they don't stop at Saltaire station) is a real thrill.  I actually found myself teary-eyed, it was so romantic!  There's something so right about seeing one in Saltaire's Victorian setting, knowing that when the village was first built, they would have been a regular sight - and sound - up and down the line.

Pictures from the exhibition: Letting off steam

From a station (yesterday) to a train today....

I think this is the train photo Cranberry Morning was referring to in her comment a week or two ago.  It was taken this time last year at a KWVR Steam Gala Weekend.  The engine let off a rush of steam before setting off on its journey up the valley.  The scene has a timeless quality.  The low sun was so bright that I could hardly see what I was photographing - but sometimes you just get lucky!

The Railway Children

 

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and surrounding area has been used many times as a location for films, TV programmes and adverts. (For the complete list see here.)  One of the most famous was 'The Railway Children', an adaptation of the book by Edith Nesbit, which was filmed there in 1970 and starred Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins.  Some of the action takes place here on Oakworth Station, including the scene of the homecoming of the children's father.  It remains a delightful and atmospheric little station, much as it has always been, with coal fires warming the Ticket Office and the Waiting Room and bits of railway ephemera including some lovely old metal advertising signs.  I bought a little booklet outlining a 'Railway Children Walk', taking in some of the main locations where the film was made, which I will explore sometime when the weather improves (and bring you pictures of, of course!)

I took so many photos at the Steam Gala Weekend that I have put some more on my other blog.

Wheel

Isn't there something really satisfying and beautiful about this?  It is, of course, a wheel on one of the steam locomotives on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Train driver

Rarely seen on SDP - a portrait of a person!  It's not so scary photographing people at events like the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Steam Gala Weekend - the volunteers seem to welcome it. There are probably many photos of this train driver on the Web!  There were hundreds of photographers around and he affably leaned out of his cab to chat to a passer-by.  Handsome man, don't you think?  It's a cliché that all little boys want to be train drivers - well, some of them manage it!  And as a visitor you get a real sense of the love that all the volunteers have for their work on the railway.  They all play their parts with relish: the ticket-sellers, the train drivers, the station masters and all those who run around doing the less visible jobs that together make the venture such a success.  Someone told me that KWVR have a hostel and people come to stay on working holidays to help with the restoration of the engines and rolling stock.  I salute them all.

Whistle

Here's a classic steam train shot.  Locomotive BR Standard 4MT No. 80002 arriving at Oxenhope station, as part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Steam Gala Weekend. (Although this train is 'resident' on the line and is often used to haul the normal service.)

Even though I'm not a rail enthusiast in the accepted sense of the word, I still find steam trains exciting and romantic.  And this line is very scenic, passing through some lovely Yorkshire countryside and some attractive and interesting villages.

The Worth Valley line was opened in 1867, built by local mill owners but franchised to the Midland Railway. It eventually became part of British Rail in 1948 and was closed in 1962 as part of swingeing cuts across the British rail network.  Locals fought to keep it open, creating a preservation society to buy the line and lease access into Keighley station, where it joins the main rail network.  The line was reopened in 1968 and has run a regular service ever since, staffed entirely by volunteers.

Train coming

The interesting and historical village of Haworth is about half-way up the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway line.  There is a footbridge over the railway line beside the station that provides a good vantage point, though you do get wreathed in smoke and steam when a train arrives!  On Gala Weekends like this one, the combination of steam trains and real-ale (served all day in the trains' buffet cars) guarantees a large and predominantly male audience.  Keen photographers can get line-side permits and it was amusing to see little groups gathered at all the best spots - orange high-vis vests, tripods and DSLRs with massive lenses seemed to be de rigeur.  There must have been many thousands of pounds worth of gear walking about the Worth Valley that day!

(Don't ask me why, but some of the locomotives seem to be hitched to the carriages backwards, as I think this one was.  I think they go up the line forwards and down it backwards, no doubt due to the lack of a turning circle at the top terminus.  I was worried that the driver wouldn't see where he was going... but then I remembered they can't anyway in a steam loco!)

Letting off steam

It promised to be a sunny day on Saturday - and did eventually deliver!  So I decided to make the most of it and have a day out, hoping to get some photos.  I made up my mind to visit the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR), which is a privately-owned, volunteer-run railway that connects the town of Keighley (about 7 miles up the Aire valley from Saltaire) with the villages of the Worth Valley including Haworth and Oxenhope.  Even on wintry days there is lots of photographic interest along the line.

Imagine my delight to discover that this wasn't just any old weekend but a Steam Gala Weekend on the KWVR. (That explains why there was a steam train passing through Saltaire the other day, obviously one of the 'guest' locomotives.)  The KWVR is a thriving line that operates a number of steam-hauled trains, and regularly holds special events.  Even though I'm not a real train buff, there is something really lovely about the whole thing and I always enjoy visiting and riding the trains.

The low winter sun and backlighting make this photo into a story, I think.  I'll leave you to imagine that wonderful hissing sound as the engine lets off some steam pressure.

The Great Britain III

Our second day's walking in Northumberland took us another 13 or so miles from Holy Island to Belford, which is a village slightly inland. We were following St Cuthbert's Way, a way-marked path that goes past St Cuthbert's Cave, one of the places where it's said that the monks rested with St Cuthbert's bones when they were fleeing the Vikings.

We had to cross the busy A1 road, as well as the main Edinburgh to London East Coast rail line (which involved protracted chats by phone with a signalman!) As we were walking towards the line, we more or less bumped into this steam train. On searching the web I have discovered it was a Railway Touring Company tour - the Great Britain III - on its way from Edinburgh to York and then London. At this point the loco was the Princess Elizabeth 46201. And that, not being a train buff, is all I know. But I do like to see steam trains and so it was a serendipitous moment.

(For those who like trains, a click on the pic will make it bigger.)