The Great Central Railway Nottingham (GCRN) held a very reasonably priced diesel gala over this weekend, with day rovers only priced at £12 per day. The full loco line-up was 25279, 31162, 41001, 47292, 56097, 66765 (GBRf) & 73110 The day didn’t get off to a good start for me when I managed to miss Read the Rest…
With all the hype about the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) Diesel Gala there were great expectations while waiting for the loco roster to be published and personally I was looking forward to a good few days out with 31271, on a decent length line, with a decent load and with plenty of noise to Read the Rest…
Sunday 21st June 2015 I was lucky enough to get a ride out on the Caledonian Sleepers in late June through work and had some time in Scotland to a few bits and bobs while I was there. Sunday 21st June got off to a cracking start with 92014 & 87002 allocated to 1S25 2028 Read the Rest…
Between Sunday 7th June and Sunday 14th June 2015 there was a considerable amount of class 31 action all over the country so rather than split all of the trips out to their separate railways I’ve included them in one post to show just what was on offer that week! Nene Valley Railway – 31271 Read the Rest…
The long awaited return to traffic of Peak Rail based 31270 occurred on 12th May when it replaced D8 as the diesel of choice on the booked service train; D8 needing to be taken out of traffic for repairs. 31270 would be rostered to work every train for the foreseeable future as no other diesel Read the Rest…
Barrow Hill Roundhouse Galas aren’t usually on my agenda but the previous couple of weeks left me with a bug to get my red pen out again so a trip down the road it was for the Saturday of the gala. I was slightly disappointed when Colas sent their latest out-shopped Class 60 but other Read the Rest…
As seems to unfortunately happen all too regularly with the Nene Valley Railway Galas some last minute changes to the traction had to occur due to non-availability; namely from Devon & Cornwall Railways who had no class 56’s to spare and said they’d send 31190 & 31601 instead to substitute. For some this was a Read the Rest…
Having never been to the Avon Valley Railway, ever, let alone since 31130 & 31101 had arrived on the scene, it seemed like a sensible idea to drive down to the AVR for their diesel gala and have a see what it was all about. The 2h45m drive had put me off on previous occasions Read the Rest…
A well anticipated weekend with A1A Locomotives 31271 being invited early in 2015 to the Mid Norfolk Railway Gala; and what a weekend to pick after some 31 basher had decided to get married that weekend! The full gala line-up was as follows: 31271 (A1A), 31601 (DCR) and resident locos 47367, 47596 & 73210 31271 Read the Rest…
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway advertised a diesel weekend over this weekend and in early January I’d been told by the staff at the EVR that 31414 wouldn’t be working over the weekend at all and they’d been hoping to get a visiting loco in instead. As it turned out nothing came to fruition and 31414 Read the Rest…
I got married on Saturday 28th March 2015 with my “stag” weekend, in the loosest sense, being a weekend out involving some real ales, 31563 at the Great Central Railway and 31466 at the East Lancs Railway; having stayed overnight in Ramsbottom. Of course I managed to be the first person to bed on the Read the Rest…
A bit of a historic occasion occurred on Sunday 8th February 2015 when 20205 hauled its first passenger trains in preservation; this being the first passenger outing for the loco in 25 years! The Midland Railway Butterley (MRB) had certainly pulled the crowds in and the car park at Butterley was wedged to bursting by Read the Rest…
The Dean Forest Railway’s 31466 was put to good use during early January 2015 at the East Lancs Railway with it having working train heat. The ELR Diesels Loco Roster is a good way to keep an eye on what will be working. 31466 was rostered the following during January 2015: Saturday 3rd January – Read the Rest…
As seemed to be tradition at the Epping & Ongar Railway over the New Year period loco-hauled services were operated and for a second year in succession and 31438 featured. It was advertised to operate in T&T mode with 37029 on both New Years Eve and New Years Day but had actually been pressed into Read the Rest…
During December 2014 the Dean Forest Railway’s 31466 was put to work at the East Lancs Railway on their very successful Santa Specials between Bury & Rawtenstall. It worked on the following dates: 13th, 14th and 19th to 24th December inclusive, a total of 8 days which would see it cover more than 600 miles. Read the Rest…
Normal diesel running at the Great Central Railway had 31563 rostered to work on Saturday 25th October. This had been my first visit to the GCR for a couple of years; during which absolutely nothing seemed to have changed, other than the prices in the station buffet appearing to have gone down! ‘563 was on Read the Rest…
Due to some rather unfortunate circumstances, 31271 was pressed into it’s first outing since returning to the Nene Valley Railway as A1A Locomotives resident loco. It was only requested to stand in vice the rostered steam loco at 1500 the previous day! Unfortunately for the steam loco it had managed to shoot a piston through Read the Rest…
The Nene Valley Railway September diesel gala produced an excellent day on the Friday of the three day event; it being almost exclusively run by class 31’s. Initially the day was planned as a type two event but due to the non-availability of 26043 the stand-in loco, 33035, deputised and worked alongside A1A Locomotives 31108 Read the Rest…
For a 31 basher two of the days at the Mid Hants Railway event were excellent with nothing but class 31’s gracing a set of stock with their presence; the unfortunate thing was that it wasn’t the set with the beer on board. This issue was rectified however by getting beer served between the two Read the Rest…
For me the line-up at the East Lancashire Railway Gala wasn’t anything special at all but the fact that both A1A Locomotive’s 31271 & the Dean Forest Railway’s 31466 were visiting made it worth the trip over the Pennines. It was touch and go whether 31271 would actually be ready in time for the ELR Read the Rest…