Category: Railways

Photography Friday… a trip to Wales

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Today’s ‘Photography Friday’ trip took us off to Wales… specifically to the Llangollen Railway and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

Llangollen lies on the River Dee in Denbighshire and plays host to the International Musical Eisteddfod, an event that we completely failed to realise was taking place this week and the town was packed with visitors (and performers) from all over the world!

The River Dee at LlangollenThe River Dee at Llangollen
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 18mm, 1/240s, f11, ISO 400

After grabbing a bite to eat we boarded the first train to Corwen and I was surprised to find (given the recent dry weather and potential fire risk posed by a steam engine in such conditions), Great Western Railway (GWR) 5101 class ‘large prairie’ 2-6-2T No.5199 in charge of the five coach train.

Sadly (for some, not me, I like diesel locos too…) the return trip was handled by British Railways (BR) class 26 diesel-electric D5310 and No.5199 was returned to the engine shed.

GWR 'large prairie' 5199 pauses at CarrogGWR ‘large prairie’ 5199 pauses at Carrog Station
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 32mm, 1/80s, f9, ISO 400

Following a delicious pub lunch overlooking the river at The Cornmill we headed off to see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a stunning structure that carries the Llangollen Canal (originally the Ellesmere Canal) over the River Dee at a height of 126ft!

Pontcysyllte AqueductPontcysyllte Aqueduct
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 26mm, 1/250s, f8, ISO 400

Completed in 1805 at a cost of £47,000 the aqueduct is a Grade I listed building and a World Heritage Site and still carries boats from the village of Froncysyllte to the canal basin at Trevor. The towpath is open to walkers but a head for heights is definitely recommended!

Monochrome Monday… Turntable

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Turntable, February 2018Turntable, February 2018
Pentax MZ-30 + 35-80mm f/4~5.6 FA at 35mm – 1/180s, f8, – Kodak T400CN

Another shot from the Midland Railway-Butterley in Derbyshire, this time taken on my last roll of the much missed Kodak T400CN film.

The turntable was used to turn steam locomotives at Chinley railway station (also in Derbyshire) and is a 60ft diameter, hand-operated type built by the Midland Railway. It was dismantled in 1973 and stored for a number of years before arriving at the MR-B’s Swanwick Junction site in 1981. Sadly, 37 years later it is still awaiting reconstruction…

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Single frame… All’s well that…

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All's well that…All’s well that…
Olympus OM-1N + F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 Auto-S – 1/250s, f8 – Kodak Portra 400 rated at ISO 200

‘Hudswell’ a cast builder’s plate adorning ‘Albert Fields’, a 260hp 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical locomotive built by Hudswell, Clarke & Co Ltd of Leeds in 1958 as works no.D1114.

The loco is now preserved at the Midland Railway-Butterley in Derbyshire having spent its working life at a number of local collieries, ending up at Butterley Engineering, a company famous for many engineering projects including the Barlow train shed at London St Pancras International railway station, the Falkirk Wheel and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.

Scan by Ag Photo Lab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Single frame… Grain hopper wagon

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20t Grain Hopper, October 201720t Grain Hopper, October 2017
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 31mm – 1/125s, f8, ISO 500

Loved the textures on this railway wagon at the Fife Heritage Railway in Leven today.

No.48 was built by Hurst, Nelson and Company Ltd in Motherwell in 1937 to a London Midland & Scottish Railway design and is one of two ex. Scottish Grain Distillers hopper wagons preserved by the Kingdom of Fife Railway Preservation Society.

Monochrome Monday… Condemned Railway Wagons

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Condemned Coal Wagons, February 1998Condemned Railway Wagons, February 1998
Nikon F-801s, AF Nikkor 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5 – Kodak T-Max P3200

I have no idea what possessed me to shoot an ISO 3200 film in daylight (albeit rather dull February daylight…) but I shot a few rolls back in 1998, most of them on a Nikon F-801s that eventually got sold to a pal who continued to use it for ages.

A couple of years ago an identical camera cropped up (at a ridiculously low price) in the local branch of London Camera Exchange when I was Christmas shopping with a friend and I was thrilled to find it in a parcel with my name on under said friend’s tree on December 25th that year!

I still use it…