Category: Railways

Slide Film Sunday… Little Ruddington

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Little Ruddington, September 1999Little Ruddington, September 1999

An image from September 1999 for today’s ‘Slide Film Sunday’

And an image that made me chuckle when I spotted it whilst looking for something else entirely!

‘Little Ruddington’ is a station on the miniature railway at what was then the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre (now the Nottingham Heritage Railway) and I just liked the combination of sign and scaled down London & North Eastern Railway class A2 4-6-2 steam locomotive 60532 ‘BLUE PETER’ (7.25 inch gauge I think).

Digitised using Nikon D5500 & AF-S Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8 and Nikon ES-2 Film Digitising Adapter with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Waiting for the last train, November 2020

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Waiting for the last train, November 2020Waiting for the last train, November 2020
Nikon FA, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S – Kodak T-Max P3200 rated at ISO 1600
Developed in Ilford DDX at 1:4, 9 mins at 20°c.

An image from a roll of film that’s been lurking in a camera for almost a year…

Matlock isn’t the worst railway station I’ve waited for the last train at, not by a long shot (I think that ‘honour’ falls to another Derbyshire station though… Langley Mill!)

Digitised using Nikon D5500 & AF-S Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8 and Nikon ES-2 Film Digitising Adapter with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Throwback Thursday… Midland Railway-Butterley

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DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND arrivng at Swanwick JunctionDUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND arrivng at Swanwick Junction
Panasonic Lumix GF-1, Lumix G Vario OIS 14-45 f/3.5~5.6 at 45mm, 1/320s, f7.1, ISO 200

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Nine years ago it was more steam trains! This time at the Midland Railway-Butterley in Derbyshire.

London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) Princess Coronation class 4-6-2 locomotive 46233 DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND was in operation and looked fantastic in the autumn sunshine.

I also paid a visit to the line’s demonstration signal box, a Midland Railway (MR) structure dating from 1895 that originally stood at Linby in Nottinghamshire.

Lever frame, Swanwick JunctionLever frame, Swanwick Junction
Panasonic Lumix GF-1, Lumix G Vario OIS 14-45 f/3.5~5.6 at 21mm, 1/160s, f4.5, ISO 200

Throwback Thursday… SIR KEITH PARK… at Keighley

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Southern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARKSouthern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARK
Nikon D600, AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR at 48mm, 1/125s, f8, ISO 2000

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Five years ago it was a steam gala at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR).

Southern Railway (SR) Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34053 SIR KEITH PARK was visiting from the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) but managed to wreak havoc with the day’s timetable thanks to defective sanding gear (something vital for the constant climb up to Oxenhope) and a leaking piston valve.

Built by the Southern Railway at Brighton Works in 1947 as 21C153 (designer Oliver Bulleid employed an idiosyncratic numbering system for his locomotives) and named after Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, the First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander, the locomotive saw only 18 years service before being withdrawn in October 1965 but luckily preservation would beckon and 34053’s restoration was eventually completed in 2012.

Monochrome Monday… Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020

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Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020Willington Cooling Towers, January 2020
Nikon FE, Zoom-Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 at 43mm, 1/125s, f8 – Kentmere 400
Developed in Ilford DDX at 1:4, 11½ mins at 20°c.

I can’t tell you why I find this image of the defunct cooling towers at Willington Power Station so appealing… I just do.

It’s also one of only half a dozen or so images (so far) taken with my Zoom-Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 Ai lens…

Nikon COOLSCAN IV ED scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Throwback Thursday… The Forth Bridge

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Forth Bridge, September 2005Forth Bridge, September 2005
Nikon D100, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM at 70mm, 1/160s, f5.6, ISO 200

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

Sixteen years ago it was the Forth (rail) Bridge on my first ever trip to Scotland.

Although I did photograph the bridge as a whole it’s these detail shots, complete with trains, that remind my of the hour or so spent at South Queensferry as the sun went down…

Forth Bridge and Inchgarvie, September 2005Forth Bridge and Inchgarvie, September 2005
Nikon D100, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM at 125mm, 1/160s, f5.6, ISO 200

Single frame… Bridges over the Tweed, August 2021

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Bridges over the Tweed, August 2021Bridges over the Tweed, August 2021
Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 20mm – 1/750s, f/5.6, ISO 200

A tenacious clump of Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) helps frame this image of the Royal Tweed and Royal Border Bridges.

The four-arch Royal Tweed Bridge is constructed from reinforced concrete and was opened in 1928. The more famous Royal Border Bridge was built to carry the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway over the river and opened in 1850, it still forms part of the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations.

Throwback Thursday… A walk across the Ribblehead Viaduct

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Ribblehead Viaduct, July 2007bRibblehead Viaduct, July 2007
Nikon D200, AF NIKKOR 24-85mm f2.8-4 D at 62mm, 1/400s, f10, ISO 400

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

14 years ago it was a walk across the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle railway line.

Batty Green from the Ribblehead ViaductBatty Green (with Pen-y-Ghent visible in the distance)
Nikon D200, AF NIKKOR 24-85mm f2.8-4 D at 24mm, 1/640s, f13, ISO 400

The Grade II* listed structure had been closed for a couple of weeks for maintenance and the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line organised a number of walks for the final day of closure.

The walks set off north across the viaduct from Ribblehead Station with the return being via the area known as ‘Batty Green’ where 2,300 men and their families were housed in temporary camps during the viaduct’s construction.

Ribblehead Viaduct, July 2007aRibblehead Viaduct, July 2007
Nikon D200, AF NIKKOR 24-85mm f2.8-4 D at 24mm, 1/500s, f11, ISO 400

The viaduct was designed by the Midland Railway’s chief engineer, John Sydney Crossley, and took five years to build, finally opening on 3 August 1875. At 440 yards (400m) long and 35 yards (32m) high, the 24 arch structure is awe inspiring and although no further walks across it are planned I’d definitely recommend taking a trip across it by train!

Monochrome Monday… Mansfield Viaduct

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Mansfield ViaductMansfield Viaduct
Nikon F2S, NIKKOR-S.C 50mm f/1.4, 1/250, f11 – Kodak Tri-X rated at ISO 320
Developed in Adox Rodinal at 1:25, 7 mins at 20°c.

This particular railway viaduct has featured on this blog before, here and here…

This 13 arch structure dates from 1875 and carries the Robin Hood Line high above the Nottinghamshire town of Mansfield.

Digitised using Nikon D5500 & AF-S Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8, pixl-latr and Negative Lab Pro plugin with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.