Gary did not go to Wimbledon

Whilst Dorothy was enjoying London and the Wimbledon tennis, Gary went visiting relatives and chasing preserved steam trains. Much more fun that watching all those ladies run around in short skirts!

 After spending two days in London, Gary set out on a train from London to Chester which is in the midlands of England.  After some train delays and missed connections, eventually Gary got to Chester and met his third cousin. Gary had been corresponding with this lady for some time after they met through another third cousin ont he  Ancestry web site on the internet.

Photo of one of the gates in the ancient walls of Chester. Photo 642

Chester is a lovely city and well worth a visit without the family connection. Gary his cousin and  her husband walked all the way around the walls of the ancient city of Chester.

Gary then used Chester as a base to visit the preserved steam railways of North Wales

Photo of Snowdon Mountain Railway steam train,  photo 660

The first was the Snowdon Mountain railway. This is a rack railway up the side of a mountain. Gary did not ride on it as the only trains with empty seats for the afternoon were diesel and despite how the photo looks, weather was closing in, not uncommon for Snowdonia.

Welsh Highland Railway at Caernarfon with castle in background Photo 696

One of Gary’s hopes for this trip was to visit the newly opened section of the Welsh Highland Railway. This railway runs from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. It is on the track bed of a line closed in the 1920s and recently reopened using ex South African Garratt steam locos. Gary was invited into the cab by the friendly crew.

Photo of WLLR Photo 717 at intermediate station, will not try and pronunce the name!

Next was the Welshpool and Llanfair railway. One of Gary’s acquaintances in Melbourne worked on this railway when he lived in the UK, always talking about how good it was!.

Photo of Double Fairlie locomotive in  Blaenau station, photo 722 

Next on the agenda was the Ffestiniog Railway. The top end of the Ffestiniog railway at Blaenau Ffestiniog is not all that far from Chester. As usual at Blaenau Ffestiniog it was an overcast and grey day, making photography difficult. The whole town has slate coloured buildigs, they are not very attractive on a grey day.

On Thursdays in Summer the FR put on a train of  heritage carriages, seen here at Porthmadog station just before departure. Photo 727

Next on the agenda was the Vale of Rheidol railway, one that Gary had photographed in the past but not ridden on. Again the crew were quite friendly, unusually they are all paid staff on this railway.

Train awaiting departure at Devil's Bridge station  Photo 758

Then it was back to London to see Dorothy, Oh and also the Kew Bridge beamsteam  engines.

Photo of Kew Bridge, top of 90 inch beam engine Photo 769

Once a month the Kew Bridge stem museum in London steams the beam pumping engines that date from the 1840s. The 90 inch engine is very impressive, the cylinder is 90 inches in diameter compared to a typical steam railway engine that may have an 18 inch diameter cylinder. These and other engines on the site pumped water out of the Thames for the London water supply from the 1820s onwards.

Next on the agenda was the Leighton Buzzard Narrow gauge railway, just outside London. Gary was a working volunteer  member in the 1970’s on this railway.

Buzrail train crossing road in the suburbs of Leighton Buzzard Photo 777 .

Then it was the turn of the Bluebell railway in East Sussex. This line is particularly difficult to photograph as it runs across fields and not anywhere near roads.

Photo of train approaching ped crossing, just before tunnel Photo 795.

Then it was up to the Severn Valley Railway running from Kidderminster town.

 GWR loco on train at Arley

Next visit was to the 10 museums in the Severn Gorge. This area based aroun 'Ironbridge' was the basis for the industrial age in Britain and thus the rest of the World. It could be a blog initself!

Thats probably enough for the non-railfans amoungst the bloggers!