Monthly Archives: January 2011

Update 414. 31601 & 31190 on the Rother-Don Rambler at Aston, 29/01/11

At Aston the 31s are seen heading from Washwood Heath to Birmingham, to take over from 66070, which had brought the Pathfinder tour from Bristol. The 66 is seen running light to Bescot, the 31s following soon after with the railtour, running via Crewe to South Yorkshire.

Link to photos

The 31s are seen easing the train round the curve towards Aston

Update 413. The final WSMR train from Wrexham to Marylebone, 28/01/11

It was announced earlier in the week that Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway services would cease today, 28th January. Thought I should make the effort to see the last train pass through Sandwell & Dudley station, the closest station to me with a chance of some sunlight.

67013 was the loco, with DVT 82301 at the rear. Managed a few photos and a toot & wave from the driver. I never travelled on a WMSR train, as they weren’t really convenient for me, but everybody seemed to say it was a quality service.

Link to photos

67013 is seen approaching Sandwell & Dudley station

Update 412. 8X09 4 x Class 20s and underground stock at Dorridge, 26/01/11

This was a first for me, seeing the 4 Class 20s and new underground stock.  During the day the train was stabled at Dorridge, on the way from the Old Dalby test track to Amersham. Fortunately it was possible to take photos from the platform, and Dorridge is quite convenient for me as it is within the limits of my free rail pass!

Link to photos

20305 & 20302 were the easiest to photograph:-

Update 411. 90047 on the Virgin set & 47727 on the Boston steel.

The evenings are getting lighter and the plan was to see the Class 47 at Nuneaton, hopefully with enough light for a reasonable photo. Didn’t go the “quick” way, but via Birmingham International to see 90047 on the Virgin loco-hauled set. The Class 90 was seen in both directions before continuing to Nuneaton. Several other freights were seen with Class 86 electrics making a change from Class 66s. Fortunately the 47 was running to time as the Nuneaton “dodger” is only an hourly service and due to depart soon after the steel train was booked through.

Link to photos

The photo here has to be of 47727 – you can see the light was fading:-

Update 410. Arley station, seen from the footbridge, 18/01/11

A quick visit to Arley to see the engineering work in progress at the station. Let’s hope the weather stays reasonably mild during the time the line is closed, as snow or freezing conditions would make the work much more difficult.

Link to photos

This is a general view, showing most of the track removed and work in progress on ome of the platforms:-

Update 409. Freightliner Class 90s on Virgin set in place of Pendolino

Some photos taken over 2 days. The first day was when I travelled on the train from Birmingham New Street to Birmingham International, the second day it is seen arriving at New Street. The loco-hauled set is used if a Pendolino is not available. Have to say it was nice to travel in an ordinary coach and not a “unit”.

Link to photos

The train is seen here being propelled away from Birmingham International:-

Update 408, a variety of stock around Bewdley station. Jan 2011

Finally uploaded some photos! No trains on the move but a good variety of stock at Bewdley. The view from the car park is very different now that the siding has been cleared, this is because the track needs relaying. Last Sunday new concrete sleepers were being moved into place, so it may not be long before the track is back in place.

There are only 3 SVR albums uploaded so far in January, the new ones being for the 6th & 15th, which can be found here:-

Link to photos for the 6th

Link to photos for the 15th

Concrete sleepers are being moved into position:-

Sharpo’s Blog in 35 different languages!!!!!

Only started on this late last night, but have since found there is a “plugin” for WordPress blogs which enables foreign visitors to select the language of their choice.

On the right-hand side of the page, above the calendar, is a “translate to” option with a drop-down menu showing translations available. English is preset, obviously, but I have tried a couple of the other European languages and they look as if they have been translated without a problem – not that I can read what it says!

Had a quick look at Chinese, but in Firefox that didn’t look right, no better in IE, but nothing is perfect!!

Wonder if there will be any feedback on this????

Experimental link to French and German translations, using a flag image

Click one of the following flags to read this blog in either French or German. Google Translate is used to translate the text, but not knowing other languages I do not know how accurate it is. Following links from this blog I believe the text in my photo galleries is also translated, but this is still in the experimental stage.

And for SVR forum members, a link to a French translation