First day of Members’ & Shareholders’ Weekend. Called in at Arley to see the first 4 locos, then caught the train hauled by 2857 to Bridgnorth to see the plans for the redevelopment of the area. 1501 was ready to depart so a few shots of that before looking at 30120 in the yard. As I was returning on the same train there was not time for a good look around, but I did see the plans.
I rarely take photos at Bridgnorth, so here is one showing 1501
The forecast was good, so the plan was to get some shots on “Safari Park Curve”. I caught the train to Bewdley, spent some time at the station, then started the long walk down the Stourport road. Most of the shots were in sunlight, but unfortunately the 33 heading for Kidderminster was in shade. With the local trains between Bewdley & Kidderminster, there was more to see than at Highley and 10 locos were seen in action, as follows:- 31601, 33108, 37906, 45133, 50026, 50031, D821, D1062, D8059, D8188 & the DMU. Back at Bewdley a few more photos, then my train back to Kidderminster had 37906 double-heading with 31601.
Link to complete set of 106 photos
Link to 30 selected photos
31601 heading for Kidderminster
The day after the Diesel Gala and back to the normal routine. This time I was on my own with KC, juggling her lead with my camera, and almost missing a couple of trains. 4566 crept up on me & we only just made it round to the picnic area as it was departing. The arrival of the Grotto coaches was also a surprise, the sound of the Class 20 approaching the station had us racing over the bridge once again.
The shot I almost missed
Time to update this posting after the rush to get all the photos from the weekend uploaded. Once again the day started at Kidderminster, but only 1 Round Oak freight seen, as I was later arriving, having waited at Old Hill to see the Class 47s on the Statesman railtour. It was a dull day, so I caught the train to Highley for photos around the station area and even made it over the footbridge and to the end of the yard before 31601 pulled away. Plenty of photos from that area, but not so many locos seen as the previous day. List as follows:- 31601, 33108, 45133, 50026, 66092, D821, D8188 & D1062.
Once again, photos can be viewed in 2 albums, the large one contains 95 photos and the smaller one has 27.
Link to all 95 photos
Link to 27 selected photos
A Class 31 makes a pleasant change
Thought I should update this posting now that the gala is over. All loco numbers have been added to the photos, so you can easily see what locos were seen. I started the day at Kidderminster on the footbridge, which gave me the opportunity to photograph the two morning Round Oak freights. Also seen are some of the new Class 172 DMUs, which now use the new facing crossover which was installed a few weeks ago. The new pointwork allows the units which terminate at Kidderminster to access the northbound goods loop as well as the turnback siding on the southbound track.
Two of the visiting locos had not arrived at the start of the day and 33108 also had problems and had to be removed from its train. The Class 33 did run during the afternoon though. After a couple of hours at Kidderminster, we travelled to Highley and spent some time photographing trains from The Engine House balcony. From there, we headed to Bewdley for some more photos, finally heading back to Kidderminster behind 37906 – which did seem to be struggling and seemed to be getting assistance from the Class 20 at the rear of the train. Approaching Kidderminster, 56311 was in the exchange siding, having brought in 31601 & 50026, which were seen in operation the following day. We crossed to the NR station just in time to see another Class 66 on a steel train to Round Oak.
List of locos/units as follows:- 172213, 172215, 172340, 33108, 37906, 45133, 50031 50044, 50135, 56311, 66047, 66092, 66161, D821, D1062, D3022, D3586, D8059, D8188
As usual, I have uploaded a large number of photos, but you have a choice of all the photos for the day, or the edited version for a quick glimpse of what could be seen.
Link to all the photos, totalling 100
Link to the selected photos , totalling 34
This is how it looked from the footbridge when I arrived
I had seen some timings that suggested a Class 57 was running from Loughborough to Eastleigh via Dorridge. Before leaving home, I checked, and it was 57301 and was passing Leicester. Just before I arrived at Dorridge I noticed a posting of 57301 at Bedford, so there had been a change of route. I decided to spend some time at Dorridge & saw 2 freights and a pair of 66s running light from Bescot to Didcot. Then I headed for Stourbridge to see a Class 60 on a Round Oak train, but gave up after waiting an hour & 20 minutes – I had arrived early, just in case, but the Class 60 was running 65 minutes late.
The sun shone for one of the trains!
