The Railway

She had escaped from that dreadful place which Julian had had her committed to. Timmy had been in touch, bringing a purse containing sufficient funds for a train ticket to Kirrin Halt. Anxiously she padded up and down the platform until the train arrived.

Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D on a Nikon D700. Now eclipsed by the Fuji X-E1 and the 35mm f/1.4 Fuji lens - smaller, lighter, easier.

158798 is GWR's only genuine three-car Class-158. The other three-car sets were originally two-car sets which subsequently had a driving coach from another unit of the same class coupled on to increase their capacity. British Rail Class 158 Sprinters were built between 1989 and 1992. A total of 182 Class 158 units were constructed. The majority were built as two-car sets, although some three-car sets were also produced. In the purpose-built three-car Class 158s, the centre car was not equipped with a driving motor. Over time, operators converted two-car sets into three cars and generally the newly created longer trains all had cars with engines underneath. Train enthusiasts sometimes refer to the new creations as ‘mongrel sets’ and make a point of highlighting a set that has remained unaltered such as the one pictured. By the 2020s, many Class 158 operators have either started to replace Class 158s or have completed the programme. I don’t know anything about trains but in posting this old picture, I thought it might be fun to research the current situation and add a bit of information.

East Somerset Railway.

Nikon D700 and Nikkor 70-210mm f/4 AF lens.

Travelling on the railways was a different experience when compartments were preferred to open plan. Are there any advantages in open plan? Nikon D2Xs and Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 lens.

End of the line - Mendip Vale. We get out and mill around a bit. There does not seem to be a waiting room or restaurant. No lavatories. No magazine stand. No announcements about when the next train is expected. The engine driver waits for the fireman to uncouple the locomotive and undertake switching the points, so that he can couple at the other end. Sometimes the footplate personnel includes ladies. That was hardly ever the case in the 1950s. Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro with a Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8 lens.

I visited the East Somerset Railway near Cranmore in Somerset on 1st July, a hot day such as Edward Thomas immortalised in 'Adlestrop'. I reflected on what enables preserved railways such as this to thrive. Enthusiasm, of course - of volunteers and visitors alike. And the availability of locomotives and rolling stock, thanks to Dai Woodham at Barry not being in a rush to break up the scrapped BR locomotives. But - paradoxically perhaps - it is the motor car which makes preserved steam possible, for it often operates in the back of beyond, and is accessible only by private transport for all practical purposes. Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro and Tokina SD 50-135mm f/2.8 DX AT-X Pro lens.