tarboat's photos

A pair of QJs head a freight towards Chaganhada soon after leaving Lindong on the Jitong Railway. The building of the trans-mongolian highway made access to this section of the line very easy although it wasn't officially open at this time. This did not stop all and sundry using it at high speed in all directions!

Today was bright and cold with a skittering of snow on the hills where the ground was frozen quite hard - a great day for walking. Eagle1942 accompanied me on a circular walk from Pym Chair through the valley of the Todd Brook past Thursbitch, and then up to Shining Tor, highest point in Cheshire. Lunch was taken at the Cat and Fiddle before returning along the ridge from Shining Tor past Oldgate Nick. The lowering afternoon sunlight bathed the countryside for miles around in a golden glow, and this shot was taken looking back southwards to Shutlingsloe and Macclesfield Forest. It was so peaceful up there on the moors with just the chackle of the grouse to be heard.

The first sugar factory in Ireland at Carlow opened in 1927. Irish Sugar continued production here until March 2005. The last remaining Irish sugar factory in Mallow was closed the year after. The most significant remains in Carlow is this tower.

Less than optimal conditions for photography but possibly the last ever steam hauled train from the interchange at Haishiwan to the mines at Yaojie. Diesels had arrived and were to take over for subsequent traffic. Heavy snow had disrupted the supply of empty wagons to the collieries and consequently only one was available this day. We waited in the foggy gloom for a long time before the train appeared on the bridge over a tributary of the Yellow River. Behind are a road bridge and the bridge carrying the main line.

Today it was chilly but bright and I went walking with my sister around the Staffordshire moorlands near the Roaches. Towards the end of the walk the sun on Shutlingsloe caught my eye. If you look closely on the large image you can see two people on top next to the trig point.

The Kakanj coal fired power plant has a capacity of 450 MW and is one of the largest in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is supplied with coal from the nearby Haljinici and Catici mines as well as from further afield.

Yaojie is in a remote location west of Lanzhou and the railway from the main line has to thread its way along the side of a deep gorge. In the town there are a couple of branches up to the local coal mines which cross a number of the local thoroughfares on the level. SY 0527 pushes up to Mine 3 and holds up a few shoppers. In the foreground breakfast dumplings are steaming on a stove outside a shop.

A further stagger across the hillside in the dark gave this overview of the Lhoist quarry plant at Hindlow. The two tall structures to the right with chimneys sticking up above are the limekilns with the hydration plant slightly lower right.

Passageway alongside the lamp room at Caphouse Colliery. The timbers are part of the support for the heapstead.

SY 1662 starts its train after a stop by a road crossing to drop off miners who have just finished their nightshift at one of the Meihekou collieries. The exhaust illustrates just how cold it was that morning as we chased the train through the frozen countryside,

I went to Dewsbury to see the remains of the former coal fired Thornhill power station that I remember from the time when I worked in this area in 1974. I did not expect to find a new station nearby. This is the E-ON operated combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station that became operational in November 1998. The station comprises of a gas turbine fuelled by natural gas, a waste heat recovery boiler (WHRB), a steam turbine and a single shaft generator. The gas turbine generates 42MW of electrical power. The exhaust gases from the turbine are passed into the boiler where steam is generated at both 4 bar and 44 bar pressure levels. This steam is then sent through the steam turbine producing additional power and then condensed in a surface type condenser which is cooled by means of river water. In total, 50MW of electricity is produced and exported by the plant.

Underground in one of the Arigna coal mines. This was the last coalfield to be worked in Ireland with the final mine closing in 1990. The seam here is less than 18 inches thick.

8F 48305 arriving at Consall with a New Year 2005 service. Thise is one of my favourite classes of steam locomotive due to my having seen so many in action when I was a young lad.

As the light fades I set out onto the sheep-infested hillside for some night shots of the Lhoist operated Hindlow Quarry. The steam is from the hydration plant adjacent to the two limekilns. The lights in the left background are Tunstead Quarry and cement plant . Best viewed original size .

At the entrance to the Lafarge and Omya operated Dowlow Quarry stands a relic of the days when stone was moved from the face by rail.

JS class locomotive with the coal empties on the long river bridge north-east of Gongye on the Yuanbaoshan coal railway.

Detail of the terracotta on this building in Ranelagh Street, Liverpool. I think that this is probably the supplied by the Ruabon terracotta works of J.C. Edwards.

More fine buildings spoiled by the commercial premises at ground level. These are on Ranelagh Street, opposite Central Station in Liverpool. The right hand building is dated 1903 and the other is of similar age.