Transport

The other end of the train seen in the previous post! Denver & Rio Grande Railroad "first generation" F9 diesel 5771 up front with Budd stainless steel observation car "Silver Sky" visible on the tail-end of the Rio Grande Zephyr at Grand Junction station, an intermediate stop on from Denver to Salt Lake City. This train was the last non-Amtrak long distance train in the USA after the Southern Railway stopped running the Southern Crescent from New Orleans. It was a great railroading experience and had a brilliant 1940s-50s atmosphere. We changed at Salt Lake City during the night but the Amtrak train bore no comparison although the journey through the mountains & onward to San Francisco was certainly spectacular.

The exterior of Cordoba Central station looks like a furniture warehouse but its modern multi-platformed interior is light and airy and works well. I only made a flying visit but in that time several trains came and went including this AVE (Tren de Alta Velocidad Española) high speed service arriving from Madrid. HBM to everyone.

British Railways Standard 5 4-6-0 73156 passes the Kinchley cutting and its recent clearance with the 15.15 ex-Loughborough. After many years walkers on the footpath on the right have a clear view of trains once again. Plus of course the passengers on the train have a clear view of the fence again! HFF to everyone & enjoy the weekend.

A sailing boat passing the lighthouse near the mouth of Sydney bay. We spent a week in Sydney back in 1979 en route to Medan in Sumatra. Having said that I'm not sure which lighthouse this is. Any ideas? Thanks to Graham I now realise this is Hornby lighthouse and the pic was taken from the harbour cruise ship.

Early in 2023 Tram-trains finally ran all the way from Alicante to Denia on FGV's (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana) metre gauge line without any bustitution & here is the proof. We have just arrived in Denia terminus on Stadler unit 5004 Ifach from Calpe. But it's not all about trams! HBM to everyone. Enjoy the day!

This weekend marks the 125th Anniversary of the opening of the MSLR/Great Central Railway extension from Annesley to London Marylebone. To mark the occasion both GCR North & South participated in a weekend Gala. The two halves were linked by a heritage bus service and I took it from Quorn to Ruddington. This is the northern terminus now with two platform roads and a central siding. Class 20 diesel D8154 sits in the new platform line only completed the day before! An HST or more fittingly for this celebration an Intercity125 is on the left with a Class 08 Jocko in the centre. The platform bench is from the late-lamented Nottingham Victoria station. HBM to everyone. Enjoy the start of the new week.

British Railways Standard 9F 2-10-0 92214 with its now standard 5 coach train climbing the grade south out of Rothley through the Leicestershire countryside with the 16.00 ex-Loughborough.

Brilliant sunshine on the platforms of Rugby Midland station as a Virgin Railways Class 390 Pendolino electric multiple unit runs into platform 1 with a train for Birmingham. Trains were badly delayed or cancelled due to a truck striking an under-bridge between Birmingham and Coventry. We took a London Midland Trains emu to Euston which was only 20 minutes late. HBM to everyone. Enjoy the start of a new week.

The beautiful gold and silver of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway on the locomotives and baggage car contrasts with the light covering of snow on the approach to Glenwood Canyon in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. The conductor allowed me to take this view from the open door of our passenger train travelling from Denver to Salt Lake City (where we changed in the middle of the night to an Amtrak train to San Francisco). The lead locomotive is F9 diesel 5771. This was the last private long distance passenger train in the USA but it has long since been taken over by Amtrak. We were moving homes via San Francisco & Australia after a 2 year assignment in New Orleans to live in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.