The LMS 'Black 5' 4-6-0s are widely (and rightly) acknowledged to be a classic British mixed traffic design. They are regarded by photographers as a mixed blessing probably because no less than ei... (more)

Of all the locomotive classes to have recently emerged from the restoration queue, I think my favourite is 'Scots Guardsman'. The 'Royal Scot' 4-6-0s, in rebuilt form and with the 'waisted' smoke ... (more)

Farwath is one of Yorkshire's hidden gems. By 'hidden' I mean that it nestles deep in the remote wooded valley between Pickering and Levisham and is a very, VERY long walk from the nearest road vi... (more)

'Scots Guardsman' has just passed the site of what once was Goose Hill Junction (just beyond the distant bridge). Here the Midland Railway main line once diverged southward in a long, deep cutting... (more)

This is the location where many a locomotive has begun to lose adhesion, a sharp curve on a 1 in 39 incline. Not so this gallant old freight locomotive, her sure-footed thump could be heard long b... (more)

I've never visited the delightful (though rather badly signposted) Weardale Railway before. It wasn't a planned visit, so I considered myself lucky to see this fine 1953 Leeds-built Hunslet 'Auste... (more)

With not a breath of wind to relieve the humidity, the thermometer was hovering on a very uncomfortable 31 degrees as I awaited the evening run of the 'Scarborough Spa Express'. Whatever discomfor... (more)

Stourton's freight yard cranes loom like sentinels on a hot, humid and muggy August evening. Yet even in 'challenging' light, who could resist seeing the delightful sight and sound of 'Scots Guard... (more)

Wreathed in clouds of steam, British Railways 'Standard' Class 4 Mixed Traffic 4-6-0 No.76079 gets under way from the passing loop at Damems. She will need to be skilfully driven to climb Oakworth... (more)

The look of 'back then' can seldom be recaptured as realistically as by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. The epitome of a semi-rural branch line, virtually everything about this image is auth... (more)

This is the 'Keighley & Worth Valley 40th Anniversary Special' running through the heavily cambered curves at Elsecar, deep in the heart South Yorkshire. Little trace remains to tell the casual ob... (more)

Elsecar Heritage Railway runs on the former Elsecar Branch of the South Yorkshire Railway, which opened in 1850. The single track line ran from Mexborough to Elsecar via Cortonwood, crosssing the ... (more)

The '4F' 0-6-0s of Midland Railway heritage were built in vast numbers by the LMS and had a number of well documented shortcomings. Quite probably performing better than ever she did 'back in the ... (more)

It had been a glorious day in Yorkshire and as a finale, the setting sun imparts every shade of golden yellow to the 'Scarborough Spa Express' on its return to York. 44932 has just completed the '... (more)

The sequence of images capturing the approaching thunder of 'Union of South Africa' at Newbiggin was so impressive (to me at least!), I couldn't resist another helping.