Standard Gauge & Narrow Gauge; Llangollen & Ffestiniog Railways 20-06-2015
Before taking the shot of 5043 heading the Welsh Dragon at Old Colwyn, much of the day was taken up by paying a visit to 2 of North Wales' Heritage lines; The ...
+Garry Pattinson Thanks for your comment mate and glad you enjoyed.
Ffestiniog Railway 'Blanche' on Penrhyn Crossing
The on-going improvments to the Ffestiuniog Railway Hunslet 'Blanche's blast pipe makes a new video compulsary, especially as no one would ever be able to ...
That sounds absolutely superb, they've obviously taken a leaf out of the
16mm books and fitted a 'chuff pipe'. Liked the little bit of wheelslip as
well. 10/10
It will be interesting to see which gets more comments; Blanche or the
tree! Blanche is sounding very loud, and the location has certainly been
opened up.
LMS 48151 - The Welsh Mountaineer, Preston-Blaenau Ffestiniog. 19/8/14
LMS Stanier 8f 2-8-0 no 48151 working 1Z26 The Welsh Mountaineer from Preston to Blaenau Ffestiniog on Tue 19th August 2014 Today I was going out on my ...
Way back in the early 1960's, as a marine radio officer, I was recalled to
join my merchant ship in London docks. I lived in Preston and received the
call in the late evening, too late to catch a stopping train at Preston
station. My old man frequented a pub where some of the BR staff quenched
their thirsts, fuelled by inspiration and a few pints, one of them phoned
up the station master's office and explained the situation. At around 1
a.m, a none-stop Glasgow to Euston crawled through the station, the guard
had his door open, shouting, 'Quick, lad...hop in! I found myself being
bundled onboard, with my bulky case, by two burly porters' and then we were
on our way. It was all very thrilling to me at twenty years of age - a
Glasgow - London express had slowed down for me! Wow!
+TheChippewa77 Hi, Mark. Not quite. I served for 23 years in the British Merchant Marine as a Radio Officer. I worked for the Marconi Marine Company, a subsidiary of the Marconi company which is now part of BAe Systems. It's all a long time ago, but what memories of a beautiful blue planet and its wonderful people. Visited the States many times - shipped out of Miami to Venezuela for a few years on a British Roll on/Roll off freighter back in the eighties. I still keep my hand in as an amateur radio enthusiast, working into the States using the old morse code rather than voice. I picked up bad habits, even the Americans thought I was a 'Yank'. So I guess to keep my British passport and be accepted by my family I have to work hard at speaking my own town's English. Is not life just wonderful? Hope you enjoy the enthusiasm of our old heritage railways, Mark. Cheers for now - Bill.
Bill, Royal Marine? A salute over the waves! huzzah!
Ffestiniog Railway
This is a video clip of the Ffestiniog train leaving Portmadog station before ours. We had booked on the next Welsh Highland Railway trip from Portmadog to ...