Friday 9 June 2017

"Quirks and Curiosities" on the Ffestiniog Railway


Having posted some pics from the Ffestiniog Railway shot over Easter, here is a rather larger selection taken the week after, at the "Quirks and Curiosities II" gala.  This event saw a large number of visiting locomotives and railcars, the more unusual the better, from around the UK and France.

We started the weekend by catching the train up to Tanybwlch on the Saturday.


We decided to wait around at the station for a little while to see what turned up...

And were greeted by ex-Penrhyn Quarries "Linda" arriving from Porthmadog.

Then it was up for a walk in the woods.


Lighting was... a little dull, which wasn't helping photography overmuch.


The England tank loco "Palmerston" on a northbound service.

Undoubtedly the best pic of the day for us was the one at the top of the article, two of the visiting locomotives making a rare run up the line.


A pass out for me (Ben) on the Sunday gave a chance for photographing in better weather, without The Childs underfoot.  So to start off, I went to a new location for me, just outside Boston Lodge, where the main road crosses the line on a bridge built in the 60's.  "David Lloyd George" heading north...


...and Prince heading south just afterwards.


Then it was onto the Cob embankment, where "Merddin Emrys" pottering about near the engine shed.


"Linda" crossing the cob...


Then "Merddin Emrys" now having set back into the station.


A couple of visitors from Statfold Barn, a Davenport (US-built) steam loco and a replica/inspired-by railbus.




For the first time I managed to get some pics of a Ffestiniog loco which has otherwise eluded me over the years, the diesel loco "Moelwyn" which was working a shuttle service of heritage stock.


Also knocking around on vintage stock was "Palmerston"...


...and "Prince", the other functional 'England' tank loco (two others survive, one a museum piece, one being rebuilt), these being from the first six locomotives built for the railway.




This looked fun- a replica of a device built by a group of students working on rebuilding the line in the 1960's to avoid a long walk to the worksite.



Another fun device was this Speeder, from France.


The railbus again.



Final shot of the day, the railbus and the Davenport head out onto the street-running section with a shuttle out onto the Welsh Highland Railway.


A return to the town on Monday morning for some shopping granted a chance for a similar shot of the same railbus leaving on another shuttle service.

No updates this weekend, as we're off to the Cosford air show.

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