Early Feb saw the first "Railbus Wednesday" of 2018 on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which is as close to a timetabled weekday commuter service as the preserved railway gets (and given the amount of housebuilding going on in the Worth Valley at the moment, might be an area they have to expand into...). I (Ben) managed to photograph the first day of service in 2017, and thought I'd do the same this year. In 2017 though I combined photography with actually using the train- the ongoing health issues this year meant I wasn't up to that, so ended up just snapping a few photos in a small area around Damems and Ingrow.
Early in the morning, the lighting wasn't exactly brilliant for the first train of the day...
Taking the GP's advice of 'gentle excercise', I walked up to Damems (soon the site of yet more house building) and along the paths near the railway station.
The old road is in bad nick again, having had a bit of work done in connection with some preparing of the ground (presumably for the impending building work).
Whilst waiting for the train, I had a play with photographing some of the iced-over tree roots exposed by a failed culvert on the side of the derelict Great Northern Railway embankment alongside the old Damems Lane.
By this time the sun was a bit higher in what had become a lovely clear blue sky, though the sun was in the wrong spot for the approach shot to Damems Halt itself. Also, the camera was so cold that it had locked-up, and wouldn't take the shot I wanted with the railbus a bit closer to the camera, nearer the signal.
The sun was in a better position for the return service though.
I really like this location; usually it is swarming with photographers (increasingly so in recent years). On this particular cold morning I seemed to be the only photographer daft enough to be out and about, and the only other people I saw were a few dog walkers.
Once again illustrating that the KWVR might do well to set up a commuter service instead of a preserved railway, as the Waggon und Maschinenbau Railbus picks its way between the new housing at Ingrow.
I hadn't managed to get an angle I was really pleased with, but for the last shot I decided to try a new angle, and one I've only ever used for night shoots about 4 years ago. An advantage of wearing welly boots, I waded out into the river, much to the amusement and confusion of a couple of dog walkers passing by. Given all steam engines run tender-first here, it usually becomes a pretty redundant shot, but it works for the diesels and especially for so short a unit as this one.
A pleasant surprise in March- not only the Middleton Railbus pic getting published again, but that shot of the railbus too...
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