We’ve been to Wales again. Having spent most of the summer stuck in Yorkshire thanks to the day job, we finally have a chance to hit the coast right at the point where the weather is too unpleasant to sit on a beach. Thus, we end up doing other sorts of photography, slight compensation for the inevitable long journeys there and back (slightly more than 48 hours as a round trip, nearly 10 hours of which was spent in the car due to the ramshackle nature of the overcrowded motorway network).
In what might be the last bit of railway photography of the year, we went for a day out on the Ffestiniog Railway, for their Victorian Gala. We attended as spectators the last couple of years but this time, family in tow, we decided to actually ride the trains. We like the Ffestiniog as a set-up anyway, but it definitely has more character when the wonderfully restored vintage stock is bought out to play.
Porthmadog Harbour Station was the focus for most of the activity this year by the look of it- stalls, horse and carriage rides, and this rather magnificent carousel with rather terrifying horses. The Childs enjoyed it immensely though, and it killed a bit of time whilst waiting for the train.
Slightly terrifying, though realistic with the mad rolled eyes and the veins...
Its getting a bit tricky to get a distinctive shot of the Welsh Highland engines at Harbour now, so here's a token greyscale shot...
Single-Fairlie locomotive "Taliesin"
"David Lloyd George" at Harbour.
Shame about the other photographer in the background...
"Merddin Emrys" and "Taliesin"
Nicely busy at the station.
More arty greyscale...
We got a compartment to ourselves, which was handy given the slightly giddy behaviour of the youthery, and settled down for a nice ride up to Tanybwlch. We did consider going further, but figured a lunch stop for a picnic in the woods at Tanybwlch would be a good plan. In any case Blanaue Ffestiniog didn’t hold much appeal for us, and there were more trains on the lower half of the line too.
Long way down off the embankment...
Taking on water at Tanybwlch
"Palmerston"
"Earl of Merrioneth", an interesting 'modern' (well, 70's/80's) boxy take on the Victorian double Fairlie design.
Whilst eating the picnic, this incredibly tame robin came and sat on the table. Apparently robins like samosas, which is not a fact you're likely to learn on Autumnwatch...
That may well be the Christmas card taken care of this year then...
More wildlife from the train, whilst stopped at Minfford station. Nice to see, given that according to the BBC last week butterfly numbers are in decline.
Yet more arty greyscale, and an attempt at a slight panning shot.
Sunday wasn’t really about the trains, but what with one thing and another we hadn’t had chance to do the shopping in town so planned to head back down. Surprisingly on leaving the caravan there was a new wildlife sighting for us, and this rather huge bird of prey sitting in the tree next to the van. Usually the biggest birds we get there are pigeons or jays, so this was a nice spot. Shame we didn’t have a zoom lens, but hey-ho.
Down to town where the weather was pretty damned magnificent (if anything too hot in direct sunlight), so a chance was grabbed for a few last shots of “Prince” about to leave with a shuttle service.
"Prince" parked just a little inconveniently in the shade.
I'm known for going in a little too much for low angle shots with trains, and this couldn't get much lower...
So that was that then- having photographed “Flying Scotsman”, had that visit to the Middleton Railway, and now the Ffestiniog, we’ve done more railway photography in the last month than we’ve managed all summer, but with the railways all winding down for the winter we probably wont get much done. The next visit to Wales should be more about getting some fine-art photography projects done…
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