The last of the shots from Wales, a few last railway pics taken over those two visits. The Cambrian Coast Line, the surprise-surviving main line route from the midlands to the coast which is somewhat underused; the above train for example being the ONLY train on a sunday (on a sunny bank holiday full of crowded beaches too).
The defining landmark, and Achilles heel, of the route, the Barmouth Bridge. Made mostly of wood and about the last of its kind in the British isles (certainly the longest surviving timber viaduct), it is prone to Marine Shipworm which eat the wooden legs, or sometimes boats sail/drift into it, or more recently the contractors repairing it manage to set it on fire by accident... Looks pretty spectacular though.
That one Bank Holiday train again. One of the problems with the route is that it is a testbed for a new signalling system so hardly any trains can use it, which makes it rather dull from a photography point of view. Lovely scenery, and the same slightly clapped-out, boring-ly painted DMU's trundling back and forth. In the past steam-hauled excursions regularly ran in the summer, but these are now banned.
Still, not too bad a photography location given we were just there for an afternoon on the beach (and the original spot further along had a few too many large dogs off the lead for our comfort). If they ever return excursions to the route again, it would be worth a return.
