With Amy a bit under the weather, myself and Father-in-Law decided to treat her to a bit of a break, and take The Childs to the Middleton Railway in Leeds for their "Last Coals to Leeds" gala. Several of their home-fleet items had been repainted to represent locomotives and stock which had operated locally, they were running an intensive timetable, and the weather promised to be unseasonably nice, so it looked like being a nice day out.
One of the advantages the Middleton has from a photography point of view is that the line has a carriage with an open balcony end... of course, the downside on a gala day is that the world and his dog crams into it, so I had to make do with pictures from leaning out the side (rather than being right out on the end).
Our first train of the day, behind "Slough Estates no.3" (masquerading as "Blenkinsop no.53") at Park Halt, the current terminus. I ended up getting a lot of shots here, as the weather meant it was a nice place to sit in the sun, and it allowed for some reference pics for a possible upcoming model project.
Back on the train, and an attempt (not wholly successfully) for a tunnel shot; again, I couldn't get right at the end of the balcony.
Later in the day I did manage a nice spot at the end of the carriage, to get a pic of Manning Wardle tank loco "Matthew Murray"/"Forward". Last time I came to one of these galas, I managed to have a go driving this loco, my first time behind the controls of a steam loco.
Back at Moor Road for lunch; where The Childs got to meet the Leeds Mayoral VIP party who were along for a ride on a special service.
Our last train of the day, with the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board shunter arriving at Park Halt.
Out of sequence, strictly speaking; this is the lunchtime stock of the Mayoral train being prepared, with visiting Austerity tank loco "Wimblebury" from the Foxfield Railway.
Considering their ubiquity on some preserved lines, I've never managed a pic I was properly happy with of this class of loco, until this gala; the Austerity was superbly turned-out and the colour scheme stood out nicely against the trees. This is the loco propelling onto the rarely-used Balm Road branchline. Back in the day, when this line (as a preserved, volunteer-run outfit) still used to shift commercial freight, this was the link to the mainline. Ridiculously tightly-curved, unfenced, and threading it's way through trees and into an industrial estate, it's quite unlike any other stretch of railway I've photographed on.
The return service halted in the trees whilst the volunteers tried (somewhat in vain) to stop traffic on the crossing; no barriers or lights, just brave souls with flags who have to hope the speeding cars actually want to stop, so it took a bit of a while. Still, it allowed me plenty of time to snap some pics.
I've had a play with a couple of them; trying for the sort of artificial ageing of the shots to make them look more like book illustrations (I have a couple of books from when I was little, which show the Middleton still in commercial-freight service in the late 70's, and wanted to have a go at producing a similar shot).
Also a slightly washed-out pic, to make it look a bit like a shot from the 1970's. Of course, the loco is far cleaner than it would have been back then, and the modern-ish building in the background spoils the effect somewhat, but hey-ho.
Happily, given this was meant to just be a day out with The Childs, quite a number of pics from the day were picked up by the commercial mags and websites; always a pleasant outcome after a nice day out on the trains.
Two in Railways Illustrated...
...and one in Steam Railway.
So all in all a very nice day out. I really like the Middleton; from an enthusiast point of view the industrial locomotives are a break from the mainline stuff on the KWVR, the vols are really welcoming and friendly, and (thanks to the industrial nature of the line, and an unintended consequence of the local ne'er-d-wells nicking the lineside fencing for scrap) you can get nice and close to the trains.
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