One of the reasons that I (Ben) do so much railway photography is that I find it de-stressing, and a positive is also that it allows for a bit of bonding with The Childs who are at the age where they are old enough to use cameras and want to go out places, and young enough not to be antisocial grumpy teenagers yet.
As the operating season on the preserved railways winds down towards Christmas, there usually isn't much to see, but it's nice just to head out to somewhere like the Worth Valley for an hour or two with one or more of The Childs for company, have a walk in the fresh air, and take some pictures if something is passing.
Autumn 2019 saw the return to service of the W&M Railbus, a personal favourite of mine (as it's short length opens up some new vantage points for photographs, without worrying about cutting bits of it out of shot so much). It hasn't run for a couple of years whilst it has been undergoing repairs, so it was nice to see it back out and about.
The 'house-red' Ivatt tank was sharing duties with it, providing a splash of colour on otherwise dull days.
Resorting to a bit of monochrome to try and deal with the tuppaware-lid sky.
Damems is fast becoming my favourite spot on the line, as it's near enough civilisation to park the car, far enough away to ensure it isn't too busy, and hasn't (yet) been concreted over by Skipton Properties, though it's only a matter of a couple of years by the sound of it. The lane down to the level crossing is in such a state that I'd only feel comfortable driving to it in a Land Rover. Or possibly a tank, which does mean the area is quiet but for the dog-walkers, most of the time.
It's also a bit friendlier in the woods as more 'normal' people make the most of the paths. Ten years ago the woods seemed to be the sole preserve of people walking scary attack dogs, or junkies (I've been chased out of the woods by both varieties in the past) but it's a lot more pleasant now.
It's also a nice walk back down to Ingrow Station, practising what I preached in articles I wrote for the house-mag of the railway earlier in the year.
The Railbus was making regular runs which meant lots of opportunities for photographs over two weekends, and only slightly complicated by Younger Child splashing through the river until she poured it into her wellies. Twice. On separate visits.
I've always thought I'd like to be a crossing-keeper as a job, though it's been pretty much eliminated on the national network. Might be nice to volunteer at Damems, where apart from gala days you only have to open the gates a few times a day on weekdays.
Another happy outcome is that there isn't too much preserved-diesel news in the mags at this time of year as the heritage railways calm down after the summer, and there weren't many photographers out besides us (I suspect the railbus doesn't attract the same level of interest as the big locomotives but as I said, I really like it), so the upside was that I managed to get shots into three mags; December Railways Illustrated...
...Railway Magazine...
...and a somewhat experimental shot in Rail Express.
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