We've been visiting the Middleton Railway regularly for the last few years; you can't beat the atmosphere of the place. Small locomotives, short trains, unfenced track, and friendly volunteers. Sadly there were no galas last year, but the postponed "90 Years of the Diesel" event landed on a ridiculously sunny weekend this June, so we packed up our kit and headed over. Ben needed some shots for a model railway article, so these 'general' pics for the railway mags are all Amy's.
It always seems to be hot and sunny when we go to this line (Amy's dad calls it the Middleton Microclimate), and the Saturday was no exception. As can be seen above, even the locomotives were struggling with the heat; the visiting Kerr,Stuart spent much of the period after lunch with the bonnet doors open.
The main target for Ben was getting some pictures on the very-rarely used Balm Road Branch, which connects the heritage operation with the mainline. Said connection hasn't been used for decades, but most of the branch is still open for use, though hadn't seen a train for a while judging by the amount of dust the trains were generating on the crossings.
We're planning on going back next month; the Steampunk Market is on, and two of The Childs are keen cosplayers.
We ended up bailing out by about 2pm; it was a lovely event, but it was just too hot to sit on the trains. Still, Amy and I both got some great pics, so we'll see if any of the magazines bite.
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