Carlisle Citadel Station

Carlisle Citadel (the old name, which I -Ben- being a train nerd, insist on calling it by). My favourite station. I mean look at it, it's magnificent!  They've finally cleaned the roof recently, and it creates some nice shadows and patterns.

I worked here for a bit whilst at Uni, but spent a lot of time here over the years in general. It was where I caught the train home of course, but also the setting-off point for adventures to Scotland, Newcastle, the Cumbrian Coast. I have fond memories of just sitting here, soaking up the atmosphere whilst waiting for the trains.

We had an hour or so until the train, so decided to grab a brew in the cafe that I used to work in back in 2004.

Freightliner kindly obliged us with a couple of trains- class 90's, lovely old dinosaurs on the modern network. Not many A/C electrics around now. Sadly, I can remember when these were brand new and cutting edge.

The newer livery- I think I prefer this over the green and yellow.

The Workington bay.

Waiting for the train back to West Yorkshire, Newcastle train in the other bay.

Nice to pop back and visit, and always plenty to see as an enthusiast.

 

Carlisle Cathedral.

We didn't just spend our day (well, afternoon- thanks Northern Rail, and your late-running trains) in Carlisle wandering about taking pictures of random bits of wall. We also went to the wonderful, imposing, and frankly beautiful, Cathedral.

We had our graduation ceremony here- just look at the cieling!

This place never disappoints, it's breath-taking. Helped as well on the day by the choir who were practising.

There was a lovely (and busy) cafe in the grounds as well- tea for two, with this as the backdrop? A very nice afternoon.

 

(Day) Return to Carlisle

We returned to Carlisle this summer, just for a day trip. We were meant to go on an Excursion, but West Coast Railways couldn't organise their train set and it got cancelled. So we travelled by Northern Rail instead. Well, the trains are old enough to also count as 'heritage'...

To be fair, class 158's aren't too bad, and they've been refurbished to a high standard. There was even a trolley service!  Shame it ran slow and late, but hey, that's the Settle Carlisle line. Looks pretty, but not run terribly well. How you can run late on a double-tracked main line when there's no other trains using it...

Enough moaning. Anyway, this was a bit of a nostalgia trip for us, as we met in Carlisle whilst on the Photography course at what was then the Cumbria Institute of the Arts, now a small arts campus of the Uni of Cumbria. The above pic is a revisit of one of Amy's early, but very large, projects, documenting the surviving Emergency Water Supply signs (World War 2 vintage) scattered around the city.

We did the Cathedral as well, and more on that in a seperate post.

We didn't exactly do the tourist thing; our interest in Carlisle when we lived there was always taking random pics of the overlooked bits. Peer closely enough at the above, for example, and there's another ghost sign, from when this was an office for the Caledonian Railway.

And the above; this was Woolworths when we lived there. Look at the bonkers patchwork of bricks!

Another ghost sign. Some more pics from Carlisle to follow.

Steeple Grange Light Railway

A new one for us, the Steeple Grange Light Railway, Derbyshire. This was partly a fun day out sort of a trip, partly a visit to see family nearby, and and partly a research trip for some possible articles in Garden Rail magazine.

We ended up parking (and having brunch) at the National Stone Centre, then walked down the trackbed of the famed, long-closed Cromford and High Peak railway line to the preserved railway.

Opened in the mid-80's on the trackbed of a quarry branchline, this 18-inch narrow gauge preserved railway is an interesting, quirky one.

The main line is about a kilometre long, but ridiculously steep.

Trains are formed of open-sided ex-National Coal Board coaches, propelled up the line (which means if you sit in the end you get an excellent view up the railway).

I (Ben) don't mean to sound insulting when I say this, but the railway has a charmingly ramshackle appearance comparted to our usual narrow gauge haunts in Snowdonia. But this is a rural-based, industrial tramway, and no doubt captures the atmosphere of the real thing nicely. I've a bit of a thing for overgrown railway lines that are blending back into their surroundings, and this one ticks that box.

The end of the line; a little underwhelming arriving in an industrial estate perhaps, but this line is more about the journey than the destination. Plus, with my railway modellers hat on, so to speak, this is screaming out to be replicated in miniature form.

The trains are short, and it's a fun experience, journeying up the line propelled in the 'Manrider' wagons. Open-sided and sat low-down, a world away from what they were designed for, being crammed with a load of miners in some deep underground tunnel.

There's lots of industrial artefacts scattered around the place.

This is what I was really wanting to see- ZM32 "Horwich". Ex-British Rail, this little Ruston is gorgeous and again, begging to be modelled. The stock here is a mix of internal combustion and battery-electric, all ex-industry and small. It's great that this railway has gone to the trouble to preserve and celebrate these machines, keeping them running into the 2020's.

There's also a short branchline to a quarry (which has been repurposed as an adventure centre), the short route run with a pair of open wagons.

Anything else? Well, the volunteers were welcoming and friendly, the atmosphere fun (there were lots of family groups riding the trains- the adventurous ride and small stock seems perfect for kids), the cost was very good value for money. Plenty of inspiration for model-making and article fodder for the miniatures work, especially the two terminal stations, and all in all, a lovely couple of hours on a sunny Sunday.

 

Mini post- Blue Pullman through Saltaire.

Not much to this one... we went out the other week into the village, partly for the walk, partly to see the Blue Pullman come through. Lighting was a bit dull, but this is always a striking train, and it stood out nicely against the greenery and millstone.

Hopefully get the chance to ride on this one day.

 

BRM; a holiday cottage in TT:120

The next of the articles I wrote for British Railway Modelling has just dropped- this time, modifying a TT:120 cottage by Hornby.

This was both the first project I modelled in this new-to-me scale, and the first actually that I did for BRM in this series.

My only TT:120 loco; I had been planning on selling this, but the project has convinced me to do something else in this scale and hang onto it.

I have to say, I'm properly happy with this project, it turned out looking just as I wanted.

As usual with these builds, there's much more on the model-making blog, link on the right.

And in the mag. Once again, the BRM team made it look fantastic on the page.

 

The tunnel at Treborth

A little bonus post tonight; whilst we were at Treborth, I (Ben) stumbled on this culvert, and thought I'd try a few shots. Might have to try this again, with some creative lighting.