Isle of Wight Steam Railway, IW, United Kingdom

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway passes through five miles of unspoiled Island countryside between Wootton, Havenstreet, Ashey and Smallbrook, recapturing the days of the branch line railway. Brought to life again are those perky tank engines and quaint, wooden-bodied carriages which were once such a familiar sight when, up until the 1950’s, the Island boasted some 55 miles of railway lines connecting the Island’s towns and villages … But it's not just the trains that are preserved, for here too is all the associated infrastructure, from traditional operating practices and equipment through to old railway buildings recovered from long-closed lines.

For more than a century the Island’s railways operated with near life expired locomotives and carriages sent over from mainland railways. As a result the Island became a repository for a magnificent collection of 19th and 20th century steam locomotives and carriages. After extensive and skilful restoration, a number of these vehicles are again back in service with the IW Steam Railway.

 

Operated by a dedicated team of volunteers backed by a full-time workforce of twenty, the Railway has received several prestigious awards including ‘Independent Railway of the Year’ on no less than three occasions, despite fierce competition from a hundred or so other preserved railways throughout the country. Film and television crews have used the line extensively for programmes ranging from period dramas to documentaries.

It took its first tentative steps into operation in 1971 at the then semi-derelict Havenstreet Station on the former Ryde to Newport line. For 20 years the Railway operated a mile and a half section of this line from Havenstreet to Wootton, but in 1991 opened its three and a half mile extension to Ashey and Smallbrook Junction. The IW Steam Railway is unique in offering travel exclusively in wooden-bodied Victorian and Edwardian carriages all of which formerly ran on the Island system. It offers a rare chance to experience branch line travel not just of yesterday ... but also of the day before that!

Pictured here is steam loco no 11 "Newport" at Wootton Station.

Trams in Coventry City Center, U. K.

 

These are scenes from Coventry City Center in the late 1930's, and everyday scene with both trams and buses on the streets. 

Eurostar and Thalys High Speed Trains, Europe.

Eurostar  is a high speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France.  The service is operated by eighteen-coach Class 373/1 trainswhich run at up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) on a network of high-speed lines.

Thalys is an international high speed train  operator originally built around the high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris or Brussels to London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel. Thalys reaches Amsterdam and Cologne, and its system is operated by Thalys International.

GWR No 4965 - "Rood Ashton Hall" Steam Locomotive, U. K.

The Great Western Railways steam loco  no. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall is a Hall class locomotive. It is currently preserved at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

The engine operates in its Great Western Railway green livery, and performs regularly on the Shakespeare Express, between Birmingham and  Stratford – upon-Avon  operated by Vintage Trains. 

In November 2008, Rood Ashton Hall was taken out of service for overhaul after hauling the 'Rood Ashton Hall Farewell' train from Solihull to Didcot Parkway. The engine's 10-year overhaul took just a few months due to an ongoing programme of maintenance work that had been previously carried out during periods of low main line activity. It returned to the mainline in October 2009.

Picture here is the locomotive en route to Stratford – upon-Avon at Leamigton SPA Railway Station in July 2008.

The "Flying Scotsman" Locomotive # 4472, United Kingdom.

The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh since 1862.  The East Coast Main Line over which the Flying Scotsman runs was built in the 19th century by many small railway companies, but mergers and acquisitions led to only three companies controlling the route. In 1860 the three companies established the East Coast Joint Stock for through services using common vehicles, and it is from this agreement that the Flying Scotsman came about.

The LNER Class A3 Pacific Steam Locomotive No 4472 Flying Scotsman (originally No. 1472) was built in 1923 for theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER).  It was employed on long-distance express trains on the LNER and its successors, British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably on the 10am London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman Train service after which it was named.

Steam Loco No 2 (Freshwater), Isle of Wight Steam Railway, U.K

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway is a heritage railway on the Isle of Wight. The railway passes through 5½ miles of unspoiled countryside from Smallbrook Junction to Wootton Station, passing through the small village of Havenstreet, where the line has a station, headquarters and a depot. The railway is owned and operated by the Isle of Wight Railway Co. Ltd. and run largely by volunteers.

Steam Locomotive No 2 – Freshwater built in 1876 has been restored to the livery of Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport  (FYN) railway. This much traveled engine has crossed the Solent no less than five times since it first came to Isle of Wight in 1913