In no particular order, here’s a gallery showing the locomotives that starred in our visit to the UK.

The crowded platforms at the galas were not really the venue to capture these machines at work.

We tried our best…. and actually, we got a lot of good portraits.

What is not recorded are the sounds and motion as they worked their magic uphill and down, around the curves, and as they blasted out of each station stop.

Cinders, coal smoke, hot steam, and motion – if these could come through the screen, you’d have the experience. So very worth the experience.

The 401 wasn’t built for the main line, and it showed. The engine was a beast: ts small drivers and cylinders delivered its thrusts in jarring, pulsing beats.

4930 Hagley Hall

The most regal locomotive we came across was A4 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley. We rode her on the NYMR and on the mainline from Chester to Carlisle over the Settle and Carlisle. She ran effortlessly at speed up the banks and down, hitting 80 mph at one point. One had to show respect.

61306 Mayflower seemed to elude us for most of our visit, but we did stake her out once or twice.

Workhorse 75069 made the same tour we did, attending both the SVR and NYMR events. A very capable engine.

These two Decapods were at the top of my personal bucket list for the trip. They did not disappoint.

Omaha was built by Baldwin for wartime military service. Her North American heritage came through in her sound and shape.

Here’s another engine that seemed out of place on a museum railway – Taw Valley just wanted to blast off and run. We rode her in the rain, it was a gutsy performance all right. She was just too big and spirited for a 30 mph museum railway. Her driver gave her some leeway, but that simply underscored her urge to sprint.

Have you seen enough? I haven’t. The bucket list has another line added …..

” Go back and see some more steam”

Here’s hoping.

My non-train-enthusiast friends all ask, “So, when you weren’t chasing steam trains, what else did you do in the UK?”

Um, well, we hung out in railway stations and took pictures……

We did do a small amount of sightseeing in London (more later). But the truthful answer is, the combination of architecture, people watching, and spiffy industrial and graphic design all come together in a British railway station. So as galleries go, it was time well spent, and every bit as good a tasting of the charms of the UK as any more mainstream venue.

Many well-known photographers whose presentations and workshops I have followed have said, others may not like your images – but if you like them, then they are your best.

There were thousands of photographers at the steam galas, and already I have seen lots of better shots than these on the internet.

Looking though the images I collected in our two-week tour of British steam railways, some are good and some are not. The images here may not earn technical points, but they were made along with feelings and memories – so they are the images that you don’t ever delete.

My first serious book about trains was Morgan’s Canadian Steam! . Among its powerful images is an A.C. Kalmbach night shot, taken at Toronto’s Union Station. The swirls of steam and the glare of lights around the engine are mystical.

From the moment I first saw that photograph, I knew that I wanted to experience steam at night… and to photograph it…..or maybe just be in the picture myself.

The British steam galas don’t shut down at sunset – they continue well into the night.

Enjoying the sights and sounds of a steam locomotive as it departs on a mission to somewhere, anywhere, after dark – is a spiritual and soulful experience. Thank you, Mr. Kalmbach, for sending me on this mission.

(With thanks to Ian Loasby for the Rotolite)

My good friend Bill Miller and I spent two weeks chasing steam trains in the UK this September.

We divided our time between Galas – organized gathering of steam locomotives and enthusiasts, held at two museum railways – and mainline excursions.

Later, I will get to some pictures of steam locomotives and steam trains.

But first, I will dwell on just how many people work as volunteers to maintain and run these trains at the various heritage railways. It’s not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of time to develop the skills and knowledge, and to turn up and do the labour day after day.

But in large numbers, people do it, and take great satisfaction from being part of the operation.

Here they are, in all their grime and glory.

More to come !

Despite ongoing debate about its future, Ontario Place is doing just fine finding ways to keep itself appealing. The Winter Light Exhibition is an example. It was a bit chilly down on the lakeshore in the wind, but the skaters and campfire enthusiasts who came out on a Saturday evening appeared to be having a great time.

 

We spent two weeks on the rock this June. I don’t have the words to describe how wonderful a visit it was. The weather, the nature, the food, the beer, the people – especially the people. Funny, down to earth, indomitable, proud, industrious, generous, unique.

I went looking for traces of railways, and I found a few.

Hopefully these photographs say the rest.

Take nothing for granted, that’s the golden rule in this hobby.
Like CLRV’s and ALRV’s on Queensway and Lakeshore Blvd, for instance.
On Jan 8th 2017, all streetcar service west of Roncesvalles will end for a year or more, due to reconstruction of the Humber River Bridge on the Queensway.
By the time streetcar service retsumes in the west end, Bombardier may indeed have delivered another 40 or more new streetcars. There will still be old ones around, but no one should assume that it will be common to see them en masse, with no Flexities in the shot.
Soon they will be as rare as SD40-2s at Leaside.
If it matters – get ’em before January 8th.

I have always held two highly polarised views of Florida.

On the one hand, Florida seems to be mostly old people, overbuilt roads, an uncomfortable divide between rich and poor, and more old people. Not much actually happens there, time just ticks along. Most days, the only thing thicker than the humidity is the oppressive sense of senior white privilege.

On the other hand, it is beautiful beaches, a phenomenal colour pallette that changes by the hour, nature everywhere, and relaxed, easy living. The sun and sand heals what ails you: all those old people live longer and better for being there than they ever would up north in the cold. Pelicans soar effortlessly and then dive madly into the water. The sunsets have no equal.

This trip, I found a metaphor that resolves the Florida dilemma.

Florida is the third prong on your light plug.

The third prong is the one that drains your static, prevents your overload, keeps you balanced. It has no inherent potential, powers nothing, yet it drives you towards some things and pulls you away from others. It is a constant in a world of ever varying currents.

The third prong is a good thing to be attached to. The connection improves one’s ability to receive and sense the energy of the world at a distance. It forms the comparator against which strength is measured. Touch it on its own, and you will not die. Just don’t let the energy you have collected and saved get spent there.

In summary: Florida, like the third prong, serves a vital purpose. It is needed. Bypass it at your peril.