Andrew

Having added some internal partitions in an old Hornby sleeping car (recently acquired from eBay), the DGR sleeping car fleet has increased by 50 per cent. So the offer of being able to spend Fathers Day “doing just what I wanted” meant the chance to run a service of the kind that, with various portions added or subtracted en route, used to operate between London and Fort William in western Scotland. Goods trains have been neglected on the DGR recently, so the opportunity was taken to make amends. A combination of poor speed control on the elderly Hornby Dublo 8F and poor riding by some of the “Made in Wales” wagons meant it wasn’t a particularly rewarding experience, but at least there are a few photos below. Rounding Sycamore Curve on a sunny morning in the Highlands The DGR sleeping car fleet Enjoying the attractions of Fathers Day: Goods train on Foxdale Bank 8F on Northern Viaduct 8F and goods train passing Throstlebeck Sidings

Geoff and Josh came round yesterday and we had another great day running a wide variety of trains in the sunshine. To begin with, here's "Tornado" on Foxdale Bank with an excursion train of a full rake of nine Pullman cars. Here is a Class 08 diesel shunter in post-privatisation EWS livery at Throstlebeck Sidings. Almost a thousand of these locos were build in the decade from 1952, and many still survive in service. Staying with the contemporary railway, here's a Class 92 electric freight loco, built to handle traffic to and through the Channel Tunnel and now seen in GBRF livery: Looking across the Pond, the Norfolk and Western Railroad had its roots (and most of its original routes) in Virginia and West Virginia, with tentacles stretching to Maryland, North Carolina and Kentucky. Here Bo-Bo diesel 6504 hauls a few freight cars along a shortline towards the junction to connect with a long distance train. Finally, West Country Class 34045 "Ottery St Mary" appears first with another Pullman excursion and then with regular expresses in the 1950s or '60s: