Let's enjoy the nostalgia. There's something magical about steam engines. The sound, the smell, and the shear presence of power encased in beautiful engineering.

[/URL]

[/URL]

Well in my attempt to take some live footage and a few photo's I had mixed results today.

I found what I thought would be the perfect spot in a quiet little ( public ) road just yards from a bridge which offered an excellent view right down the line to Northwood station. I parked up and as I got out of my car a local resident came out from her nearby house and said " You can't park there"

Me: ( Suprised ) "Why not ?"

Resident: " Its residents parking only"

Me: ( Having already meticulously checked all the road markings and signs ) " No it's not"

Resident: "Well we pay a lot of money to live here", and it should be for residents only".

Me: " But with all due respect madam ( I was being polite, not at all sarcastic ), this is a public highway, and I pay a lot of money to use it, and since I am not infringing any parking regulations, I am perfectly entitled to park here ".

Not the best of starts then but undeterred, I wandered up to the bridge in the hope of capturing the train as it passed. This was at 12:10, and it was scheduled to reach us about 12:20. There were about 2 dozen folk on the bridge, all keen to witness the event, and most of them residents of that particular road.

We waited, and waited......and the train eventually appeared in sight, ( about 40 minutes late ) approaching from Northwood station heading towards Harrow-on-the-Hill. I was not the only who was expecting it to make quite leisurely progress, but whilst not exactly on a par with the Flying Scotsman, it went through so fast barely anyone was able to catch it on camera. All in all a very dissapointing experience.

I will try again tomorrow and Monday if needs be, but not getting my hopes up.

Moley

Moley....

You do know the residents actually own the roads in Northwood.........

Least you were polite which is more than I would have been.......

I think I saw both of these at the Railway museum in York last year?

Mallard I know well as it was the mainstay of and my first 'Hornby' engine.... I learnt a lot about how electricity works from model railway sets..

Some apparently seem to think they do Geezer466, but, Im not talking about the 'posh' part of Northwood here, this happened in a little side turning off Hallowell Road. Just for the record I live in social housing less than 3/4 mile from there so no criticism of the area or the residents from me.

I am always polite, even more-so when the person confronting me is A/ a lady....and B/ older than me. It was just a minor irritation caused by someone with nothing better to do as far as I'm concerned.

Bit miffed that she could walk faster than me though and I have to use a walking stick for support and she didn't.

Moley, as you will know, trying to catch a passing steam engine on camera can be very difficult. You get all setup in what you think is a good position, and just as the train appears, with no time to spare because the trian isn't in view for very long, somebody invariably gets between your camera and the aproaching train. I do hope you get some pictures. Steam engines send a tingle down my spine.

The BBC have some good pictures: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21003259

Geezer, The Braunton was on the West Somerset Railway, it had just pulled a train from Bishops Lideard to Minehead. The Sir Nigel Gresley was at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, preparing to pull a train to Pickering. Where did you see the Flying Scotsman?

The Scotsman is at the Railway Museum in York, although was sadly away for renovation work when I visited last year.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman

I didn't notice all the names and types but they seemed to have at least one representative of each type at York.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/

Am I right in thinking that there were about 4 loco's all carried the name 'Flying Scotsman' at the same type as each engine was upgraded. I would have thought they would need a handful to maintain a proper service before diesel took over completely.

The nameplate from Battle of Britain Class "Lord Dowding" 34052 went missing from Bentley Priory in the '90s.

_________________
When a crash seems inevitable, try to hit the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible.

As a young apprentice at Sir Robert McAlpines in the fifties, I worked on the flying Scotsman in their workshop in Hayes.We installed a new boiler and various other components,they then had their own sign writers from Henley to repaint it.I also visited their farm in Henley to do some repairs on their farm equipment where they had a complete rail system ie;station,rails,sygnals,steam engine and rail lines.You might say big boys toys.