Union Pacific ES44AC leads an afternoon Castle Rock to Monument intermodal working, seen at Larkspur on 4th October 2025: FLC GP9 takes charge of the loaded coal train from Rascal Mine, seen near TriCity, where this train would end its journey:
A visit to the picturesque Seaton branch, on a clear autumnal evening in 1965. The last passenger services of the day are entrusted to a Pressed Steel railcar. These were referred to as 'Coffin Nails' owing to the tendency of branch lines to be closed shortly after their arrival on the scene, and indeed the Seaton branch succumbed to the Beeching Axe in March the following year. From across the water near Axmouth we see the branch train trundling towards its destination. A few minutes rest at the terminus, even fewer passengers (but some seemingly abandoned luggage.) The writing is on the wall. Across from the station, ship bells clang gently and the water slaps against the shoreline in Axmouth Harbour. Behind, Seaton town is already dozing in the evenlight. The summer season is over and there will be no more holiday trains next year. Part Two to follow shortly...
Some lineside shots in the vicinity of Colyford halt. A couple of passengers join the last train of the day. Part Four to follow...
A brief pause at Colyton - another passenger or two joins and several alight. I wonder if the replacement bus service was as convenient, and whether it lasted long after closure? Final part to follow...
A local man and his dog idly note the train's passage, as do several cows. Seaton Junction is in the distance. A couple of minutes' pause in the branch platform, for no reason other than awaiting departure time. As it is the last service and there is no natural main line connection, the railcar will work right through to Exeter Central and perhaps find some more custom en-route. Rasping away from Seaton Junction... And away into the increasingly murky light as protecting signals clatter back to danger. Even a single railcar will have a real grind up the 1:80 to Honiton summit, but we have a warm armchair by the fire to get to. Nighty night! Thanks for putting up with a long sequence of screenshots - this is the wonderful West of England Mainline route from Golden Age Developments which I heartily recommend downloading.
Installment 21 in a multipart pictorial depiction of a mid-Autumn morning stopping passenger service faux Heritage Rail Tour QuickDrive, driven during January 2024, from Crewe to Holyhead, on North Wales Coast Line, acquired during Steam's Winter 2023/24 sale. Having belonged to LNWR in pre-grouping days, I power the train with a favorite steam-era loco, Caledonia Works' LNWR "Greater Britain", No.3435 "Queen Empress" to be exact, seen in Lilac & Cream livery. Although Greater Britain appears to be a conventional 2-4-2 tender locomotive, it is, in actuality, a 2-2-2-2 three-cylinder compound locomotive. It pulls four LNWR coaches, the last of them an observation coach, which I failed to capture adequately. This installment sees en route to and at Borogan. En route to Borogan: as above: Stopped at Borogan: Departing Borogan: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
