The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

1989 Railways: France 3-6th November.

Sun Oct 11 2009

Sunday 11 October 2009: Four days in France in November 1989, once again a shed bash to all intents & purposes, this time visits included Nice, Miramas, Chambery, Lyon Mouche, Vennissieux, Avignon, Bordeaux, Montrouge, and Chatillon TGV. More will be added when I can fix the slide scanner...

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

1988 Railways: France 28-31st December.

Thu Oct 8 2009

Thursday 8 October 2009: A trip around (mostly) the western half of France by car, starting off from Gosport on Boxing Day, returning late on New Year's Eve. Essentially a marathon shed bash, a good number of SNCF depots & stabling points were visited, including Caen, Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Clermont Ferrand, Nevers, Romorantin (NG), Tours St Pierre des Corps, Les Aubrais, Villeneuve St Georges, Vaires, Tergnier, Longueau & Amiens. A number of these photos will have been transferred from other collections, while many are new additions.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Stokes Bay Car Rally 31st August.

Sat Oct 3 2009

Saturday 3 October 2009: The Gosporteers' 2009 'Classic' Car Rally at Stokes Bay was, to be honest, a bit short on both 'classic' and 'cars', there only being about half the amount of vehicles as last year's event, although this year, TWO buses turned up (even though one was Reading No.3, from last year). A tad disappointing really. Still, the weather was fine...

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 038. Derby, Leicester, Wellingborough, Bedford, Bletchley & Milton Keynes 24th August.

Thu Sep 24 2009

Thursday 24 September 2009: After 18 days away, this was the journey home, all going reasonably well until Clapham Junction, where my designated train, the 20.10 Southern service to Portsmouth Harbour, was cancelled at the last minute. Much panicking ensued, since this was the last service that arrived in time to catch a ferry to Gosport in time to get my last bus. Hmfff. _7 for a taxi - good job I'd kept _15 back! As a result of all this, there was no opportunity to take any pics at Clapham Junction. Still, this was the only major cock-up in almost three weeks. I managed to cross paths with 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" at Bedford!

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 037. Loughborough, Great Central Railway 23rd August.

Wed Sep 23 2009

Wednesday 23 September 2009: An afternoon visit to Loughborough GCR; only one train was left to run, so imstead of paying _12 for a quick trip and returning straight away, I decided to pay _3 and just have a good look around the depot & station at Loughborough. Working locos were 42085 & 48305. I've taken a lot of 'general view' type shots of the station & shed, including buildings and odd paraphenalia, as well as photos of locomotives & stock. It's a loooong walk to the ex-BR station....

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 036. Stafford, Nuneaton, Leicester, Sheffield, Derby, East Midlands Parkway & Loughborough 23rd August.

Mon Sep 21 2009

Monday 21 September 2009: Another day of flitting about trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid bus replacement services. I'd pre-booked a room at Derby, which was the subject of an engineering blockade from the south, so I stayed on the train from Leicester to Sheffield, suspecting (correctly) that it would pass Toton TMD & yard. Today's visit to the Great Central Railway at Loughborough will appear in it's own collection.

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2009 Railways: 035. Sheffield, Doncaster, Peterborough, Nottingham, Leicester, Nuneaton & Stafford 22nd August.

Mon Sep 21 2009

Monday 21 September 2009: An epic trek around the midlands in order to get from Sheffield to Stafford (where B & B had been booked in advance - for the wrong week!) without having to use weekend bus replacement services.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 034. Doncaster, Sheffield, Nottingham & Derby 21st August.

Fri Sep 18 2009

Friday 18 September 2009: Today appeared to be the start of the monsoon season hereabouts, so I didn't get too keen on being anywhere other than stations with decent cover, and stuck to just going to Doncaster, Nottingham, and the building site which still constitutes Derby station. Fun, nevertheless, and the sun DID manage to put in a number of appearances after all.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 033. Barnetby, Lincoln, Worksop, Nottingham, Derby & Sheffield 20th August.

Wed Sep 16 2009

Wednesday 16 September 2009: I thought I'd join the teeming throng of gricers at Barnetby station very early, so I was there at 05.30. Alone. So much for those other hardy souls! After breakfast at the B & B, got a lift with Andy Taylor to Knabbs Bridge (good for photos), then back to Barnetby for a couple of hours before taking the scenic route back to Sheffield via Lincoln, Worksop, Nottingham & Derby.

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2009 Railways: 032. Sheffield, Nottingham, Llincoln & Barnetby 19th August.

Mon Sep 14 2009

Monday 14 September 2009: I've never stopped off at Barnetby before, and was looking forward to paying a visit; however, owing to prolongued trackwork between Doncaster & Scunthorpe, only a bus replacement was running. Being less than keen to use a bus on a Railrover ticket, I had to travel via Lincoln, not arriving until 3 pm, so I'd booked B & B at the very friendly and conveniently-situated Holcombe House (recommended, less than 5 minutes walk from the station). Lots of freight workings, not many passenger trains. This is day one; day two will follow suit.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 031. Sheffield, Doncaster, Peterborough, Leicester, Derby & Chesterfield 18th August.

Sat Sep 12 2009

Saturday 12 September 2009: First day out on a 7-day East Midlands Railrover ticket, so I decided to start by making my first visit to Doncaster for about 15 years; the rest I rather played as it happened. A fair amount of freight at Peterborough, but the sun NEVER seems to be in the right place there! A few photos at the start of this lot were taken at Sheffield & Meadowhall Interchange the previous day, when I was flitting around on the splendid Supertram system.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009: Kelham Island Museum, and some aspects of Sheffield 17th August.

Sat Sep 12 2009

Saturday 12 September 2009: I was whisked off to Kelham island Museum, where a fair number of interesting artefacts were on display, including some transport-related items, hence its inclusion here. To this, I've added some views of Sheffield & some of its buses. Very nice place, Sheffield.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009: Sheffield Trams 17-22nd August.

Sat Sep 12 2009

Saturday 12 September 2009: On 17th August I travelled on all the passenger routes on the Sheffield Supertram system, and was fortunate enough to see all 25 trams. Unfortunately I failed to photograph No.120, the only tram in non-standard blue. A number of photos were taken during the week, and have been included in this collection. Many thanks to Chris & Janet Pearce for putting up with me at their mansion for the duration.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 030. Elsecar 16th August.

Fri Sep 11 2009

Friday 11 September 2009: After visiting Barrow Hill roundhouse, we stopped off at Elsecar to see what it consisted of; very interesting place, with a small collection of locos & stock, including ex-BR class 14 'Teddy Bear' 14901 (D9524), which had unfortunately just broken down. Other things of note included a number of road vehicles, most of which were fire appliances.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 029. Barrow Hill Roundhouse 16th August.

Wed Sep 9 2009

Wednesday 9 September 2009: A Sunday visit to Barrow Hill MPD/TMD, lots of stuff hanging around! Major disappointment was finding that the two Network Rail 97/3's (class 37) here were NOT the two that had been present at the Deltic day the previous weekend, but the same two I'd seen on 6th August at Shrewsbury. DOH! Very enjoyable, even though a fair number of exhibits were off-limits.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009: Manchester Museum of Science & Industry 15th August.

Tue Sep 8 2009

Tuesday 8 September 2009: A visit to the MOSI for 'The Great Garrett Gathering' weekend; it rained (obviously), but brightened at times up for some slightly better outdoor shots. Things were a little cramped for decent photos really, but a very interesting affair nonetheless. This collection contains a wide range of (largely unknown) transport-related items, from steam engines to aeroplanes, with bicycles, cars, horse-drawn carts, and even a tank thrown in for good measure. A recommended day out. PS: don't take a large bag with you; the lockers are too small - I had to lug a camera bag & a heavy holdall around throughout, very awkward in crowds.

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2009 Railways: 028. Chester, Runcorn, Liverpool, Kirkby, Manchester, Stockport & Sheffield 15th August.

Tue Sep 8 2009

Tuesday 8 September 2009: An early morning train from Chester to travel on the Runcorn curve, thence by degrees to Manchester Victoria to cover the Oldham loop before it's closed to be converted to a tramway; then a visit to the Museum of Science & Industry (which will appear in a seperate collection), then from Deansgate to Stockport & Sheffield - my base for the next week.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 027. Chester, Crewe, Tamworth & Stafford 14th August.

Sun Sep 6 2009

Sunday 6 September 2009: Decided to try out Tamworth, but wasn't happy with the limited photographic possibilities (can't run up & down stairs any more), so after a spell at Stoke, I spent the rest of the afternoon at Stafford, then back to Crewe to travel on the 'WAG' to Chester behind ATW 57316. Quite a bit of freight at Stafford, plus a 31 on a test train at Crewe; a couple of shots were taken at Wrexham in the morning.

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2009 Railways: 026. Gresty Bridge, Basford Hall & south of Crewe 13th August.

Sat Sep 5 2009

Saturday 5 September 2009: A few hours spent in a couple of locations just south of the neck of Basford Hall yard, also stopped off at Gresty Bridge depot on the way for a quick peep through the fence,

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2009 Railways: 025. Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Manchester & Chester 12th August.

Sat Aug 22 2009

Saturday 22 August 2009: A day spent pottering around on trains (just for a change, mind); mostly everyday stuff here, but managed to find DB Schenker-liveried 37670 at Shrewsbury and the NMT at Crewe, among other things.

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2009 Railways: 024. Wrexham General, Acton Bridge, Crewe & Chester 11th August.

Wed Aug 19 2009

Wednesday 19 August 2009: I decided to try out Acton Bridge, and spent about seven hours there (not many trains stop there); spent a bit of time awaiting trains at the other locations. Plenty of freight movements!

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2009 Railways: 023. Wrexham, Crewe & Stafford 8th August.

Tue Aug 18 2009

Tuesday 18 August 2009: A casual day out to a railway memorabilia thingy in Stafford, so a few shots of everyday stuff here from the trip.

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2009 Railways: 022. Portsmouth & Wrexham 6th August, Wrexham, Chester, Hooton, Ellesmere Port & Helsby 7th August.

Tue Aug 18 2009

Tuesday 18 August 2009: First couple of days away; no chance to take any photos at Newport on the trip to Wrexham, but a good day pottering around the Chester area the following day.

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2009 Stokes Bay Bus Rally 2nd August.

Mon Aug 3 2009

Monday 3 August 2009: A good turnout of buses and reasonable weather made for a worthwhile afternoon's entertainment; transport from Gosport bus station was provided by a London Transport RM which, despite the destination blind, failed to arrive at either Marble Arch or Paddington. The journey back, on a Bristol Greyhound coach, likewise ended up at Gosport, and not Chew Magna. You'll probably notice that most vehicles make more than one appearance here - I gave them all another go when the sun's position was better!

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2009 Railways: 021. Fratton/Portsmouth (for 70013) 30th July.

Fri Jul 31 2009

Friday 31 July 2009: A 'Britannia' visiting Portsmouth was FAR too much of a rare event to miss, so I braved the elements to capture the occasion; WCR 37706 features heavily here as well, plus the usual collection of units. Weather cloudy, some sunshine, with the odd deluge. British Summer - don't you just love it?

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2009: Lee-on-Solent 50th Anniversary Hovershow 26th July.

Mon Jul 27 2009

Monday 27 July 2009: This year's hovershow at the former HMS Daedelus airfield was moved forward a month to coincide with the 50th anniversary of SRN 1 crossing the English Channel. More of the site was open to the public than before, part of which was given over to hovercraft racing, where the world champions did some hi-speed hovering. I took the opportunity to photograph some of the buildings around the place. It rained, and the open top bus ride home took a while to get going, until it was pointed out to the driver that it might work if he took the handbrake off...

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 020. Swanage Railway 20th July.

Wed Jul 22 2009

Wednesday 22 July 2009: After the visit to Bovington Tank Museum, it would have been silly not to try out the Swanage Railway for the first time, it being so close. Unfortunately it was overcast with a bit of rain. Still.... Thanks to Nev Pearce for having the bright idea & the van, also for the ice cream at Swanage!

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009: Bovington Tank Museum 20th July.

Mon Jul 20 2009

Monday 20 July 2009: A splendid day out to Bovongton Tank Museum, which is home to an amazing number of fascinating armoured vehicle, and I recommend it highly to devotees of military vehicles who've not yet been. We spent around three & a half hours there, and I took about 400 photos, no time to write details of each vehicle; I'll attempt to work out what's what from the museum's website, but if you know what anything is, do please let me know!

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2009 Railways: 019. Southern DaySave 1 - Bletchley & Milton Keynes, Watford Jct, Clapham Jct 13th July.

Tue Jul 14 2009

Tuesday 14 July 2009: With the DaySave ticket extended to Milton Keynes, I gave it a go; most pics here are from Bletchley and Watford Junction, some from Clapham Junction, and a few taken en route at Portsmouth Harbour, Milton Keynes, Gatwick and Three Bridges. Also a couple of shots from the train of new class 378 units at Willesden TMD. Managed to just miss 56312 at MK, and 90026 on Euston-BNS at Bletchley, also 37's on flask at Kensington... oh well, you can't have everything. Plenty of freight here, plus 321/4, 350/1 & 350/2 EMU, among other things. Oh, and one or two Pendos!

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2009 Railways: 018. Eastleigh (for DRS 37/47 convoy) 29th June.

Mon Jun 29 2009

Monday 29 June 2009: A late afternoon jaunt to Eastleigh to try and photograph the DRS class 37 & 47 convoy, hoping for better luck than I encountered on Saturday at Havant. All turned out well; despite arriving about 2 hours late, it was worth it. Surprisingly few were there to capture the event, and the weather was splendid.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 017. Havant (for engineers' trains) & Portsmouth 27th June.

Sat Jun 27 2009

Saturday 27 June 2009: Don't be misled by the title of the collection - it's largely uncluttered by engineers' trains, of the three I was expecting, one was triple-headed, early, and had broken down at Havant, causing long delays which reulted in my train arriving in time for me to witness it leaving (too late); the second failed miserably to appear, and finally one turned up around 19.00 hrs behind 66011, I JUST managed to catch it at the station (I'd spent all afternoon on the footbridge by the crossing). FGW 150 233 was the only non-377/450 multiple unit at Havant....

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

1989 Railways: Ireland - Dublin area 19-21st December.

Tue Jun 9 2009

Tuesday 9 June 2009: My first trip to Southern Ireland (with a view to trains), travelling via Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire. A frosty couple of days, but a worthwhile and friendly visit; I enjoyed it so much, I decided to make further visits when it might be warmer. I did that, and it rained most of the time....

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1989/90 Railways: Belgium & Holland over the New Year - 28th December 1989 to 1st January 1990.

Sun Jun 7 2009

Sunday 7 June 2009: Off to Belgium & Holland for a few days over the 1989/90 new year, spending the event itself at a hotel in Namur, where we celebrated it twice - once in GMT, and in European time. Pity I wasn't drinking... This was mainly a depot-visiting trip, in order to find the maximum number of locos & units at the minimum number of locations, since most of the locos/units were at rest. Sort of.... NS and SNCB depots (in the order of visits) were: Zwolle, Groningen, Kortrijk, Schaarbeek Diesel, Bertrix, Latour, Liege Kinkempois, Haine St Pierre, Ronet, St Ghislain, Monceau, Hasselt, Merelbeke, Antwerpen Dam, and Feijinoord. Lighting conditions at some locations were pretty dire, as a result, some of these photos (especially those at latour) leave a lot to be desired, but have been included if their rarity warrants; for instance, I've never seen any other photos of Latour depot!

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1991/92 Railways: Portugal - Dumped Steam Locos at Regua 1991/92.

Sun May 31 2009

Sunday 31 May 2009: The sight of the ten dumped narrow-gauge tank engines I found around the dual-gauge turntable at Regua when I visited on 20th May 1991 left a lasting impression on me; they were all still in situ a year later, and, although these visits have been partly covered in the Portuguese narrow-gauge collection elsewhere in the gallery, I felt that this rather sad spectacle deserved a collection of its own. The locomotives themselves are Henschel 2-4-6-0T's, built between 1911 and 1923. Positioning of the locos, for those interested, was (west to east, and south to north): E205, E204, E212, E208, E206, E202 + E201, and E209 + E215 + E210. The 150-ton dual-gauge turntable was constructed in 1923 by Joseph Vogel, Mannheim, Germany. Here then, are a few photographs showing how it was at Regua in the summers of 1991/92. (The 1991 photos are first, then 1992).

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 016. Eastleigh 100 Open Day 25th May.

Tue May 26 2009

Tuesday 26 May 2009: A splendid day out at the Works open day, after a rainy start, the weather turned beautiful, and all was well with the world (with the notable exception of my lower extremeties). All credit to Knights Rail & all concerned with the highly successful event. There were the usual problems of waiting for everyone to get out of the bl**dy way, so (owing to eventually settling for 'oh well, there's only 3 now') there's a good chance that many of you may well find yourself here in this collection! There's also a few pics from Fareham, since the limitations of the Sunday bus service ensured I had a 45 minute wait there. A great day - now I can't walk....

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2009 Railways: 015. Eastleigh (for more convoys etc) 22nd May.

Sun May 24 2009

Sunday 24 May 2009: More arrivals at/through Eastleigh today, so I made the effort again, much to the dismay of my legs, feet & back. Today's action included 6O41 from Westbury, hauled by 66030, 59001, 59103 & 59206; 0Z73 from Westbury: D1015 + 73006 (from the SVR); 5Z47 from Swanage with 37706 hauling 34070 + 34028 + M7 53 (30053); 5Z23 from Bournemouth: 3-CIG slammer 1497 (under it's own power, despite 73109 coming from Wimbledon yesterday to haul it); 73235 dashing to the rescue at Windsor; 66039 with 47799 & the last of the Old Oak ECS moves; three appearances by the Euroscout; First GBRf 66703 + 73201, and all the usual stuff, naturally. Of course, on a number of occasions I managed to be in the wrong place, and some trains got in the way at a crucial moment - none on purpose today, happily! Sadly, I wasn't in good enough nick myself to go for the special workings on Saturday, but I'm off to the Open Day itself on Monday.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery

2009 Railways: 014. Eastleigh (for the loco convoys etc) 21st May.

Fri May 22 2009

Friday 22 May 2009: The run-up to Eastleigh Open Days, and a wealth of movements for the occasion; today's arrivals featured here were: 73109 from WD, 47580 with 33002, 20110 & D7612 from Buckfastleigh, 37706 with MN 35005, 41312 & LN 850 from the MHR, 66096 with 37422+37411 from the T & RSMD, which then teamed up with kettles 30287 & B4 96 and 08482 for the Works move, 37516 with Queen of Scots stock from Carnforth, and the Javelin move with 395 018. Plus lots of freight. Rest to be added later. NOTE: Goodwill between railwaymen & enthusiasts took a severe poke in the ribs today; photographers on platform 1 at Eastleigh, patiently waiting for the 66/37/37/0298/B4/08 convoy to move from P3 to the works were livid when the driver & laughing friend of 2B91 16.38 Winchester-Totton unanimously won the Ar*ho*es of the Year award by waiting for the convoy to move before departing (3 minutes late), and going as slow as possible on purpose so that the DMU (158 889) was in the way, preventing those on P1 from dong what they'd been waiting ages to do. Very funny I'm sure, but lacking in any thought for public relations. What a prat.

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2009 Railways: 013. St Denys (for 34067), Lymington, Eastleigh (for 37706), plus a few other locations 2nd May.

Sat May 2 2009

Saturday 2 May 2009: A nice day for going to the New Forest! "Tangmere" was the target at St Denys, then the Lymington 'slammer' (unfortunately it was blue & grey 1497 again), then back to Eastleigh to catch 37706 with the return charter. I managed to stop off at a few places, so a few photos from new locations at Swanwick and Ashurst (New Forest (formerly Lyndhurst Road), plus Fareham, St Denys, Southampton Central, Brockenhurst, Lymington Town & Pier, and Eastleigh. Thanks to Mick Rowland for the train info.

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2009 Railways: 012. Eastleigh, St Denys, Millbrook & Southampton (for 58001/9 & 37423) 22nd April.

Wed Apr 22 2009

Wednesday 22 April 2009: Having not managed to see last week's 47/50/50/37 convoy, I thought I'd better make the effort today, since 58001 was coming to Eastleigh, 58009 was LEAVING Eastleigh, and DRS 37423 was making an appearance at Southampton with inspection saloon 975025 "Caroline". A worthwhile day, with STACKS of freight workings! Many thanks as usual to Mick Rowland for the train info.

Published in The Tracks Of My Years: Dave Rowland's Transport Gallery