#steamrailways — Public Fediverse posts

Swanage Railway: Spring Gala 2026

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn. The second was to visit the Swanage Railway for one of their steam galas. Not often one to hang around when the mood takes me, just a week after attending the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala, I headed down to Dorset to spend the day chasing trains.

There was a decent lineup of locomotives in the offing, which appealed to me in a couple of important ways: firstly, of the seven engines due to run, I only had decent shots of two of them, but secondly and perhaps most importantly, one of them was blue.

My tour guide for the day would once again be Chailey Stowe, who had escorted me around Spa Valley. I may have visited the Swanage Railway many many times over the years, since I was a small boy, but I don’t know all of the best spots to shoot it. Joining us would be 21C Photography, who was also unfamiliar with the railway.

Our first spot for the day was a field just outside of the village of Corfe Castle. There, in a bit of a rerun from the previous week, we bumped into both The Southerner and SouthEast Classic Rail, meaning good conversation ensued whilst we waited for the train. Soon, 34070 Manston came dramatically round the corner.

I have definitely seen Manston before, but usually she’s just been parked around Swanage station, and never in steam. I’ve also seen plenty of rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in steam before, such as 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, 34028 Eddystone, 35028 Clan Line, or 34046 Braunton, but this also represents the first time I’ve seen an unrebuilt, air smoothed ‘spam can’ Bulleid – at least, to my recollection. It’s always possible I saw one when I was younger and not paying as much attention.

Manston is a grubby engine by intent – although she’s not as grubby as she used to be – which makes a bit of as refreshing change considering so many steam locomotives in preservation are kept immaculate.

Chailey’s usual tactic for a gala involves hopping in a car and jumping all over the line. I love the thrill of the chase but it can be a bit hectic at times. This time wasn’t a big rush, as we headed back down the line to Harmans Cross, which when I first visited would have been the end of the line. Just outside the station the line passes under a bridge, giving us a good view of the next train, headed by U class 31806.

As it was a gala, the railway were running trains beyond the normal end of their line, up the extension most of the way towards Wareham and the River Frome. This opened up some extra shooting spots beyond Norden station. So we headed up the line towards Creech Bottom, where we waited for what we were hoping to be a noisy run from 6880 Betton Grange. Before that, though, we actually managed to beat 31806 to this part of the line, so we got to see her go past. She wasn’t working very hard – this part of the track favours locomotives heading in the other direction – but it made a nice photo regardless.

This was actually the same train we were there to see – services up this way are top-and-tailed, so there is a locomotive at each end, and you can just about see Betton Grange at the back of the shot above. After a little wait, the train came back around the corner, making a racket as promised.

Then it was another slight race back to Harmans Cross again to beat Betton Grange there, as she would be coming through on an express service.

At this point we all jumped in the Southerner’s car to head back to Corfe Castle for another one of the visiting locomotives I hadn’t seen yet, 68067.

Well, that’s not strictly true – 68067 visited the Bluebell Railway last year for their Branch Line Gala, but failed before the event, so she was only on static display. This time, she was pulling a goods demonstration set.

After a quick hop back to Harmans Cross to return to our previously scheduled cars, we headed up to another section of the extension, Arland House Crossing, just up from Norden. Myself, Chailey, the Southerner, SouthEast Classic Rail and 21C got there with a bit of time to spare for some jaw jacking before the next train came along, headed by 34072 257 Squadron.

Like the other trains heading up the extension, this service was top-and-tailed, with Manston on the rear ready to pull the train back again.

We then headed back to Corfe Common, where we started the day, to catch Betton Grange again. This time the light was on the other side of the line, and we were cutting things a bit fine, necessitating a bit of a run and ultimately shooting from the bridge rather than in a field.

As quickly as we arrived we left, headed for Wilderness Crossing, a spot just before Harmans Cross on the way out of Swanage. This was an odd spot for me, because it’s on a public footpath I’d unknowingly driven past it countless times over the years, accessed by what looks like somebody’s front gate. At the crossing we would wait for the two locomotives I’d not yet seen, but whilst we waited, Manston came by in the other direction, approaching Swanage. It was a coasting spot for locomotives heading that way so not worth filming, but it was definitely worth a few photos.

I really like the way the line of trees runs parallel with the train.

Soon we were greeted by a cacophony of noise as WD152 Rennes and 68067 rounded the corner, giving me exactly the sort of noise and textured exhaust that makes me tingle.

Rennes was the locomotive I was most excited to see, based mainly on the fact she is blue with white walled wheels. At this point I had never seen an Austerity ‘bucket’ giving it the beans, and now I know that she not only looks good, but performs well too.

The challenge with this spot is that, when on the right side of the track for the light, you have a very narrow angle to shoot, because right by the crossing is an equipment cabinet and a sign, so if you mistime things you can end up missing the shot entirely. So narrow was the window that had the sun decisively disappeared behind a suitably large cloud that we could be sure it was staying away, we’d have switched to the other side of the line. A big patch of blue opened up though, so on this side we stayed. I got a bit lucky with this next shot in missing the pitfalls, but I think I got a bit too much of the trees in the frame.

But the next shot, which in theory is a better shot of the loco in terms of framing and position, is ruined by the big box in the way.

Looking back at the video of this run, it looks like 68067 is not putting any effort in and letting Rennes do all the work. Given the performance, I’m happy for it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrOj-PjIXF/

Having seen this run, our plans changed a bit, because it had become very apparent that these two locomotives were the ones to see.

First, though, it was back to Creech Bottom, for our original plan of seeing the two buckets come back down the line. Being tank engines, it’s not inauthentic to see them running bunker-first, and after their last run, we weren’t going to miss them. They looked every bit as smoky as they rounded the corner.

Rennes was clearly still the one after all the attention.

I assure you they were every bit as exciting going backwards.

We headed off back towards Corfe Castle, and a spot I had only seen whilst glimpsing through hedgerows when driving past previously. It offered a great view of the line curving through the countryside with the castle in the background, a quite ridiculously picturesque scene.

We stayed here for a few shots, the first being yet another return of the buckets Rennes and 68067 heading bunker-first towards Swanage. Unfortunately the sun went in jut as this shot happened.

I decided to edit one of the shots from slightly earlier in this pass into black and white, but given the scenery I decided to use a flatter-looking monochrome filter to try to emulate the style of old photos from back in the day.

Next was 257 Squadron pulling the goods set up away from Swanage. This isn’t the most exciting shot as the locomotive is coasting but the sun happened to come out over the castle just as she went by.

Not long after it was time for Betton Grange to head back towards Swanage., and unlike with the buckets, this time the sun came out at just the right time (at least on the locomotive – unfortunately not on the castle).

As she moved around more I zoomed back in for a better shot of the engine.

From here it was just a short drive through Corfe Castle (the village), past Corfe Castle (the station) and back into the shadow of Corfe Castle (the castle) to get a shot of another locomotive coming across Corfe Viaduct – this time, 31806.

After posting the above shot on Instagram, the man on the footplate approached me and asked for a copy of the photo. I was only happy to oblige – I’m always happy to give my shots to crews and railways.

From here we had a tight turnaround to get to Dickers Crossing in order to catch the buckets on their last run of the day. In the end, we lost our bottle and diverted to New Barn. It wasn’t ideal, as we would be on the wrong side of the goldening light, but better that than miss them entirely.

In the end there was no reason to panic, as the locos set off a good 10 or 15 minutes late from Swanage after an extended water stop, but we’d made our choice and had to stick with it.

The light was certainly pretty nice as the locomotives rounded the corner into view.

Soon, however, the light was against us, save for a little patch on the front of the loco.

As soon as the engines were past, it was time to improvise with the light we were given.

Then it was on to Dickers Crossing anyway, to see 257 Squadron.

By now the light had turned lovely and golden.

This meant some more improvisation and shooting into the light in order to get some of the much sought after glint off the locomotive.

Then it was on to our final stop of the day, and fittingly it would be the near enough the spot where we started, Corfe Common, albeit on the other side of the line for the light, what left there was of it.

Whilst we waited for the service we were there for – a doubleheader of the spam cans – 31806 came by, tender-first and light engine, on her way back to Swanage. I hadn’t intended on shooting this (in no small part because it wasn’t on our plan for the day, so I had no idea it was happening), but I couldn’t resist once I realised how she was catching the light.

Unfortunately by the time the spam cans had arrived, the sun had properly set, and the golden glow of the evening had gone. Which Alamo meant it was starting to get a bit cold.

And with that, our day was done. There was still some nighttime beer trains to run, but these were a bit late for me, and would be in the dark anyway so not very good for photographing purposes. Instead, after a bit of lovely conversation, it was back to the cars for a lift back to my car to reunite with my family for a 2.5 hour drive home.

I loved my first Swanage Railway gala. It was a fantastic but hectic day, but I enjoyed all of it. Apart, perhaps, from that one jog up a hill to see Betton Grange. Now I know a bunch of the spots, I will definitely be keeping a close eye on the lineup for the Autumn Gala, because I will definitely be returning.

As ever, there are a few more shots than the ones covered above in the gallery below.

Swanage Railway: Spring Gala 2026

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn. The second was to visit the Swanage Railway for one of their steam galas. Not often one to hang around when the mood takes me, just a week after attending the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala, I headed down to Dorset to spend the day chasing trains.

There was a decent lineup of locomotives in the offing, which appealed to me in a couple of important ways: firstly, of the seven engines due to run, I only had decent shots of two of them, but secondly and perhaps most importantly, one of them was blue.

My tour guide for the day would once again be Chailey Stowe, who had escorted me around Spa Valley. I may have visited the Swanage Railway many many times over the years, since I was a small boy, but I don’t know all of the best spots to shoot it. Joining us would be 21C Photography, who was also unfamiliar with the railway.

Our first spot for the day was a field just outside of the village of Corfe Castle. There, in a bit of a rerun from the previous week, we bumped into both The Southerner and SouthEast Classic Rail, meaning good conversation ensued whilst we waited for the train. Soon, 34070 Manston came dramatically round the corner.

I have definitely seen Manston before, but usually she’s just been parked around Swanage station, and never in steam. I’ve also seen plenty of rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in steam before, such as 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, 34028 Eddystone, 35028 Clan Line, or 34046 Braunton, but this also represents the first time I’ve seen an unrebuilt, air smoothed ‘spam can’ Bulleid – at least, to my recollection. It’s always possible I saw one when I was younger and not paying as much attention.

Manston is a grubby engine by intent – although she’s not as grubby as she used to be – which makes a bit of as refreshing change considering so many steam locomotives in preservation are kept immaculate.

Chailey’s usual tactic for a gala involves hopping in a car and jumping all over the line. I love the thrill of the chase but it can be a bit hectic at times. This time wasn’t a big rush, as we headed back down the line to Harmans Cross, which when I first visited would have been the end of the line. Just outside the station the line passes under a bridge, giving us a good view of the next train, headed by U class 31806.

As it was a gala, the railway were running trains beyond the normal end of their line, up the extension most of the way towards Wareham and the River Frome. This opened up some extra shooting spots beyond Norden station. So we headed up the line towards Creech Bottom, where we waited for what we were hoping to be a noisy run from 6880 Betton Grange. Before that, though, we actually managed to beat 31806 to this part of the line, so we got to see her go past. She wasn’t working very hard – this part of the track favours locomotives heading in the other direction – but it made a nice photo regardless.

This was actually the same train we were there to see – services up this way are top-and-tailed, so there is a locomotive at each end, and you can just about see Betton Grange at the back of the shot above. After a little wait, the train came back around the corner, making a racket as promised.

Then it was another slight race back to Harmans Cross again to beat Betton Grange there, as she would be coming through on an express service.

At this point we all jumped in the Southerner’s car to head back to Corfe Castle for another one of the visiting locomotives I hadn’t seen yet, 68067.

Well, that’s not strictly true – 68067 visited the Bluebell Railway last year for their Branch Line Gala, but failed before the event, so she was only on static display. This time, she was pulling a goods demonstration set.

After a quick hop back to Harmans Cross to return to our previously scheduled cars, we headed up to another section of the extension, Arland House Crossing, just up from Norden. Myself, Chailey, the Southerner, SouthEast Classic Rail and 21C got there with a bit of time to spare for some jaw jacking before the next train came along, headed by 34072 257 Squadron.

Like the other trains heading up the extension, this service was top-and-tailed, with Manston on the rear ready to pull the train back again.

We then headed back to Corfe Common, where we started the day, to catch Betton Grange again. This time the light was on the other side of the line, and we were cutting things a bit fine, necessitating a bit of a run and ultimately shooting from the bridge rather than in a field.

As quickly as we arrived we left, headed for Wilderness Crossing, a spot just before Harmans Cross on the way out of Swanage. This was an odd spot for me, because it’s on a public footpath I’d unknowingly driven past it countless times over the years, accessed by what looks like somebody’s front gate. At the crossing we would wait for the two locomotives I’d not yet seen, but whilst we waited, Manston came by in the other direction, approaching Swanage. It was a coasting spot for locomotives heading that way so not worth filming, but it was definitely worth a few photos.

I really like the way the line of trees runs parallel with the train.

Soon we were greeted by a cacophony of noise as WD152 Rennes and 68067 rounded the corner, giving me exactly the sort of noise and textured exhaust that makes me tingle.

Rennes was the locomotive I was most excited to see, based mainly on the fact she is blue with white walled wheels. At this point I had never seen an Austerity ‘bucket’ giving it the beans, and now I know that she not only looks good, but performs well too.

The challenge with this spot is that, when on the right side of the track for the light, you have a very narrow angle to shoot, because right by the crossing is an equipment cabinet and a sign, so if you mistime things you can end up missing the shot entirely. So narrow was the window that had the sun decisively disappeared behind a suitably large cloud that we could be sure it was staying away, we’d have switched to the other side of the line. A big patch of blue opened up though, so on this side we stayed. I got a bit lucky with this next shot in missing the pitfalls, but I think I got a bit too much of the trees in the frame.

But the next shot, which in theory is a better shot of the loco in terms of framing and position, is ruined by the big box in the way.

Looking back at the video of this run, it looks like 68067 is not putting any effort in and letting Rennes do all the work. Given the performance, I’m happy for it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrOj-PjIXF/

Having seen this run, our plans changed a bit, because it had become very apparent that these two locomotives were the ones to see.

First, though, it was back to Creech Bottom, for our original plan of seeing the two buckets come back down the line. Being tank engines, it’s not inauthentic to see them running bunker-first, and after their last run, we weren’t going to miss them. They looked every bit as smoky as they rounded the corner.

Rennes was clearly still the one after all the attention.

I assure you they were every bit as exciting going backwards.

We headed off back towards Corfe Castle, and a spot I had only seen whilst glimpsing through hedgerows when driving past previously. It offered a great view of the line curving through the countryside with the castle in the background, a quite ridiculously picturesque scene.

We stayed here for a few shots, the first being yet another return of the buckets Rennes and 68067 heading bunker-first towards Swanage. Unfortunately the sun went in jut as this shot happened.

I decided to edit one of the shots from slightly earlier in this pass into black and white, but given the scenery I decided to use a flatter-looking monochrome filter to try to emulate the style of old photos from back in the day.

Next was 257 Squadron pulling the goods set up away from Swanage. This isn’t the most exciting shot as the locomotive is coasting but the sun happened to come out over the castle just as she went by.

Not long after it was time for Betton Grange to head back towards Swanage., and unlike with the buckets, this time the sun came out at just the right time (at least on the locomotive – unfortunately not on the castle).

As she moved around more I zoomed back in for a better shot of the engine.

From here it was just a short drive through Corfe Castle (the village), past Corfe Castle (the station) and back into the shadow of Corfe Castle (the castle) to get a shot of another locomotive coming across Corfe Viaduct – this time, 31806.

After posting the above shot on Instagram, the man on the footplate approached me and asked for a copy of the photo. I was only happy to oblige – I’m always happy to give my shots to crews and railways.

From here we had a tight turnaround to get to Dickers Crossing in order to catch the buckets on their last run of the day. In the end, we lost our bottle and diverted to New Barn. It wasn’t ideal, as we would be on the wrong side of the goldening light, but better that than miss them entirely.

In the end there was no reason to panic, as the locos set off a good 10 or 15 minutes late from Swanage after an extended water stop, but we’d made our choice and had to stick with it.

The light was certainly pretty nice as the locomotives rounded the corner into view.

Soon, however, the light was against us, save for a little patch on the front of the loco.

As soon as the engines were past, it was time to improvise with the light we were given.

Then it was on to Dickers Crossing anyway, to see 257 Squadron.

By now the light had turned lovely and golden.

This meant some more improvisation and shooting into the light in order to get some of the much sought after glint off the locomotive.

Then it was on to our final stop of the day, and fittingly it would be the near enough the spot where we started, Corfe Common, albeit on the other side of the line for the light, what left there was of it.

Whilst we waited for the service we were there for – a doubleheader of the spam cans – 31806 came by, tender-first and light engine, on her way back to Swanage. I hadn’t intended on shooting this (in no small part because it wasn’t on our plan for the day, so I had no idea it was happening), but I couldn’t resist once I realised how she was catching the light.

Unfortunately by the time the spam cans had arrived, the sun had properly set, and the golden glow of the evening had gone. Which Alamo meant it was starting to get a bit cold.

And with that, our day was done. There was still some nighttime beer trains to run, but these were a bit late for me, and would be in the dark anyway so not very good for photographing purposes. Instead, after a bit of lovely conversation, it was back to the cars for a lift back to my car to reunite with my family for a 2.5 hour drive home.

I loved my first Swanage Railway gala. It was a fantastic but hectic day, but I enjoyed all of it. Apart, perhaps, from that one jog up a hill to see Betton Grange. Now I know a bunch of the spots, I will definitely be keeping a close eye on the lineup for the Autumn Gala, because I will definitely be returning.

As ever, there are a few more shots than the ones covered above in the gallery below.

Swanage Railway: Spring Gala 2026

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn. The second was to visit the Swanage Railway for one of their steam galas. Not often one to hang around when the mood takes me, just a week after attending the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala, I headed down to Dorset to spend the day chasing trains.

There was a decent lineup of locomotives in the offing, which appealed to me in a couple of important ways: firstly, of the seven engines due to run, I only had decent shots of two of them, but secondly and perhaps most importantly, one of them was blue.

My tour guide for the day would once again be Chailey Stowe, who had escorted me around Spa Valley. I may have visited the Swanage Railway many many times over the years, since I was a small boy, but I don’t know all of the best spots to shoot it. Joining us would be 21C Photography, who was also unfamiliar with the railway.

Our first spot for the day was a field just outside of the village of Corfe Castle. There, in a bit of a rerun from the previous week, we bumped into both The Southerner and SouthEast Classic Rail, meaning good conversation ensued whilst we waited for the train. Soon, 34070 Manston came dramatically round the corner.

I have definitely seen Manston before, but usually she’s just been parked around Swanage station, and never in steam. I’ve also seen plenty of rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in steam before, such as 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, 34028 Eddystone, 35028 Clan Line, or 34046 Braunton, but this also represents the first time I’ve seen an unrebuilt, air smoothed ‘spam can’ Bulleid – at least, to my recollection. It’s always possible I saw one when I was younger and not paying as much attention.

Manston is a grubby engine by intent – although she’s not as grubby as she used to be – which makes a bit of as refreshing change considering so many steam locomotives in preservation are kept immaculate.

Chailey’s usual tactic for a gala involves hopping in a car and jumping all over the line. I love the thrill of the chase but it can be a bit hectic at times. This time wasn’t a big rush, as we headed back down the line to Harmans Cross, which when I first visited would have been the end of the line. Just outside the station the line passes under a bridge, giving us a good view of the next train, headed by U class 31806.

As it was a gala, the railway were running trains beyond the normal end of their line, up the extension most of the way towards Wareham and the River Frome. This opened up some extra shooting spots beyond Norden station. So we headed up the line towards Creech Bottom, where we waited for what we were hoping to be a noisy run from 6880 Betton Grange. Before that, though, we actually managed to beat 31806 to this part of the line, so we got to see her go past. She wasn’t working very hard – this part of the track favours locomotives heading in the other direction – but it made a nice photo regardless.

This was actually the same train we were there to see – services up this way are top-and-tailed, so there is a locomotive at each end, and you can just about see Betton Grange at the back of the shot above. After a little wait, the train came back around the corner, making a racket as promised.

Then it was another slight race back to Harmans Cross again to beat Betton Grange there, as she would be coming through on an express service.

At this point we all jumped in the Southerner’s car to head back to Corfe Castle for another one of the visiting locomotives I hadn’t seen yet, 68067.

Well, that’s not strictly true – 68067 visited the Bluebell Railway last year for their Branch Line Gala, but failed before the event, so she was only on static display. This time, she was pulling a goods demonstration set.

After a quick hop back to Harmans Cross to return to our previously scheduled cars, we headed up to another section of the extension, Arland House Crossing, just up from Norden. Myself, Chailey, the Southerner, SouthEast Classic Rail and 21C got there with a bit of time to spare for some jaw jacking before the next train came along, headed by 34072 257 Squadron.

Like the other trains heading up the extension, this service was top-and-tailed, with Manston on the rear ready to pull the train back again.

We then headed back to Corfe Common, where we started the day, to catch Betton Grange again. This time the light was on the other side of the line, and we were cutting things a bit fine, necessitating a bit of a run and ultimately shooting from the bridge rather than in a field.

As quickly as we arrived we left, headed for Wilderness Crossing, a spot just before Harmans Cross on the way out of Swanage. This was an odd spot for me, because it’s on a public footpath I’d unknowingly driven past it countless times over the years, accessed by what looks like somebody’s front gate. At the crossing we would wait for the two locomotives I’d not yet seen, but whilst we waited, Manston came by in the other direction, approaching Swanage. It was a coasting spot for locomotives heading that way so not worth filming, but it was definitely worth a few photos.

I really like the way the line of trees runs parallel with the train.

Soon we were greeted by a cacophony of noise as WD152 Rennes and 68067 rounded the corner, giving me exactly the sort of noise and textured exhaust that makes me tingle.

Rennes was the locomotive I was most excited to see, based mainly on the fact she is blue with white walled wheels. At this point I had never seen an Austerity ‘bucket’ giving it the beans, and now I know that she not only looks good, but performs well too.

The challenge with this spot is that, when on the right side of the track for the light, you have a very narrow angle to shoot, because right by the crossing is an equipment cabinet and a sign, so if you mistime things you can end up missing the shot entirely. So narrow was the window that had the sun decisively disappeared behind a suitably large cloud that we could be sure it was staying away, we’d have switched to the other side of the line. A big patch of blue opened up though, so on this side we stayed. I got a bit lucky with this next shot in missing the pitfalls, but I think I got a bit too much of the trees in the frame.

But the next shot, which in theory is a better shot of the loco in terms of framing and position, is ruined by the big box in the way.

Looking back at the video of this run, it looks like 68067 is not putting any effort in and letting Rennes do all the work. Given the performance, I’m happy for it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrOj-PjIXF/

Having seen this run, our plans changed a bit, because it had become very apparent that these two locomotives were the ones to see.

First, though, it was back to Creech Bottom, for our original plan of seeing the two buckets come back down the line. Being tank engines, it’s not inauthentic to see them running bunker-first, and after their last run, we weren’t going to miss them. They looked every bit as smoky as they rounded the corner.

Rennes was clearly still the one after all the attention.

I assure you they were every bit as exciting going backwards.

We headed off back towards Corfe Castle, and a spot I had only seen whilst glimpsing through hedgerows when driving past previously. It offered a great view of the line curving through the countryside with the castle in the background, a quite ridiculously picturesque scene.

We stayed here for a few shots, the first being yet another return of the buckets Rennes and 68067 heading bunker-first towards Swanage. Unfortunately the sun went in jut as this shot happened.

I decided to edit one of the shots from slightly earlier in this pass into black and white, but given the scenery I decided to use a flatter-looking monochrome filter to try to emulate the style of old photos from back in the day.

Next was 257 Squadron pulling the goods set up away from Swanage. This isn’t the most exciting shot as the locomotive is coasting but the sun happened to come out over the castle just as she went by.

Not long after it was time for Betton Grange to head back towards Swanage., and unlike with the buckets, this time the sun came out at just the right time (at least on the locomotive – unfortunately not on the castle).

As she moved around more I zoomed back in for a better shot of the engine.

From here it was just a short drive through Corfe Castle (the village), past Corfe Castle (the station) and back into the shadow of Corfe Castle (the castle) to get a shot of another locomotive coming across Corfe Viaduct – this time, 31806.

After posting the above shot on Instagram, the man on the footplate approached me and asked for a copy of the photo. I was only happy to oblige – I’m always happy to give my shots to crews and railways.

From here we had a tight turnaround to get to Dickers Crossing in order to catch the buckets on their last run of the day. In the end, we lost our bottle and diverted to New Barn. It wasn’t ideal, as we would be on the wrong side of the goldening light, but better that than miss them entirely.

In the end there was no reason to panic, as the locos set off a good 10 or 15 minutes late from Swanage after an extended water stop, but we’d made our choice and had to stick with it.

The light was certainly pretty nice as the locomotives rounded the corner into view.

Soon, however, the light was against us, save for a little patch on the front of the loco.

As soon as the engines were past, it was time to improvise with the light we were given.

Then it was on to Dickers Crossing anyway, to see 257 Squadron.

By now the light had turned lovely and golden.

This meant some more improvisation and shooting into the light in order to get some of the much sought after glint off the locomotive.

Then it was on to our final stop of the day, and fittingly it would be the near enough the spot where we started, Corfe Common, albeit on the other side of the line for the light, what left there was of it.

Whilst we waited for the service we were there for – a doubleheader of the spam cans – 31806 came by, tender-first and light engine, on her way back to Swanage. I hadn’t intended on shooting this (in no small part because it wasn’t on our plan for the day, so I had no idea it was happening), but I couldn’t resist once I realised how she was catching the light.

Unfortunately by the time the spam cans had arrived, the sun had properly set, and the golden glow of the evening had gone. Which Alamo meant it was starting to get a bit cold.

And with that, our day was done. There was still some nighttime beer trains to run, but these were a bit late for me, and would be in the dark anyway so not very good for photographing purposes. Instead, after a bit of lovely conversation, it was back to the cars for a lift back to my car to reunite with my family for a 2.5 hour drive home.

I loved my first Swanage Railway gala. It was a fantastic but hectic day, but I enjoyed all of it. Apart, perhaps, from that one jog up a hill to see Betton Grange. Now I know a bunch of the spots, I will definitely be keeping a close eye on the lineup for the Autumn Gala, because I will definitely be returning.

As ever, there are a few more shots than the ones covered above in the gallery below.

Swanage Railway: Spring Gala 2026

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn. The second was to visit the Swanage Railway for one of their steam galas. Not often one to hang around when the mood takes me, just a week after attending the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala, I headed down to Dorset to spend the day chasing trains.

There was a decent lineup of locomotives in the offing, which appealed to me in a couple of important ways: firstly, of the seven engines due to run, I only had decent shots of two of them, but secondly and perhaps most importantly, one of them was blue.

My tour guide for the day would once again be Chailey Stowe, who had escorted me around Spa Valley. I may have visited the Swanage Railway many many times over the years, since I was a small boy, but I don’t know all of the best spots to shoot it. Joining us would be 21C Photography, who was also unfamiliar with the railway.

Our first spot for the day was a field just outside of the village of Corfe Castle. There, in a bit of a rerun from the previous week, we bumped into both The Southerner and SouthEast Classic Rail, meaning good conversation ensued whilst we waited for the train. Soon, 34070 Manston came dramatically round the corner.

I have definitely seen Manston before, but usually she’s just been parked around Swanage station, and never in steam. I’ve also seen plenty of rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in steam before, such as 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, 34028 Eddystone, 35028 Clan Line, or 34046 Braunton, but this also represents the first time I’ve seen an unrebuilt, air smoothed ‘spam can’ Bulleid – at least, to my recollection. It’s always possible I saw one when I was younger and not paying as much attention.

Manston is a grubby engine by intent – although she’s not as grubby as she used to be – which makes a bit of as refreshing change considering so many steam locomotives in preservation are kept immaculate.

Chailey’s usual tactic for a gala involves hopping in a car and jumping all over the line. I love the thrill of the chase but it can be a bit hectic at times. This time wasn’t a big rush, as we headed back down the line to Harmans Cross, which when I first visited would have been the end of the line. Just outside the station the line passes under a bridge, giving us a good view of the next train, headed by U class 31806.

As it was a gala, the railway were running trains beyond the normal end of their line, up the extension most of the way towards Wareham and the River Frome. This opened up some extra shooting spots beyond Norden station. So we headed up the line towards Creech Bottom, where we waited for what we were hoping to be a noisy run from 6880 Betton Grange. Before that, though, we actually managed to beat 31806 to this part of the line, so we got to see her go past. She wasn’t working very hard – this part of the track favours locomotives heading in the other direction – but it made a nice photo regardless.

This was actually the same train we were there to see – services up this way are top-and-tailed, so there is a locomotive at each end, and you can just about see Betton Grange at the back of the shot above. After a little wait, the train came back around the corner, making a racket as promised.

Then it was another slight race back to Harmans Cross again to beat Betton Grange there, as she would be coming through on an express service.

At this point we all jumped in the Southerner’s car to head back to Corfe Castle for another one of the visiting locomotives I hadn’t seen yet, 68067.

Well, that’s not strictly true – 68067 visited the Bluebell Railway last year for their Branch Line Gala, but failed before the event, so she was only on static display. This time, she was pulling a goods demonstration set.

After a quick hop back to Harmans Cross to return to our previously scheduled cars, we headed up to another section of the extension, Arland House Crossing, just up from Norden. Myself, Chailey, the Southerner, SouthEast Classic Rail and 21C got there with a bit of time to spare for some jaw jacking before the next train came along, headed by 34072 257 Squadron.

Like the other trains heading up the extension, this service was top-and-tailed, with Manston on the rear ready to pull the train back again.

We then headed back to Corfe Common, where we started the day, to catch Betton Grange again. This time the light was on the other side of the line, and we were cutting things a bit fine, necessitating a bit of a run and ultimately shooting from the bridge rather than in a field.

As quickly as we arrived we left, headed for Wilderness Crossing, a spot just before Harmans Cross on the way out of Swanage. This was an odd spot for me, because it’s on a public footpath I’d unknowingly driven past it countless times over the years, accessed by what looks like somebody’s front gate. At the crossing we would wait for the two locomotives I’d not yet seen, but whilst we waited, Manston came by in the other direction, approaching Swanage. It was a coasting spot for locomotives heading that way so not worth filming, but it was definitely worth a few photos.

I really like the way the line of trees runs parallel with the train.

Soon we were greeted by a cacophony of noise as WD152 Rennes and 68067 rounded the corner, giving me exactly the sort of noise and textured exhaust that makes me tingle.

Rennes was the locomotive I was most excited to see, based mainly on the fact she is blue with white walled wheels. At this point I had never seen an Austerity ‘bucket’ giving it the beans, and now I know that she not only looks good, but performs well too.

The challenge with this spot is that, when on the right side of the track for the light, you have a very narrow angle to shoot, because right by the crossing is an equipment cabinet and a sign, so if you mistime things you can end up missing the shot entirely. So narrow was the window that had the sun decisively disappeared behind a suitably large cloud that we could be sure it was staying away, we’d have switched to the other side of the line. A big patch of blue opened up though, so on this side we stayed. I got a bit lucky with this next shot in missing the pitfalls, but I think I got a bit too much of the trees in the frame.

But the next shot, which in theory is a better shot of the loco in terms of framing and position, is ruined by the big box in the way.

Looking back at the video of this run, it looks like 68067 is not putting any effort in and letting Rennes do all the work. Given the performance, I’m happy for it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrOj-PjIXF/

Having seen this run, our plans changed a bit, because it had become very apparent that these two locomotives were the ones to see.

First, though, it was back to Creech Bottom, for our original plan of seeing the two buckets come back down the line. Being tank engines, it’s not inauthentic to see them running bunker-first, and after their last run, we weren’t going to miss them. They looked every bit as smoky as they rounded the corner.

Rennes was clearly still the one after all the attention.

I assure you they were every bit as exciting going backwards.

We headed off back towards Corfe Castle, and a spot I had only seen whilst glimpsing through hedgerows when driving past previously. It offered a great view of the line curving through the countryside with the castle in the background, a quite ridiculously picturesque scene.

We stayed here for a few shots, the first being yet another return of the buckets Rennes and 68067 heading bunker-first towards Swanage. Unfortunately the sun went in jut as this shot happened.

I decided to edit one of the shots from slightly earlier in this pass into black and white, but given the scenery I decided to use a flatter-looking monochrome filter to try to emulate the style of old photos from back in the day.

Next was 257 Squadron pulling the goods set up away from Swanage. This isn’t the most exciting shot as the locomotive is coasting but the sun happened to come out over the castle just as she went by.

Not long after it was time for Betton Grange to head back towards Swanage., and unlike with the buckets, this time the sun came out at just the right time (at least on the locomotive – unfortunately not on the castle).

As she moved around more I zoomed back in for a better shot of the engine.

From here it was just a short drive through Corfe Castle (the village), past Corfe Castle (the station) and back into the shadow of Corfe Castle (the castle) to get a shot of another locomotive coming across Corfe Viaduct – this time, 31806.

After posting the above shot on Instagram, the man on the footplate approached me and asked for a copy of the photo. I was only happy to oblige – I’m always happy to give my shots to crews and railways.

From here we had a tight turnaround to get to Dickers Crossing in order to catch the buckets on their last run of the day. In the end, we lost our bottle and diverted to New Barn. It wasn’t ideal, as we would be on the wrong side of the goldening light, but better that than miss them entirely.

In the end there was no reason to panic, as the locos set off a good 10 or 15 minutes late from Swanage after an extended water stop, but we’d made our choice and had to stick with it.

The light was certainly pretty nice as the locomotives rounded the corner into view.

Soon, however, the light was against us, save for a little patch on the front of the loco.

As soon as the engines were past, it was time to improvise with the light we were given.

Then it was on to Dickers Crossing anyway, to see 257 Squadron.

By now the light had turned lovely and golden.

This meant some more improvisation and shooting into the light in order to get some of the much sought after glint off the locomotive.

Then it was on to our final stop of the day, and fittingly it would be the near enough the spot where we started, Corfe Common, albeit on the other side of the line for the light, what left there was of it.

Whilst we waited for the service we were there for – a doubleheader of the spam cans – 31806 came by, tender-first and light engine, on her way back to Swanage. I hadn’t intended on shooting this (in no small part because it wasn’t on our plan for the day, so I had no idea it was happening), but I couldn’t resist once I realised how she was catching the light.

Unfortunately by the time the spam cans had arrived, the sun had properly set, and the golden glow of the evening had gone. Which Alamo meant it was starting to get a bit cold.

And with that, our day was done. There was still some nighttime beer trains to run, but these were a bit late for me, and would be in the dark anyway so not very good for photographing purposes. Instead, after a bit of lovely conversation, it was back to the cars for a lift back to my car to reunite with my family for a 2.5 hour drive home.

I loved my first Swanage Railway gala. It was a fantastic but hectic day, but I enjoyed all of it. Apart, perhaps, from that one jog up a hill to see Betton Grange. Now I know a bunch of the spots, I will definitely be keeping a close eye on the lineup for the Autumn Gala, because I will definitely be returning.

As ever, there are a few more shots than the ones covered above in the gallery below.

Swanage Railway: Spring Gala 2026

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn. The second was to visit the Swanage Railway for one of their steam galas. Not often one to hang around when the mood takes me, just a week after attending the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala, I headed down to Dorset to spend the day chasing trains.

There was a decent lineup of locomotives in the offing, which appealed to me in a couple of important ways: firstly, of the seven engines due to run, I only had decent shots of two of them, but secondly and perhaps most importantly, one of them was blue.

My tour guide for the day would once again be Chailey Stowe, who had escorted me around Spa Valley. I may have visited the Swanage Railway many many times over the years, since I was a small boy, but I don’t know all of the best spots to shoot it. Joining us would be 21C Photography, who was also unfamiliar with the railway.

Our first spot for the day was a field just outside of the village of Corfe Castle. There, in a bit of a rerun from the previous week, we bumped into both The Southerner and SouthEast Classic Rail, meaning good conversation ensued whilst we waited for the train. Soon, 34070 Manston came dramatically round the corner.

I have definitely seen Manston before, but usually she’s just been parked around Swanage station, and never in steam. I’ve also seen plenty of rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in steam before, such as 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, 34028 Eddystone, 35028 Clan Line, or 34046 Braunton, but this also represents the first time I’ve seen an unrebuilt, air smoothed ‘spam can’ Bulleid – at least, to my recollection. It’s always possible I saw one when I was younger and not paying as much attention.

Manston is a grubby engine by intent – although she’s not as grubby as she used to be – which makes a bit of as refreshing change considering so many steam locomotives in preservation are kept immaculate.

Chailey’s usual tactic for a gala involves hopping in a car and jumping all over the line. I love the thrill of the chase but it can be a bit hectic at times. This time wasn’t a big rush, as we headed back down the line to Harmans Cross, which when I first visited would have been the end of the line. Just outside the station the line passes under a bridge, giving us a good view of the next train, headed by U class 31806.

As it was a gala, the railway were running trains beyond the normal end of their line, up the extension most of the way towards Wareham and the River Frome. This opened up some extra shooting spots beyond Norden station. So we headed up the line towards Creech Bottom, where we waited for what we were hoping to be a noisy run from 6880 Betton Grange. Before that, though, we actually managed to beat 31806 to this part of the line, so we got to see her go past. She wasn’t working very hard – this part of the track favours locomotives heading in the other direction – but it made a nice photo regardless.

This was actually the same train we were there to see – services up this way are top-and-tailed, so there is a locomotive at each end, and you can just about see Betton Grange at the back of the shot above. After a little wait, the train came back around the corner, making a racket as promised.

Then it was another slight race back to Harmans Cross again to beat Betton Grange there, as she would be coming through on an express service.

At this point we all jumped in the Southerner’s car to head back to Corfe Castle for another one of the visiting locomotives I hadn’t seen yet, 68067.

Well, that’s not strictly true – 68067 visited the Bluebell Railway last year for their Branch Line Gala, but failed before the event, so she was only on static display. This time, she was pulling a goods demonstration set.

After a quick hop back to Harmans Cross to return to our previously scheduled cars, we headed up to another section of the extension, Arland House Crossing, just up from Norden. Myself, Chailey, the Southerner, SouthEast Classic Rail and 21C got there with a bit of time to spare for some jaw jacking before the next train came along, headed by 34072 257 Squadron.

Like the other trains heading up the extension, this service was top-and-tailed, with Manston on the rear ready to pull the train back again.

We then headed back to Corfe Common, where we started the day, to catch Betton Grange again. This time the light was on the other side of the line, and we were cutting things a bit fine, necessitating a bit of a run and ultimately shooting from the bridge rather than in a field.

As quickly as we arrived we left, headed for Wilderness Crossing, a spot just before Harmans Cross on the way out of Swanage. This was an odd spot for me, because it’s on a public footpath I’d unknowingly driven past it countless times over the years, accessed by what looks like somebody’s front gate. At the crossing we would wait for the two locomotives I’d not yet seen, but whilst we waited, Manston came by in the other direction, approaching Swanage. It was a coasting spot for locomotives heading that way so not worth filming, but it was definitely worth a few photos.

I really like the way the line of trees runs parallel with the train.

Soon we were greeted by a cacophony of noise as WD152 Rennes and 68067 rounded the corner, giving me exactly the sort of noise and textured exhaust that makes me tingle.

Rennes was the locomotive I was most excited to see, based mainly on the fact she is blue with white walled wheels. At this point I had never seen an Austerity ‘bucket’ giving it the beans, and now I know that she not only looks good, but performs well too.

The challenge with this spot is that, when on the right side of the track for the light, you have a very narrow angle to shoot, because right by the crossing is an equipment cabinet and a sign, so if you mistime things you can end up missing the shot entirely. So narrow was the window that had the sun decisively disappeared behind a suitably large cloud that we could be sure it was staying away, we’d have switched to the other side of the line. A big patch of blue opened up though, so on this side we stayed. I got a bit lucky with this next shot in missing the pitfalls, but I think I got a bit too much of the trees in the frame.

But the next shot, which in theory is a better shot of the loco in terms of framing and position, is ruined by the big box in the way.

Looking back at the video of this run, it looks like 68067 is not putting any effort in and letting Rennes do all the work. Given the performance, I’m happy for it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrOj-PjIXF/

Having seen this run, our plans changed a bit, because it had become very apparent that these two locomotives were the ones to see.

First, though, it was back to Creech Bottom, for our original plan of seeing the two buckets come back down the line. Being tank engines, it’s not inauthentic to see them running bunker-first, and after their last run, we weren’t going to miss them. They looked every bit as smoky as they rounded the corner.

Rennes was clearly still the one after all the attention.

I assure you they were every bit as exciting going backwards.

We headed off back towards Corfe Castle, and a spot I had only seen whilst glimpsing through hedgerows when driving past previously. It offered a great view of the line curving through the countryside with the castle in the background, a quite ridiculously picturesque scene.

We stayed here for a few shots, the first being yet another return of the buckets Rennes and 68067 heading bunker-first towards Swanage. Unfortunately the sun went in jut as this shot happened.

I decided to edit one of the shots from slightly earlier in this pass into black and white, but given the scenery I decided to use a flatter-looking monochrome filter to try to emulate the style of old photos from back in the day.

Next was 257 Squadron pulling the goods set up away from Swanage. This isn’t the most exciting shot as the locomotive is coasting but the sun happened to come out over the castle just as she went by.

Not long after it was time for Betton Grange to head back towards Swanage., and unlike with the buckets, this time the sun came out at just the right time (at least on the locomotive – unfortunately not on the castle).

As she moved around more I zoomed back in for a better shot of the engine.

From here it was just a short drive through Corfe Castle (the village), past Corfe Castle (the station) and back into the shadow of Corfe Castle (the castle) to get a shot of another locomotive coming across Corfe Viaduct – this time, 31806.

After posting the above shot on Instagram, the man on the footplate approached me and asked for a copy of the photo. I was only happy to oblige – I’m always happy to give my shots to crews and railways.

From here we had a tight turnaround to get to Dickers Crossing in order to catch the buckets on their last run of the day. In the end, we lost our bottle and diverted to New Barn. It wasn’t ideal, as we would be on the wrong side of the goldening light, but better that than miss them entirely.

In the end there was no reason to panic, as the locos set off a good 10 or 15 minutes late from Swanage after an extended water stop, but we’d made our choice and had to stick with it.

The light was certainly pretty nice as the locomotives rounded the corner into view.

Soon, however, the light was against us, save for a little patch on the front of the loco.

As soon as the engines were past, it was time to improvise with the light we were given.

Then it was on to Dickers Crossing anyway, to see 257 Squadron.

By now the light had turned lovely and golden.

This meant some more improvisation and shooting into the light in order to get some of the much sought after glint off the locomotive.

Then it was on to our final stop of the day, and fittingly it would be the near enough the spot where we started, Corfe Common, albeit on the other side of the line for the light, what left there was of it.

Whilst we waited for the service we were there for – a doubleheader of the spam cans – 31806 came by, tender-first and light engine, on her way back to Swanage. I hadn’t intended on shooting this (in no small part because it wasn’t on our plan for the day, so I had no idea it was happening), but I couldn’t resist once I realised how she was catching the light.

Unfortunately by the time the spam cans had arrived, the sun had properly set, and the golden glow of the evening had gone. Which also meant it was starting to get a bit cold.

And with that, our day was done. There was still some nighttime beer trains to run, but these were a bit late for me, and would be in the dark anyway so not very good for photographing purposes. Instead, after a bit of lovely conversation, it was back to the cars for a lift back to my car to reunite with my family for a 2.5 hour drive home.

I loved my first Swanage Railway gala. It was a fantastic but hectic day, but I enjoyed all of it. Apart, perhaps, from that one jog up a hill to see Betton Grange. Now I know a bunch of the spots, I will definitely be keeping a close eye on the lineup for the Autumn Gala, because I will definitely be returning.

As ever, there are a few more shots than the ones covered above in the gallery below.

Bluebell Railway: Spring Gala 2026

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

As is now traditional for me at a Bluebell gala, I attended the Friday and Saturday of the event, and would once again mostly be rolling with Sharpthorne Steam and 72B Photography (although our little lineside crew is getting bigger, with both Chailey Stowe and SouthEast Classic Rail now also holders of the orange vest).

We started the weekend at Freshfield Bank, which is also a very popular spot for people on the fence side of the line. There are usually a couple of choices when shooting here: out in the field for a wide shot, or lineside with a more front-on shot. This time out I went for the lineside shot. Although it was a sunny day it was a hazy morning, so I decided to edit this shot in monochrome to cover up the slightly pale colours. The first locomotive was one of the visitors for the event, British Railways standard 4 75069.

As has also now become standard, I was shooting in Manual Mode (with auto ISO) and mostly using my 28-300mm “railway lens” for the freedom to shoot both zoomed in (as above) and wide angle (so below).

The good thing about spring galas is the weather is still usually good for lovely exhaust.

We headed north to a spot known as Holywell. It’s just south of the s-bend near Waterworks I’m quite partial to. There we readied for the arrival of 75069’s big sister, resident locomotive 73082 Camelot.

As I opened up the angle, all the factors aligned for this next shot.

Lovely exhaust, beautiful morning light, blue skies, a locomotive perfectly matched to a set of gorgeous rolling stock, and if you’re really picky (and I’m usually not, but I can’t help but notice it) the wheel connecting rod is in the more aesthetically pleasing downward position. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is probably one of the better shots I got all weekend.

One of the challenges of this gala was that several of the locomotives running would be facing south. There aren’t as many spots to capture a south-facing steam engine working as there are north-facing ones, so it’s harder to get into the right spots. We tried to make it south to shoot 80151 at a decent spot but decided we had ran out of time, so we ended up shooting her coasting.

We then travelled by car up to Horsted Keynes and headed north, so shoot the next northbound train, which would be 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair on a stonking run, come under Horsted House Bridge.

This was one of the best runs of the weekend. My photos don’t really do it justice, but luckily as ever I also took some video too.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHbkAjDI4N/

We headed north, eventually meeting up with The Southerner who was also out. We trekked up in the general direction of the southern portal of Sharpthorne Tunnel. The idea was to try shooting a locomotive coming out of Courtland Wood. That locomotive ended up being 80151, which as she would be coming bunker-first, made it a little bit of a throwaway shot. It worked quite nicely though – definitely one to try again.

We then headed back south a little, to catch 75069 just north of Vaux End Bridge, running through the s-bend where we’d shot Sir Archie on New Year’s Day. With the longer shot, I broke out my bigger 100-500mm telephoto.

On the footplate of this locomotive over the weekend was a Bluebell volunteer who originally fired this very engine back in the BR days, making this a nice reunion of man and locomotive. He can be seen on the right of the shot below.

From here, we returned to the car and headed up the line towards Kingscote station. We headed to just south of the station, where we encountered SouthEast Classic Rail, and waited for the other visitor, W8 Freshwater, doubleheading with 72 Fenchurch, to arrive from the south.

The plentiful daffodils also served as an interesting framing device when 75069 went back towards Sheffield Park, tender-first.

We continued south, with the intention of getting into a spot ready for both Fenchurch and Freshwater to come back south, which they’d be doing in a triple header with 80151, facing the right way and hopefully working hard. On the way we met up with Chailey, because that sort of thing seems to happen often when you’re lineside at the moment. In the meantime, we had another run from Sir Archibald Sinclair to enjoy. For this, 72B, SouthEast and myself positioned ourselves north of Birchstone Bridge, whilst Sharpthorne and Chailey headed to the south. Luckily, Archie got signal checked, meaning we actually had some exhaust where we were, unlike the unfortunate pair south of the bridge.

The question then became where to go for the triple header. We ended up scattered across this section of the line. SouthEast and I decided the light would be better slightly north, on an embankment that would also give us a wider angle and some elevation (which is nice for a train pulled by three locomotives). Sharpthorne and Chailey remained south near Birch Farm crossing hoping the engines would be working harder there, and 72B chose somewhere in the middle. In the event, the locos didn’t work particularly hard on this run, so I’m glad I chose to go where I ended up, because at least I got some decent photographs out of it.

With the triple header done, focus shifted back to locomotives facing north, so we headed back to the Horsted Keynes footpath, there to capture 75069. This remains a shot where I prefer to use my bigger telephoto.

We then headed to Freshfield Bank for the last trains of the day, the first of which would be Sir Archibald Sinclair, which I elected to shoot lineside, exactly where I’d started the day.

The last train we planned to shoot this day would be pulled by Freshwater and Fenchurch, albeit bunker-first. For this, I decided I wanted to head out into the field and get a slow shutter panning shot. Whilst I waited, Camelot came back south, which presented a nice opportunity to further practice the technique (which is to shoot in shutter mode at a speed of 1/25th or thereabouts, and pan smoothly with the locomotive).

Soon Fenchurch and Freshwater arrived.

This run marked the end of the first day of the gala for most of us. Apart from me, because (much like during Giants of Steam the previous October) I stayed on to do a night shoot with Freshwater at Horsted Keynes – although the results of that will be coming in a separate post.

The next morning, for various logistical reasons, I made my own way to the lineside to meet up with 72B and Sharpthorne. The first locomotive was due to be Sir Archibald Sinclair making a light engine movement down to Horsted Keynes to pick up a set of coaches and forms the first service of the day from there. When I entered the lineside at the Tremains foot crossing I decided I didn’t have the time to make it down to Holywell to meet them before the locomotive came up, so instead I positioned myself at Rock Cutting for the light, knowing full well the engine probably wouldn’t be working that hard (there was also another photographer there, so I could check whether I’d missed the run entirely).

It was then safe to head up the line to meet up with Sharpthorne and 72B at Holywell, where we prepared for the next service, which would be 2999 Lady of Legend leading Camelot in a doubleheader. Lady visited the railway for Giants of Steam last October and hasn’t actually left yet, although for whatever reason she hasn’t been in steam for most of that period. Hopefully she’ll be out a bit more over the coming weeks, especially once the bluebells start sprouting.

My shooting at 1/2000th was an error. I suspect I knocked a setting somewhere. AAs it didn’t lead to any crazy ISO settings or me missing the shot, it’s not that much of an issue – certainly it didn’t cause as much headache as another settings whoopsie I’d make later in the day.

After this it was back to Freshfield Bank for 75069, where again I decided I wanted to get a panning shot. Unfortunately as it’s so exposed, Freshfield can sometimes be a bit breezy, and on this occasion the wind was blowing towards us, so the exhaust did obscure the locomotive a little bit.

Then it was up to Horsted Keynes, where we headed north with only a vague idea of what we were going to do. In the end we went our separate ways, with 72B heading further north towards Vaux End Bridge and Sharpthorne and I staying near Horsted House Bridge. I wanted to try a shot I’ve been thinking about for a few months, involving looking up at a locomotive as it passes under a bridge, with the exhaust pluming around the arch of the bridge. I had done a couple of test shots in the weeks leading up to the gala, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how it would work. Sharpthorne stayed south of the bridge so he wasn’t in my shot, and I sat just north of the bridge with my wide angle lens ready for Sir Archibald Sinclair to arrive. The shot just before the one I was aiming for actually had the engine and her exhaust nicely framed by the arch of the bridge.

But this next one is pretty much the shot I was after.

I’m happy with the result, but it’s not as dramatic as the shot I was visualising. More than anything the exhaust was not as voluminous as I was hoping. I think the next time I try this shot (and try it I will) it’ll need to be somewhere like Leamland Bridge, where locomotives are moving slower and working harder to get moving. It’s the bridge that inspired the shot in the first place, with this run during the New Year’s Day gala. I might also need to wait until winter comes back before giving it a proper go again.

For our next shot we headed down to the footpath north of Horsted Keynes station for another run by Lady of Legend, where we bumped into a bunch of other shooters. This is where I made my second settings-related boo-boo of the weekend. At some point, presumably when I was switching over to my big telephoto (which is my go-to lens for this bit of track), I knocked my camera into Shutter Priority mode, which was still set up for a slow shutter panning shots, and didn’t notice. Some shots came out completely blurry and unusable, as expected. A few, though, came out pretty decent, and a bit different because the exhaust was smoothed out a little, rather than frozen in time.

Although it makes a nice change, I’d definitely have been happier with the shot I was going for, which was capturing the texture in the exhaust. Even so, I’m glad I got something useable and a bit different out of my error.

We then hopped back to Freshfield Bank, where a BR standard doubleheader was in the offing, with standard 4 75069 leading standard 5 Camelot. With a doubleheader such as this, it makes sense to get wide of the track where you can see both locomotives clearly.

Unfortunately the wind was still blowing in the same direction as earlier and so the exhaust started to obscure Camelot.

Then it was back in the car to head all the way up to the other end of the line, to photograph a repeat of the previous day’s triple header from Imberhorne Bridge as it departed from East Grinstead. This is another public spot, as linesiders aren’t allowed on the section of track north of Kingscote.

We continued hopping about, this time heading back to Tremains to head to Lindfield Wood. The sun was starting to get a little low so it wasn’t entirely clear how much light would be shining on the next locomotive, which would be Lady of Legend. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, but Lady wasn’t working hard when she came through.

In this light she looks really nice with the Pullman dining coaches. Only thing this shot is missing is a nice thick exhaust.

We then headed back to Rock Cutting, as both Fenchurch and Freshwater were due to come back south light engine. This spot is usually not bad for locos heading south, but can sometimes be hit and miss, and this time they were taking things easy.

At this point, we split up again to shoot the upcoming doubleheader of Camelot and 75069. Sharpthorne headed north back towards Holywell, whereas 72B and I headed south towards the broken bridge. For both groups, timing would be tight.

With the tightness of time, unfortunately 72B and I didn’t pick quite the right spot. Going for a shot through the bridge, sadly the locomotives shut off before they passed through, so we got some nice light, but not much exhaust.

For the next train, we moved only a few feet up the track, for 80151 to come back down.

Considering I don’t have too many great shots of 80151 the conditions for this run were pretty spot on, with exhaust, clear skies, and lovely golden hour light.

You might have also spotted the second exhaust plume in the shots above. This service was top and tailed, with № 65 sitting on the back. The locomotive caught the light nicely too so I made sure to get a shot, and it’s one I can might be able to pass off as an engine going forwards, if I were so inclined.

We then headed south to Freshfield Bank again for our last booked photograph of the day, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Unfortunately she was pulling the metropolitan coach set, which is a very odd pairing. Even so, the golden light was continuing to impress.

With that, all our planned shooting for the day was done, and we started walking back to Tremains to meet up with Sharpthorne and head back to Sheffield Park. Inevitably on the way we encountered another locomotive coming the wrong way, but given the light remained lovely shooting it was inevitable.

The glint off the tender is lovely, but a little bit blown out. Turns out, it is possible to have too much glint on a locomotive.

Now, this was planned to be the end of my time at the Spring Gala, but unfortunately when we got back to Sheffield Park, the offices were shut and we weren’t able to return our hi viz vests, which necessitated a trip back to Sheffield Park for me on Sunday to return my vest. Of course, I wasn’t about to leave my camera at home, even if I had every intention of being good, and not going lineside (I even handed in my vest as soon as I arrived).

Inevitably, I ended up spending a little bit of time around the station, photographing some of the sights and comings and goings. Firstly, the crew of 75069 were taking on water.

I also had the opportunity to do some of the more abstract railway photography that I just don’t get when lineside shooting running trains.

With the venting steam, this shot of the engine cab takes on a lovely atmosphere.

Soon 75069 backed down into her coaches, giving me a chance to shoot this member of crew watching proceedings. In monochrome it could almost be from 60 years ago. As long as you don’t notice the modern shunting signal.

Out near the loco shed, Lady of Legend was sitting steaming away in a siding, complete with The Merchant Venturer headboard.

Lady soon moved out behind the loco shed, so I headed in to see the sights. There, Lady was steaming away alongside Fenchurch, also being prepared for the day, and № 65, who had the day off.

Atlantic House was open too, meaning I could pop in and give my regards to the Adams Radial 30583, patiently waiting for her own overhaul (which sadly isn’t any time soon).

From here I could also see Freshwater getting ready for the day.

As well as a clearer view of Fenchurch and Lady.

Not that it was the most visible, I also got a shot of the current state of 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, whose boiler is off in Devon. This is a locomotive I’m looking forward to seeing back in steam.

I walked back into the engine shed and caught sight of Camelot lined up nicely with the window slats.

I got back out onto the platform in time to see 75069 getting ready to go. She let off a big plume of steam which contrasted nicely against the now blue sky.

Soon she was off, making a nicely dramatic departure.

It after two hectic days of shooting running locomotives, it was nice to spend a calm hour or so watching steam engines shunting about. The perfect way to end the weekend – technically the first gala where I’ve attended all three days. But with the station now quiet, it seemed like the perfect time to head back home.

But since it was gala season, it would only be a week before I was out at another railway, and their own spring gala. But that, obviously, will be another post entirely.

As always, there are a lot of shots that didn’t make the cut above, which are in the gallery below. A video montage of the weekend can be seen on my Instagram account.

Bluebell Railway: Spring Gala 2026

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

As is now traditional for me at a Bluebell gala, I attended the Friday and Saturday of the event, and would once again mostly be rolling with Sharpthorne Steam and 72B Photography (although our little lineside crew is getting bigger, with both Chailey Stowe and SouthEast Classic Rail now also holders of the orange vest).

We started the weekend at Freshfield Bank, which is also a very popular spot for people on the fence side of the line. There are usually a couple of choices when shooting here: out in the field for a wide shot, or lineside with a more front-on shot. This time out I went for the lineside shot. Although it was a sunny day it was a hazy morning, so I decided to edit this shot in monochrome to cover up the slightly pale colours. The first locomotive was one of the visitors for the event, British Railways standard 4 75069.

As has also now become standard, I was shooting in Manual Mode (with auto ISO) and mostly using my 28-300mm “railway lens” for the freedom to shoot both zoomed in (as above) and wide angle (so below).

The good thing about spring galas is the weather is still usually good for lovely exhaust.

We headed north to a spot known as Holywell. It’s just south of the s-bend near Waterworks I’m quite partial to. There we readied for the arrival of 75069’s big sister, resident locomotive 73082 Camelot.

As I opened up the angle, all the factors aligned for this next shot.

Lovely exhaust, beautiful morning light, blue skies, a locomotive perfectly matched to a set of gorgeous rolling stock, and if you’re really picky (and I’m usually not, but I can’t help but notice it) the wheel connecting rod is in the more aesthetically pleasing downward position. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is probably one of the better shots I got all weekend.

One of the challenges of this gala was that several of the locomotives running would be facing south. There aren’t as many spots to capture a south-facing steam engine working as there are north-facing ones, so it’s harder to get into the right spots. We tried to make it south to shoot 80151 at a decent spot but decided we had ran out of time, so we ended up shooting her coasting.

We then travelled by car up to Horsted Keynes and headed north, so shoot the next northbound train, which would be 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair on a stonking run, come under Horsted House Bridge.

This was one of the best runs of the weekend. My photos don’t really do it justice, but luckily as ever I also took some video too.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHbkAjDI4N/

We headed north, eventually meeting up with The Southerner who was also out. We trekked up in the general direction of the southern portal of Sharpthorne Tunnel. The idea was to try shooting a locomotive coming out of Courtland Wood. That locomotive ended up being 80151, which as she would be coming bunker-first, made it a little bit of a throwaway shot. It worked quite nicely though – definitely one to try again.

We then headed back south a little, to catch 75069 just north of Vaux End Bridge, running through the s-bend where we’d shot Sir Archie on New Year’s Day. With the longer shot, I broke out my bigger 100-500mm telephoto.

On the footplate of this locomotive over the weekend was a Bluebell volunteer who originally fired this very engine back in the BR days, making this a nice reunion of man and locomotive. He can be seen on the right of the shot below.

From here, we returned to the car and headed up the line towards Kingscote station. We headed to just south of the station, where we encountered SouthEast Classic Rail, and waited for the other visitor, W8 Freshwater, doubleheading with 72 Fenchurch, to arrive from the south.

The plentiful daffodils also served as an interesting framing device when 75069 went back towards Sheffield Park, tender-first.

We continued south, with the intention of getting into a spot ready for both Fenchurch and Freshwater to come back south, which they’d be doing in a triple header with 80151, facing the right way and hopefully working hard. On the way we met up with Chailey, because that sort of thing seems to happen often when you’re lineside at the moment. In the meantime, we had another run from Sir Archibald Sinclair to enjoy. For this, 72B, SouthEast and myself positioned ourselves north of Birchstone Bridge, whilst Sharpthorne and Chailey headed to the south. Luckily, Archie got signal checked, meaning we actually had some exhaust where we were, unlike the unfortunate pair south of the bridge.

The question then became where to go for the triple header. We ended up scattered across this section of the line. SouthEast and I decided the light would be better slightly north, on an embankment that would also give us a wider angle and some elevation (which is nice for a train pulled by three locomotives). Sharpthorne and Chailey remained south near Birch Farm crossing hoping the engines would be working harder there, and 72B chose somewhere in the middle. In the event, the locos didn’t work particularly hard on this run, so I’m glad I chose to go where I ended up, because at least I got some decent photographs out of it.

With the triple header done, focus shifted back to locomotives facing north, so we headed back to the Horsted Keynes footpath, there to capture 75069. This remains a shot where I prefer to use my bigger telephoto.

We then headed to Freshfield Bank for the last trains of the day, the first of which would be Sir Archibald Sinclair, which I elected to shoot lineside, exactly where I’d started the day.

The last train we planned to shoot this day would be pulled by Freshwater and Fenchurch, albeit bunker-first. For this, I decided I wanted to head out into the field and get a slow shutter panning shot. Whilst I waited, Camelot came back south, which presented a nice opportunity to further practice the technique (which is to shoot in shutter mode at a speed of 1/25th or thereabouts, and pan smoothly with the locomotive).

Soon Fenchurch and Freshwater arrived.

This run marked the end of the first day of the gala for most of us. Apart from me, because (much like during Giants of Steam the previous October) I stayed on to do a night shoot with Freshwater at Horsted Keynes – although the results of that will be coming in a separate post.

The next morning, for various logistical reasons, I made my own way to the lineside to meet up with 72B and Sharpthorne. The first locomotive was due to be Sir Archibald Sinclair making a light engine movement down to Horsted Keynes to pick up a set of coaches and forms the first service of the day from there. When I entered the lineside at the Tremains foot crossing I decided I didn’t have the time to make it down to Holywell to meet them before the locomotive came up, so instead I positioned myself at Rock Cutting for the light, knowing full well the engine probably wouldn’t be working that hard (there was also another photographer there, so I could check whether I’d missed the run entirely).

It was then safe to head up the line to meet up with Sharpthorne and 72B at Holywell, where we prepared for the next service, which would be 2999 Lady of Legend leading Camelot in a doubleheader. Lady visited the railway for Giants of Steam last October and hasn’t actually left yet, although for whatever reason she hasn’t been in steam for most of that period. Hopefully she’ll be out a bit more over the coming weeks, especially once the bluebells start sprouting.

My shooting at 1/2000th was an error. I suspect I knocked a setting somewhere. AAs it didn’t lead to any crazy ISO settings or me missing the shot, it’s not that much of an issue – certainly it didn’t cause as much headache as another settings whoopsie I’d make later in the day.

After this it was back to Freshfield Bank for 75069, where again I decided I wanted to get a panning shot. Unfortunately as it’s so exposed, Freshfield can sometimes be a bit breezy, and on this occasion the wind was blowing towards us, so the exhaust did obscure the locomotive a little bit.

Then it was up to Horsted Keynes, where we headed north with only a vague idea of what we were going to do. In the end we went our separate ways, with 72B heading further north towards Vaux End Bridge and Sharpthorne and I staying near Horsted House Bridge. I wanted to try a shot I’ve been thinking about for a few months, involving looking up at a locomotive as it passes under a bridge, with the exhaust pluming around the arch of the bridge. I had done a couple of test shots in the weeks leading up to the gala, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how it would work. Sharpthorne stayed south of the bridge so he wasn’t in my shot, and I sat just north of the bridge with my wide angle lens ready for Sir Archibald Sinclair to arrive. The shot just before the one I was aiming for actually had the engine and her exhaust nicely framed by the arch of the bridge.

But this next one is pretty much the shot I was after.

I’m happy with the result, but it’s not as dramatic as the shot I was visualising. More than anything the exhaust was not as voluminous as I was hoping. I think the next time I try this shot (and try it I will) it’ll need to be somewhere like Leamland Bridge, where locomotives are moving slower and working harder to get moving. It’s the bridge that inspired the shot in the first place, with this run during the New Year’s Day gala. I might also need to wait until winter comes back before giving it a proper go again.

For our next shot we headed down to the footpath north of Horsted Keynes station for another run by Lady of Legend, where we bumped into a bunch of other shooters. This is where I made my second settings-related boo-boo of the weekend. At some point, presumably when I was switching over to my big telephoto (which is my go-to lens for this bit of track), I knocked my camera into Shutter Priority mode, which was still set up for a slow shutter panning shots, and didn’t notice. Some shots came out completely blurry and unusable, as expected. A few, though, came out pretty decent, and a bit different because the exhaust was smoothed out a little, rather than frozen in time.

Although it makes a nice change, I’d definitely have been happier with the shot I was going for, which was capturing the texture in the exhaust. Even so, I’m glad I got something useable and a bit different out of my error.

We then hopped back to Freshfield Bank, where a BR standard doubleheader was in the offing, with standard 4 75069 leading standard 5 Camelot. With a doubleheader such as this, it makes sense to get wide of the track where you can see both locomotives clearly.

Unfortunately the wind was still blowing in the same direction as earlier and so the exhaust started to obscure Camelot.

Then it was back in the car to head all the way up to the other end of the line, to photograph a repeat of the previous day’s triple header from Imberhorne Bridge as it departed from East Grinstead. This is another public spot, as linesiders aren’t allowed on the section of track north of Kingscote.

We continued hopping about, this time heading back to Tremains to head to Lindfield Wood. The sun was starting to get a little low so it wasn’t entirely clear how much light would be shining on the next locomotive, which would be Lady of Legend. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, but Lady wasn’t working hard when she came through.

In this light she looks really nice with the Pullman dining coaches. Only thing this shot is missing is a nice thick exhaust.

We then headed back to Rock Cutting, as both Fenchurch and Freshwater were due to come back south light engine. This spot is usually not bad for locos heading south, but can sometimes be hit and miss, and this time they were taking things easy.

At this point, we split up again to shoot the upcoming doubleheader of Camelot and 75069. Sharpthorne headed north back towards Holywell, whereas 72B and I headed south towards the broken bridge. For both groups, timing would be tight.

With the tightness of time, unfortunately 72B and I didn’t pick quite the right spot. Going for a shot through the bridge, sadly the locomotives shut off before they passed through, so we got some nice light, but not much exhaust.

For the next train, we moved only a few feet up the track, for 80151 to come back down.

Considering I don’t have too many great shots of 80151 the conditions for this run were pretty spot on, with exhaust, clear skies, and lovely golden hour light.

You might have also spotted the second exhaust plume in the shots above. This service was top and tailed, with № 65 sitting on the back. The locomotive caught the light nicely too so I made sure to get a shot, and it’s one I can might be able to pass off as an engine going forwards, if I were so inclined.

We then headed south to Freshfield Bank again for our last booked photograph of the day, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Unfortunately she was pulling the metropolitan coach set, which is a very odd pairing. Even so, the golden light was continuing to impress.

With that, all our planned shooting for the day was done, and we started walking back to Tremains to meet up with Sharpthorne and head back to Sheffield Park. Inevitably on the way we encountered another locomotive coming the wrong way, but given the light remained lovely shooting it was inevitable.

The glint off the tender is lovely, but a little bit blown out. Turns out, it is possible to have too much glint on a locomotive.

Now, this was planned to be the end of my time at the Spring Gala, but unfortunately when we got back to Sheffield Park, the offices were shut and we weren’t able to return our hi viz vests, which necessitated a trip back to Sheffield Park for me on Sunday to return my vest. Of course, I wasn’t about to leave my camera at home, even if I had every intention of being good, and not going lineside (I even handed in my vest as soon as I arrived).

Inevitably, I ended up spending a little bit of time around the station, photographing some of the sights and comings and goings. Firstly, the crew of 75069 were taking on water.

I also had the opportunity to do some of the more abstract railway photography that I just don’t get when lineside shooting running trains.

With the venting steam, this shot of the engine cab takes on a lovely atmosphere.

Soon 75069 backed down into her coaches, giving me a chance to shoot this member of crew watching proceedings. In monochrome it could almost be from 60 years ago. As long as you don’t notice the modern shunting signal.

Out near the loco shed, Lady of Legend was sitting steaming away in a siding, complete with The Merchant Venturer headboard.

Lady soon moved out behind the loco shed, so I headed in to see the sights. There, Lady was steaming away alongside Fenchurch, also being prepared for the day, and № 65, who had the day off.

Atlantic House was open too, meaning I could pop in and give my regards to the Adams Radial 30583, patiently waiting for her own overhaul (which sadly isn’t any time soon).

From here I could also see Freshwater getting ready for the day.

As well as a clearer view of Fenchurch and Lady.

Not that it was the most visible, I also got a shot of the current state of 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, whose boiler is off in Devon. This is a locomotive I’m looking forward to seeing back in steam.

I walked back into the engine shed and caught sight of Camelot lined up nicely with the window slats.

I got back out onto the platform in time to see 75069 getting ready to go. She let off a big plume of steam which contrasted nicely against the now blue sky.

Soon she was off, making a nicely dramatic departure.

It after two hectic days of shooting running locomotives, it was nice to spend a calm hour or so watching steam engines shunting about. The perfect way to end the weekend – technically the first gala where I’ve attended all three days. But with the station now quiet, it seemed like the perfect time to head back home.

But since it was gala season, it would only be a week before I was out at another railway, and their own spring gala. But that, obviously, will be another post entirely.

As always, there are a lot of shots that didn’t make the cut above, which are in the gallery below. A video montage of the weekend can be seen on my Instagram account.

Bluebell Railway: Spring Gala 2026

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

As is now traditional for me at a Bluebell gala, I attended the Friday and Saturday of the event, and would once again mostly be rolling with Sharpthorne Steam and 72B Photography (although our little lineside crew is getting bigger, with both Chailey Stowe and SouthEast Classic Rail now also holders of the orange vest).

We started the weekend at Freshfield Bank, which is also a very popular spot for people on the fence side of the line. There are usually a couple of choices when shooting here: out in the field for a wide shot, or lineside with a more front-on shot. This time out I went for the lineside shot. Although it was a sunny day it was a hazy morning, so I decided to edit this shot in monochrome to cover up the slightly pale colours. The first locomotive was one of the visitors for the event, British Railways standard 4 75069.

As has also now become standard, I was shooting in Manual Mode (with auto ISO) and mostly using my 28-300mm “railway lens” for the freedom to shoot both zoomed in (as above) and wide angle (so below).

The good thing about spring galas is the weather is still usually good for lovely exhaust.

We headed north to a spot known as Holywell. It’s just south of the s-bend near Waterworks I’m quite partial to. There we readied for the arrival of 75069’s big sister, resident locomotive 73082 Camelot.

As I opened up the angle, all the factors aligned for this next shot.

Lovely exhaust, beautiful morning light, blue skies, a locomotive perfectly matched to a set of gorgeous rolling stock, and if you’re really picky (and I’m usually not, but I can’t help but notice it) the wheel connecting rod is in the more aesthetically pleasing downward position. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is probably one of the better shots I got all weekend.

One of the challenges of this gala was that several of the locomotives running would be facing south. There aren’t as many spots to capture a south-facing steam engine working as there are north-facing ones, so it’s harder to get into the right spots. We tried to make it south to shoot 80151 at a decent spot but decided we had ran out of time, so we ended up shooting her coasting.

We then travelled by car up to Horsted Keynes and headed north, so shoot the next northbound train, which would be 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair on a stonking run, come under Horsted House Bridge.

This was one of the best runs of the weekend. My photos don’t really do it justice, but luckily as ever I also took some video too.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHbkAjDI4N/

We headed north, eventually meeting up with The Southerner who was also out. We trekked up in the general direction of the southern portal of Sharpthorne Tunnel. The idea was to try shooting a locomotive coming out of Courtland Wood. That locomotive ended up being 80151, which as she would be coming bunker-first, made it a little bit of a throwaway shot. It worked quite nicely though – definitely one to try again.

We then headed back south a little, to catch 75069 just north of Vaux End Bridge, running through the s-bend where we’d shot Sir Archie on New Year’s Day. With the longer shot, I broke out my bigger 100-500mm telephoto.

On the footplate of this locomotive over the weekend was a Bluebell volunteer who originally fired this very engine back in the BR days, making this a nice reunion of man and locomotive. He can be seen on the right of the shot below.

From here, we returned to the car and headed up the line towards Kingscote station. We headed to just south of the station, where we encountered SouthEast Classic Rail, and waited for the other visitor, W8 Freshwater, doubleheading with 72 Fenchurch, to arrive from the south.

The plentiful daffodils also served as an interesting framing device when 75069 went back towards Sheffield Park, tender-first.

We continued south, with the intention of getting into a spot ready for both Fenchurch and Freshwater to come back south, which they’d be doing in a triple header with 80151, facing the right way and hopefully working hard. On the way we met up with Chailey, because that sort of thing seems to happen often when you’re lineside at the moment. In the meantime, we had another run from Sir Archibald Sinclair to enjoy. For this, 72B, SouthEast and myself positioned ourselves north of Birchstone Bridge, whilst Sharpthorne and Chailey headed to the south. Luckily, Archie got signal checked, meaning we actually had some exhaust where we were, unlike the unfortunate pair south of the bridge.

The question then became where to go for the triple header. We ended up scattered across this section of the line. SouthEast and I decided the light would be better slightly north, on an embankment that would also give us a wider angle and some elevation (which is nice for a train pulled by three locomotives). Sharpthorne and Chailey remained south near Birch Farm crossing hoping the engines would be working harder there, and 72B chose somewhere in the middle. In the event, the locos didn’t work particularly hard on this run, so I’m glad I chose to go where I ended up, because at least I got some decent photographs out of it.

With the triple header done, focus shifted back to locomotives facing north, so we headed back to the Horsted Keynes footpath, there to capture 75069. This remains a shot where I prefer to use my bigger telephoto.

We then headed to Freshfield Bank for the last trains of the day, the first of which would be Sir Archibald Sinclair, which I elected to shoot lineside, exactly where I’d started the day.

The last train we planned to shoot this day would be pulled by Freshwater and Fenchurch, albeit bunker-first. For this, I decided I wanted to head out into the field and get a slow shutter panning shot. Whilst I waited, Camelot came back south, which presented a nice opportunity to further practice the technique (which is to shoot in shutter mode at a speed of 1/25th or thereabouts, and pan smoothly with the locomotive).

Soon Fenchurch and Freshwater arrived.

This run marked the end of the first day of the gala for most of us. Apart from me, because (much like during Giants of Steam the previous October) I stayed on to do a night shoot with Freshwater at Horsted Keynes – although the results of that will be coming in a separate post.

The next morning, for various logistical reasons, I made my own way to the lineside to meet up with 72B and Sharpthorne. The first locomotive was due to be Sir Archibald Sinclair making a light engine movement down to Horsted Keynes to pick up a set of coaches and forms the first service of the day from there. When I entered the lineside at the Tremains foot crossing I decided I didn’t have the time to make it down to Holywell to meet them before the locomotive came up, so instead I positioned myself at Rock Cutting for the light, knowing full well the engine probably wouldn’t be working that hard (there was also another photographer there, so I could check whether I’d missed the run entirely).

It was then safe to head up the line to meet up with Sharpthorne and 72B at Holywell, where we prepared for the next service, which would be 2999 Lady of Legend leading Camelot in a doubleheader. Lady visited the railway for Giants of Steam last October and hasn’t actually left yet, although for whatever reason she hasn’t been in steam for most of that period. Hopefully she’ll be out a bit more over the coming weeks, especially once the bluebells start sprouting.

My shooting at 1/2000th was an error. I suspect I knocked a setting somewhere. AAs it didn’t lead to any crazy ISO settings or me missing the shot, it’s not that much of an issue – certainly it didn’t cause as much headache as another settings whoopsie I’d make later in the day.

After this it was back to Freshfield Bank for 75069, where again I decided I wanted to get a panning shot. Unfortunately as it’s so exposed, Freshfield can sometimes be a bit breezy, and on this occasion the wind was blowing towards us, so the exhaust did obscure the locomotive a little bit.

Then it was up to Horsted Keynes, where we headed north with only a vague idea of what we were going to do. In the end we went our separate ways, with 72B heading further north towards Vaux End Bridge and Sharpthorne and I staying near Horsted House Bridge. I wanted to try a shot I’ve been thinking about for a few months, involving looking up at a locomotive as it passes under a bridge, with the exhaust pluming around the arch of the bridge. I had done a couple of test shots in the weeks leading up to the gala, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how it would work. Sharpthorne stayed south of the bridge so he wasn’t in my shot, and I sat just north of the bridge with my wide angle lens ready for Sir Archibald Sinclair to arrive. The shot just before the one I was aiming for actually had the engine and her exhaust nicely framed by the arch of the bridge.

But this next one is pretty much the shot I was after.

I’m happy with the result, but it’s not as dramatic as the shot I was visualising. More than anything the exhaust was not as voluminous as I was hoping. I think the next time I try this shot (and try it I will) it’ll need to be somewhere like Leamland Bridge, where locomotives are moving slower and working harder to get moving. It’s the bridge that inspired the shot in the first place, with this run during the New Year’s Day gala. I might also need to wait until winter comes back before giving it a proper go again.

For our next shot we headed down to the footpath north of Horsted Keynes station for another run by Lady of Legend, where we bumped into a bunch of other shooters. This is where I made my second settings-related boo-boo of the weekend. At some point, presumably when I was switching over to my big telephoto (which is my go-to lens for this bit of track), I knocked my camera into Shutter Priority mode, which was still set up for a slow shutter panning shots, and didn’t notice. Some shots came out completely blurry and unusable, as expected. A few, though, came out pretty decent, and a bit different because the exhaust was smoothed out a little, rather than frozen in time.

Although it makes a nice change, I’d definitely have been happier with the shot I was going for, which was capturing the texture in the exhaust. Even so, I’m glad I got something useable and a bit different out of my error.

We then hopped back to Freshfield Bank, where a BR standard doubleheader was in the offing, with standard 4 75069 leading standard 5 Camelot. With a doubleheader such as this, it makes sense to get wide of the track where you can see both locomotives clearly.

Unfortunately the wind was still blowing in the same direction as earlier and so the exhaust started to obscure Camelot.

Then it was back in the car to head all the way up to the other end of the line, to photograph a repeat of the previous day’s triple header from Imberhorne Bridge as it departed from East Grinstead. This is another public spot, as linesiders aren’t allowed on the section of track north of Kingscote.

We continued hopping about, this time heading back to Tremains to head to Lindfield Wood. The sun was starting to get a little low so it wasn’t entirely clear how much light would be shining on the next locomotive, which would be Lady of Legend. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, but Lady wasn’t working hard when she came through.

In this light she looks really nice with the Pullman dining coaches. Only thing this shot is missing is a nice thick exhaust.

We then headed back to Rock Cutting, as both Fenchurch and Freshwater were due to come back south light engine. This spot is usually not bad for locos heading south, but can sometimes be hit and miss, and this time they were taking things easy.

At this point, we split up again to shoot the upcoming doubleheader of Camelot and 75069. Sharpthorne headed north back towards Holywell, whereas 72B and I headed south towards the broken bridge. For both groups, timing would be tight.

With the tightness of time, unfortunately 72B and I didn’t pick quite the right spot. Going for a shot through the bridge, sadly the locomotives shut off before they passed through, so we got some nice light, but not much exhaust.

For the next train, we moved only a few feet up the track, for 80151 to come back down.

Considering I don’t have too many great shots of 80151 the conditions for this run were pretty spot on, with exhaust, clear skies, and lovely golden hour light.

You might have also spotted the second exhaust plume in the shots above. This service was top and tailed, with № 65 sitting on the back. The locomotive caught the light nicely too so I made sure to get a shot, and it’s one I can might be able to pass off as an engine going forwards, if I were so inclined.

We then headed south to Freshfield Bank again for our last booked photograph of the day, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Unfortunately she was pulling the metropolitan coach set, which is a very odd pairing. Even so, the golden light was continuing to impress.

With that, all our planned shooting for the day was done, and we started walking back to Tremains to meet up with Sharpthorne and head back to Sheffield Park. Inevitably on the way we encountered another locomotive coming the wrong way, but given the light remained lovely shooting it was inevitable.

The glint off the tender is lovely, but a little bit blown out. Turns out, it is possible to have too much glint on a locomotive.

Now, this was planned to be the end of my time at the Spring Gala, but unfortunately when we got back to Sheffield Park, the offices were shut and we weren’t able to return our hi viz vests, which necessitated a trip back to Sheffield Park for me on Sunday to return my vest. Of course, I wasn’t about to leave my camera at home, even if I had every intention of being good, and not going lineside (I even handed in my vest as soon as I arrived).

Inevitably, I ended up spending a little bit of time around the station, photographing some of the sights and comings and goings. Firstly, the crew of 75069 were taking on water.

I also had the opportunity to do some of the more abstract railway photography that I just don’t get when lineside shooting running trains.

With the venting steam, this shot of the engine cab takes on a lovely atmosphere.

Soon 75069 backed down into her coaches, giving me a chance to shoot this member of crew watching proceedings. In monochrome it could almost be from 60 years ago. As long as you don’t notice the modern shunting signal.

Out near the loco shed, Lady of Legend was sitting steaming away in a siding, complete with The Merchant Venturer headboard.

Lady soon moved out behind the loco shed, so I headed in to see the sights. There, Lady was steaming away alongside Fenchurch, also being prepared for the day, and № 65, who had the day off.

Atlantic House was open too, meaning I could pop in and give my regards to the Adams Radial 30583, patiently waiting for her own overhaul (which sadly isn’t any time soon).

From here I could also see Freshwater getting ready for the day.

As well as a clearer view of Fenchurch and Lady.

Not that it was the most visible, I also got a shot of the current state of 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, whose boiler is off in Devon. This is a locomotive I’m looking forward to seeing back in steam.

I walked back into the engine shed and caught sight of Camelot lined up nicely with the window slats.

I got back out onto the platform in time to see 75069 getting ready to go. She let off a big plume of steam which contrasted nicely against the now blue sky.

Soon she was off, making a nicely dramatic departure.

It after two hectic days of shooting running locomotives, it was nice to spend a calm hour or so watching steam engines shunting about. The perfect way to end the weekend – technically the first gala where I’ve attended all three days. But with the station now quiet, it seemed like the perfect time to head back home.

But since it was gala season, it would only be a week before I was out at another railway, and their own spring gala. But that, obviously, will be another post entirely.

As always, there are a lot of shots that didn’t make the cut above, which are in the gallery below. A video montage of the weekend can be seen on my Instagram account.

Bluebell Railway: Spring Gala 2026

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

As is now traditional for me at a Bluebell gala, I attended the Friday and Saturday of the event, and would once again mostly be rolling with Sharpthorne Steam and 72B Photography (although our little lineside crew is getting bigger, with both Chailey Stowe and SouthEast Classic Rail now also holders of the orange vest).

We started the weekend at Freshfield Bank, which is also a very popular spot for people on the fence side of the line. There are usually a couple of choices when shooting here: out in the field for a wide shot, or lineside with a more front-on shot. This time out I went for the lineside shot. Although it was a sunny day it was a hazy morning, so I decided to edit this shot in monochrome to cover up the slightly pale colours. The first locomotive was one of the visitors for the event, British Railways standard 4 75069.

As has also now become standard, I was shooting in Manual Mode (with auto ISO) and mostly using my 28-300mm “railway lens” for the freedom to shoot both zoomed in (as above) and wide angle (so below).

The good thing about spring galas is the weather is still usually good for lovely exhaust.

We headed north to a spot known as Holywell. It’s just south of the s-bend near Waterworks I’m quite partial to. There we readied for the arrival of 75069’s big sister, resident locomotive 73082 Camelot.

As I opened up the angle, all the factors aligned for this next shot.

Lovely exhaust, beautiful morning light, blue skies, a locomotive perfectly matched to a set of gorgeous rolling stock, and if you’re really picky (and I’m usually not, but I can’t help but notice it) the wheel connecting rod is in the more aesthetically pleasing downward position. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is probably one of the better shots I got all weekend.

One of the challenges of this gala was that several of the locomotives running would be facing south. There aren’t as many spots to capture a south-facing steam engine working as there are north-facing ones, so it’s harder to get into the right spots. We tried to make it south to shoot 80151 at a decent spot but decided we had ran out of time, so we ended up shooting her coasting.

We then travelled by car up to Horsted Keynes and headed north, so shoot the next northbound train, which would be 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair on a stonking run, come under Horsted House Bridge.

This was one of the best runs of the weekend. My photos don’t really do it justice, but luckily as ever I also took some video too.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHbkAjDI4N/

We headed north, eventually meeting up with The Southerner who was also out. We trekked up in the general direction of the southern portal of Sharpthorne Tunnel. The idea was to try shooting a locomotive coming out of Courtland Wood. That locomotive ended up being 80151, which as she would be coming bunker-first, made it a little bit of a throwaway shot. It worked quite nicely though – definitely one to try again.

We then headed back south a little, to catch 75069 just north of Vaux End Bridge, running through the s-bend where we’d shot Sir Archie on New Year’s Day. With the longer shot, I broke out my bigger 100-500mm telephoto.

On the footplate of this locomotive over the weekend was a Bluebell volunteer who originally fired this very engine back in the BR days, making this a nice reunion of man and locomotive. He can be seen on the right of the shot below.

From here, we returned to the car and headed up the line towards Kingscote station. We headed to just south of the station, where we encountered SouthEast Classic Rail, and waited for the other visitor, W8 Freshwater, doubleheading with 72 Fenchurch, to arrive from the south.

The plentiful daffodils also served as an interesting framing device when 75069 went back towards Sheffield Park, tender-first.

We continued south, with the intention of getting into a spot ready for both Fenchurch and Freshwater to come back south, which they’d be doing in a triple header with 80151, facing the right way and hopefully working hard. On the way we met up with Chailey, because that sort of thing seems to happen often when you’re lineside at the moment. In the meantime, we had another run from Sir Archibald Sinclair to enjoy. For this, 72B, SouthEast and myself positioned ourselves north of Birchstone Bridge, whilst Sharpthorne and Chailey headed to the south. Luckily, Archie got signal checked, meaning we actually had some exhaust where we were, unlike the unfortunate pair south of the bridge.

The question then became where to go for the triple header. We ended up scattered across this section of the line. SouthEast and I decided the light would be better slightly north, on an embankment that would also give us a wider angle and some elevation (which is nice for a train pulled by three locomotives). Sharpthorne and Chailey remained south near Birch Farm crossing hoping the engines would be working harder there, and 72B chose somewhere in the middle. In the event, the locos didn’t work particularly hard on this run, so I’m glad I chose to go where I ended up, because at least I got some decent photographs out of it.

With the triple header done, focus shifted back to locomotives facing north, so we headed back to the Horsted Keynes footpath, there to capture 75069. This remains a shot where I prefer to use my bigger telephoto.

We then headed to Freshfield Bank for the last trains of the day, the first of which would be Sir Archibald Sinclair, which I elected to shoot lineside, exactly where I’d started the day.

The last train we planned to shoot this day would be pulled by Freshwater and Fenchurch, albeit bunker-first. For this, I decided I wanted to head out into the field and get a slow shutter panning shot. Whilst I waited, Camelot came back south, which presented a nice opportunity to further practice the technique (which is to shoot in shutter mode at a speed of 1/25th or thereabouts, and pan smoothly with the locomotive).

Soon Fenchurch and Freshwater arrived.

This run marked the end of the first day of the gala for most of us. Apart from me, because (much like during Giants of Steam the previous October) I stayed on to do a night shoot with Freshwater at Horsted Keynes – although the results of that will be coming in a separate post.

The next morning, for various logistical reasons, I made my own way to the lineside to meet up with 72B and Sharpthorne. The first locomotive was due to be Sir Archibald Sinclair making a light engine movement down to Horsted Keynes to pick up a set of coaches and forms the first service of the day from there. When I entered the lineside at the Tremains foot crossing I decided I didn’t have the time to make it down to Holywell to meet them before the locomotive came up, so instead I positioned myself at Rock Cutting for the light, knowing full well the engine probably wouldn’t be working that hard (there was also another photographer there, so I could check whether I’d missed the run entirely).

It was then safe to head up the line to meet up with Sharpthorne and 72B at Holywell, where we prepared for the next service, which would be 2999 Lady of Legend leading Camelot in a doubleheader. Lady visited the railway for Giants of Steam last October and hasn’t actually left yet, although for whatever reason she hasn’t been in steam for most of that period. Hopefully she’ll be out a bit more over the coming weeks, especially once the bluebells start sprouting.

My shooting at 1/2000th was an error. I suspect I knocked a setting somewhere. AAs it didn’t lead to any crazy ISO settings or me missing the shot, it’s not that much of an issue – certainly it didn’t cause as much headache as another settings whoopsie I’d make later in the day.

After this it was back to Freshfield Bank for 75069, where again I decided I wanted to get a panning shot. Unfortunately as it’s so exposed, Freshfield can sometimes be a bit breezy, and on this occasion the wind was blowing towards us, so the exhaust did obscure the locomotive a little bit.

Then it was up to Horsted Keynes, where we headed north with only a vague idea of what we were going to do. In the end we went our separate ways, with 72B heading further north towards Vaux End Bridge and Sharpthorne and I staying near Horsted House Bridge. I wanted to try a shot I’ve been thinking about for a few months, involving looking up at a locomotive as it passes under a bridge, with the exhaust pluming around the arch of the bridge. I had done a couple of test shots in the weeks leading up to the gala, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how it would work. Sharpthorne stayed south of the bridge so he wasn’t in my shot, and I sat just north of the bridge with my wide angle lens ready for Sir Archibald Sinclair to arrive. The shot just before the one I was aiming for actually had the engine and her exhaust nicely framed by the arch of the bridge.

But this next one is pretty much the shot I was after.

I’m happy with the result, but it’s not as dramatic as the shot I was visualising. More than anything the exhaust was not as voluminous as I was hoping. I think the next time I try this shot (and try it I will) it’ll need to be somewhere like Leamland Bridge, where locomotives are moving slower and working harder to get moving. It’s the bridge that inspired the shot in the first place, with this run during the New Year’s Day gala. I might also need to wait until winter comes back before giving it a proper go again.

For our next shot we headed down to the footpath north of Horsted Keynes station for another run by Lady of Legend, where we bumped into a bunch of other shooters. This is where I made my second settings-related boo-boo of the weekend. At some point, presumably when I was switching over to my big telephoto (which is my go-to lens for this bit of track), I knocked my camera into Shutter Priority mode, which was still set up for a slow shutter panning shots, and didn’t notice. Some shots came out completely blurry and unusable, as expected. A few, though, came out pretty decent, and a bit different because the exhaust was smoothed out a little, rather than frozen in time.

Although it makes a nice change, I’d definitely have been happier with the shot I was going for, which was capturing the texture in the exhaust. Even so, I’m glad I got something useable and a bit different out of my error.

We then hopped back to Freshfield Bank, where a BR standard doubleheader was in the offing, with standard 4 75069 leading standard 5 Camelot. With a doubleheader such as this, it makes sense to get wide of the track where you can see both locomotives clearly.

Unfortunately the wind was still blowing in the same direction as earlier and so the exhaust started to obscure Camelot.

Then it was back in the car to head all the way up to the other end of the line, to photograph a repeat of the previous day’s triple header from Imberhorne Bridge as it departed from East Grinstead. This is another public spot, as linesiders aren’t allowed on the section of track north of Kingscote.

We continued hopping about, this time heading back to Tremains to head to Lindfield Wood. The sun was starting to get a little low so it wasn’t entirely clear how much light would be shining on the next locomotive, which would be Lady of Legend. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, but Lady wasn’t working hard when she came through.

In this light she looks really nice with the Pullman dining coaches. Only thing this shot is missing is a nice thick exhaust.

We then headed back to Rock Cutting, as both Fenchurch and Freshwater were due to come back south light engine. This spot is usually not bad for locos heading south, but can sometimes be hit and miss, and this time they were taking things easy.

At this point, we split up again to shoot the upcoming doubleheader of Camelot and 75069. Sharpthorne headed north back towards Holywell, whereas 72B and I headed south towards the broken bridge. For both groups, timing would be tight.

With the tightness of time, unfortunately 72B and I didn’t pick quite the right spot. Going for a shot through the bridge, sadly the locomotives shut off before they passed through, so we got some nice light, but not much exhaust.

For the next train, we moved only a few feet up the track, for 80151 to come back down.

Considering I don’t have too many great shots of 80151 the conditions for this run were pretty spot on, with exhaust, clear skies, and lovely golden hour light.

You might have also spotted the second exhaust plume in the shots above. This service was top and tailed, with № 65 sitting on the back. The locomotive caught the light nicely too so I made sure to get a shot, and it’s one I can might be able to pass off as an engine going forwards, if I were so inclined.

We then headed south to Freshfield Bank again for our last booked photograph of the day, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Unfortunately she was pulling the metropolitan coach set, which is a very odd pairing. Even so, the golden light was continuing to impress.

With that, all our planned shooting for the day was done, and we started walking back to Tremains to meet up with Sharpthorne and head back to Sheffield Park. Inevitably on the way we encountered another locomotive coming the wrong way, but given the light remained lovely shooting it was inevitable.

The glint off the tender is lovely, but a little bit blown out. Turns out, it is possible to have too much glint on a locomotive.

Now, this was planned to be the end of my time at the Spring Gala, but unfortunately when we got back to Sheffield Park, the offices were shut and we weren’t able to return our hi viz vests, which necessitated a trip back to Sheffield Park for me on Sunday to return my vest. Of course, I wasn’t about to leave my camera at home, even if I had every intention of being good, and not going lineside (I even handed in my vest as soon as I arrived).

Inevitably, I ended up spending a little bit of time around the station, photographing some of the sights and comings and goings. Firstly, the crew of 75069 were taking on water.

I also had the opportunity to do some of the more abstract railway photography that I just don’t get when lineside shooting running trains.

With the venting steam, this shot of the engine cab takes on a lovely atmosphere.

Soon 75069 backed down into her coaches, giving me a chance to shoot this member of crew watching proceedings. In monochrome it could almost be from 60 years ago. As long as you don’t notice the modern shunting signal.

Out near the loco shed, Lady of Legend was sitting steaming away in a siding, complete with The Merchant Venturer headboard.

Lady soon moved out behind the loco shed, so I headed in to see the sights. There, Lady was steaming away alongside Fenchurch, also being prepared for the day, and № 65, who had the day off.

Atlantic House was open too, meaning I could pop in and give my regards to the Adams Radial 30583, patiently waiting for her own overhaul (which sadly isn’t any time soon).

From here I could also see Freshwater getting ready for the day.

As well as a clearer view of Fenchurch and Lady.

Not that it was the most visible, I also got a shot of the current state of 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, whose boiler is off in Devon. This is a locomotive I’m looking forward to seeing back in steam.

I walked back into the engine shed and caught sight of Camelot lined up nicely with the window slats.

I got back out onto the platform in time to see 75069 getting ready to go. She let off a big plume of steam which contrasted nicely against the now blue sky.

Soon she was off, making a nicely dramatic departure.

It after two hectic days of shooting running locomotives, it was nice to spend a calm hour or so watching steam engines shunting about. The perfect way to end the weekend – technically the first gala where I’ve attended all three days. But with the station now quiet, it seemed like the perfect time to head back home.

But since it was gala season, it would only be a week before I was out at another railway, and their own spring gala. But that, obviously, will be another post entirely.

As always, there are a lot of shots that didn’t make the cut above, which are in the gallery below. A video montage of the weekend can be seen on my Instagram account.

Bluebell Railway: Spring Gala 2026

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

As is now traditional for me at a Bluebell gala, I attended the Friday and Saturday of the event, and would once again mostly be rolling with Sharpthorne Steam and 72B Photography (although our little lineside crew is getting bigger, with both Chailey Stowe and SouthEast Classic Rail now also holders of the orange vest).

We started the weekend at Freshfield Bank, which is also a very popular spot for people on the fence side of the line. There are usually a couple of choices when shooting here: out in the field for a wide shot, or lineside with a more front-on shot. This time out I went for the lineside shot. Although it was a sunny day it was a hazy morning, so I decided to edit this shot in monochrome to cover up the slightly pale colours. The first locomotive was one of the visitors for the event, British Railways standard 4 75069.

As has also now become standard, I was shooting in Manual Mode (with auto ISO) and mostly using my 28-300mm “railway lens” for the freedom to shoot both zoomed in (as above) and wide angle (so below).

The good thing about spring galas is the weather is still usually good for lovely exhaust.

We headed north to a spot known as Holywell. It’s just south of the s-bend near Waterworks I’m quite partial to. There we readied for the arrival of 75069’s big sister, resident locomotive 73082 Camelot.

As I opened up the angle, all the factors aligned for this next shot.

Lovely exhaust, beautiful morning light, blue skies, a locomotive perfectly matched to a set of gorgeous rolling stock, and if you’re really picky (and I’m usually not, but I can’t help but notice it) the wheel connecting rod is in the more aesthetically pleasing downward position. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is probably one of the better shots I got all weekend.

One of the challenges of this gala was that several of the locomotives running would be facing south. There aren’t as many spots to capture a south-facing steam engine working as there are north-facing ones, so it’s harder to get into the right spots. We tried to make it south to shoot 80151 at a decent spot but decided we had ran out of time, so we ended up shooting her coasting.

We then travelled by car up to Horsted Keynes and headed north, so shoot the next northbound train, which would be 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair on a stonking run, come under Horsted House Bridge.

This was one of the best runs of the weekend. My photos don’t really do it justice, but luckily as ever I also took some video too.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHbkAjDI4N/

We headed north, eventually meeting up with The Southerner who was also out. We trekked up in the general direction of the southern portal of Sharpthorne Tunnel. The idea was to try shooting a locomotive coming out of Courtland Wood. That locomotive ended up being 80151, which as she would be coming bunker-first, made it a little bit of a throwaway shot. It worked quite nicely though – definitely one to try again.

We then headed back south a little, to catch 75069 just north of Vaux End Bridge, running through the s-bend where we’d shot Sir Archie on New Year’s Day. With the longer shot, I broke out my bigger 100-500mm telephoto.

On the footplate of this locomotive over the weekend was a Bluebell volunteer who originally fired this very engine back in the BR days, making this a nice reunion of man and locomotive. He can be seen on the right of the shot below.

From here, we returned to the car and headed up the line towards Kingscote station. We headed to just south of the station, where we encountered SouthEast Classic Rail, and waited for the other visitor, W8 Freshwater, doubleheading with 72 Fenchurch, to arrive from the south.

The plentiful daffodils also served as an interesting framing device when 75069 went back towards Sheffield Park, tender-first.

We continued south, with the intention of getting into a spot ready for both Fenchurch and Freshwater to come back south, which they’d be doing in a triple header with 80151, facing the right way and hopefully working hard. On the way we met up with Chailey, because that sort of thing seems to happen often when you’re lineside at the moment. In the meantime, we had another run from Sir Archibald Sinclair to enjoy. For this, 72B, SouthEast and myself positioned ourselves north of Birchstone Bridge, whilst Sharpthorne and Chailey headed to the south. Luckily, Archie got signal checked, meaning we actually had some exhaust where we were, unlike the unfortunate pair south of the bridge.

The question then became where to go for the triple header. We ended up scattered across this section of the line. SouthEast and I decided the light would be better slightly north, on an embankment that would also give us a wider angle and some elevation (which is nice for a train pulled by three locomotives). Sharpthorne and Chailey remained south near Birch Farm crossing hoping the engines would be working harder there, and 72B chose somewhere in the middle. In the event, the locos didn’t work particularly hard on this run, so I’m glad I chose to go where I ended up, because at least I got some decent photographs out of it.

With the triple header done, focus shifted back to locomotives facing north, so we headed back to the Horsted Keynes footpath, there to capture 75069. This remains a shot where I prefer to use my bigger telephoto.

We then headed to Freshfield Bank for the last trains of the day, the first of which would be Sir Archibald Sinclair, which I elected to shoot lineside, exactly where I’d started the day.

The last train we planned to shoot this day would be pulled by Freshwater and Fenchurch, albeit bunker-first. For this, I decided I wanted to head out into the field and get a slow shutter panning shot. Whilst I waited, Camelot came back south, which presented a nice opportunity to further practice the technique (which is to shoot in shutter mode at a speed of 1/25th or thereabouts, and pan smoothly with the locomotive).

Soon Fenchurch and Freshwater arrived.

This run marked the end of the first day of the gala for most of us. Apart from me, because (much like during Giants of Steam the previous October) I stayed on to do a night shoot with Freshwater at Horsted Keynes – although the results of that will be coming in a separate post.

The next morning, for various logistical reasons, I made my own way to the lineside to meet up with 72B and Sharpthorne. The first locomotive was due to be Sir Archibald Sinclair making a light engine movement down to Horsted Keynes to pick up a set of coaches and forms the first service of the day from there. When I entered the lineside at the Tremains foot crossing I decided I didn’t have the time to make it down to Holywell to meet them before the locomotive came up, so instead I positioned myself at Rock Cutting for the light, knowing full well the engine probably wouldn’t be working that hard (there was also another photographer there, so I could check whether I’d missed the run entirely).

It was then safe to head up the line to meet up with Sharpthorne and 72B at Holywell, where we prepared for the next service, which would be 2999 Lady of Legend leading Camelot in a doubleheader. Lady visited the railway for Giants of Steam last October and hasn’t actually left yet, although for whatever reason she hasn’t been in steam for most of that period. Hopefully she’ll be out a bit more over the coming weeks, especially once the bluebells start sprouting.

My shooting at 1/2000th was an error. I suspect I knocked a setting somewhere. AAs it didn’t lead to any crazy ISO settings or me missing the shot, it’s not that much of an issue – certainly it didn’t cause as much headache as another settings whoopsie I’d make later in the day.

After this it was back to Freshfield Bank for 75069, where again I decided I wanted to get a panning shot. Unfortunately as it’s so exposed, Freshfield can sometimes be a bit breezy, and on this occasion the wind was blowing towards us, so the exhaust did obscure the locomotive a little bit.

Then it was up to Horsted Keynes, where we headed north with only a vague idea of what we were going to do. In the end we went our separate ways, with 72B heading further north towards Vaux End Bridge and Sharpthorne and I staying near Horsted House Bridge. I wanted to try a shot I’ve been thinking about for a few months, involving looking up at a locomotive as it passes under a bridge, with the exhaust pluming around the arch of the bridge. I had done a couple of test shots in the weeks leading up to the gala, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do and how it would work. Sharpthorne stayed south of the bridge so he wasn’t in my shot, and I sat just north of the bridge with my wide angle lens ready for Sir Archibald Sinclair to arrive. The shot just before the one I was aiming for actually had the engine and her exhaust nicely framed by the arch of the bridge.

But this next one is pretty much the shot I was after.

I’m happy with the result, but it’s not as dramatic as the shot I was visualising. More than anything the exhaust was not as voluminous as I was hoping. I think the next time I try this shot (and try it I will) it’ll need to be somewhere like Leamland Bridge, where locomotives are moving slower and working harder to get moving. It’s the bridge that inspired the shot in the first place, with this run during the New Year’s Day gala. I might also need to wait until winter comes back before giving it a proper go again.

For our next shot we headed down to the footpath north of Horsted Keynes station for another run by Lady of Legend, where we bumped into a bunch of other shooters. This is where I made my second settings-related boo-boo of the weekend. At some point, presumably when I was switching over to my big telephoto (which is my go-to lens for this bit of track), I knocked my camera into Shutter Priority mode, which was still set up for a slow shutter panning shots, and didn’t notice. Some shots came out completely blurry and unusable, as expected. A few, though, came out pretty decent, and a bit different because the exhaust was smoothed out a little, rather than frozen in time.

Although it makes a nice change, I’d definitely have been happier with the shot I was going for, which was capturing the texture in the exhaust. Even so, I’m glad I got something useable and a bit different out of my error.

We then hopped back to Freshfield Bank, where a BR standard doubleheader was in the offing, with standard 4 75069 leading standard 5 Camelot. With a doubleheader such as this, it makes sense to get wide of the track where you can see both locomotives clearly.

Unfortunately the wind was still blowing in the same direction as earlier and so the exhaust started to obscure Camelot.

Then it was back in the car to head all the way up to the other end of the line, to photograph a repeat of the previous day’s triple header from Imberhorne Bridge as it departed from East Grinstead. This is another public spot, as linesiders aren’t allowed on the section of track north of Kingscote.

We continued hopping about, this time heading back to Tremains to head to Lindfield Wood. The sun was starting to get a little low so it wasn’t entirely clear how much light would be shining on the next locomotive, which would be Lady of Legend. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, but Lady wasn’t working hard when she came through.

In this light she looks really nice with the Pullman dining coaches. Only thing this shot is missing is a nice thick exhaust.

We then headed back to Rock Cutting, as both Fenchurch and Freshwater were due to come back south light engine. This spot is usually not bad for locos heading south, but can sometimes be hit and miss, and this time they were taking things easy.

At this point, we split up again to shoot the upcoming doubleheader of Camelot and 75069. Sharpthorne headed north back towards Holywell, whereas 72B and I headed south towards the broken bridge. For both groups, timing would be tight.

With the tightness of time, unfortunately 72B and I didn’t pick quite the right spot. Going for a shot through the bridge, sadly the locomotives shut off before they passed through, so we got some nice light, but not much exhaust.

For the next train, we moved only a few feet up the track, for 80151 to come back down.

Considering I don’t have too many great shots of 80151 the conditions for this run were pretty spot on, with exhaust, clear skies, and lovely golden hour light.

You might have also spotted the second exhaust plume in the shots above. This service was top and tailed, with № 65 sitting on the back. The locomotive caught the light nicely too so I made sure to get a shot, and it’s one I can might be able to pass off as an engine going forwards, if I were so inclined.

We then headed south to Freshfield Bank again for our last booked photograph of the day, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Unfortunately she was pulling the metropolitan coach set, which is a very odd pairing. Even so, the golden light was continuing to impress.

With that, all our planned shooting for the day was done, and we started walking back to Tremains to meet up with Sharpthorne and head back to Sheffield Park. Inevitably on the way we encountered another locomotive coming the wrong way, but given the light remained lovely shooting it was inevitable.

The glint off the tender is lovely, but a little bit blown out. Turns out, it is possible to have too much glint on a locomotive.

Now, this was planned to be the end of my time at the Spring Gala, but unfortunately when we got back to Sheffield Park, the offices were shut and we weren’t able to return our hi viz vests, which necessitated a trip back to Sheffield Park for me on Sunday to return my vest. Of course, I wasn’t about to leave my camera at home, even if I had every intention of being good, and not going lineside (I even handed in my vest as soon as I arrived).

Inevitably, I ended up spending a little bit of time around the station, photographing some of the sights and comings and goings. Firstly, the crew of 75069 were taking on water.

I also had the opportunity to do some of the more abstract railway photography that I just don’t get when lineside shooting running trains.

With the venting steam, this shot of the engine cab takes on a lovely atmosphere.

Soon 75069 backed down into her coaches, giving me a chance to shoot this member of crew watching proceedings. In monochrome it could almost be from 60 years ago. As long as you don’t notice the modern shunting signal.

Out near the loco shed, Lady of Legend was sitting steaming away in a siding, complete with The Merchant Venturer headboard.

Lady soon moved out behind the loco shed, so I headed in to see the sights. There, Lady was steaming away alongside Fenchurch, also being prepared for the day, and № 65, who had the day off.

Atlantic House was open too, meaning I could pop in and give my regards to the Adams Radial 30583, patiently waiting for her own overhaul (which sadly isn’t any time soon).

From here I could also see Freshwater getting ready for the day.

As well as a clearer view of Fenchurch and Lady.

Not that it was the most visible, I also got a shot of the current state of 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, whose boiler is off in Devon. This is a locomotive I’m looking forward to seeing back in steam.

I walked back into the engine shed and caught sight of Camelot lined up nicely with the window slats.

I got back out onto the platform in time to see 75069 getting ready to go. She let off a big plume of steam which contrasted nicely against the now blue sky.

Soon she was off, making a nicely dramatic departure.

It after two hectic days of shooting running locomotives, it was nice to spend a calm hour or so watching steam engines shunting about. The perfect way to end the weekend – technically the first gala where I’ve attended all three days. But with the station now quiet, it seemed like the perfect time to head back home.

But since it was gala season, it would only be a week before I was out at another railway, and their own spring gala. But that, obviously, will be another post entirely.

As always, there are a lot of shots that didn’t make the cut above, which are in the gallery below. A video montage of the weekend can be seen on my Instagram account.

Spa Valley Railway

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my “railway lens” a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had already proven itself against some wildlife). With the Bluebell Railway shut for their annual winter maintenance period, it was the perfect time to make good on my promise and visit Spa Valley Railway.

My guide for the day would be Chailey Stowe, a YouTuber I’ve met at the Bluebell many times. Not knowing where to start, I wanted to make sure my first time at the Spa was with someone who knew a lot of the good spots along the line. They were already planing on going out that day, and were happy for me to tag along. Unlike at the Bluebell, I have no special permits for Spa to access non-public parts of the lineside, so everywhere we’d visit were public areas.

We started out our day on the edge of Birchden Wood, just outside Eridge station, the western end of the line where the railway connects with the National Rail network. Here we climbed a hill to get a nice wide view of the line. Whilst we waited, I dangled slightly precariously off the a ledge to clear some branches that were blocking the view. Ultimately victory was mine after hitting the branch with another stick until I could break it and twist it out of the way. Soon, № 828 was on her way out towards Tunbridge Wells.

We then made our way to the other side of High Rocks station to catch the train on its way towards Tunbridge Wells. This spot was a bit narrow, but luckily the light played ball.

This was the first time the “railway lens” came into its own, as I was able to shoot the above at 100mm – above my normal zoom range – but then open out to 40mm as the locomotive went by. Concept proven!

I even opened up as wide as 28mm during the pass, which you can see in the gallery below.

On this day the railway was running one train in a top-and-tail formation. 828 would be leading trains heading towards Tunbridge, and a diesel (Class 33 33063) would pulls the trains in the other direction. This saves the time (and space) of running a single locomotive around to the other end of the train at each end of the line. Painted in a primer and no particular livery, she looked an interesting colour.

We then headed in the other direction, deeper into High Rocks Forest, for another run. It was a bit of a damp day, although it wasn’t really raining it was the end of a very wet January, so it was pretty muddy traipsing through the forest to get to the railway boundary. There we bumped into SouthEast Classic Rail (who has just started up an Instagram account you should follow, and even got themselves a lineside pass at the Bluebell Railway this year). We waited for 828 to come round the corner, chuffing away having just come off a temporary speed restriction.

These three shots once again show the benefit of this lens, not that I need to labour the point. With one lens I got shots of the same train at 250mm, 70mm and 28mm. Unfortunately 828 was getting a bit leaky by this point, so the body of the locomotive was starting to disappear in a small cloud.

All three of us then headed to what would turn out to be the last spot of the day, a road crossing a little further along the line. When we got there, we found ourselves needing to rescue another photographer’s car out of some mud. With them rescued, we could turn our focus back to the trains. The next service would be heading back towards Eridge hauled by the Class 33 diesel. It was suggested that the nearby pond, nicely full after all the rain, would work for a reflective shot as she went by. Positions were assumed, and the train duly photographed as it went by.

It worked quite nicely, but because of the angle, I decided it wouldn’t work with the train going in the other direction, led by the steam locomotive, as it would be heading slightly away from the camera. For the next – and final – run of the day, we instead positioned ourselves closer to the crossing itself.

With that, the last train of the day was done, and we made our respective ways back home.

It was an excellent welcome to the Spa Valley Railway, and to № 828 which is a stunning locomotive. She’s only expected to be in this part of the world for this year, and will be going back to Scotland before the year is out, so I will need to make sure I get back out to see her again.

As is now tradition, the shots included above are only an handful of the shots I took. There are more in the gallery below.

Spa Valley Railway

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my “railway lens” a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had already proven itself against some wildlife). With the Bluebell Railway shut for their annual winter maintenance period, it was the perfect time to make good on my promise and visit Spa Valley Railway.

My guide for the day would be Chailey Stowe, a YouTuber I’ve met at the Bluebell many times. Not knowing where to start, I wanted to make sure my first time at the Spa was with someone who knew a lot of the good spots along the line. They were already planing on going out that day, and were happy for me to tag along. Unlike at the Bluebell, I have no special permits for Spa to access non-public parts of the lineside, so everywhere we’d visit were public areas.

We started out our day on the edge of Birchden Wood, just outside Eridge station, the western end of the line where the railway connects with the National Rail network. Here we climbed a hill to get a nice wide view of the line. Whilst we waited, I dangled slightly precariously off the a ledge to clear some branches that were blocking the view. Ultimately victory was mine after hitting the branch with another stick until I could break it and twist it out of the way. Soon, № 828 was on her way out towards Tunbridge Wells.

We then made our way to the other side of High Rocks station to catch the train on its way towards Tunbridge Wells. This spot was a bit narrow, but luckily the light played ball.

This was the first time the “railway lens” came into its own, as I was able to shoot the above at 100mm – above my normal zoom range – but then open out to 40mm as the locomotive went by. Concept proven!

I even opened up as wide as 28mm during the pass, which you can see in the gallery below.

On this day the railway was running one train in a top-and-tail formation. 828 would be leading trains heading towards Tunbridge, and a diesel (Class 33 33063) would pulls the trains in the other direction. This saves the time (and space) of running a single locomotive around to the other end of the train at each end of the line. Painted in a primer and no particular livery, she looked an interesting colour.

We then headed in the other direction, deeper into High Rocks Forest, for another run. It was a bit of a damp day, although it wasn’t really raining it was the end of a very wet January, so it was pretty muddy traipsing through the forest to get to the railway boundary. There we bumped into SouthEast Classic Rail (who has just started up an Instagram account you should follow, and even got themselves a lineside pass at the Bluebell Railway this year). We waited for 828 to come round the corner, chuffing away having just come off a temporary speed restriction.

These three shots once again show the benefit of this lens, not that I need to labour the point. With one lens I got shots of the same train at 250mm, 70mm and 28mm. Unfortunately 828 was getting a bit leaky by this point, so the body of the locomotive was starting to disappear in a small cloud.

All three of us then headed to what would turn out to be the last spot of the day, a road crossing a little further along the line. When we got there, we found ourselves needing to rescue another photographer’s car out of some mud. With them rescued, we could turn our focus back to the trains. The next service would be heading back towards Eridge hauled by the Class 33 diesel. It was suggested that the nearby pond, nicely full after all the rain, would work for a reflective shot as she went by. Positions were assumed, and the train duly photographed as it went by.

It worked quite nicely, but because of the angle, I decided it wouldn’t work with the train going in the other direction, led by the steam locomotive, as it would be heading slightly away from the camera. For the next – and final – run of the day, we instead positioned ourselves closer to the crossing itself.

With that, the last train of the day was done, and we made our respective ways back home.

It was an excellent welcome to the Spa Valley Railway, and to № 828 which is a stunning locomotive. She’s only expected to be in this part of the world for this year, and will be going back to Scotland before the year is out, so I will need to make sure I get back out to see her again.

As is now tradition, the shots included above are only an handful of the shots I took. There are more in the gallery below.

Spa Valley Railway

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my “railway lens” a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had already proven itself against some wildlife). With the Bluebell Railway shut for their annual winter maintenance period, it was the perfect time to make good on my promise and visit Spa Valley Railway.

My guide for the day would be Chailey Stowe, a YouTuber I’ve met at the Bluebell many times. Not knowing where to start, I wanted to make sure my first time at the Spa was with someone who knew a lot of the good spots along the line. They were already planing on going out that day, and were happy for me to tag along. Unlike at the Bluebell, I have no special permits for Spa to access non-public parts of the lineside, so everywhere we’d visit were public areas.

We started out our day on the edge of Birchden Wood, just outside Eridge station, the western end of the line where the railway connects with the National Rail network. Here we climbed a hill to get a nice wide view of the line. Whilst we waited, I dangled slightly precariously off the a ledge to clear some branches that were blocking the view. Ultimately victory was mine after hitting the branch with another stick until I could break it and twist it out of the way. Soon, № 828 was on her way out towards Tunbridge Wells.

We then made our way to the other side of High Rocks station to catch the train on its way towards Tunbridge Wells. This spot was a bit narrow, but luckily the light played ball.

This was the first time the “railway lens” came into its own, as I was able to shoot the above at 100mm – above my normal zoom range – but then open out to 40mm as the locomotive went by. Concept proven!

I even opened up as wide as 28mm during the pass, which you can see in the gallery below.

On this day the railway was running one train in a top-and-tail formation. 828 would be leading trains heading towards Tunbridge, and a diesel (Class 33 33063) would pulls the trains in the other direction. This saves the time (and space) of running a single locomotive around to the other end of the train at each end of the line. Painted in a primer and no particular livery, she looked an interesting colour.

We then headed in the other direction, deeper into High Rocks Forest, for another run. It was a bit of a damp day, although it wasn’t really raining it was the end of a very wet January, so it was pretty muddy traipsing through the forest to get to the railway boundary. There we bumped into SouthEast Classic Rail (who has just started up an Instagram account you should follow, and even got themselves a lineside pass at the Bluebell Railway this year). We waited for 828 to come round the corner, chuffing away having just come off a temporary speed restriction.

These three shots once again show the benefit of this lens, not that I need to labour the point. With one lens I got shots of the same train at 250mm, 70mm and 28mm. Unfortunately 828 was getting a bit leaky by this point, so the body of the locomotive was starting to disappear in a small cloud.

All three of us then headed to what would turn out to be the last spot of the day, a road crossing a little further along the line. When we got there, we found ourselves needing to rescue another photographer’s car out of some mud. With them rescued, we could turn our focus back to the trains. The next service would be heading back towards Eridge hauled by the Class 33 diesel. It was suggested that the nearby pond, nicely full after all the rain, would work for a reflective shot as she went by. Positions were assumed, and the train duly photographed as it went by.

It worked quite nicely, but because of the angle, I decided it wouldn’t work with the train going in the other direction, led by the steam locomotive, as it would be heading slightly away from the camera. For the next – and final – run of the day, we instead positioned ourselves closer to the crossing itself.

With that, the last train of the day was done, and we made our respective ways back home.

It was an excellent welcome to the Spa Valley Railway, and to № 828 which is a stunning locomotive. She’s only expected to be in this part of the world for this year, and will be going back to Scotland before the year is out, so I will need to make sure I get back out to see her again.

As is now tradition, the shots included above are only an handful of the shots I took. There are more in the gallery below.

Spa Valley Railway

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my “railway lens” a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had already proven itself against some wildlife). With the Bluebell Railway shut for their annual winter maintenance period, it was the perfect time to make good on my promise and visit Spa Valley Railway.

My guide for the day would be Chailey Stowe, a YouTuber I’ve met at the Bluebell many times. Not knowing where to start, I wanted to make sure my first time at the Spa was with someone who knew a lot of the good spots along the line. They were already planing on going out that day, and were happy for me to tag along. Unlike at the Bluebell, I have no special permits for Spa to access non-public parts of the lineside, so everywhere we’d visit were public areas.

We started out our day on the edge of Birchden Wood, just outside Eridge station, the western end of the line where the railway connects with the National Rail network. Here we climbed a hill to get a nice wide view of the line. Whilst we waited, I dangled slightly precariously off the a ledge to clear some branches that were blocking the view. Ultimately victory was mine after hitting the branch with another stick until I could break it and twist it out of the way. Soon, № 828 was on her way out towards Tunbridge Wells.

We then made our way to the other side of High Rocks station to catch the train on its way towards Tunbridge Wells. This spot was a bit narrow, but luckily the light played ball.

This was the first time the “railway lens” came into its own, as I was able to shoot the above at 100mm – above my normal zoom range – but then open out to 40mm as the locomotive went by. Concept proven!

I even opened up as wide as 28mm during the pass, which you can see in the gallery below.

On this day the railway was running one train in a top-and-tail formation. 828 would be leading trains heading towards Tunbridge, and a diesel (Class 33 33063) would pulls the trains in the other direction. This saves the time (and space) of running a single locomotive around to the other end of the train at each end of the line. Painted in a primer and no particular livery, she looked an interesting colour.

We then headed in the other direction, deeper into High Rocks Forest, for another run. It was a bit of a damp day, although it wasn’t really raining it was the end of a very wet January, so it was pretty muddy traipsing through the forest to get to the railway boundary. There we bumped into SouthEast Classic Rail (who has just started up an Instagram account you should follow, and even got themselves a lineside pass at the Bluebell Railway this year). We waited for 828 to come round the corner, chuffing away having just come off a temporary speed restriction.

These three shots once again show the benefit of this lens, not that I need to labour the point. With one lens I got shots of the same train at 250mm, 70mm and 28mm. Unfortunately 828 was getting a bit leaky by this point, so the body of the locomotive was starting to disappear in a small cloud.

All three of us then headed to what would turn out to be the last spot of the day, a road crossing a little further along the line. When we got there, we found ourselves needing to rescue another photographer’s car out of some mud. With them rescued, we could turn our focus back to the trains. The next service would be heading back towards Eridge hauled by the Class 33 diesel. It was suggested that the nearby pond, nicely full after all the rain, would work for a reflective shot as she went by. Positions were assumed, and the train duly photographed as it went by.

It worked quite nicely, but because of the angle, I decided it wouldn’t work with the train going in the other direction, led by the steam locomotive, as it would be heading slightly away from the camera. For the next – and final – run of the day, we instead positioned ourselves closer to the crossing itself.

With that, the last train of the day was done, and we made our respective ways back home.

It was an excellent welcome to the Spa Valley Railway, and to № 828 which is a stunning locomotive. She’s only expected to be in this part of the world for this year, and will be going back to Scotland before the year is out, so I will need to make sure I get back out to see her again.

As is now tradition, the shots included above are only an handful of the shots I took. There are more in the gallery below.

Spa Valley Railway

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my “railway lens” a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had already proven itself against some wildlife). With the Bluebell Railway shut for their annual winter maintenance period, it was the perfect time to make good on my promise and visit Spa Valley Railway.

My guide for the day would be Chailey Stowe, a YouTuber I’ve met at the Bluebell many times. Not knowing where to start, I wanted to make sure my first time at the Spa was with someone who knew a lot of the good spots along the line. They were already planing on going out that day, and were happy for me to tag along. Unlike at the Bluebell, I have no special permits for Spa to access non-public parts of the lineside, so everywhere we’d visit were public areas.

We started out our day on the edge of Birchden Wood, just outside Eridge station, the western end of the line where the railway connects with the National Rail network. Here we climbed a hill to get a nice wide view of the line. Whilst we waited, I dangled slightly precariously off the a ledge to clear some branches that were blocking the view. Ultimately victory was mine after hitting the branch with another stick until I could break it and twist it out of the way. Soon, № 828 was on her way out towards Tunbridge Wells.

We then made our way to the other side of High Rocks station to catch the train on its way towards Tunbridge Wells. This spot was a bit narrow, but luckily the light played ball.

This was the first time the “railway lens” came into its own, as I was able to shoot the above at 100mm – above my normal zoom range – but then open out to 40mm as the locomotive went by. Concept proven!

I even opened up as wide as 28mm during the pass, which you can see in the gallery below.

On this day the railway was running one train in a top-and-tail formation. 828 would be leading trains heading towards Tunbridge, and a diesel (Class 33 33063) would pulls the trains in the other direction. This saves the time (and space) of running a single locomotive around to the other end of the train at each end of the line. Painted in a primer and no particular livery, she looked an interesting colour.

We then headed in the other direction, deeper into High Rocks Forest, for another run. It was a bit of a damp day, although it wasn’t really raining it was the end of a very wet January, so it was pretty muddy traipsing through the forest to get to the railway boundary. There we bumped into SouthEast Classic Rail (who has just started up an Instagram account you should follow, and even got themselves a lineside pass at the Bluebell Railway this year). We waited for 828 to come round the corner, chuffing away having just come off a temporary speed restriction.

These three shots once again show the benefit of this lens, not that I need to labour the point. With one lens I got shots of the same train at 250mm, 70mm and 28mm. Unfortunately 828 was getting a bit leaky by this point, so the body of the locomotive was starting to disappear in a small cloud.

All three of us then headed to what would turn out to be the last spot of the day, a road crossing a little further along the line. When we got there, we found ourselves needing to rescue another photographer’s car out of some mud. With them rescued, we could turn our focus back to the trains. The next service would be heading back towards Eridge hauled by the Class 33 diesel. It was suggested that the nearby pond, nicely full after all the rain, would work for a reflective shot as she went by. Positions were assumed, and the train duly photographed as it went by.

It worked quite nicely, but because of the angle, I decided it wouldn’t work with the train going in the other direction, led by the steam locomotive, as it would be heading slightly away from the camera. For the next – and final – run of the day, we instead positioned ourselves closer to the crossing itself.

With that, the last train of the day was done, and we made our respective ways back home.

It was an excellent welcome to the Spa Valley Railway, and to № 828 which is a stunning locomotive. She’s only expected to be in this part of the world for this year, and will be going back to Scotland before the year is out, so I will need to make sure I get back out to see her again.

As is now tradition, the shots included above are only an handful of the shots I took. There are more in the gallery below.

Steam Trains on the Mainline

’Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, the season of mince pies and Cadbury’s Roses, and of the joy of gifting. It is also, apparently, quite a busy season for heritage railway tours on the national rail network. As I wasn’t paying quite as much attention to steam trains this time last year I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if it is normally like this and I’ve just never noticed.

Most of the December rail tours – and indeed most of the rail tours during the rest of the year too – tend to operate north of London, and slightly less commonly to the south west. It is not the often that these tours come to my part of the world here in Sussex, probably at least in part because there’s not far south to go before you run out of country. So it presented an unusual opportunity to photograph some steam trains in a slightly different environment when, earlier this month, we had two such excursions in the space of a week.

The first was ridiculously early on a Monday morning. Originally this train had been scheduled to come through after I’d left for work, and then some time in the weeks leading up to it, the schedule changed and it was due at 6.10am, necessitating me getting up at 4.45am in order to get to the station in good time. Because I still had to go to work, I was limited in where I could go to take any pictures, but besides that it was still pitch black at that time in the morning, so taking photographs at a station meant that there would actually be some light illuminating the train.

The train was a little delayed so there was a bit of waiting around before, eventually, you could hear the chuffing of a steam engine on the breeze and 34046 Braunton emerged from the darkness.

The train was scheduled to stop at this station, so it wasn’t travelling particularly quickly and soon came to a stop. Luckily the locomotive was still alongside the platform when it stopped – I was worried it might stop a bit further ahead, and disappear into the darkness.

With the engine stopped I could grab a few shots whilst it waited, alongside a few bemused commuters who clearly had no idea it would be there. Being so dark you could see the crew illuminated by the fire.

As you can see, the light was such that I was still needing to pull out some pretty high ISOs to get the shot. It’s certainly much easier photographing steam trains on a sunny autumn morning, but then you don’t get some more unusual views, such as the orange glow of the locomotive’s firebox.

I only had limited time. Before long a modern train came onto the platform I was standing on, blocking my view. Braunton then departed off in the other direction, bound for Bath. I was able to get some iffy shots of it disappearing into the blackness (which I’ve included in the gallery below), before I hopped into the train that was blocking my view and went to work.

A few days later, another service was running a similar route. This time it was on a Saturday, and the train was due to come by at a slightly more reasonable hour of just after 8am. This time I had the freedom to go where I felt appropriate rather than being tied to a station. The sun would have just risen at that time, so there would be a bit more light around. Originally, I’d planned to go much further afield, and head to the railway bridge across the River Adur. It would have made for an interesting shot, and would give me a bit more time as the service would not be due there until around 9am. I even got as far as visiting there a few weeks previously to scope it out. In the end, however, the weather was forecast to be dull and grey, and I didn’t think the journey would be worth it. Instead, I planned to position myself with my telephoto lens on one of the bridges crossing the railway closer to me. With a telephoto I was hoping I’d be able to fire off quite a few shots as the train approached. I knew I’d been to one of those bridges before, so I pulled up a photo I’d taken to see what the angle would be like, and liked what I saw.

This would turn out to be a mistake. Turns out, the shot I was using for reference was a blind shot from a phone held over my head, in order to shoot over the almost 7-foot tall bridge wall. There was no way I’d be able to properly aim a 500mm telephoto lens in that situation. Clearly I would have to come up with another plan, and I had precious little time left before the train was due. Luckily there was a path running through the nearby wood that ran alongside the railway. I briefly stopped partway through the wood in a relatively open area which I thought might work, but after a quick test shot of a standard commuter train I decided it wasn’t right. Although I knew there was another footbridge over the railway further on, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it in time, but I decided it was worth trying for.

I made it with minutes to spare. This time there were a few people waiting for the train, 35028 Clan Line, to come by. Unfortunately this spot had a relatively thick grate in the way of the view, so although I was able to get some decent shots, there is some banding visible as a result. Other than that, though, I pretty much got the shots I was after.

Due to my time constraints I ended up shooting with my standard zoom lens instead of my telephoto. Perhaps if I’d used the telephoto the banding wouldn’t be quite so pronounced.

One of the joys of seeing steam trains on the Other Railway is that they can stretch their legs. On heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway, they are limited to 25mph. On the mainline they can go at 75mph, and it’s really cool to see videos online of them going at full chat. At this spot Clan Line hadn’t gotten up to those speeds, but it looked to at least be going faster than 25mph.

Because the sun had only just risen, I was able to get a bit of the best of both worlds: enough light to see the locomotive, but enough darkness that you could still see the lights on the front of the train and the orange glow in the driver’s cab from the fire.

The glow in the cab was a little bit more obvious once some of the train had already gone by.

As the train came out the other side of the bridge I tried to grab a shot, but the autofocus was insistent on focussing on the grate so I nearly missed the shot. It ended up not being very sharp at all.

And just like that, Clan Line was gone. Unlike on a heritage railway where another steam train would likely be along within an hour, there are few second chances with steam trains on the mainline.

Since these trains came through I have done my research and have jotted down a few dates next year when more steam locomotives will be coming near me on the mainline, so we’ll see how those go. Some of them are in spring and summer when hopefully the light and weather will be a little bit nicer. Until then, I will be back to the Bluebell Railway for my steam train fix.

As I often do for shots of things going by quickly, below is a gallery containing more shots than the ones in the post above.

Steam Trains on the Mainline

’Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, the season of mince pies and Cadbury’s Roses, and of the joy of gifting. It is also, apparently, quite a busy season for heritage railway tours on the national rail network. As I wasn’t paying quite as much attention to steam trains this time last year I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if it is normally like this and I’ve just never noticed.

Most of the December rail tours – and indeed most of the rail tours during the rest of the year too – tend to operate north of London, and slightly less commonly to the south west. It is not the often that these tours come to my part of the world here in Sussex, probably at least in part because there’s not far south to go before you run out of country. So it presented an unusual opportunity to photograph some steam trains in a slightly different environment when, earlier this month, we had two such excursions in the space of a week.

The first was ridiculously early on a Monday morning. Originally this train had been scheduled to come through after I’d left for work, and then some time in the weeks leading up to it, the schedule changed and it was due at 6.10am, necessitating me getting up at 4.45am in order to get to the station in good time. Because I still had to go to work, I was limited in where I could go to take any pictures, but besides that it was still pitch black at that time in the morning, so taking photographs at a station meant that there would actually be some light illuminating the train.

The train was a little delayed so there was a bit of waiting around before, eventually, you could hear the chuffing of a steam engine on the breeze and 34046 Braunton emerged from the darkness.

The train was scheduled to stop at this station, so it wasn’t travelling particularly quickly and soon came to a stop. Luckily the locomotive was still alongside the platform when it stopped – I was worried it might stop a bit further ahead, and disappear into the darkness.

With the engine stopped I could grab a few shots whilst it waited, alongside a few bemused commuters who clearly had no idea it would be there. Being so dark you could see the crew illuminated by the fire.

As you can see, the light was such that I was still needing to pull out some pretty high ISOs to get the shot. It’s certainly much easier photographing steam trains on a sunny autumn morning, but then you don’t get some more unusual views, such as the orange glow of the locomotive’s firebox.

I only had limited time. Before long a modern train came onto the platform I was standing on, blocking my view. Braunton then departed off in the other direction, bound for Bath. I was able to get some iffy shots of it disappearing into the blackness (which I’ve included in the gallery below), before I hopped into the train that was blocking my view and went to work.

A few days later, another service was running a similar route. This time it was on a Saturday, and the train was due to come by at a slightly more reasonable hour of just after 8am. This time I had the freedom to go where I felt appropriate rather than being tied to a station. The sun would have just risen at that time, so there would be a bit more light around. Originally, I’d planned to go much further afield, and head to the railway bridge across the River Adur. It would have made for an interesting shot, and would give me a bit more time as the service would not be due there until around 9am. I even got as far as visiting there a few weeks previously to scope it out. In the end, however, the weather was forecast to be dull and grey, and I didn’t think the journey would be worth it. Instead, I planned to position myself with my telephoto lens on one of the bridges crossing the railway closer to me. With a telephoto I was hoping I’d be able to fire off quite a few shots as the train approached. I knew I’d been to one of those bridges before, so I pulled up a photo I’d taken to see what the angle would be like, and liked what I saw.

This would turn out to be a mistake. Turns out, the shot I was using for reference was a blind shot from a phone held over my head, in order to shoot over the almost 7-foot tall bridge wall. There was no way I’d be able to properly aim a 500mm telephoto lens in that situation. Clearly I would have to come up with another plan, and I had precious little time left before the train was due. Luckily there was a path running through the nearby wood that ran alongside the railway. I briefly stopped partway through the wood in a relatively open area which I thought might work, but after a quick test shot of a standard commuter train I decided it wasn’t right. Although I knew there was another footbridge over the railway further on, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it in time, but I decided it was worth trying for.

I made it with minutes to spare. This time there were a few people waiting for the train, 35028 Clan Line, to come by. Unfortunately this spot had a relatively thick grate in the way of the view, so although I was able to get some decent shots, there is some banding visible as a result. Other than that, though, I pretty much got the shots I was after.

Due to my time constraints I ended up shooting with my standard zoom lens instead of my telephoto. Perhaps if I’d used the telephoto the banding wouldn’t be quite so pronounced.

One of the joys of seeing steam trains on the Other Railway is that they can stretch their legs. On heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway, they are limited to 25mph. On the mainline they can go at 75mph, and it’s really cool to see videos online of them going at full chat. At this spot Clan Line hadn’t gotten up to those speeds, but it looked to at least be going faster than 25mph.

Because the sun had only just risen, I was able to get a bit of the best of both worlds: enough light to see the locomotive, but enough darkness that you could still see the lights on the front of the train and the orange glow in the driver’s cab from the fire.

The glow in the cab was a little bit more obvious once some of the train had already gone by.

As the train came out the other side of the bridge I tried to grab a shot, but the autofocus was insistent on focussing on the grate so I nearly missed the shot. It ended up not being very sharp at all.

And just like that, Clan Line was gone. Unlike on a heritage railway where another steam train would likely be along within an hour, there are few second chances with steam trains on the mainline.

Since these trains came through I have done my research and have jotted down a few dates next year when more steam locomotives will be coming near me on the mainline, so we’ll see how those go. Some of them are in spring and summer when hopefully the light and weather will be a little bit nicer. Until then, I will be back to the Bluebell Railway for my steam train fix.

As I often do for shots of things going by quickly, below is a gallery containing more shots than the ones in the post above.

Steam Trains on the Mainline

’Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, the season of mince pies and Cadbury’s Roses, and of the joy of gifting. It is also, apparently, quite a busy season for heritage railway tours on the national rail network. As I wasn’t paying quite as much attention to steam trains this time last year I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if it is normally like this and I’ve just never noticed.

Most of the December rail tours – and indeed most of the rail tours during the rest of the year too – tend to operate north of London, and slightly less commonly to the south west. It is not the often that these tours come to my part of the world here in Sussex, probably at least in part because there’s not far south to go before you run out of country. So it presented an unusual opportunity to photograph some steam trains in a slightly different environment when, earlier this month, we had two such excursions in the space of a week.

The first was ridiculously early on a Monday morning. Originally this train had been scheduled to come through after I’d left for work, and then some time in the weeks leading up to it, the schedule changed and it was due at 6.10am, necessitating me getting up at 4.45am in order to get to the station in good time. Because I still had to go to work, I was limited in where I could go to take any pictures, but besides that it was still pitch black at that time in the morning, so taking photographs at a station meant that there would actually be some light illuminating the train.

The train was a little delayed so there was a bit of waiting around before, eventually, you could hear the chuffing of a steam engine on the breeze and 34046 Braunton emerged from the darkness.

The train was scheduled to stop at this station, so it wasn’t travelling particularly quickly and soon came to a stop. Luckily the locomotive was still alongside the platform when it stopped – I was worried it might stop a bit further ahead, and disappear into the darkness.

With the engine stopped I could grab a few shots whilst it waited, alongside a few bemused commuters who clearly had no idea it would be there. Being so dark you could see the crew illuminated by the fire.

As you can see, the light was such that I was still needing to pull out some pretty high ISOs to get the shot. It’s certainly much easier photographing steam trains on a sunny autumn morning, but then you don’t get some more unusual views, such as the orange glow of the locomotive’s firebox.

I only had limited time. Before long a modern train came onto the platform I was standing on, blocking my view. Braunton then departed off in the other direction, bound for Bath. I was able to get some iffy shots of it disappearing into the blackness (which I’ve included in the gallery below), before I hopped into the train that was blocking my view and went to work.

A few days later, another service was running a similar route. This time it was on a Saturday, and the train was due to come by at a slightly more reasonable hour of just after 8am. This time I had the freedom to go where I felt appropriate rather than being tied to a station. The sun would have just risen at that time, so there would be a bit more light around. Originally, I’d planned to go much further afield, and head to the railway bridge across the River Adur. It would have made for an interesting shot, and would give me a bit more time as the service would not be due there until around 9am. I even got as far as visiting there a few weeks previously to scope it out. In the end, however, the weather was forecast to be dull and grey, and I didn’t think the journey would be worth it. Instead, I planned to position myself with my telephoto lens on one of the bridges crossing the railway closer to me. With a telephoto I was hoping I’d be able to fire off quite a few shots as the train approached. I knew I’d been to one of those bridges before, so I pulled up a photo I’d taken to see what the angle would be like, and liked what I saw.

This would turn out to be a mistake. Turns out, the shot I was using for reference was a blind shot from a phone held over my head, in order to shoot over the almost 7-foot tall bridge wall. There was no way I’d be able to properly aim a 500mm telephoto lens in that situation. Clearly I would have to come up with another plan, and I had precious little time left before the train was due. Luckily there was a path running through the nearby wood that ran alongside the railway. I briefly stopped partway through the wood in a relatively open area which I thought might work, but after a quick test shot of a standard commuter train I decided it wasn’t right. Although I knew there was another footbridge over the railway further on, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it in time, but I decided it was worth trying for.

I made it with minutes to spare. This time there were a few people waiting for the train, 35028 Clan Line, to come by. Unfortunately this spot had a relatively thick grate in the way of the view, so although I was able to get some decent shots, there is some banding visible as a result. Other than that, though, I pretty much got the shots I was after.

Due to my time constraints I ended up shooting with my standard zoom lens instead of my telephoto. Perhaps if I’d used the telephoto the banding wouldn’t be quite so pronounced.

One of the joys of seeing steam trains on the Other Railway is that they can stretch their legs. On heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway, they are limited to 25mph. On the mainline they can go at 75mph, and it’s really cool to see videos online of them going at full chat. At this spot Clan Line hadn’t gotten up to those speeds, but it looked to at least be going faster than 25mph.

Because the sun had only just risen, I was able to get a bit of the best of both worlds: enough light to see the locomotive, but enough darkness that you could still see the lights on the front of the train and the orange glow in the driver’s cab from the fire.

The glow in the cab was a little bit more obvious once some of the train had already gone by.

As the train came out the other side of the bridge I tried to grab a shot, but the autofocus was insistent on focussing on the grate so I nearly missed the shot. It ended up not being very sharp at all.

And just like that, Clan Line was gone. Unlike on a heritage railway where another steam train would likely be along within an hour, there are few second chances with steam trains on the mainline.

Since these trains came through I have done my research and have jotted down a few dates next year when more steam locomotives will be coming near me on the mainline, so we’ll see how those go. Some of them are in spring and summer when hopefully the light and weather will be a little bit nicer. Until then, I will be back to the Bluebell Railway for my steam train fix.

As I often do for shots of things going by quickly, below is a gallery containing more shots than the ones in the post above.

Steam Trains on the Mainline

’Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, the season of mince pies and Cadbury’s Roses, and of the joy of gifting. It is also, apparently, quite a busy season for heritage railway tours on the national rail network. As I wasn’t paying quite as much attention to steam trains this time last year I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if it is normally like this and I’ve just never noticed.

Most of the December rail tours – and indeed most of the rail tours during the rest of the year too – tend to operate north of London, and slightly less commonly to the south west. It is not the often that these tours come to my part of the world here in Sussex, probably at least in part because there’s not far south to go before you run out of country. So it presented an unusual opportunity to photograph some steam trains in a slightly different environment when, earlier this month, we had two such excursions in the space of a week.

The first was ridiculously early on a Monday morning. Originally this train had been scheduled to come through after I’d left for work, and then some time in the weeks leading up to it, the schedule changed and it was due at 6.10am, necessitating me getting up at 4.45am in order to get to the station in good time. Because I still had to go to work, I was limited in where I could go to take any pictures, but besides that it was still pitch black at that time in the morning, so taking photographs at a station meant that there would actually be some light illuminating the train.

The train was a little delayed so there was a bit of waiting around before, eventually, you could hear the chuffing of a steam engine on the breeze and 34046 Braunton emerged from the darkness.

The train was scheduled to stop at this station, so it wasn’t travelling particularly quickly and soon came to a stop. Luckily the locomotive was still alongside the platform when it stopped – I was worried it might stop a bit further ahead, and disappear into the darkness.

With the engine stopped I could grab a few shots whilst it waited, alongside a few bemused commuters who clearly had no idea it would be there. Being so dark you could see the crew illuminated by the fire.

As you can see, the light was such that I was still needing to pull out some pretty high ISOs to get the shot. It’s certainly much easier photographing steam trains on a sunny autumn morning, but then you don’t get some more unusual views, such as the orange glow of the locomotive’s firebox.

I only had limited time. Before long a modern train came onto the platform I was standing on, blocking my view. Braunton then departed off in the other direction, bound for Bath. I was able to get some iffy shots of it disappearing into the blackness (which I’ve included in the gallery below), before I hopped into the train that was blocking my view and went to work.

A few days later, another service was running a similar route. This time it was on a Saturday, and the train was due to come by at a slightly more reasonable hour of just after 8am. This time I had the freedom to go where I felt appropriate rather than being tied to a station. The sun would have just risen at that time, so there would be a bit more light around. Originally, I’d planned to go much further afield, and head to the railway bridge across the River Adur. It would have made for an interesting shot, and would give me a bit more time as the service would not be due there until around 9am. I even got as far as visiting there a few weeks previously to scope it out. In the end, however, the weather was forecast to be dull and grey, and I didn’t think the journey would be worth it. Instead, I planned to position myself with my telephoto lens on one of the bridges crossing the railway closer to me. With a telephoto I was hoping I’d be able to fire off quite a few shots as the train approached. I knew I’d been to one of those bridges before, so I pulled up a photo I’d taken to see what the angle would be like, and liked what I saw.

This would turn out to be a mistake. Turns out, the shot I was using for reference was a blind shot from a phone held over my head, in order to shoot over the almost 7-foot tall bridge wall. There was no way I’d be able to properly aim a 500mm telephoto lens in that situation. Clearly I would have to come up with another plan, and I had precious little time left before the train was due. Luckily there was a path running through the nearby wood that ran alongside the railway. I briefly stopped partway through the wood in a relatively open area which I thought might work, but after a quick test shot of a standard commuter train I decided it wasn’t right. Although I knew there was another footbridge over the railway further on, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it in time, but I decided it was worth trying for.

I made it with minutes to spare. This time there were a few people waiting for the train, 35028 Clan Line, to come by. Unfortunately this spot had a relatively thick grate in the way of the view, so although I was able to get some decent shots, there is some banding visible as a result. Other than that, though, I pretty much got the shots I was after.

Due to my time constraints I ended up shooting with my standard zoom lens instead of my telephoto. Perhaps if I’d used the telephoto the banding wouldn’t be quite so pronounced.

One of the joys of seeing steam trains on the Other Railway is that they can stretch their legs. On heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway, they are limited to 25mph. On the mainline they can go at 75mph, and it’s really cool to see videos online of them going at full chat. At this spot Clan Line hadn’t gotten up to those speeds, but it looked to at least be going faster than 25mph.

Because the sun had only just risen, I was able to get a bit of the best of both worlds: enough light to see the locomotive, but enough darkness that you could still see the lights on the front of the train and the orange glow in the driver’s cab from the fire.

The glow in the cab was a little bit more obvious once some of the train had already gone by.

As the train came out the other side of the bridge I tried to grab a shot, but the autofocus was insistent on focussing on the grate so I nearly missed the shot. It ended up not being very sharp at all.

And just like that, Clan Line was gone. Unlike on a heritage railway where another steam train would likely be along within an hour, there are few second chances with steam trains on the mainline.

Since these trains came through I have done my research and have jotted down a few dates next year when more steam locomotives will be coming near me on the mainline, so we’ll see how those go. Some of them are in spring and summer when hopefully the light and weather will be a little bit nicer. Until then, I will be back to the Bluebell Railway for my steam train fix.

As I often do for shots of things going by quickly, below is a gallery containing more shots than the ones in the post above.

Steam Trains on the Mainline

’Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, the season of mince pies and Cadbury’s Roses, and of the joy of gifting. It is also, apparently, quite a busy season for heritage railway tours on the national rail network. As I wasn’t paying quite as much attention to steam trains this time last year I don’t know if this is a new thing, or if it is normally like this and I’ve just never noticed.

Most of the December rail tours – and indeed most of the rail tours during the rest of the year too – tend to operate north of London, and slightly less commonly to the south west. It is not the often that these tours come to my part of the world here in Sussex, probably at least in part because there’s not far south to go before you run out of country. So it presented an unusual opportunity to photograph some steam trains in a slightly different environment when, earlier this month, we had two such excursions in the space of a week.

The first was ridiculously early on a Monday morning. Originally this train had been scheduled to come through after I’d left for work, and then some time in the weeks leading up to it, the schedule changed and it was due at 6.10am, necessitating me getting up at 4.45am in order to get to the station in good time. Because I still had to go to work, I was limited in where I could go to take any pictures, but besides that it was still pitch black at that time in the morning, so taking photographs at a station meant that there would actually be some light illuminating the train.

The train was a little delayed so there was a bit of waiting around before, eventually, you could hear the chuffing of a steam engine on the breeze and 34046 Braunton emerged from the darkness.

The train was scheduled to stop at this station, so it wasn’t travelling particularly quickly and soon came to a stop. Luckily the locomotive was still alongside the platform when it stopped – I was worried it might stop a bit further ahead, and disappear into the darkness.

With the engine stopped I could grab a few shots whilst it waited, alongside a few bemused commuters who clearly had no idea it would be there. Being so dark you could see the crew illuminated by the fire.

As you can see, the light was such that I was still needing to pull out some pretty high ISOs to get the shot. It’s certainly much easier photographing steam trains on a sunny autumn morning, but then you don’t get some more unusual views, such as the orange glow of the locomotive’s firebox.

I only had limited time. Before long a modern train came onto the platform I was standing on, blocking my view. Braunton then departed off in the other direction, bound for Bath. I was able to get some iffy shots of it disappearing into the blackness (which I’ve included in the gallery below), before I hopped into the train that was blocking my view and went to work.

A few days later, another service was running a similar route. This time it was on a Saturday, and the train was due to come by at a slightly more reasonable hour of just after 8am. This time I had the freedom to go where I felt appropriate rather than being tied to a station. The sun would have just risen at that time, so there would be a bit more light around. Originally, I’d planned to go much further afield, and head to the railway bridge across the River Adur. It would have made for an interesting shot, and would give me a bit more time as the service would not be due there until around 9am. I even got as far as visiting there a few weeks previously to scope it out. In the end, however, the weather was forecast to be dull and grey, and I didn’t think the journey would be worth it. Instead, I planned to position myself with my telephoto lens on one of the bridges crossing the railway closer to me. With a telephoto I was hoping I’d be able to fire off quite a few shots as the train approached. I knew I’d been to one of those bridges before, so I pulled up a photo I’d taken to see what the angle would be like, and liked what I saw.

This would turn out to be a mistake. Turns out, the shot I was using for reference was a blind shot from a phone held over my head, in order to shoot over the almost 7-foot tall bridge wall. There was no way I’d be able to properly aim a 500mm telephoto lens in that situation. Clearly I would have to come up with another plan, and I had precious little time left before the train was due. Luckily there was a path running through the nearby wood that ran alongside the railway. I briefly stopped partway through the wood in a relatively open area which I thought might work, but after a quick test shot of a standard commuter train I decided it wasn’t right. Although I knew there was another footbridge over the railway further on, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to make it in time, but I decided it was worth trying for.

I made it with minutes to spare. This time there were a few people waiting for the train, 35028 Clan Line, to come by. Unfortunately this spot had a relatively thick grate in the way of the view, so although I was able to get some decent shots, there is some banding visible as a result. Other than that, though, I pretty much got the shots I was after.

Due to my time constraints I ended up shooting with my standard zoom lens instead of my telephoto. Perhaps if I’d used the telephoto the banding wouldn’t be quite so pronounced.

One of the joys of seeing steam trains on the Other Railway is that they can stretch their legs. On heritage lines such as the Bluebell Railway, they are limited to 25mph. On the mainline they can go at 75mph, and it’s really cool to see videos online of them going at full chat. At this spot Clan Line hadn’t gotten up to those speeds, but it looked to at least be going faster than 25mph.

Because the sun had only just risen, I was able to get a bit of the best of both worlds: enough light to see the locomotive, but enough darkness that you could still see the lights on the front of the train and the orange glow in the driver’s cab from the fire.

The glow in the cab was a little bit more obvious once some of the train had already gone by.

As the train came out the other side of the bridge I tried to grab a shot, but the autofocus was insistent on focussing on the grate so I nearly missed the shot. It ended up not being very sharp at all.

And just like that, Clan Line was gone. Unlike on a heritage railway where another steam train would likely be along within an hour, there are few second chances with steam trains on the mainline.

Since these trains came through I have done my research and have jotted down a few dates next year when more steam locomotives will be coming near me on the mainline, so we’ll see how those go. Some of them are in spring and summer when hopefully the light and weather will be a little bit nicer. Until then, I will be back to the Bluebell Railway for my steam train fix.

As I often do for shots of things going by quickly, below is a gallery containing more shots than the ones in the post above.

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2023/06/07/lake-district-2023-9-a-steam-railway-journey/
#LakeDistrict #SteamRailways #HeritageRailways #Railway #Photography
Continuing my account of my holiday in the Lake District with a look at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2023/06/07/lake-district-2023-9-a-steam-railway-journey/
#LakeDistrict #SteamRailways #HeritageRailways #Railway #Photography
Continuing my account of my holiday in the Lake District with a look at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2023/06/07/lake-district-2023-9-a-steam-railway-journey/
#LakeDistrict #SteamRailways #HeritageRailways #Railway #Photography
Continuing my account of my holiday in the Lake District with a look at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2023/06/07/lake-district-2023-9-a-steam-railway-journey/
#LakeDistrict #SteamRailways #HeritageRailways #Railway #Photography
Continuing my account of my holiday in the Lake District with a look at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

Them: "What do you use your 3rd monitor for anyway?"
Me: "important work stuff tbh"
The monitor:

#railcam #heritageRailways #steamRailways #trains #uk

Them: "What do you use your 3rd monitor for anyway?"
Me: "important work stuff tbh"
The monitor:

#railcam #heritageRailways #steamRailways #trains #uk

Them: "What do you use your 3rd monitor for anyway?"
Me: "important work stuff tbh"
The monitor:

#railcam #heritageRailways #steamRailways #trains #uk

Them: "What do you use your 3rd monitor for anyway?"
Me: "important work stuff tbh"
The monitor:

#railcam #heritageRailways #steamRailways #trains #uk

Them: "What do you use your 3rd monitor for anyway?"
Me: "important work stuff tbh"
The monitor:

#railcam #heritageRailways #steamRailways #trains #uk