Home»All my photos»2012 Railway Photos»Steam Stars at Llangollen 27 April 2012

Although living in North West England, I had never visited the Llangollen Railway, but their third Steel Steam and Stars event finally prompted me to make the trip. After a quick and easy drive I arrived on the banks of the River Dee (or Afon Dwfrdwy), swollen by heavy rain and roaring past Llangollen station.

The first train of the day was headed by the resident Manor and banked by a gleaming black GWR tank. I was delighted to find the magnificent Thompson buffet in the train, which had run in the famous Elizabethan express, and made this my home for the journey right up the new extension to Bonwm, not far from the ultimate destination of Corwen. The train was pulled back by the tank to Carrog, where I alighted to watch a procession of interesting visitors, including two auto train coaches sandwiching a pannier tank, the magnificent Caledonian 0-6-0, and finally, a very old friend from Dinting days, the LNWR coal tank. I rode back to Glyndyfrdwy and walked in the rain round the tented exhibition until the next train arrived headed by the magnificent Britannia, in Brunswick green but without its white roof for the Royal Train.

She took me the short ride back to Carrog where, after a pass of the shuttle up to Bonwm, the next arrival was an even bigger engine, the new Peppercorn Pacific, Tornado. She brought me back to Llangollen where I had another chance to see many of the locos before making my way on to Birmingham, for the next day's trip over the Devon banks to Plymouth with Tyseley's Castle. But it had been a magnificent introducction to the impressive Llangollen Railway, which will certainly be worth another visit