simonbpDec 24

Interesting trains what I rode in 2025:

Trams of Houston, March. Houston's light rail network is tiny, and goes through a city that is downright hostile to pedestrians, but still provides a core of what could eventually become a useful network.
#transit #houston

Show threadsimonbpDec 24
Getting into my UK trip in May, an Elizabeth Line Class 345 and a Thameslink Class 700. It's funny to contrast the two, as they serve basically the same purpose in perpendicular directions, but the Purple Train still has a sheen of newness to it.
#transit #london
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The East Coast Main Line being down that week made for some interesting journeys. To get from London to Darlington I took an East Midlands Railway Class 222 DMU to Cross Country Class 221 DMU. The two are related, and increasingly showing their age. Comfortable, but with tiny useless overhead shelves.
#trains
Dec 24 at 10:28pmWeb
Show threadsimonbpDec 26
This boring looking Northern class 158 was effectively my #Rail200 special, taking me from the Head of Steam museum in Darlington up the original right of way of the Stockton & Darlington Railway to the Locomotion museum in Shildon, and then back to Darlington. Both museums are great and worth a double trip.
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LNER Class 800 Azuma, which took me from Darlington to York. I've never quite understood the hate for the IETs, I quite like them.
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The Transport for Wales Class 158s were nice and functional, and I appreciated the refit interiors with USB charging.
Show threadsimonbpDec 27
Finally, first steam of the year was Talyllyn Railway's No. 3, Sir Hayden. The 2'3" gauge 0-4-2ST was built in 1878 for nearby Corris Railway. It was brought to Talyllyn shortly after it became the first volunteer preserved railway in the world, and a fictionalised version of it appears in the Thomas the Tank Engine literary universe.
#steam #NarrowGauge #wales
Show threadsimonbpDec 27
Steam was out for fire risk on the Vale of Rheidol, so we were hauled by this circa 1987 diesel built at the Brecon Mountain Railway from leftover Baguley-Drewry spares.
#wales #narrowGauge
Show threadsimonbpDec 31
The GWR Night Riviera was a lot of fun. The room was plenty big enough for a solo traveler, and the shower in the lounge at Penzance was appreciated.
#trains #penzance #SleeperTrains
Show threadsimonbpDec 31
And despite my complicated schedule, the GWR day services were mostly on time (a welcome change from Cross Country), except for the time we got stuck behind a cow for 15 minutes, just to add rural Devon character.
#trains #devon #cornwall
Show threadsimonbpDec 31

But then it was time for some Old GWR, on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. The extra few £ for the observation carriage was totally worth it.

Pulling was "Goliath", a 42xx class 2-8-0T built in 1924 for hauling heavy Welsh coal trains, now retired on the seashore hauling tourists.

#trains #steam #dartmouth

Show threadsimonbpJan 3

And then the reason for the trip in the first place, Didcot Railway Centre, where my train obsession started, age 6.

First was Trojan, a goofy little 0-4-0ST built in 1897 for the Newport Docks and amalgamated into the GWR in 1923. It brought me along the Didcot branch line, ending at the reproduction transfer shed alongside the broad gauge locos.

#trains #steam #oxfordshire

Show threadsimonbpJan 3
That allowed me to transfer on to the main attraction for the day, Flying Scotsman! LNER Class A3 4-6-2 "Flying Scotsman" was built in 1923 and was documented to reach 100 mph in 1934. After retirement in 1963, it toured both the USA and Australia before returning to the UK. It was kinda hilarious to watch such a powerful loco up and down the Didcot demonstration line, but it means I can check the train nerd box of traveling behind Flying Scotsman at least once.
#trains #steam #didcot #flyingscotsman
Show threadMidgePhotoJan 1
@simonbp
It does look useful.
Although Exeter isn't quite far enough.