Ribble Steam Railway & Museum steam gala 25/03/23

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Ribble Steam Railway & Museum steam gala 25/03/23

I felt like the steam gala was a good excuse to make my first visit to the railway. I arrived the night before and stayed in the local Premier Inn, which was quite nice and reasonably priced. My trip down was plagued with cancellations and overcrowded trains, so it wasn't the best ride down!
The walk from the City Centre to the railway was very pleasant. And I even managed to find several Geocaches on the way. 

Grant Ritchie No.272 of 1894 & Hawthorn Leslie 3931 of 1938 "Linda" cross the level crossing at Lockside road with a mid-afternoon train.

The railway itself is just over a mile long and runs through the redeveloped Preston Dock area. It isn't the most scenic of lines. But, it's nice to see Industrial steam locos working in an industrial setting. And that was one of the things that made me want to visit. I found the line very reminiscent of my local railway, the North Tyneside Steam Railway.

FR.No.20 bringing up the rear.

Most of the trains ran top and tail for operational reasons. Unfortunately, this meant that both Furness Railway No.20 and Bagnall "Courageous" spent the day on the back of the trains and I was unable to get a nice clear shot of them leading a train smokebox first.

Peckett 0-6-0ST "Fonmon"

I did get a chance to explore the railway's museum where a good number of industrial steam & diesel locomotives were on display. The engines were all well presented with information boards to accompany them. The museum/railway staff were also very friendly and I would recommend visiting if you were in the area.

Grant Ritchie No.272 crosses the famous Preston Docks swing bridge.

To summarise it was an enjoyable trip and I enjoyed visiting somewhere new. As previously mentioned I was disappointed not to get a good shot of both FR No.20 and "Courageous". I also felt that there were limited spots for photographers. But we can't have everything! in the end, it was nice to see 4 steam locomotives in service.

The full gallery can be found here. The Youtube video can be found below.





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