Matt Ditch Photography Blog

Looking back to a cold and grey day in February this year. Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST “Illingworth” creeps under the old Wallsend road bridge with a short freight train on the North Tyneside Steam Railway Full gallery >> https://www.mattditch.photography/rail#/north-tyneside-steam-railway-freight-demonstration-day-260223/

  Return of the blog It has been over a year since my last post on my blog. And I recently found myself wondering how to bring it back. I initially stopped posting because of creative burnout. And looking back I feel like I was limiting myself to only posting certain things that were very time-consuming to make. My idea now is to post shorter posts on a more regular basis. My ideas are things like; * Updates on when I have a new gallery on my website. Possibly including a brief review of the event/railway. These posts would contain my favorite pictures as well along with a link to the full gallery. *Disused railway walks * Photo of the day - a way to maintain near-daily posts. The first one of these is now up. * Modeling - updates on my various modeling projects. I may return to writing more longer posts in the future. But for now, these are my ideas for easing myself back into blogging. I've already made several new posts, which can be found by following the link below. I d...

  Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Steam Gala. 10/03/23 This was my 4th trip to the railway for their annual steam gala. And, my first visit with snow! I haven't had too much experience with photographing steam trains in the snow. And, I was very excited at the prospect of doing that. Although that did bring some challenges. Namely getting to some of the more remote photography locations. And, I'll openly admit I did fall on my arse several times! ha. The bad weather had affected the day's timetables so trains were either running late or canceled, which was an understandable shame. However, it was still an enjoyable event and a railway I would highly recommend and visit again. Below are some of my favorite images from the day. LMS Jubilee "Leander" crosses Mytholmes viaduct with a mid-morning service to Oxenhope. "Bahamas" shortly after leaving Haworth 52044 & No.85 double head a train away from Haworth. The full gallery can be found here YouTube...

5 little known Industrial railway sites along the River Wear A few days ago I was exploring my local area using Rail Maps Online . I noticed that since my last visit to the site a few railways had appeared in my area, I thought it rude not to go for an explore! I didn’t expect to find much at any of these sites as many of them fell out of use many years ago and have been reclaimed by nature, but I was pleasantly surprised…. Site 1. An unidentified shipyard on the North side of the River Wear I haven’t been able to find too much out about this site. It appears to have been abandoned around the 1930s. The buildings were on the left where the thick undergrowth now stands. On the right was a wharf, the remains can still be seen. On closer inspection of some old OS maps it would appear that the tracks ran along the wharf. I believe the railway system here was narrow gauge, but I was unable to find anything due to the boggy nature of the area. Site 2. Incline to a Quarry & another shipy...