Tornado

Tornado is a A1 Peppercorn locomotive who is a little bit special. All 49 engines in this class were scrapped after only 16 years service, despite being the most reliable and economical express engine on the mainline. Tornado was built from the original plans and completed in 2008. This weekend she was at the East Lancs Railway and I could not miss the opportunity to see her

Click here to download:
STEAM_GALA.m4v (54.35 MB)

Also in this video are LMS Jubilee Class 5690 Leander (a personal favourite from childhood) LMS Stanier Class 'Black 5' 5337 and 731219 pulling a double header and BR Standard Class 8 Duke of Gloucester going double headed with Tornado 

Stairway to Heaven

Went on the BBC Manchester tour today and without doubt the most interesting aspect was the radio production side. These photos were taken inside the 'drama studio,' Most of the BBC 4 and Radio 7 dramas are recorded here and all space is utilised for making convincing sound effects. The stairs contain 3 different types of flooring - concrete, lino and carpet to replicate every type of footstep you might need. The door contains interior and exterior handles, locks and fastenings. The attention to detail and authenticity was astounding

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Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.

In this case, the journey was definitely better than the destination

Stanier Pacific Royal Princess Class 6201 “Princess Elizabeth” 1933. Her looks are deceiving. This graceful and beautiful engine is a real brute of a beast – capable of running non stop from Glasgow to London in less than 6 hours

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Scarborough was cold and dull, but this cheered me up. I’ve never seen a turtle play piano before
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