What great day my son, Giles, and I
had at the Buckinghamshire Railway
Centre. Suffice to say Giles commented on how friendly and helpful the
staff were. My special thanks go to the engine crew on 9466, Ricky Jayne
and Chris Walley, for letting us
on the footplate. The length of track may not be the longest in the land
but everything else there more than compensates for that. And you can have
as many rides as you want
The engine as you have seen is Great
Western Railway Pannier Tank 0-6-0 No 9466 with the power classification of 4F.
Click the link to go to the
Spa Valley Railway
site for brief details of the history and technical specification of the engine.
There are actually lots of sites with details of this engine, and others of its
class, and one good starting point for further information is
Bruce Murray.
A moments respite for Ricky, (left
lower) Chris, and 9466 at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre on Wednesday 16th
August 2006. Has it really taken me 5 months to get these pages complete?
Well just doesn't time fly when you are having fun.
The driver's eye view from the
footplate over the top of the pannier tank. Note the copper chimney top.
Great!! they don't make them like that anymore.
Steam up and 9466 is ready to go!
Another quaint wee engine Saddle
Tank No 2087. This engine was built by Peckett for Courtaulds, the
industrial conglomerate, and served
its working days at three of their works. I must confess my ignorance here
as I have never heard of a 'Pecket' Engine before! However the
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre has a page devoted to the engine
on this link.
On a much grander scale - Wightwick
Hall, is currently undergoing 'a major restoration' and at the time of the visit
For more information the engine has a web site devoted to it called
'The Wightwick Hall Restoration
Group' whose aim 'Dedicated to putting 6989 back in steam'. Click the
link for more comprehensive details on the engine.
Above is
0-6-0 Diesel Shunter No.
D2298. It was one of the first mass produced diesel for British Railways.
Built in 1960 and withdrawn in 1968. This class became the 04 class under
the new classifications. Again the above link to the Buckinghamshire
Railway Centre
web site gives comprehensive details of the engine.
The diesel on the left may look nice
in its smart BR 'Blue' livery but it can't hold a candle to this wonderful
looking 0-4-4 Metropolitan
Railway engine No 1 resplendent in its maroon livery. Again the
link takes you straight to the engines page on the BRC web site.
