Different!

Birding seemed rather quiet and it was the day before the NYMR Autumn Steam Gala. I decided to spend a day watching the trains go by. Thursday was the first day so I wasn't sure just how much I would see...

I drove to Levisham Station. If you've never been there then the drive from the main Whitby road through Lockton is quite a rollercoaster. It looked so simple on the map! However I reached the delightful station at Levisham mid-morning.

The old and new! Ancient oil lamp converted to run modern light bulbs. The first train I saw was a Southern region Schools class loco 'Repton' heading to Pickering.

Almost tempted - a little trespass would only cost me £2!

Next stop was Fen Bog - a place I've often visited for butterflies. I knew it would be a nice spot to photograph trains from either direction. First train past was Lucie, a Belgian tramway engine owned by P. Middleton [known as Piglet from the Channel 5 TV series]

It approached very quietly and caught me by surprise. Lucie was just towing a guard's van.

Then a Standard class 5 loco charged into view.

I headed back to Levisham for the afternoon which turned out to be a good decision. Lucie was shunting goods wagons and 'Piglet' Middleton, who owns Lucie, was on hand on the platform to watch proceedings. 

A train came through - wooden panelled coaches -with a girl leaning from the window taking photos. Everyone had a camera.

I found a spot on the North side of the station and waited. Eventually a distant wisp of tell-tale smoke appeared and everyone readied themselves for the next train.

Why the blue text? No good reason but Sir Nigel Gresley was supposed to appear in blue but they didn't have time for the full paint job so we just got a matt black version. Or so I was told...

Sir Nigel Gresley, A4 class. As schoolboys we called them Streaks.

I'm still birding! UK 207 2022