2012 Locoyard Steam Round-up

Today’s post is a far shorter one than yesterday’s, so please do not be put off!

This blog started life as one to share Model Railway experiences. This soon spread to my strong interests in the real thing and as a result Locoyard,com had to evolve quickly. The good thing about this, was that reports on the real thing could be reminiscing, as a result of looking at model or reporting a visit to a preserved line and therefore it needed the blog posts to be organised very early on. So, my early steam experiences can be found linked to my About page, the other visits in the Steam Diary page. More recently, this has been supplemented by the Gallery web page where all pictures are organised by region/type and then by class. Therefore, there’s no need for a lengthy blog post as published yesterday!

Inevitably, some blog posts managed to slip through the net and these looked at specific locomotive classes. A personal favourite is the piece written mighty British Railways Standard 9F Class, which looked at the short but rich history and performance of this much loved type. Less loved by many is the Hunslet Austerity Saddle Tank (J94); but unfairly so, as a tribute to it published in Part 1 and Part 2 explored. A short piece was written of the LSWR Beattie Well-Tank (class 0298) and another tank engine; the USA Dock tank was also looked at when reporting of Model Rail’s announcement that a model would be made.

Highlight’s of steam this year have been many – it has been a great year! Proving that a surprise encounter is often the best, my favourite was an unplanned walk along the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway with Mrs Locoyard. Not only was it a lovely scenic walk, but it gave some excellent vantage points to see steam engines in action! It was good to visit the the Kent and East Sussex Railway again all visits to other preserved line’s including the Bluebell Line, Isle of Wight Steam Railway, South Devon Railway and Didcot Railway Centre are always special.

A special mention has to go to the Watercress Line. My regular visits to the Watercress Line have all been well worth it, no matter the weather. It is a line that has powerful steam engines that are worked very hard. Both steam gala’s were excellent and I look forward to those in 2013.

Mainline working’s are always worth catching. This year I saw four; including the unique 8P Pacific 71000 Duke of Gloucester on the The Diamond Jubilee Express and of course a BR Blue Tornado!