Following the posting of photograph of a rainbow (click here), taken as Stanier Black 5 45379 passed by, today’s blog post is a reflection on the waiting game.  Sometimes we railway enthusiasts will stand for quite some time in the cold or wet waiting for the fleeting moment when a locomotive will charge past, giving us a glimpse of it’s glory.  Personally, I can get very bored if watching a TV show that I don not enjoy, or spending hours in shops, but waiting in anticipation of a steam engine is different somehow.  The anticipation builds, especially when sometimes we can hear it way before we see it, or sometimes as shown above, we can even get a glimpse of it approaching from a distance!When it does come, it’s worth every minute of waiting.  There’s something very glorious about seeing a steam engine in action, the noise, the power and the spectacle.  These pictures were taken west of Ropley station, easily accessible by footpath from the station and a great place to watch trains go by!  Above is BR Standard 7MT class 7000 Britannia.  Finally below we see rebuilt West Country Pacific 34046 Braunton double-head with original spam-can 34007 Wadebridge.  What a difference a rebuild makes, they look so different!  Both are beautiful, in their own way, especially when seen in action.  When I saw this, I was very happy to have waited in a field for 45 minutes!

Thanks for reading folks 🙂