Saturday was a busy day for fans of steam locomotives, with three scheduled to work special trains in and out of York. The first of these was 'Britannia' which pulled into platform 11 at just after 13:20.
Following the Second World War, the railways of Britain were in a poor state, and this, combined with a Labour governement, led to the nationalisation of the railways from 1st January 1948. Following a review of the various company locomotive designs, a series of new standard designs was created. The first of these to be built was 'Britannia' delivered for service in 1951.
This locomotive has a place in my history too. During the 1960s I had a model railway layout, and my locomotive was 'Britannia'. Remarkably, although members of this class worked close to where my parents lived and I saw them often, the first time I saw this locomotive at work wasn't until around 2013.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
There was quite a family connection with railways, with several relatives working on the railways. I was introduced to railways at a very early age, with an uncle taking me to a local railway station to watch the steam trains.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
There was quite a family connection with railways, with several relatives working on the railways. I was introduced to railways at a very early age, with an uncle taking me to a local railway station to watch the steam trains.
Ian
Thank you both - steam locomotives make such interesting subjects to photograph.
Ian