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View Full Version : SAnta Special -Keighley and Worth Valley railway Dec 08 ARCHIVED



boxfrenzy
22-12-2008, 11:24 PM
The shortest day of the year, it's cold, getting dark and raining. Normally the worst conditions for taking pictures but at a train station, it couldn't be better. I'm at Keighley, where a Santa Special is pulling out, and up the steep Worth Valley towards Haworth, Oxenhope and onto to the North Pole.

Two steamers build up a head of steam before leaving the station. It was on this line that the 1970 film of Edith Nesbit's "The Railway Children" was filmed.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/3127981235_b43046cc60.jpg

Rain on the lens causes the lights to flare
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/3128826332_260593bc71.jpg

Ever since the line opened on the 5th April 1867, the steep gradient has always been a challenge. Today, two locomotives pull the train towards Haworth.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/3128819940_d226ebba1c.jpg

Once the train had steamed away, the platform was empty, and a wonderful place to photograph. Time to get some snaps in before the last train departs.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3128825732_7f3e6ea82e.jpg

I love the reflections on the rainy platform
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/3128825120_71bd30c0b0.jpg


Old wooden footbridge from Platform 3 to platform 4
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/3127981255_7aff93a964.jpg

Sand and water
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3127981315_52343b3157.jpg

Where i'm originally from in the West Midlands, this is called a "guzunder". It guzunder the tracks.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/3128819888_481b3b776c.jpg

The station clock reads 4.15 and it's time!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/3127981289_bd99c2634c.jpg

Sir Lamiel, the only survivor of a class of 74 locomotives, prepares to pull the Polar Express northward through the dark forests, watched by wolves as they steam towards the North Pole.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3127998759_e1324c86b7.jpg

On board are the parents, the kids and you know who...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/3128819904_0c5ae83f7d.jpg

WIth a whistle, the last Santa Special steams out of Keighley station and into the gathering night.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/3128819922_e403970812.jpg