Ffestiniog Mountaineer 1987...

Early summer 1987 and a trip from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog behind Mountaineer was a rare treat for myself and my brothers...

Dad had gone to Canada for a teaching post over the summer, and we had a family friend visiting so Mum took us all over to the railway. I didn't actually remember this trip, instead remembering the first, hauled by Linda, but I thought since there seems to be a universal love of the plucky Alco that I'd share these two photos on the blog - they were taken on an old 110 format camera, so the quality isn't great, but it's obvious that on this day at least, it wasn't raining!

I'm centre in this photo, it's a nice capture of the three of us, but the train fascination really only sits deeply in me, with the others more interested in football and cars in their teens... I've recently dug through a load of old photos so I've got a few other childhood images to share, that help tell the story of why I'm here today doing what I do and how the thread of those steel rails has tied together every chapter of my life in one way or another. Until next time, more soon...