Llangollen Railway: Hybrid at Berwyn…

In my drive to capture the Llangollen Railway as it lives in our valley I'm searching out photography locations that we seldom see on Facebook and the internet, and so today's post shares a few photos I took a number of days ago on one of these explorations...

This spot is just beyond Berwyn, where the minor road crosses the line and then there is a lay-by with low fence which makes photography here very easy - add to that the pleasing foreground scenery of old sleepers and its a great spot. Looking towards Berwyn is quite enclosed, and looks great with the train filling the frame - a steam engine here would look equally good, although they're not working that hard as there is a speed limit of 15 in place...

As they round the corner the valley opens up, and here, as I got the rear of the train I'm left feeling that steam wouldn't work in this view - in fact a diesel would look great here... I wish I'd got more of a full frame but I had to run up from my earlier photo to get this un-obstructed view of the DMU on the curve. Yet again strange light in the valley, which has been adjusted a touch on my iPhone before sharing here... I've a few more ideas for spots to explore, and once that's done I can begin to think about documenting the line with a better camera and proper setup, matching locations to weather and locomotives!

Until I started this project, I hadn't really thought about the railway being a living thing - taking it for granted, almost dismissing it for it's mundane parade every day of the 'same old' steam engine - which now I miss greatly - the off beat Class 4 standard tank was very much at home here - and is missed. Hopefully the line's Pannier can be returned to steam for 2022 to bolster the 38xx. In the meantime, get out, enjoy and record the railways on your doorstep as you never know what might happen in the future. Until next time, more soon...