The anatomy of a ‘catch’...

Today's railway scene is far from boring, the culling of a myriad of locomotive types during my teens has resulted in today's monopoly, in numbers at least, of EMD/GMD built 66s but there is plenty of variety still to be seen...

Today's blog walks you through how I came to be standing on Chirk Aqueduct this morning, capturing the headline photo, as sometimes things come together well for a 'catch' of something unusual.

It started with this post on David Pitt's Instagram feed of a Colas 37 stabled at Chester. I noted it was due to leave tomorrow, but didn't think too much of it.

I woke to blue generally cloudless skies with bright sunshine. I do the school run on a Wednesday so was poised to leave, and would be done by 9am and close to Ruabon and Chirk. I wondered about taking a photo or two of some trains.

A quick look on the Real Time Trains website showed a few 'TFW' passenger turns (in fact I saw the Class 67 hauled express heading north shortly before the photo below was taken), but of note is the blue train - these are freight or network rail test trains. A click on it reveals it is a test train heading south. The Chirk aqueduct might be a good spot to see it.

The result, a reasonable composition, and lucky with the barge on the aqueduct too - there aren't many places along the line here where you can get a decent 3/4 or side on shot with access or tree growth, so this is one of the few. Sadly you do loose the wheels and under frame in the shot. It turned out the 37 was propelling so slightly less interesting, but there you have it. 

So from casual observation, to opportunity to result. A pleasant way to start the day, perhaps these resources will help you dig about and see what you can see on your own doorstep. I'm a modeller through and through, but the excitement of the chase as it were, and seeing this in person was superb. I'm no rail fan but I thoroughly enjoyed the 'catch'. Until next time, more soon...