First and last…

A couple of weekends ago I made a concerted effort to get out to see the last ‘timetabled’ train on the Llangollen Railway for 2024. This bookends my year of observing and enjoying the railway…

It was the end of March, after the track repairs in Berwyn tunnel, before trains returned to the village. Through the seasons and in most weathers I’ve taken photos documenting the mundane and celebrated, steam, diesel and railcar, equally and with heart.

I’ve collated these in a Flickr album. Contained within are all the contrasts of this railway, plenty of repetition I’m sure, but the steady pace of regular trains, horns, whistles and exhaust note punctuate and mark the day in a more gentle way than the incessant ticking if a clock. Marking the passage of more than just time itself, but the trains themselves a passing of time.

Click to open on Flickr or your browser: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBjigM

Santa season will soon be upon us, and it will be nice to hear trains again for a few weeks before the winter quiet - but I’m already tentatively excited by the prospects of the railways 50th year of preservation, yes the events but also, quite selfishly, the every day. Catching a DMU on a weekday is such a wonderful balm, in any weather the valley is beautiful. Until next time, more soon…

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