Tornado 60163 near Frocester, Gloucestershire

I am back.  This is my first blip post since I returned home last week from my trip to Sri Lanka.  I have so many pictures to sort through, so I am taking it slowly.  I have felt quite disoriented since my return from the tropical heat to wet, windy and cool England let alone the cultural shocks. But I am fine and will hope to post not only blips but also some assorted pictures from the many sites and sights I have seen.

But as soon as I found that Tornado was returning to our area I decided to try to photograph it.  My original plan was to use flash as it passed through Stroud station after dark before it traversed the Golden Valley. But today it was announced that its route up the steep slopes of the Golden Valley was 'banned' for some technical railway reason, although it has steamed up it in former years.

So the route was changed to the western main line back to London via Bath and at a slightly earlier time. Helena wanted to come with me so I checked out a new vantage point just to the west of Stroud which allowed me this view of the full train as it headed back south from Worcester towards Bristol.  It was travelling fast and the driver gave us a whistle as it saw us up on the bridge, which I appreciated.  Sadly the light was fading fast as the sun was not only setting but a bank of cloud had intervened, so I had to up the ISO ands hope for the best.

Do look out for some back blips soon, which will probably start in the days before last Christmas.