Rising early this morning I headed off to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway run by enthusiasts from a small village called Toddington. The railway has fourteen miles of the old Honeybourne Line track which originally linked Stratford to Cheltenham. When it closed the enthusiasts moved in and have built a wonderful railway which runs regular trains between Toddington and Cheltenham.

I wanted to enjoy being out of doors and the particularly sunny day was a delight. I went straight to Cheltenham Race course station, which is the southernmost end of the line, as i knew a steam engine would arrive at about 1030 facing south, before it ran around the train to take it back to Toddington. Once the engine had re-attached it self there was a short wait before the scheduled departure so I took the opportunity of taking some close-ups of the engine and the cab, and the actions of the engine crew in fastening the train to the carriages as well as feeding coal to the engine.

There were three engine crew, the driver, the fireman and an assistant who was obviously being trained. The worst job was to go down onto the track to join up the couplings and the steam powered brake system. While that was happening, rather slowly as it happened, the fireman sat on the engine and chatted to this young girl who seemed very impressed by the whole scenario and the large noisy engine.

I chose to blip this scene as it reminds me of being very small myself and becoming fascinated for ever more by steam trains. When the assistant emerged from beneath the carriage buffers I was pleased to see a middle aged woman appear.  I have added an 'Extra phpto' of her leaning out of the cab as the train left the Race Course station for the return journey to Toddington. I hope she gets to drive the trains soon.

Then I had a long chat with the stationmaster, another volunteer, who was very entertaining and informative before I drove up to Toddington.  I was in time to see the same engine leaving Toddington for another trip south to Cheltenham, which I have also added for the record in the 'Extras'.