Quainton

A lot of people will remember what they were doing 30 years ago today when 'The Great Storm' hit southern England. I have a particular reason to remember because it was the day I was moving house. We got off lightly as we only lost three fence panels but the removal men wouldn't risk driving the van out of the yard so everything was delayed for several hours until the winds died down.

No such excitement today although with Hurricane Ophelia bearing up on us from the Atlantic there may be fun yet. At a loose end so we visited the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton for a look round. It's probably 25 years ago since I last visited and there have certainly been changes for the better. An interesting place, with a nice museum and a recreated station from Oxford, and they also run a steam train, although with a line only a few hundred yards long it's not a major experience. This was the engine in steam today; an ex-Coal Board saddle tank which, until the building of 'Tornado' nine years ago, was the last steam engine to be built in the UK for the home market, having been built in 1964. I've added an extra of a locomotive currently under restoration; an impressive beast! A 3' 6" gauge 4-8-4 South African engine which hauled the famous 'Blue Train' until the late 1970's.