Steam Gala

It's the Spring Steam gala on the railway this weekend.  The guest engine 'Eddystone' that I blipped last weekend has been joined by this much smaller, but no less charismatic, engine No 401 'Vulcan' also known as 'Thomas Burt' after a miner's leader who became the first working man to be elected as a Member of Parliament in 1874.  It was built in 1951 for the Steel Company of South Wales but also spent some of its working life at the Austin car factory in Longbridge, Birmingham.  It is on loan from the North Tyneside Railway, which runs a short museum line from North Shields to Percy Main in the north east of England.

I took this on my way for my newspaper this morning and didn't have any time to visit the gala elsewhere along the line.  I won't tomorrow either, so weather permitting I'll have a look, and maybe a ride, on Sunday.  If you're interested in seeing more though, have a look at the rather good blips from GracieG and Bom.