to use up the final bits and peices i got recently i decided another trip to the south west was needed, and beings the south devon railway was holding a gala all week i decided it would be best to go and visit.
the gala was the branch line gala and a special guest in the form of GWR rail motor no. 93 was the star attraction being a busy service until the last service. a second visitor in the form of small prarie worked in tamden with 2 auto coaches on the full length of the line accompanying the railmotor which was for passengers with upgraded tickets, 2 shuttle services were also operated, on the buckfastly to staverton section a third visitor 14XX no. 1450 worked a 1 coach br 50s/60s branchline train while on the 2nd shuttle between staverton and totnes littlehampstead resident 1369 worked a 2 coach GWR branchline train both shuttles accompanied by 2 milk tankers for part of the day, in the evening a class 122 bubble car was let out to run taking people to and from the staverton beer festival and people to totnes for journeys home. though at times things got very quiet and the timetable a little quiet in points i had a great time especially while riding the rail motor. the day of my visit (23/02/13) was very cold (not the south devon's fault) but this did not stop me having a fantastic time on this very delightful west country branchline and i hope to go back for a 4th visit in the future.
meanwhile i was kept informed about the happenings on my home fort of peterborough as the very same weekend the nene valley railway was holding it's own winter gala with guest engines 70000 britannia and 4141 running with 44422, 22 & 1800. information relayed to me involve 70000 britannia derailing, a vacuum problem with the 4F or the MK1s at some point, 4141 not being able to do it's first train and that there was almost a colision. will i be making a visit on the sunday as planned? read the above blog (you probably already have though)

as the only day i could really do this very good offer was thursday the 21st of february i started the day at london euston after using one of my delay repay vouchers to get to london for 60 pence i then after only a suprisingly minor delay (thanks to the overhead line problems on the ECML between the 20th and the 22nd) luckily this didn't affect me when i got to london, i quickly walked to london euston to start my great escape. firstly i headed to watford junction to clear the st albans abbey line and ride a class 321 unit, after this i headed north to meet my friend bruce, i went firstly to northampton before realising my train wasn't going via rugby so couldn't meet him there, after this i went back to milton keynes to meet bruce there, after this we went one stop south to clear the bletchley to bedford line on a 150, after this we headed to birmingham to clear the lichfield trent valley route, after this we did a quick run to wolverhampton then headed south & home, i left bruce at coventry station as he needed the branch to nuneaton so he could get to where he lives. i continued south back to london euston where i grabbed a pizza and headed to king's cross.
thanks to the overhead line problems and unbeknown to be engineering works were happening on the line tonight, as a result first capital connect ran a special service from king's cross to biggleswade non stop, the time of this journey on a 100MPH class 365 was approximately 30 minutes however it would take me a further hour and a half to get home thanks to the useless replacement bus service. yes it did call at every station north of biggleswade and a lazy passenger got dropped off enroute but seriously an hour and a half to complete what is 40 minutes on a train is a joke and is reason why i hate replacement busses. atleast this one wasn't hot and stuffy and useless like the replacement bus i got between leicester and peterborough

after hearing the news on the 23rd about 70000 britannia derailing i decided i would visit the nene valley railway's steam gala but only briefly i started off by going to longville junction to do some linesiding, after this i went to collect my nan so we can have sunday lunch at my house, i also watched a brakevan ride at this time, after lunch i went for a return trip to wansford before going back home

right, i have tons to write about so read carefully
me & my girlfriend had been organising something a little special for a long time but now well a week and a few days ago things finally came to reality, 6th of february i went up to her city to collect her and bring her home, during her brief stay in peterborough i had work every evening for 3 days and we met up with one of my good friends then on the 9th things really started to get spicey, we were up nice and early at peterborough train station heading to london, in london we quickly took cover on the hammersmith and city line on the london underground, my lass was out of her confort zone but i successfully guided her to paddington station and onto coach D of a first great western HST so she had a tv to watch if she got bored on our journey, this didn't happen though and while we waiting in the box area for network rail to fix a signal problem and first great western to fix our HST i casually mocked the ordinary show which featured on the tv, once the problems were fixed we swapped trains at bristol for the short run into weston super mare, our holiday destination picked by my girlfriend and a very wise choice it was
after my birthday on the 10th and a day to settle in on the tuesday we visited the aquarium which was fantastic and we also had a brief walk because i forgot what we were going to do after was closed but we did go back the next day when it was open, this was weston super mare helicopter museum which is the biggest helicopter museum in the world, the displays were fantastic and very interesting (this is from someone who doesn't normally do helicopters but has a slight interest) weather they were toy helicopters, model helicopters, small helicopters or big helicopters me and my girlfriend enjoyed the museum (she agreed to go and loved it and i will note now to save me writing this again) there was meant to be a chinook visiting but this didn't turn up so we went home
on valentines day we went to the west somerset railway the first train to pull in after we arrived was hauled by 7828 'norton manor' we rode the train to williton where we swiftly changed trains for the service back to bishops lydeard pulled by 9351, when we got back we explored the museum on platform 2 and watch 9351 head back to minehead, me and my girlfriend thoroughly enjoyed the west somerset railway and she loved visiting the footplate of 9351 as well as the ride and the museum, we then headed back to weston super mare for a romantic meal
friday we were on the trains again as we went to bristol zoo today, this was one of my girlfriend's choices as well as the aquarium, the weston super mare museum and the grand pier, we had fun at all these venues
unfortunately we had to go home but the fun didn't stop there, on sunday we went to the ferry meadows railway where they were running the brand new steam engine no, 44 a 10 1/4 inch gauge replica of a dajeerling B class locomotive which is a fantastic runner and puller, i say go find out for yourself, it will be running every sunday from now till mid november, i also took her to nene valley to watch their engines settle down for the night
to conclude after going to a gig in sheffield on monday i went home on tuesday and watched britannia arrive on the nene valley railway to star in the

because the day before today was my sister's birthday she decided she wanted the family to go to the nene valley railway so we did, the engine in service today was 44422 and it was the blue service which if you ask me is a bit pointless but we'll skip this cos i don't run the railway, it was a nice little journey on a nice locomotive, happy birthday sis