Never having been to the Churnet Valley Railway in North Staffordshire before, it was nice to pay them a visit on Saturday the 11th of July 2009, a day that the weather forecasts said would be a very wet one, but which turned out to be dry and warm, though somewhat dull at times (useless buggers never get it right!) 
The loco running was GWR Large Prairie 2-6-2 '5199', which is normally based at Llangollen (and which I last saw there at Steam, Steel and Stars II earlier this year), and this was hauling the service between the stations at Cheddleton, Consall and Kingsley & Froghall. The CVR is located close to Leek, and has long term ambitions to eventually extend the line to there, but at the moment trains in that direction run through Cheddleton and the 531 yard long Leekbrook Tunnel to Leekbrook Junction, where the service currently terminates, and then the loco 'changes ends' there before returning to Cheddleton. There are also plans to extend the service in the other direction to Oakamoor, and this will likely happen first, and these plans will lengthen the current 10.5 mile round trip considerably if they go ahead. The line runs through some lovely countryside, and along many parts of the route the line is parallel with the Caldon Canal, and since I never could resist photographing canal barges you will find a whole collection of these appearing in my 'Heritage' Gallery as well before too long. Consall Station is situated between Cheddleton and Kingsley & Froghall, and has a popular pub called the Black Lion, and the line crosses the canal at this point for a way, offering useful vantage points for taking photographs of the line. Kingsley & Froghall on the other hand, has a stone road bridge crossing the line, so it's very easy to go up on there and take pictures of the train whilst it's in the station, or whilst it's approaching from Consall. Most of the loco sheds are at Cheddleton, and a number of locos, both working and undergoing restoration are based there, and I could see ex LMS 4F 44422, in the yard there along with various diesels. Some nice cafes, shops and facilities along this line, which provide plenty of rest places for the visitor, and I'm very much looking forward to visiting there again during one of their upcoming galas. |
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