Somerset Holiday Post II: WSR's Minehead Station...
Hi all. Day 2 of the holiday, our first full day, was to revolve around a look at the nearest town, Minehead. After a 3 mile walk along the beautiful coastline, we reached Minehead Seafront. The WSR's Minehead Station is the base of the railway and is located right on the seafront, just a short walk up the road from the well known Butlins camp. After a long walk around the town the prospect of walking the return 3 miles back to Blue Anchor proved too much(!)...so we decided to catch the train back! After purchasing our four Single tickets we made our way onto the 1/4 mile long main platform where the annual "Beer Festival" was taking place. The first thing that caught my eye was the massive GWR 38XX 2-8-0 No3850 simmering alongside out of steam 2-6-0 No9351 (an image of the pair is seen above). 3850 was to be in steam all week as an "eight legged" steam engine is needed each day for the heavier trains. 9351 (left), is unique in preservation as, would you believe, she used to be a tank engine! 9351 used to be 5193, a 2-6-2 Large Prairie Tank. However, the engine was 'converted' to a 2-6-0 "WSR Mogul" and given a 2500 gallon ex-GWR tender. This transformation vastly improved the engine's water capacity but I couldn't seem to get an answer to wether it performed better than the tank engine version or not!
Leaving 3850, which would haul us back to Blue Anchor, I found the above engine, 5553, simmering opposite in the Bay Platform. She was sitting quietly at the head of the day's 4-coach "Quantock Belle" Dining Train. This engine is a 2-6-2 Small Prairie Tank and is owned by the Waterman Heritage Trust (Pete Waterman). After a peak in the cab I noticed that, unusually, the little tank carries Air Brake equipment and TPWS! Maybe it has travelled main line during its preservation life? Who knows! The notice on the cab roof states the engine is registered for "60mph"! I wouldn't fancy that with those small wheels! Still, a very nice little engine! With no time left to further admire the Prairie we quickly boarded our train, behind 3850. With a blast on the whistle, 3850 started the 9-coach train with hardly any bark at all! What a powerful thing! Back at Blue Anchor we alighted and watched 3850 depart for Bishops Lydeard before starting the short walk back to base. Looks like there may be chances for Linesiding tomorrow...we'll see! Thanks for reading!...
Hi all. Day 2 of the holiday, our first full day, was to revolve around a look at the nearest town, Minehead. After a 3 mile walk along the beautiful coastline, we reached Minehead Seafront. The WSR's Minehead Station is the base of the railway and is located right on the seafront, just a short walk up the road from the well known Butlins camp. After a long walk around the town the prospect of walking the return 3 miles back to Blue Anchor proved too much(!)...so we decided to catch the train back! After purchasing our four Single tickets we made our way onto the 1/4 mile long main platform where the annual "Beer Festival" was taking place. The first thing that caught my eye was the massive GWR 38XX 2-8-0 No3850 simmering alongside out of steam 2-6-0 No9351 (an image of the pair is seen above). 3850 was to be in steam all week as an "eight legged" steam engine is needed each day for the heavier trains. 9351 (left), is unique in preservation as, would you believe, she used to be a tank engine! 9351 used to be 5193, a 2-6-2 Large Prairie Tank. However, the engine was 'converted' to a 2-6-0 "WSR Mogul" and given a 2500 gallon ex-GWR tender. This transformation vastly improved the engine's water capacity but I couldn't seem to get an answer to wether it performed better than the tank engine version or not!
Leaving 3850, which would haul us back to Blue Anchor, I found the above engine, 5553, simmering opposite in the Bay Platform. She was sitting quietly at the head of the day's 4-coach "Quantock Belle" Dining Train. This engine is a 2-6-2 Small Prairie Tank and is owned by the Waterman Heritage Trust (Pete Waterman). After a peak in the cab I noticed that, unusually, the little tank carries Air Brake equipment and TPWS! Maybe it has travelled main line during its preservation life? Who knows! The notice on the cab roof states the engine is registered for "60mph"! I wouldn't fancy that with those small wheels! Still, a very nice little engine! With no time left to further admire the Prairie we quickly boarded our train, behind 3850. With a blast on the whistle, 3850 started the 9-coach train with hardly any bark at all! What a powerful thing! Back at Blue Anchor we alighted and watched 3850 depart for Bishops Lydeard before starting the short walk back to base. Looks like there may be chances for Linesiding tomorrow...we'll see! Thanks for reading!...
No comments:
Post a Comment