60019 Bittern Steam Locomotive

[mcgillianaire]

You know you live in this country when the station master announces the passing through of a steam train. I only wish I had a camera to capture the beauty. There were at least two dozen enthusiasts/hobbyist photographers who arrived at the station just to snap a shot. I got chatting with the chap next to me and he said there's at least one special service every month. The carriages reminded me of the ones still used in India and I was surprised how many were sat inside. This particular beast was built in 1937 and had an Art Deco style to it. Nearly four years in this country and the first time I've seen a steam train in service. The only time I've travelled by one is in India, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built by the British in 1908 and is by a long distance the most picturesque railway journey I've ever completed in my life. My dad was lucky because he travelled by it for nearly a decade while at boarding school. The train I saw today was on its way to Edinburgh, a mere eleven hour journey. Apparently there was another one that left Euston earlier in the day for Chester. The chap next to me got a tip off for both. He was surprised there was only one other person at Euston and he was kind enough to point out the optimal vantage point from which to photograph it. And I've looked the site up where all these services are listed and turns out they're a lot more frequent than I expected. There's several travelling every week. Needless to say, the bucket list just got bigger!