The weather this weekend and last has been awful and so I have had no real opportunity to get outdoors with my camera and as a consequence I haven't posted anything for a little while. If you missed my last pictures of the Kingfisher do make sure to take a look as I was really excited to get those shots.
For today;'s offering I have stepped back in time, to July 2017 to be exact, when I had stayed near Whitby and took some time to visit the North Yorkshire Steam Railway workshops at Grosmont. It is a fantastic place to visit and you can see the dedicated mechanics and engineers at work restoring the magnificent locomotives from years gone by.
I love the powerful steam engines but I also like the newer diesel engines that replaced steam.
Looking at these images I have some great memories of my time there and I hope these pictures convey to you some of the power and majesty of the great locomotives.
I was really pleased to be able to get up close to this locomotive as it was building up a head of steam. There were lots of engines to see, in various states of decay and at different stages of repair and I think it must be very rewarding for the engineers to see the fruits of their labour when these marvelous engines are fully restored and running again. It was exciting for me and the other people who with me were enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of years gone by.
The first of today's pictures looks along the tracks towards a diesel locomotive which was also being prepared for the day's work, seen through the steam I think this makes a great image.
The second shot is a close up of the driving wheels and pistons that would soon be taking this engine down the tracks and give a good impression of power and precision.
The title of today's post refers to the steam bursting out and is taken from a Jethro Tull song from the 1971 album Aqualung (coincidentally Bursting Out is also the title of a Tull album) I have included a link to a 1982 performance of the song as that was the year I saw Jethro Tull at Nostell Priory with my dad. It was the first gig I ever attended and I bought my dad his ticket. So not only has this post been nostalgia for the era of the steam engine but also for my introduction to live music and a passion which is as strong today as it ever was.
