Rustys Ramblings
Its been ages since an update so here goes!
Its been a difficult Christmas on the home front; this has
lead to lots of travelling but no new photos. Managed a nice journy to Kettering
from Leeds, sampling both the new Meridians, and HST's. I still prefer the hsts-
but i can still remember the Peaks with steam heated mk1 stock- and mk1 stock
was the best ever! Returning to Chester station on Saturday eve (27th jan) after
a trip with Beth and the Dog (Razzle) i noticed that a railtour was due to
arrive in platform four in 20 minutes time. Beth was bribed with coffee, and the
camera was fired up. The railtour arrived and turned out to be 45112 on its
return leg to York. The stock was eth fitted aircon late mk II's, but it still
took me back to the days when we spent 35p on a return from Kettering to
Wellingborough- 10 minutes or 8 miles, and tried to get back and forth as many
times as we could before having our tickets clipped. This would have been the
late 70's or early 80's as the mk 1's were fast being replaced by eth stock
cascaded from the WCML mk III build. Midland mainline haulage then was mostly
45/1's with the odd 47. Steam heated rakes threw up the odd 45/0 or pair of
25's- my first ever railtour was The Class 44 farewell leaving from Kettering,
hauled by three of the remaining class 44 peak pioneers

As you can see from the photo of the tour in Chester Station,
the promised present of a new camera has yet to happen, but happy memories for
me. Beths enthusiasm for trains continues to grow- and the level of compliments
from the windows of the rear carriage prompted her to suggest she should have
her own gallery on here!!
The ad at the top of this page is for a travel bargain
newsletter- yet more dross for your inbox unless you are interested in the odd
genunine bargain they throw up- worth a look- as is the new
Cheshire Day Ranger Offering unlimited travel (after 8.45 on weekdays) on
the map below for just £15.00. I wish more effort went into plugging rover
tickets, but hey-- i'm only a member of the paying public.

Finally, a few photos from around Chester over the last week
or so.

From the rail bridge on the walls-

and from the road bridge on Hoole Road

