Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 4th April, 2012)

Another great atmospheric steam pic, It's inteesting to note the new LED lamp in the centre as opposed to the old parrafin ones each side of it. It was one of the conditions to allow steam on the main line that there should be a bright visible light up front to alert people to the oncoming presence of a hundred ton, smoke belching, steam hissing, whistle blowing, decibel spitting, track hammering, ground shaking, almost invisible twenty foot high monster creeping up on them.

What time was it, on Sat.24 Mar.`12, when you took this photo of the `Oliver Cromwell`? If it left Edinburgh - Auld Reekie - at 3.15pm it would have been around 9.35pm in Wigan. Adult fare return (steam powered only on return) from Manchester: Premier class £189 and Standard class £84.
This loco, one of 55 `Britannia`class, was completed at Crewe Works on 30 May 1951.
Bradshaw`s timetables had a footnote on Wigan page "Passengers cross over from Wigan NW to Wigan Wallgate at their own expense." Bit of a laugh eh! as it`s only 110 yards.
My nephew, Colin Morris - no relation? - had his retirement `do` at Wigan NW yesterday after working there for many years.

Excellent photo John

Just the one lamp lit at the front. Did you know, John, that Northern Rail have a rule which states that at least one headlight should be lit at all times?
I boarded a Wigan train at Man.Victoria on a cold and sunny day and had to get off at Salford Crescent as it was taken out of service due to headlight failure.

What a great photo. The town where I live in Norfolk reinstated the rail track between the main line & the heritage line a couple of years ago & the Oliver Cromwell was the first engine to use the crossing. It was awe inspiring to see this great beast emerge from between the buildings on Station Rd. A great day.

Excellent picture there, John.
Very emotive.

Oh, dear.....

well done john ,would look good in black & white or sepia ?

Super photo john. Nice composition and very good detail for a night time shot. It's great to see a wide variety of subjects on Photo-a-Day.

when I worked on the railways, im sure one lit lamp was the designation for a light engine, and theres nowt light about that leviathon, good picture brings back loads of memories

There's a pic of this engine in the Album, showing her running light on the section between the cemeteries behind my house: http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/album/photo.php?opt=3&id=18432&gallery=Railways&offset=620
Great pic, btw.

There`s a good photo of `Oliver Cromwell` at Preston 2 years ago on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyenglish/4446185484/

This is lovely. Wish we still had steam.

For video`s of `Oliver Cromwell` on You Tube refer:-
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=loco+oliver+cromwell&oq=loco+oliver+cromwell&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=youtube.12...41791l59105l0l63569l20l20l0l0l0l0l437l2784l8j9j2j0j1l20l0.

Well exposed - great picture.

If oil runs out,Irene; we may have to go back to steam...

Thank you for all the comments folks. In reply to your question Ernest it was taken at ten past nine. As for your comment about Northern Rail, I was on the train from Kirby to Wigan and the driver would not set off because the door to his cab wouldn't shut. He had to get clearance from a supervisor before he could drive it to Wigan. Perhaps they are afraid it might get hijacked!

Went to museam of science and industry in mcr on the 28 march it was parked up there on that day , looked fantastic , served my time at horwich as a boilermaker from 1957 they were still building new steam engines for a few years

What's the deal with trainspotters? I counted 27 the other day. (My record's 41).

hi there john super photo was wandering was brian your dad also was colin your uncle?

Thanks for the comment Alan but no my dad was not Brian nor my uncle Colin.