Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 20th May, 2013)

Great photo, wishing I was there.

Fantastic photo: brings back memories of train-spotting at Whitley Crossing in the 1950s. See comments in "I Remember" the Steam Trains.

Didn't our steam engines look sleek & fast compared with old continental engines with all the pipework showing.

Great photo.

Skellon, I just realised your comment must have referred to the 'crossing' my sister & I used to go to from my grandparents house in St Clements Rd. I found the rail line again a while ago while visiting Wigan, houses all the way to it...& beside it. No standing on the wooden fence these days & watch a train thunder by !

nice one john i was there filming it at the top of platform 4. you may be in my shot lol.

UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

I can smell it from here! :-)

Great picture John....love steam trains....cheers!!!

Been down to Wembley a couple of times recently on the train. 2 hours.. BRILLIANT BUT.... I would still rather have gone down on a steam train taking 4 or 5 hours....

I think the next steam train through Wigan will be 27th Jly - 17th. Aug. 08.00 Northbound 19.40 Southbound

Union of South Africa ( loco 60009, originally 4488 ) was built in Doncaster in 1937, has been fitted with 14 boilers and had 5 tenders (per Wikipedia).

the nxt steam train through wigan is from southport to somewhere in wales 29th may due in wigan wallgate at 0900hrs i think its a black 5 on it

Thanks for the comment everyone. cullie the train on the 29th May is going to be hauled by a diesel due to "locomotive availability issues". That means they've cocked up and haven't got an engine to you and me.

So many memories of spotting at Whitley crossing in the fifties. Lived at Spencer Road West. Many youngsters there all looking for The Green Howards which I never did manage to see. Thanks for reminding me of some great times.

Is this a 'Brittania' class train? I seem to remember they had distinctive numbers.

Fantastic!

No it's not a 'Brit' class Ray, it's an A4 the same class as 'Mallard' the one that holds the world record for the fastest steam train.

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for the LNER A4 4-6-2 Pacific, her famous sister Mallard holds the fastest steam locomotive record of 126 MPH in 1933...still unbroken to this day.

Mal Leather: are you related to Susan Leather who I knew when train-spotting at Whitley Crescent in the 1950s?

Norm, I have a niece called Susan but she did not live in Wigan although the Leather name is very much Lancashire and North Cheshire.However, she may have been a relative as Wigan was home to many of the Leather family. Susan now lives in Quesnel BC

Well, Skrllon,helen and mel,I too uesd to go "over the fields" (as we used to say) to the whitley crossing in the good old 50`s They really did thunder past there.happy days.

I was train spotting at trains at Whitley crossing in the early 50s.flatening pennys on the rail line.great times hi to another wiganer in SYDNEY.