The Torbay Express is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom. Historically, the Torbay Express name was applied to services operated by the Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Torquay and Paignton.
In recent years, the name had been reused for a passenger charter steam locomotive service which runs on certain summer Sundays and some Saturdays, each year from Bristol Temple Meads, via Weston-super-Mare and Taunton to Torquay, Paignton and Kingswear.
In the image above you can see that the train is just getting READY to leave Weston-super-Mare. I managed to capture the engine driver just climbing into the cabin after doing an inspection of the wheels. The fireman on top is moving coal from the bunker, nearer to where he stokes the fire, to make it easier for himself when the train starts running.
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Absolutely gorgeous! Takes me back to when I travelled from Oxford to Reading in the 60’s.
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Nice and steamy 😉
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My memory would be the Bournemouth Belle -Pullman, great picture,
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greetings by
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Lovely picture – those were the days!
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Great photo!!
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So very awesome!
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Awesome photo. At first sight, It looked like a painting. Very nice.:)
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Nice! It’s a well taken photo 🙂 and it depicts ‘ready’ so well
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Very nice!!!
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Really nice picture.
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This is an amazing picture, Mike. You captured the exact moment perfectly. I love the steam swirling around, it came out perfectly.
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Fabulous photo, I love the smoke from the train and the pattern of the clouds.
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I hope you caught the ferry across to Dartmouth?
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Gorgeous photo that’s perfect for the challenge!
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Simply awesome!
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I love trains and old train stations. This is an awesome train engine….and a fantastic photo! I love how you caught the steam! The clouds and even the flowers by the tracks give some nice detail to the photo, also! Great post…it certainly is READY!
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great photo – what a great atmosphere it has
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Fabulous … old memories coming to the surface, thanks!
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Great action photo! I’m ready to hop on the train! Thanks for the pingback too.
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I like all of the activity, color and textures going on in this photo, especially that little patch of purple flowers amongst all that human and mechanical activity. Nice!
~Anne
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Wow! That is one cool “so ready” train. I can almost smell and feel the smoke as I look at the vividly clear, beautiful photo. My son loves trains and lately we’ve been checking out the different kinds of transportation. Thanks. Best wishes to you and your family.
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Interesting. Really goes with the theme. 🙂
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I love the photo. Great theme entry.
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That is awesome! 🙂
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There is an old mining train in Cass, West Virginia, USA, that still runs as a tourist attraction. Your photo took me back there the minute I laid eyes on this train. It too is was driven by steam. I see you mentioned, this train runs on coal. If I remember correctly (from 20 years ago), the Cass train was fueled by wood. By the time the trip was over, we were covered in soot. But it was a fun ride, the landscape was beautiful, and somewhere in storage, I’m sure I still have the cap I wore climbing the mountain. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photo and reviving memories my trip to visit Cass. Maybe one day, I will have the opportunity to hop aboard the Torbay Express. One never knows. I can only imagine the beautiful countryside there is to see on that side of the pond. 😉
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We are very lucky here in the UK that there has been a revival of heritage railway systems all running on steam. Here in Wales we have many of these trains and I’ve managed to travel on a good few of them now. They all travel through beautiful scenery.
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