Rob Does Trains

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Rob Does Trains

I’m Rob, and I like taking photos of trains.

24/06/2026

W8 Freshwater sits at Horsted Keynes gently steaming away one night, with a few wagons of the BBR Goods Division Goods Demonstration Set.

Taken during a Jon Bowers nightshoot during the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala back in March. This was one of the few times this locomotive was seen on her own, as her vacuum brakes were incompatible with the railway’s air-braked rolling stock she was usually seen paired with the railway’s own 72 Fenchurch.

Some more technical notes for this shot, despite the darkness I shot at a tight aperture in order to get the star effect on the lights. That gave me an exposure of a full 30 seconds to keep the ISO at a pretty respectable level.

30sec, f/20, ISO 320, 52mm

23/06/2026

It’s time for another , where we celebrate the volunteers keeping vintage trains running on heritage railways and the mainline.

Here, one of the crew of standard 4 75059 adjusts her headcode ahead of pulling a service during the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala back in March. The locomotive was visiting from the Severn Valley Railway, and put in some great performances over the weekend.

1/400sec, f/4, ISO 100, 59mm

22/06/2026

34058 Sir Archibald Sinclair passes Freshfield Bank in glorious golden hour light at the end of the second day of the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala back in March.

As I’ve said many times before I’m a big fan of this locomotive, but even I must admit she can look a bit funny when paired with the railway’s Victorian metropolitan set, lovingly called Chicken Sheds in some circles (or maybe just my circle, for all I know).

1/640sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 135mm

21/06/2026

Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam and spam

34070 Manston leads 34072 257 Squadron in a tender-to-tender doubleheader at the end of the second day of the Swanage Railway Spring Gala back in March.

This day marked my first time seeing a ‘spam can’ locomotive in steam, so it seems only fitting that the day ended with two of them going by. The timing was a little unfortunate; had they come by slightly earlier they’d have caught the final beams of some lovely golden hour light (I had to make do with a light engine U boat in that light instead).

1/640sec, f/4, ISO 1600, 46mm

20/06/2026

Large Prairie tank engine 4144 sits steaming away on shed at the Didcot Railway Centre after a long day on the demonstration line (and a long evening posing and running for the attendees of a Timeline Events charter).

I’ve said this before, but I love the sight of a locomotive steaming away to itself at the start or end of a long day, and I can think of few better places than in the engine shed at Didcot, where the GWR theme runs so deep it requires very little imagination to take yourself back to the days of Great Western steam.

As you canimagine for shooting indoors at night, I needed to pull out a hefty ISO in order to get the shot I was after.

1/50sec, f/5, ISO 25600, 48mm

19/06/2026

Today marks the 150th birthday of renowned locomotive designer Sir Nigel Gresley, so it seems only fitting to mark the occasion with one of his most iconic designs, the A4. Whilst 4468 Mallard is perhaps more well known, not least because she is still to this day the fastest steam locomotive in history, it is engine number 60007 that carries his name, being the 100th Gresley Pacific built. It is currently the only A4 still in steam. It’s also my favourite of all locomotives.

Back in October 2024 it visited the Bluebell Railway for their Giants of Steam gala, and it is from that visit that all of these shots originate. I hope our paths will cross again (figuratively that is, rather than me being caught short on the four foot or something), but it’s not a locomotive that often visits the Southern region (which, being Eastern, is not terribly surprising).

18/06/2026

Ivatt tank engine 41313 – a locomotive with one of the more satisfying loco numbers to type, beaten perhaps only by 32424 Beachy Head – makes a smoky departure from Sheffield Park during last year’s Bluebell Railway Branch Line Gala in March 2025.

This was the second day of the gala, one in which the Ivatt ran mostly to time. On the opening day she was on what the railway volunteers referred to as ‘Isle of Wight time’ and took a very lackadaisical approach to the timetable.

1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 35mm

17/06/2026

34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair powers under Horsted House Bridge on one of her trademark impressive runs during the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala back in March.

With jaw dropping runs like this – not uncommon from this locomotive – you can see why Archie is often high on people’s lists of the best Bulleids in preservation. Unfortunately the sort of people who hold opinions regarding matters such as ranking steam engines rarely talk about said opinions, especially in the comments section under social media posts about engines that may be on said lists, even when lightly goaded into such behaviours by the poster, so you may have to do your own research.

1/500sec, f/5.6, ISO 250, 275mm

16/06/2026

It’s time for another , where we celebrate the volunteers keeping vintage trains running on heritage railways and the mainline.

Here we have one of the crew of BR Standard 4 tank engine 80151 as she chuffs past Freshfield Bank on the Bluebell Railway during the opening day of the season back in mid-February.

This venerable locomotive is a frequent high miler for the railway, living up to design intentions by effortlessly tacking whatever is thrown at her.

1/500sec, f/5.6, ISO 320, 300mm

15/06/2026

2999 Lady of Legend passes through Lindfield Wood during the Bluebell Railway Spring Gala last March, pulling a consist that includes two of the railway’s beautiful Pullman dining cars.

We took a bit of a chance with this shot, knowing the sun was starting to dip behind the hills towards the end of the day. Ultimately we got a shot of the locomotive in lovely mottled light, although a couple of the trees left some big shadows on the rolling stock. The light was still turning a nice golden colour, showing how nice Lady looks when paired with the Pullmans.

1/200sec, f/4.5, ISO 160, 35mm

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