The sun shone both sides of the Pennines for the visitors riding  on the Heritage trams at Blackpool and the Cleethorpes Coastal Light Railway on the Good Friday. The wisps of cloud at Blackpool possibly indicating the change to come.   

A bright start for the first day of train operation on the Thorne Park Railway in Thorne but by 11.00pm the first of the clouds for the approaching showers and thunderstorms greet the first trolleybus service at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft. However on the other side of the Pennines Blackpool the open Marton Box Car 31 sees a few brave people riding the open top deck as the showers arrive.

The showers became heavier with lightning and hail which as can just be seen around the Derby Trolleybus after the sun came out. This was now really starting to saturate the ground even before the arrival of the storm 'Katie' that was to cause havoc over Southern England. The North may have escaped the wind but it did not escape the rain that was to cause problems for many of the visitor attractions. The trolleybus museum did not fair to well in the deluge that came over night with the storm "Katie".   

The aftermath of 'Katie' as it made its journey into the North Sea left our area waterlogged. The miniature railway at Thorne Memorial Park cancelled their train service whilst The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft had to take drastic action as both the staff and public parking areas became water logged.  Above right at the edge of the former miniature railway where the track is still in situ since closure in 2000 the grass car parking area becomes of sea of mud not helping the cars parked the previous day that had to be towed off. The storm had left its mark.

Still drying out even on the main trolleybus circuit but at least it provided a good car parking area for visitors. The Bradford trolleybus on the left illustrates the flexibility of trolleybuses to pass parked the parked vehicles. The Huddersfield trolleybus continues to carry passengers on the inner circuit during the day as the weather improves.

The Stockholes Farm Miniature Railway near Sandtoft operated for the visitors when preparations had been completed in the early morning rain as the storm 'Katie' moved into the North Sea. The sky brightened and the sun reappeared continuing to help to dry things out for the area.
What will the weather be like for the rest of Spring and Summer if this storm has been anything to go by shall we say interesting.

The links to the many attractions that have been visited over the years have now been put on the "Dairy of Events" page so as keep these all together. 

Work continues to construct the new Platform "0" at Doncaster that includes a new lift shaft. Signalling and much more. Also included is a new siding for shunting purposes possibly. Whether this new Platform will receive electrification remains to be seen.

Journeying from Ross on Wye to Gloucester on the A40 you come across the works for Alan Keef and on the 14th March 2016 this steam locomotive with work under way for the The Greensand Railway Museum Trust, Leighton Buzzard,

Greensand Railway Museum Trust's Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778 (BLW 44656/1917) worked its final trains prior to expiry of its boiler certificate on September 13th 2015 . The locomotive, the only operational Class 10-12-D Baldwin in Britain. The locomotive, considered an icon of British narrow gauge railway history, is representative of a design which was crucial to the 1914-1918 allied war effort and, post-war, a number of the type were employed on British narrow gauge railways throughout the country. The last working example of the latter in Britain was scrapped in 1951.

Left: The locomotive in service on the Leighton Buzzard Railway,  Middle: A similar locomotive on the Western Front (Belgium)  during World War 1 I believe. Right: An interesting variation of locomotive in the USA, courtesy of the United States Army:

If you visit the railway station at Great Malvern you will be greeted by Lady Foley's Tea Room and a florist Lucy of Shrinkviolet who has collected enough tickets to create these wonderful unique ladies fashions and accessories. So the next time you visit this attractive station with its original buildings and call in and see the ticket display.