A Very Unusual Formation! 34046 Braunton. English Riviera Express. 3May25

Much as we all in the U.K. have been enjoying a long spell of early Spring sunshine and unusually high temperatures, there is a downside when it comes to Mainline Steam Tours and that is the increased risk of lineside fires.

And when customers pay a premium to have a Steam Locomotive at the head of their train the tour operator is forced to use excessive diesel assistance in order to prevent sparks from the steamers exhaust.

One diesel is usually enough for this but add in the fact that the sidings at the destination are out of action and top & tail diesel shunting is required, then we have the unusual formation seen here of steam pilot, diesel heading train + diesel banking train, effectively relegating the steamer to a purely "decorative roll".

With this in mind I decided to shoot at two main locations which were "on the flat" and be as inventive as I could ( with varying degrees of success!) to make things a little more interesting.

Starting at Allerford, we hear lineside spectators excited as the alarms at Victoria Crossing burst into "song"! and the big pacific emerges out of the heat haze, soon to rush by to the delight of all. In the field beyond we are "buzzed" by a small plane from the nearby Dunkerswell Flying Club as 34046 in all her immaculate glory silently (apart from the odd "toot"!) flies by with her crew seemingly relaxed and looking on.

On the Dartmouth Steam Railway I pick a couple of unusual locations to capture the train skirting the fabulous coastline of Torbay at Waterside and Broadsands. Unfortunately when I retrieved the stationary camera at Waterside, I found it had been disturbed resulting in a sloping horizon so I have had to crop the image in order to make it watchable. It's a risk I take when siting the camera on a public thoroughfare. On the positive side, the soundtrack includes at least six species of birdsong. The shot over Broadsands is taken from the very busy and noisy Dartmouth Road but luckily the microphone is deep down over a wall and traffic noise is reduced considerably.

My final shot is from the slipway of the Kingswear Higher Ferry. Luckily the tide is out and after a chat with a friend operating the ferry, I am permitted to place the camera well down the slipway giving me an excellent panning shot but once again, 34046 merely provides decoration and sound effects.

Practically speaking: it's either this or a total steam ban and we all want to see a steamer in glorious weather............... some rain for the garden would be nice though!!