Telford Steam Railway

When I arrived at the site of the Telford Steam Railway, a lot was happening. A small traction engine was doing a five-point turn in the road, a steam-powered steamroller called Pepperpot (in the livery of MA and JA Salt & Daughters) was trundling along the same road, and some adults were riding on the miniature railway right by the platform where the steam locomotive and purple carriages were waiting to take people for a ride on the inverted Y-shaped track of the railway. The steam locomotive backs the train up the track until it’s past the points and then pulls the train down the ‘main’ line. I bought my ticket in The Freight Stop Gift Shop and went to visit the café, which is about three hundred yards up the road on the left, just after the bridge where you can look down at the Horsehay and Dawley station platform.

My new book is available here.

The book covers not only the Great Little Trains of Wales but also other methods of transport in the UK.

I was eight years old when my interest in steam trains began. My parents and I lived close to someone who worked at Doncaster train station. The Flying Scotsman was the most famous train of the time, and for some reason it was at Doncaster for a few days. I was asked whether I’d like to see the train and go on the footplate. Of course I did. What I remember most was the enormous size of the train and that the driver’s cab seemed as big as my bedroom. Everything about the train, the colours, the gleaming metal, the gorgeous carriages, the mountain of coal, made a lasting impression – I wanted to go to places, and I wanted to go on a train like this one.

My father wanted to travel, and the plan was for my parents to see the world when he retired. Cancer cut short his life and their plan died with him. Once I had the finances, I felt duty bound to travel to the places he wanted to go, and if possible, go by steam train. This book is what I found.