Sunday 1 September 2013

Steam Train Nostalgia

CIMG6573-001

CIMG6547-001

2013-08-311

2013-08-31

- Excuse me, can you tell me what time it is, please?

- Hard to say, ma’m. Time seems to be all muddled up today. I swear I can’t even tell whether it’s supposed to be 1863 or 2013! I think the train from The Past is due to arrive any minute now, though.

 

CIMG6549-001

2013-08-312

CIMG6563-001

Oops, here comes a modern day train as well!

CIMG6567-001

Now then, lets have some serious STEAM.

CIMG6562-001

What’s this, there’s smoke coming from the other end of the train as well…?

CIMG6565-001

Turned out they had one steam engine at each end.

CIMG6570-001

Here we go with a magnificent puff of steam.
Hoooooooot! Hoooot!

My Dad would have loved this, had he still been among us. (He died two years ago.) 25 years ago he wrote a book about the history of this railway line (Borås-Herrljunga) for its 125th anniversary. Yesterday the 150th anniversary was celebrated in the village where he lived half his life – first in his childhood and then again in his old age.

My brother was here for a couple of days, mainly to celebrate my birthday (Thursday). Dad’s birthday was the same day, by the way. Anyway, since this jubilee happened to take place the same weekend, we decided to take a peek at some of the events, before Per drove back home on Saturday afternoon. They had a full day’s schedule in the village; we only hung around for an hour or so before lunch though. But enough to see the steam train leave for Borås, and then come back again about an hour later, and take off in the other direction. (They went back and forth a few times during the day.)

CIMG6596-001

The sky itself seemed to “join in” with some steam clouds of its own to match the occasion.

CIMG6600-001 

I’ll be doing a separate post showing some vintage cars we saw as well.

12 comments:

  1. This is just great, I've forgotten what it's called when trains have a locomotive at each end. Two at the front is a double header.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't recall ever having heard a special name for it. But then I have to admit I never paid all that much attention when my dad was talking about trains...

      Delete
  2. Hoooooooot! Hoooot! be still my heart... you know I love this post. that first photo is just fantastic.. and all that steam..my favorite photo is the one above the lets have serious steam...love love love this post.. could you have taken a ride on the train and then return?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Sandra, I could have taken a ride on the train, if I had bought a ticket well in advance (weeks ago). I didn't though; for one thing I was not sure about my plans for this weekend.

      Delete
  3. I share this nostalgia with you. I love trains! It's also nice to see them in person and "alive" in todays world.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mersad, before I moved away from home at age 20, I had ridden on more steam trains than on regular, modern trains. (This because my dad always wanted to visit museum railways on our holidays etc.)

      Delete
  4. I love steam trains, it's my dream to take a trip on one some day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love trains and I enjoyed this post with its lovely photos. I'm sorry that your dad could not be there to enjoy the day with you and your brother, but I'm sure he was there in spirit.
    Happy belated Birthday to you my dear...what a nice way to spend the day and celebrate your dad's special day as well.
    Looking forward to your next post of the vintage cars.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy belated Birthday to you, Monica!
    How nice that you and your Dad had your birthdays on the same day. To go and see some of the 150-anniversary-celebration seems like a very good way to spend your birthday and remember your Dad at the same time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. OH, NOW I see what this is! You got some spectacular pictures even though it was such a cloudy day! I love the clock, the old carriage, and all the steam! BUT why is everyone wearing black? Was that a typical color for travelers?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the photos but I'm not sure you should have admitted to tuning out your Dad's talks about trains! Perhaps one day my children will admit to tuning out my talking about natural history...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love steam trains although I'm not fanatical about them. It's all to do with age and the fact that I was in such close proximity to them as a child.

    ReplyDelete

Communication is what makes blogging fun :)
... but all spam or suspected spam will be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...