Braunton at Walsden station on December 19 2020.

Night photography for me has always been restricted to a tripod setup, with the locomotive stationary in a platform and a long exposure to gather as much light as possible.

This is simply because that’s all I thought I was capable of doing with both the equipment and skills I had – never had I thought it would be possible to capture something hurtling along in the dead of night without coming away with a long streak of motion blur!

I noticed that 34046 Braunton was due through the local station of Walsden during the hours of darkness, and so I decided to bite the bullet and head along for the shot. A gathering of locals on the opposite platform meant that I had Platform 2 all to myself, and so I watched a stopping service come and go to see what the light would be like.

A few minutes later I started to hear the Bulleid climbing up towards the station, with nothing else visible other than the high intensity light on the front, but sure enough she came roaring through the puddles of light created by the station lamps, and I clicked a few times on the shutter to be delighted with the result. A sharp image with a perfect trail of exhaust being emphasised in the freezing Winter air. I went home very happy with my efforts.