Snow Storm Class 86 at Lambrigg on January 6, 2010

Blackberry phones were great phones in their day, but not on this one. My battery ran flat after 90 minutes while I was cowering at Lambrigg in a -12 snow shower. The inset image was taken just before this train was due.

This day lives long in my memory for being the harshest weather conditions I’ve had to endure to obtain a photograph.

Thankfully, 20 minutes later it was all calm again and there was a crisp blue sky for the main event, with the mail drag to pass through – hauled by ETL’S 86701 Orion – whipping up the snow that had just been laid.

If there was one day where I could have wished for a reliable iphone and Realtime Trains, this was it! Moving forward, 86701 has since thawed out again and luckily can now be found in the warmer climates of Bulgaria.

Photo details: Canon 30D – 1000/1 sec, F5, ISO 200.