Roger Farnworth Railways

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The Guardian Lifestyle Travel - Saturday 23rd May 2026
Part 3 – Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part A

The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the third part of a look at those pages and focuses on some reader’s recommendations of journeys by train. It includes a few more uploaded by the Guardian online.

The featured image for this article is a Flexity Outlook Eurotram at Trindade station in Porto, Portugal, © Cornelius Kibelka and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [3]

3. Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys

A. A Dramatic Metro Line in Porto
B. Fjords and Waterfalls in Norway
C. An Electric Gem in Germany
D. The Swiss Watchmakers’ Line
E. Charmed by the Vienna to Zagreb train

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/27/the...ys-part-a/

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The Guardian Lifestyle Travel - Saturday 23rd May 2026
Part 4 – Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part B

The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the fourth part of a look at those pages and includes more reader’s recommendations of journeys by train. It includes a few more uploaded by the Guardian online.

The featured image for this article is a photograph of Le Petit Train Jaune which runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour de Carol/Enveitg in the Pyrenees, © A1AA1A and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [33]

4. Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part B

F. Vintage Locomotives in Tuscany.
G. Alpine beauty on the Montreux to Interlaken line.
H. Slow travel at its best: Belgrade to Bar.
I. Through Italy’s Apennines to Rome from the Adriatic.
J. Best way to See the Pyrenees? On a Little Yellow Train!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/28/the...ys-part-b/

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The Railways of West Cumberland again. ...
The Railways of West Cumberland – Part 2

The featured image for this article is a photograph taken by Walter Dendy of a football excursion returning from Egremont to Carlisle passing through Distington Railway Station behind ex-LMS Class ‘4F’ Locomotive No. 44461 in 1951. The line to the left is to Rowrah and Kelton Fell line, © W. Dendy and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [6]

This article is based around the potted history of West Cumberland’s railways written by C. A. Knight and included in his article in The Railway Magazine of November 1954. [1]

Knight explains that the growing importance of Carlisle as a railway centre, sitting as it did on the natural route between England and Scotland and already the terminus of existing and proposed railways.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/31/the...nd-part-2/

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The Railways of Tanzania again. ...
Railways of Tanzania – Part 7 – The Central Line – An Introductory History and the Length of Line from Dar-es-Salaam to Mikese

The featured image for this article is a photograph of East African Railways (EAR) Class 30 steam locomotive No. 3019 ‘Nyamwezi’ at Tabora depot on the Central Line, Tanzania in 1968. Class 30 locomotives were oil-burning 2-8-4 steam locomotives. Built in the 1950s by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, the 26 engines in the Class were named after indigenous tribes across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). They were known as the ‘Tribal Class’ of locomotives, © Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [44]

The line from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma. was known during the German Protectorate as the Mittelland Bahn. Under British colonial control it was the Central Line.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/04/rai...salaam-to/

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Locomotives of the LB&SCR in 1920
Locomotives of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) – 1920.

I have just been given a small pamphlet style paperback book compiled and published in June 1920 by W.G. Tilling.

The featured image for this article comes from the frontispiece of Tilling’s book. It is a picture of the Class L 4-6-4T superheated large tank locomotive ‘Charles C. Macrae’. [1]

Tilling’s forward to the book states:

“For many years particulars of the locomotives running on our railway lines were difficult to obtain, but the Great Western Railway Company a year or two back broke through the usual official reticence by publishing a list of all their named engines. This was doubtless done to interest the general public in that railway, and I believe has proved a successful advertisement.

“Unofficial lists have also been published of the engines of the London and North Western Railway and a few of the smaller lines. Following these examples, I am prompted to deal with the locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway."

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/13/loc...bscr-1920/

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Lilleshall Abbey and Woodland Railway
Lilleshall Abbey and Woodland Railway

I saw the featured image in a photo book compiled by Alton Douglas for Beacon Radio in 1987, ‘Memories of the Wrekin and Beyond’. It shows Lilleshall Estate’s 2ft-gauge railway in action in 1933. [1: p47]

The Lilleshall Estate in Shropshire featured a historic 2-foot gauge miniature railway that operated from 1928 until the onset of World War II. Built to entertain tourists, the line used unique petrol-powered, steam-outline locomotives manufactured by E.E. Baguley Ltd.

Opened in 1928 and closed in 1939.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/14/lil...d-railway/

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The Guardian Lifestyle Travel - Saturday 23rd May 2026 again. ...
The Guardian Lifestyle Travel – 23rd May 2026 – Part 5 – Over Land & Sea: Magical Views and Sea-Hugging Routes on Europe’s Best Coastal Train Lines – Part A – Scotland, Ireland and Germany

The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the fifth part of a look at those pages.

The featured image for this article is a view looking Southeast towards the buffers at Kyle of Lochalsh Railway Station and across the Kyle to Skye in 1939, the ferry to Kyleakin is off scene to the right. A train is leaving for Dingwall and Inverness, managed by an ex-Highland 4-6-0 locomotive, © Walter Dendy and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [14]

Nicky Gardner, lead co-author of the guidebook ‘Europe by Rail’, has championed slow travel across the continent’s most scenic routes. Her writings highlight sea-hugging railways where travellers can take in spectacular coastal panoramas, deep fjords, and dramatic cliffs right from the carriage window. The short Guardian article featuring a few such routes was written by her and is directly quoted here.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/10/the...ain-lines/

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Kintyre Peninsula - Ronachan Point
Ronachan Point, Kintyre – Limestone Tramway

Ronachan Point, located on the Kintyre peninsula, features remnants of a very short industrial limestone quarry and a 19th-century tramway used to transport materials to a nearby slipway.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/17/ron...e-tramway/