The shortest day of the year, it's cold, getting dark and raining. Normally the worst conditions for taking pictures but at a train station, it couldn't be better. I'm at Keighley, where a Santa Special is pulling out, and up the steep Worth Valley towards Haworth, Oxenhope and onto to the North Pole.
Two steamers build up a head of steam before leaving the station. It was on this line that the 1970 film of Edith Nesbit's "The Railway Children" was filmed.
Rain on the lens causes the lights to flare
Ever since the line opened on the 5th April 1867, the steep gradient has always been a challenge. Today, two locomotives pull the train towards Haworth.
Once the train had steamed away, the platform was empty, and a wonderful place to photograph. Time to get some snaps in before the last train departs.
I love the reflections on the rainy platform
Old wooden footbridge from Platform 3 to platform 4
Sand and water
Where i'm originally from in the West Midlands, this is called a "guzunder". It guzunder the tracks.
The station clock reads 4.15 and it's time!
Sir Lamiel, the only survivor of a class of 74 locomotives, prepares to pull the Polar Express northward through the dark forests, watched by wolves as they steam towards the North Pole.
On board are the parents, the kids and you know who...
WIth a whistle, the last Santa Special steams out of Keighley station and into the gathering night.