GWR 4079 Pendennis Castle 'Coaling' at Night, Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire

            Here is another taken after dark at the Timeline Events photo shoot at Didcot Railway Centre. I had just purchased the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and this was my first time of using. All images that evening were taken hand held and I am really pleased with the results, even when, on some of the shots, I pushed the ISO to 12800! This image really does not give an inkling of exactly how dark this scene actually was.

Pendennis Castle (4079); The Castle Class 4-6-0 is one of the most celebrated locomotive types of the former Great Western Railway. The prototype, No.4073 ‘Caerphilly Castle’ rolled out of Swindon Works in August 1923, the first of a series that remained in production right up to 1950.

No.4079 ‘Pendennis Castle’ was the seventh of 171 Castles built and was completed at Swindon in February 1924.

‘Pendennis Castle's’ claim to fame dates from 1925 when the GWR lent the locomotive to the London & North Eastern Railway for trials against Sir Nigel Gresley's mighty new Pacifics exemplified by No.4472 ‘Flying Scotsman’. Working 16-coach trains on the East Coast main line from Kings Cross, the stalwart Castle covered itself in soot and glory, thoroughly out-performing its larger competitors. Her exploits were the talk of every schoolboy in Britain and the GWR rather cheekily sent ‘Pendennis Castle’ to stand alongside ‘Flying Scotsman’ at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley with a notice proclaiming her to be the most powerful passenger express locomotive in Britain.

Taken on: February 15, 2025

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railway

coaling

steam locomotive

loco shed

night shift

night photography

steam engine

night shoot

night

nighttime

train

pendennis castle

4079

nikon d850

Nikon

d850

didcot

rail

steam

Oxfordshire

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timeline events

great western railway

gwr

atmosphere

scdronemedia

didcot railway centre

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Sets appears in: • Steam Locomotives

Groups appears in: • Nikon Digital • Night Photography more » • After Dark - Night Photography • Trains and railways • Railroads • Railway and all the things around • Trainspotting • Nikon DSLR Users • UK Railways • UK Steam • Steam Trains • Railway Preservation • Train and Transport Photography. No 30/60 limit! • Steam Locomotives • Steam in the UK • Your Best Railway Photographs (no 30/60 group restriction) • Railway Photographers • Railroads At Night • British Railways (1948 to 1997) & Preserved Railways • Railways of Britain • Night shooters • Steam - Steam Engines & Locomotives • _The Best Of Nikon_ • Nikon Europe • Trains, Rails and Railroad Equipment • GWR steam locomotives • Didcot Railway Centre • Nikon D800-D850 and Nikon Z7-Z9 Users Group • Night Photography Group • D850 Nikon Series (also D810, D800, D800E) • Anything Railway • UK Steam Trains • Night scenes with British Steam locomotives. • Locomotives on Shed. Opted out 30/60 • UK Train - Best Shots • UK Railways Past and Present • Steam Locomotives of Great Britain! • ! * Steam Enthusiasts ! • World Of Trains Europe • Nikon D850 (the right group) • World Of Trains 1.000.000 Photography « less

Camera: Nikon D850, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, 36mm, ISO 12800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D850
Lens:	24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length:	36mm
ISO:	12800
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 14.2 (Windows)
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