The yard at Barron Street is one of my favourite spots on the line, but is not open to the public except on night shoots. The shed itself is the Victorian loco works of the original East Lancashire Railway Company, and is now the home of Ian Riley’s Engineering business as well as the East Lancs own engineering activities.

Things have changed here over recent years, night shoots used to be somewhat chaotic in nature, with engines and photographers all over the place, which must have been a nightmare to marshall, but did give licence to a more creative approach. More recent ones are more tightly controlled and organised, probably for the best really, but you’ve got to work a bit harder to go beyond the standard line ups.

I was fortunate to attend an IET Technical Visit to Buckley Wells in 2005, which was a daytime visit, and the yard was in a completely different state to today. Large areas were overgrwon, and I took some really nice photos, but a lot of gardening and tidying has goine on in recent years and the yard is virtually unrecongisable to the one of a few years ago. A few snaps from that vist are below.