Steam and snow, back in 2004. Just eight years ago, when working steam with well-maintained and smartly decorated locomotives could still be guaranteed to provide thrilling sights like this. A decorated JS class 2-8-2 pulls up the long, steeply graded branch to the mines on a still, bitterly cold morning. It was an exercise in endurance, would the locomotive arrive before the frostbite? Frankly, I was happily prepared to lose a toe or two to witness this wonderful scene!
