The Whitby Flyer

Some shots of 76084 and 61264 on the Whitby Flyer. Taken at Danby and Lealholm stations. Also, some shots of local services as we looked for other photographic locations along the Esk Valley.

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

NELPG Gala North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Filmed on 29 October 2016 as the NYMR hosted a gala to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the north Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group.

Locomotives Taking part:

LNER Class K1 62005 (Lord of the Isles)
LNER Class Q6 63395
LNER Class J72 69023 Joem
LNER Class B1 61264

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

North Yorkshire Moors Railway Autumn Steam Gala 2016

Some video clips from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Autumn Steam gala. The clip includes Black 5 44806 masquerading as 44776, Class B1 61264, and BR standard class 4 2-6-2T 80136 filmed at Pickering and Grosmont.

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

North Yorkshire Moors Railway - August 2014

On a lovely summers day we set out for the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. Our intention was to walk the Rail Trail from Grosmont to Goathland which follows George Stephenson's original railway line of 1836. After walking to Goathland our plan was to take the train back to Grosmont.

With a total steam ban in place on mainline charters throughout Yorkshire this would be an opportunity to photograph and video steam trains in action. 

Our day began at Levisham station as we called in to see the Grosmont Pickering trains cross at 11:20.

Afterwards we moved on to Grosmont for lunch and to see what was going on at this busy station on a normal operating Monday in August.

After lunch we walked along the Rail Trail to Goathland a distance of about 3 miles. We had a coffee from the “Tea Shop” at Goathland before taking the train back to Grosmont.

The locomotives featured in the video are:

45428 - Eric Treacy
75029 - BR Standard 4
37264 - EE Class 37 (Diesel)
61264 - LNER B1 (as 61034 Chiru)

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

North Yorkshire Moors Spring Steam Gala 25 April 2014

We decided on a trip to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as it’s the first weekend of their spring steam gala. Unfortunately the weather wasn't any better up on the North Yorkshire Moors, not that I was really expecting it to be, in fact it was worse and we ended up by abandoning the outing before we ended up even more soaked than we were.

When the heritage railway are holding a gala they usually arrange for a “visiting star attraction” a locomotive not normally seen on the railway. This gala is no exception especially as the star attraction in question is the fastest steam locomotive of the heritage era. 4464 Bittern made three 90mph trips along the East Coast Main Line last year to commemorate its sister locomotive Mallard’s world record speed of 126mph set in 1938. Bittern is normally restricted to 75mph operating main line charter trains but was granted special permission to exceed this limit on the national rail network on these three occasions. 4464 Bittern now carries a plaque to mark this event.

4464 Bittern with a fully loaded tender of coal and water weighs in at around 165 tons. You would think it wouldn't be easy to hide something that big but it can also create an enormous amount of steam allowing the locomotive to leave Grosmont station bound for Pickering engulfed in steam and almost hidden from view. 

Just as well that we'd managed to capture a few shots of Bittern before it took its place at the front of the train.

By the middle of the afternoon the morning drizzle had turned into heavy rain and we decided to head home before the thoroughly wet weather did some damage to our camera and soaked us to the skin. An hour and a half’s journey in soggy clothes wasn't something we fancied.  

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

Leeds to Whitby with K4 61994 The Great Marquess and B1 61264 on The Esk Valley

We’d booked ages ago to travel on The Railway Touring Companies “The Esk Valley” running from Carnforth to Whitby on Saturday 22 March 2014. The train was diesel hauled in both directions between York and Carnforth with steam in charge between York and Whitby in both directions. The train proved to be a popular tour and had been fully booked for a few weeks before departure.

I have a bit of a dilemma as I really enjoy a journey behind a superbly restored and maintained steam locomotive but on the downside I know that opportunities of capturing photographs of the locomotives involved will be very limited. In this instance though I’d previously photographed both locomotives as 61994 - The Great Marquess had recently been the guest loco at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and 61264 was captured whilst on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway last year.

We joined the train at Leeds on a sunny but cold Saturday morning. After a coffee we headed for platform 11 from where our train was due to depart. 

Our train was on time or perhaps a few minutes early and were soon settled into our seats and on our way to York where 61994 The Great Marquess was to take over the train.

We arrived in York on time but unfortunately this was to be one of the few times the timetable was maintained throughout the day although this was not due in any way to failures of the steam locomotives. Initially a points failure at the National Railway Museum delayed 61994 on its short journey from the museum to York station to take over duties from the class 47 diesel.

This had a knock on effect of delaying the train further as we waited for a suitable slot down the East Coast Main line out of York. This delay certainly gave the massed ranks of photographers plenty of time to compose their shots of The Great Marquess

Eventually we departed York some 45  minutes late. The good news for us that it was now time for breakfast to be served as we sped up the East Coast main line towards Thirsk and Darlington.

After a good breakfast and several cups of coffee later we were well on our way to Darlington where the train was to be topped and tailed at Darlington North Road with LNER B1 61264. In an effort to claw back sometime 61264 moved from North Road to Darlington station to join the train.

At Darlington our train reversed direction with 61264 now in charge of the train to Battersby. More time was saved at Battersby where the line becomes a dead end. 61264 brought the train into Battersby on the Middlesborough line with 61994 then in charge leaving Battersby but heading onto the Whitby branch line with 61264 being still attached at the rear of the train.

Now one of the drawbacks of the delayed departure from York was that it seemed no sooner had we finished breakfast than it was time for lunch. We managed to cope without too much of an issue though.

Whitby was reached about 15 minutes late after an excellent journey over the picturesque Esk Valley line from Battersby. At Whitby the weather had taken a bit of a turn for the worse and the blue sky which had been in evidence travelling  had given way to some much cloudier conditions with a few spots of rain in the air. The tour didn't originally have a great deal of time in Whitby so we only had time to walk part way into the town past lot of seagulls all anticipating dinner time and some of Whitby’s famous fish and chips.

Obviously on the return journey 61264 hauled our train back from Whitby to Battersby. At this point 61264 was detached with 61994 in now in charge of the train back to York where diesel power would once again take over for the rest of the journey to Carnforth. After the train had departed 61264 was due to head back over the Esk Valley to its home at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

As we headed back towards Middlesborough it was time for dinner. I'm not sure how all the meals are prepared on the train as the space in the train kitchen must be fairly limited but we still managed an excellent dinner comprising Scottish smoked haddock and spring onion fishcakes served on a bed of wilted spinach topped with a poached egg and drizzled with hollandaise sauce, followed by roasted red pepper and tomato soup served with freshly baked bread. The main course was roasted rump of Cumbrian lamb on a bed of puy lentils flavoured with rosemary and leeks served with a red wine and redcurrant jus, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and garden peas. Desert was warm Bakewell tart served with custard and then coffee with after dinner mints. But at this stage you do have to remember that photographic opportunities had been restricted.

Our return journey was once again plagued with delays on the East Coast Main Line and by the time we left York we were running around one hour late. The delays certainly didn't spoil an excellent steam hauled trip over the Esk Valley line. It would be a great shame if this line was to become unavailable to charter trains due to the demands of scheduled services on this long stretch of single track railway line.

After a great day out we arrived back in Leeds around 15 minutes late thanks to the efforts of the train crew to make up time. These aren’t trips where you have to let a little bit of a delay spoil your day but just settle back and enjoy the ride and the food.

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett

North Yorkshire Moors 40th Anniversary Gala

A video of our day out to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which we attended so we could travel on the steam trains at their 40 anniversary gala on 10 May 2013.

The footage features not only the locomotives we travelled behind but some of the scenery of the North Yorkshire Moors in late spring.

We start with some shots at Pickering station of NER design class J72 0-6-0T locomotive number 69023 “Joem” bringing in and running around the Great Western Saloon carriage to operate a shuttle service to Levisham.

Meanwhile LNER A4 class Pacific 60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley"  arrives with a service from Grosmont and runs around its train ready to operate the next service to Grosmont. This is the train we catch to Goathland where we break our journey and have lunch. We pass LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' at Levisham where our train pauses in the station before departing for Grosmont.

At Goathland we get some footage of 60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley” leaving for Grosmont and after lunch we see LNER class B1 4-6-0 61264 renumbered and named as 61002 Impala double heading with  60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley"  arriving at Goathland. We see our train 45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' arrive at Goathland before we get on board for our journey to Whitby.

At Whitby 45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' pushes its train out of the station to perform its run around the train before re-entering the station. We decided to catch this train back to Grosmont and spend an hour at this station.

At Goathland our day went pear shaped with the cancellation of a train to Pickering. As the previous train to Pickering had been diesel hauled we decided on an extra hour at Grosmont to take advantage of the next steam hauled train. This was not to be and left us with a further 2 hours wait at Grosmont.

In the end we travelled back to Whitby again with  45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' very disappointingly this service was then diesel hauled all the way back from Whitby to Pickering. This wasn't the end to the day out we had hoped for.

Copyright: Original post from http://steamdaysblog.blogspot.co.uk/author M Garrett