The Inaugural run from London Kings Cross to York on 25 February 2016.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
A Mixed Weekend
It should have been a good weekend for
photographing and getting some video of steam train specials. It didn't quite
turn out that way due to the rather wayward timing of Sunday's Tin Bath
Special.
Saturday's trip out was to see The Valentine
White Rose running from London Kings Cross to York.
I'd got the timing from Real Time Trains
just about spot on for our 45 minute trip out to Colton Junction near York.
There were a good number of enthusiasts already in their chosen spots as we
arrived. I think 34067 Tangmere was third choice locomotive for this tour
behind 70000 Britannia and 60009 Union of South Africa. Actually it's a bit of
a treat to see an Ex Southern Region locomotive working in this part of the
country.
Tangmere sped by running a few minutes early
but with a rather disappointing amount of smoke.
Sunday's plan was to capture The Tin Bath
in Wakefield our local station. I've blogged before about the special charter
steam train called the Tin Bath named after the Last of the Summer Wine television
programme. On Sunday it was due to travel through Wakefield. This was too good
an opportunity to miss so my plan was to pop down to the station to grab a
quick video clip as it passed through. I knew from the Internet the train was
running almost an hour late and so tried to judge our arrival time accordingly. Then at the last minute I decided more of an action packed video would
be better rather than the train passing slowly through the station and decided
on a spot out towards Horbury Junction. The trouble was I got the timing all wrong and we
arrived just as smoke billowed over the bridge parapets. So as
you've probably guessed there are no photographs of The Tin Bath.
To finish off this post the video of
Tangmere heading The Valentine White Rose is included below.
Sunday, 7 February 2016
60103 Class A3 4-6-2 Flying Scotsman
The forecast for Saturday didn’t look too bad - well the morning looked dry with the possibility of some rain in the afternoon. As it turned out the forecast was wrong - very wrong. I’d decided it was my last chance to get some photos as videos of the world famous steam locomotive 60103 Flying Scotsman. After some test runs in the week it was scheduled to haul the Cumbrian Mountain Express to Carlisle on Saturday.
Our trip up the A1 to Scotch Corner wasn't too bad although it was a little bit misty in places. By the time we’d stopped for coffee at a farm shop near Scotch Corner not only was it misty but it had started to rain too.
By the time we reached the Cumbrian border it was cold and rainy which I suppose is only to be expected in early February.
Our Sat Nav managed to find some of the narrow Cumbrian roads to get to our chosen vantage point and at least on this occasion we avoided any closed bridges.
As I had suspected we wouldn't be the only ones out trying to get some photos of Flying Scotsman and by the time we arrived at Lowgill, other enthusiasts had already arrived. Need I confirm that it was pouring down with rain. After a bit of a discussion we decided our best option was to use an umbrella to protect both us and our cameras from the rain. It’s not that simple to take video and photos sheltering under a small umbrella. We’ll have to lash out and buy a bigger one for future rain affected photo opportunities.
So this is the best still image we managed grabbed off some video. Neither video or photography went according to plan due to sheltering under the umbrella.
After an excellent lunch in Hawes we set off to Garsdale to try our luck at some photos as Flying Scotsman headed up the Settle and Carlisle line. By now the roads were rather wet with some very large puddles in places.
My camera was already playing up which I think was due to it getting damp in the morning although it was certainly sheltered from the rain. In the end we took the comfortable option of trying to photograph and video the train from the comfort of the car with the windscreen wipers working hard to keep the windscreen clear. It might have been the comfortable option but it didn't work very well at all.
The Flying Scotsman’s next public outing will be its inaugural run from London Kings Cross to York on 25 February 2016 when it will have been repainted in its BR green livery.
Thursday, 4 February 2016
A Winter Visit to the Great Central Railway
On a typically cold January morning we
decided to head off and spend the afternoon at the Great Central Railway winter
steam gala. As we arrived I was very surprised by the numbers of enthusiasts
who had decided to visit as well as us. The allotted field for parking was
very wet and some areas were too wet for parking on.
As usual
I expected there would be plenty of action with the railway making full use of
the fact that it has up and down lines so trains come and go all the time. One
of the special guest locomotives was 34053 Sir Keith Park. As we wandered
towards the railway Sir Keith Park was on its way with a demonstration goods
train. We hardly had time to get our cameras set up ready to capture the
moment.
Of course despite a couple of guest
locomotives the Great Central Railway’s home fleet was out in full force with
777 Sir Lamiel soon arriving at Quorn and Woodhouse station.
The highlight of the afternoon was 34053 Sir
Keith Park working the demonstration mail train at top speed. It’s always a
good spectacle to watch the mail train running through Quorn & Woodhouse. The
mail train is allowed to run much faster than the other passenger and freight
trains and whilst not full out express speed it looks pretty fast compared with
all the slow trains which stop at the station.
Here's a video of the express mail drop run.
A link to my HD quality YouTube video is here
By the time we’d had a coffee it was starting to get a little late in the afternoon and as it had become rather dull so, as the light was starting to fade, we decided to head off home. As we were leaving we just managed to catch 34053 Sir Keith Park returning with the mail train to Loughborough.
By the time we’d had a coffee it was starting to get a little late in the afternoon and as it had become rather dull so, as the light was starting to fade, we decided to head off home. As we were leaving we just managed to catch 34053 Sir Keith Park returning with the mail train to Loughborough.
A video of the whole afternoon is included below.
A link to my HD quality YouTube video is here
60103 Flying Scotsman
Having missed 60103 Flying Scotsman on its return to steam on the East Lancashire Railway last month I see it's due for a test run today.
I'm assuming if all goes well it will be in charge of the Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express on Saturday heading over Shap to Carlisle on the West Coast Main Line and returning over the Settle and Carlisle.
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
The Elusive Flying Scotsman
It's been quite a while since I last posted
on my blog. The start of a new year gives me the opportunity to make a fresh
start.
Nowadays through the summer there is almost no steam
on the main line in Yorkshire. A few years ago through the summer months there
were four trains each week heading to Scarborough but now following troubles with
line side fires we're lucky to get a couple all summer.
I contemplated making the trip over the
Pennines to see Flying Scotsman undergoing trials on the East Lancashire
Railway but never made it unlike hundreds of other enthusiasts. I did have a
plan to see Flying Scotsman hauling its inaugural main line tour over the
Settle and Carlisle to Carlisle returning via Shap. Unfortunately, due to
braking issues with 60103, Ian Riley's two Black Fives 44871 & 45407 stood in.
We'd decided on one of our more favoured
photographic locations but with time running short before the first Winter
Cumbrian Mountain Express was due we came across a small masonry arch bridge that was closed due to flood damage. This blocked our way and so we had to very quickly find a alternayove location and
make the most of it.
That was it , just a few seconds and the
train was in and out of view. Time to check out my video and see if I'd got any
usable footage.
I've noticed that the next Winter Cumbrian
Mountain Express scheduled to be hauled by Flying Scotsman is now the 06
February, replacing 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, assuming suitable repairs and a main line test run has been completed. However, should Flying Scotsman
not be available then the Duchess will be on standby to take charge of the
train.
For me that first photo of the newly restored 60103 Flying Scotsman remains elusive.
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Steaming to The Lindum Fayre
The Christmas Lindum Fayre is an annual event in Lincoln and usually attracts a couple of steam hauled charter trains to the city. Saturday 06 December 2014 was a day not to be missed for the steam enthusiast with not one but two locomotives heading for the city.
The first charter heading into Lincoln was Vintage Trains Limited Christmas Lindum Fayre from Tyseley Warwick Road in Birmingham hauled by GWR Hall Class no 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. Our plan was to head to Swinderby Road for our first video and photo location spot.
We arrived at Swinderby Road in good time but the ground was still white over with frost. All was going well as 4965 Rood Ashton Hall needed to be on time or at best only a few minutes late if we were to make our second location of Metheringhan station.
It was now a case of heading off to Metheringham station to catch the second charter train of the day this time The Railway Touring Company's charter hauled by LNER A4 Class 4-6-2 no 60009 Union of South Africa. We arrived at the station earlier than anticipated and had a few minutes to wait in the still freezing conditions.
As it turned out we had even more time than we thought as by the time 60009 Union of South Africa arrive it was running a few minutes late.
Our extra time in the cold was rewarded with an excellent chime as she speed through the station.
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