Buxton Spa Express - Feb 2017

with steam its enough to be passed out on the traction type
no need to learn every steam class unlike modern traction

 

Thanks Al, it's a rarity to get unassisted single locos up MP these days. Glad to have made the effort.

 

Saturday evening in Blackburn

 

Just got back to York after a 20 hour day on this. Went according to plan; some excellent skills on display in getting 45690 to accelerate up Miles Platting and then hold at 18mph, as well as some pretty smart starts.

The pair took the challenges presented to them in their stride, and it has to be said, there were several. Disley, Dove Holes, Cowburn and Copy Pit were all attacked with panache. Add to that a successful visit to the former Midland line, and it all adds up to day out that was worth the blustery and tiring drive to Preston and back.

 

I suspect WCRC crews might have had a little involvement in 76084 getting from Norfolk to Carnforth to North Yorkshire to Bury and its loaded test run inbetween.

 

Leander back in Preston after a long day out.

 

Funny

 

Steve following your recent rude and aggressive posts on here I will not be responding.
I have a life.

 

Good

 

I am looking forward to more tours like this but with a departure time that allows a Southerner to travel. It was impossible for me to get to Manchester in time from Sandbach, where we park the motorhome. Well done to RTC, WCRC, the support crews and everyone else who made it happen.

 

What was there not to love about this tour! This was never about high speeds but a challenging route with great scenery, if you looked away from the occasional quarries and industrial wastelands that came into view every now and then

A brilliant unassisted climb through Miles Platting woke everyone up, even those in Coach H! Proof positive that diesels are not needed if the load is right. And the train was warm too!

A pleasure and privilege to be on the first proper mainline tour with 76084. Lazarus has truly risen. This is credit to the persistence and determination of the owning group. An even greater achievement than the restoration of publicly owned show ponies with £ms spent on them. True dedication and an excellent result. Thank you for all of your hard work.

This was a complex tour. Still we ran like clockwork to Buxton. There were minor changes to the operations on the return but arriving into Preston only a few minutes down was brilliant given the route. The comments on the climbs have been made. Excellent.

A special word for the RTC representatives. One of the passengers had a "funny turn" at Buxton and there was a rsik he may have been taken to hospital. The RTCs guys worked discretely with the Paramedics and came to a satisfactory resolution caring for our fellow passenger and seeing him off at Preston in good health.

Well done to RTC and WCRC for delivering a great experience of pure steam on the mainline.

The bar has now been set high for 2017... please keep it up!

 

I'm not convinced everyone 'loved' everything about this tour with a First Class carriage without heating on a cold day and a standard class one with no lighting as I walked through at Brighouse. I know it's a Heritage operation but first time travelers may just be put off by the aforementioned.

Having said that it looked to be a very successful tour considering all the many complexities and people involved.
I would add, it was such a unique a trip in many ways that the praise and credit is well earned for all involved in the days operations.

 

Also not to love was the very early start, preventing joining from anywhere not close to the pickup points, whereas the originally advertised timings would have allowed travelling from many places to join at Manchester.

 

But to be fair isn't that just down to the natural Geography of where you live ?.
Many tours start 'early morning' from London and people in the North of England may not be able to consider them without an expensive overnight stay etc.
Travelling from Yorkshire and with 'possible' bad weather over the Pennines we opted for a longer nights sleep at a good price 15 minutes from Preston with free parking that night next to the Hotel. I think we would struggle to get those prices in London.
I guessed there were as many if not more passengers traveled on this trip than the later starting first 'Cumbrian' in January.

 

Depends on your desire or commitment to do a particular tour. I was chatting to a couple who had travelled all the way from Bournemouth especially for this tour. Many people make a weekend of it integrating a tour. We do it for TBE. But as Warterbuck says, it all depends where you live... And for a pure steam tour I was happy with the early start zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

To be fair, travelling on the Northern Heritage Railway regularly provides enough cold and filthy coaches to make these a minor inconvenience. The rest of the train was warm and some customers had the chance to move.

 

Indeed many tours start at such times of day that one has either to live near one of the pickup points or stay there the night before and possibly the night after as well. I do sometimes book into a hotel for this purpose, but it adds much hassle as well as cost. What was disappointing about this particular tour was that it was originally planned to pick up in Manchester about 9:30 but retimed some two hours earlier. The same happened with one trip from the London area a few years ago, causing me to cancel my booking. N.B. I'm not actually complaining, only responding to Dobbs0054's "What was there not to love about this tour!"

 

Yes 'Some'

 

Likewise re responding. Manchester was 7.41 and we opted to stick with Preston despite it being 06.25.

 

The two hour drive across the Pennines from York made the Preston start possible, but it always carried the risk of plastering myself to the central reservation on the return trip due to fatigue. A hotel would have been sensible, but I have enough trips booked this year requiring this treatment to fork out for yet another one. If it was at 07:30, I could have just about trained it.