Vintage Trains 2025

Yes the videos really add to it-- the speed at Greenholme, the conditions at Birkett and Ais Gill.....Some absolute crackers there.

Interesting comparison David. I think you need to collect some data from Graham, Julian, Mike Notley, the RPS etc and build a little model. For example what is 10 coaches v 11 worth in performance terms ( I'm guessing 10 per cent)? How much difference did the crosswind make?

My impression is that with the coal they have at the moment there is a lot of emphasis on warming up steadily and then keeping the fire hot. We only stopped at Appleby for the minimum time to fill the tank, possibly for that reason. No ice creams.

When it comes to end to end times, a lot depends on how the loco is driven out of the loop at Carnforth and into the platform at Carlisle. For example I did note that from the rear coach it did take fully 90 secs to clear the platform at Carlisle on the way back.

 

It's a common issue with the coal available to all heritage railway undertakings at the moment that it burns hot and then if it starts to cool makes a horrible mess that is a nightmare to clear - you're correct that that was basically the reason for the short stop at Appleby - the footplate crew were keen to keep the fire in the best possible condition and that is best achieved by keeping the loco moving.

 

Some of the speeds achieved that day were probably unpublishable at the time, but will probably see the light of day at some point!! Suffice to say it was very fast all day and performance wise I am not sure I've bettered since, gave me a new found appreciation of Jubilees!
Unfortunately I didn't write much down at that time and any records I had are long gone.

 

Fear not I've now acquired the log and will post it imminently.

 

2024 was a depressing year. We did 7 tours with VT, sadly 5 with 47773 on the rear and apart from the Mersey Express interfering too many times, evident from close scrutiny of the timings that showed many unlikely 'pickups', accelerations and climbing speeds; plus the telltale sights and sounds of 47773 on numerous video clips, often on sections and days that we were told were 'diesel free'. Misleading to call them Express Steam. On reflection I didn't consider the running of the Shakespeare Express from Worcester, the Cathedrals Express to Cardiff, the Blackpool Illuminations Express and the York Christmas Express worthy of reporting.

With a proper steam hauled train, despite Julian's almost as it happened excellent write ups and a chat with him, I've compiled a report with more detail and context. It's probably broken the file size rule but hey, it's proper steam and that's such a rarity.

UK Steam Hauled Tour No. 949

The Shap Mountaineer 29th March 2025

The Shap Mountaineer has become VT's 'annual' proper steam bash up north over the Cumbrian Fells. Pity it's the only one. 2025's version gave us the opportunity to pit the superb double chimney Jubilee 45596 Bahamas with 3 banks northbound, the short prelude, Yealand; then the long climb to Grayrigg and finally the Mighty Shap. Then on the return, the tricky 6 mile climb to Low House and after a water stop in Appleby, the Southbound climb of the S&C, including the 'Blue Riband Section' from mp275 to Ais Gill Summit. Sadly no Whalley Arches and Wilpshire Bank as 45596 was going home to Haworth on the Worth Valley from Hellifield. Only 139 miles and a bit of steam.

We booked our usual 4+4 and paid the extra to be in Enthusiast Class, a full TSO that had a sort of guarantee of being behind the POB in one direction. Our favoured would be north from Carnforth. 5 of us out on this train. We'd overnighted in the Premier Inn on Weston Road after a tortuous slow drive due to the volume of traffic around Brum and some weird 50/40s for no reason on the M6. Took us almost 3 hours; normally done in 2. The refurbishment makes the term Premier disappointingly redundant. Cheap and functional; no drawers or any enclosed areas. We met up with Judith, John and Phil and had an excellent meal at the Rookery Wood off the roundabout at the end of Weston Road. Highly recommended. Portion Control is a phrase they don't know the meaning of. Groaning tables everywhere!!. Sadly no cask ales on.

Di and I skipped breakfast and took No. 19 to the Weston Road Car Park in bright sunshine. We had a coffee and very decent hot croissant in the refreshment room on P6. We wandered over to P12 to await the train. A little after booked time 47773 rolled into Crewe's P12 with the Enthusiasts' Coach H directly behind her. Great start to the day. Only 9 behind 47773, so load 10 behind 45596. There went chances of direct comparisons with the other Jubilees, Galatea and Leander, as they've always hauled 11 or 12 on RTC's CMEs we've done in the past when they ran steam hauled trains. John, Phil and I sat on the milepost side; Diana, Judith, Stanier bear and his minder on the other side.

The weather got cloudier the further north we went. 47773 didn't seem at her best and we lost 20 minutes on the way to Carnforth Sth GL1 as it's now called. There's work going on to seemingly increase the lines available in the 'yard'. 47773 duly came off and went on its merry way to a stopover in Grayrigg Loop to let us past. It would then go down to Carlisle to shunt the stock. Good to meet Peter, 30567 while we were in the loop. Lots of familiar faces on the train who like us don't do diesel assisted trains unless just fancying an day out to support VT.

It took a while for 45596+POB to come out of Steamtown and back onto the train but after the brake test we were allowed out some 9 minutes down. We assumed our driver northbound would be Alastair Meanley. We confirmed that at Carlisle. Martyn Fake was also on the footplate. Don't know if he drove any part of the run. Not sure who fired. Checking RTT while in the loop showed the following Euston-Carlisle was 10 down, the usual CME 28 minutes behind us so maybe with a great performance from 45596 we could avoid the Penrith stop.

Carnforth to Yealand Summit

After a coffee it was all go: the GPSs were armed and ready; timing sheets were in place; stopwatch was in one hand and a pen in the other. Hope I can remember what to do with them... As 45596 had been brought over from Keighley earlier in the morning, we weren't starting with a 'green' fire so expected a good first climb. Our driver made a gentle start down the 369f and only passed mp7, the start of the 2 1/2 mile 134r at 32. No sign of any acceleration and I thought I'd missed mp7 1/4. Wrong; it took a 27 1/2 secs to reach it. My predicted 40 at the summit looked optimistic! Not the noise level we expected and speed fell back to 27 by mp8. Bit worrying. It got a bit noisier but we only crested the summit at mp9 1/4 at a sub-standard 27.9. We hoped all was well up front as we were about to attack the 3 1/2 mile of 293f/level track to Milnethorpe, the foot of the 13 mile Grayrigg Bank, where we really need to hit 60+ to take momentum into the long climb.

Yealand to Grayrigg Summit

Down the mile and a half of 293f speed only rose to 51; not good; and not the distinctive Jubilee roar from up front. Not to worry though as on the 2 miles of level track it got much noisier as speed rose to 58.4 as we passed mp12 3/4 where the gradient changed to 173r for 4 miles +. Now things changed distinctly up front and the Jub roared through the old Milnethorpe station, mp13 1/2, at 56.6 with bits of unburnt coal landing on our table. Lovely stuff. My prediction of a summit speed of 45 looked a tad optimistic but you never know how drivers are going to tackle the bank; charge it or make a steadier climb. The latter it was as by mp15, just below Hincaster, speed had only fallen to 52.4. Onwards and upwards as the characteristic Jubilee roar echoed beautifully around the fells. Our fireman was doing a splendid job producing steam as speed only fell to 51.4 as we left the 173r at mp16. Optimism of a 40+ summit speed rose markedly.

Next section was 3/4m of 153r where speed held around 51; then over the easing 3/4m of 392r we got to 53.7 at mp17 1/2. Sights and sounds to savour. Then we hit a sharp rise in gradient to 111r for a mile and here 45596 gave 5 mph to the bank. It eased at mp18 3/4 to 176r as we approached Oxenholme. We passed mp19, an old concrete milepost on the north face of the bridge just before the station at 47.4, and roared loudly with a long blast on the squawking hooter through the station at a decent 48.3. More hard work for our fireman as at mp19 3/4 the gradient increased to 3/4m of 104r. Serious noise and speed only fell to 47.2 at mp20 3/4 where the gradient eased a bit to 124r for 3/4m. Here speed fell back a bit to 46.5 at mp21 1/2. It had settled into good solid climb though there was still 4 1/2 miles to go to the 'climbing summit' at mp26. The 2 1/2m at 131r from mp21 1/2 often causes quite a drop in speed; but with excellent firing and driving we passed mp22 at 46; mp23 at 45 and mp23 3/4, where the gradient changes from 131r to a serious 106r, at 45. We crossed Docker Garth's Viaduct at 45.2 and began to believe we could top the summit at 40+ from the racket 45596 was making up front. Speed only fell slowly and we passed mp25 at 43.3; mp25 1/2 at 42.6; mp25 3/4 at 42.5. then with 45596's characteristic roar and more bits of unburnt coal landing on our table, we passed mp26, the climbing summit post just before the bridge, at 42.4.

We'd only lost 14mph over the 13 mile climb. Not bad for a Class 6 locomotive with load 10.

Elapsed time from Carnforth to Grayrigg Summit was 29m 38s.

Last year 5043 with 9 passed Grayrigg summit at 38 with an elapsed time more than 2 minutes quicker at 27m 12s. Much better start that day.

After some serious firing on the bank our fireman had little respite as the 146r approach to the 4 1/4m of 75r of the mighty Shap Bank was only 5 1/2 miles away. Fortunately 4 miles+ of it was downgrade, followed by a mile+ on the level.

Grayrigg to Shap Summit

We passed mp26 1/4 in Grayrigg loop, start of the mile of 204f, at 44.1. 47773 was waiting at the signal at the end of the loop. Speed rose to 59 by the end of this section, mp27 1/4. Down a mile of 777r to Low Gill, we only got to 62 at mp28 1/4. Half a mile of level was left at close to 64; then things really got serious down the mile and a half of 425f, left at mp30 1/4 at 73.1. We only had a further respite of a mile+ on the level now and the Jubilee roared along this to achieve an excellent 78 at mp30 1/2, Tebay, the start of the 1 3/4m of 146r, the 'prelude'. Right speed; toplights wide open; smell of smoke and steam; bits landing on the tables; amazing Jubilee roar echoing around the fells;. what more could you want? Definitely not sealed Mk2 coffins and diesel assistance that the poor folk on the CME would get.

We crossed North Lune Viaduct, mp32 1/4 at 74.5 with speed falling more rapidly, but we took a creditable 70.1 onto the 75r at mp33. My predicted 40 at the summit looked possible as we roared past mp34 at 62.3. It looked wet over the fells on our left and the wind was stronger but 45596 charged on and we passed mp35, just below Scout Green, at a strong 53.2. The final 2 1/4 miles are unpredictable but 45596 was really at the best it could be and refused to give a lot to the bank. We passed mp35 1/2 at 51; mp35 3/4 at 48.3 and just before the cutting, mp36 at 46.2. The roar through the cutting really made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. Speed fell slowly: mp36 1/4, 44.8; mp36 1/2, 42.9; mp36 3/4, 42.9; mp37, 40; then in the steep rocky part of the cutting speed finally dipped below 40 and 45596 roared past mp37 1/4, the Climbing Summit, at an excellent 38.6. What a magnificent climb. Kudos to our firemen and driver and thanks to the gods of railways for keeping the rain away.

Elapsed Time from Carnforth to Shap Climbing Summit was 40m 52s. 5043 took 40m 7s last year, but interestingly 45596 eclipsed 5043's time by more than 2 minutes over the section from Grayrigg to Shap Summit. Some performance from a much less powerful locomotive.

Onwards and downwards to Carlisle

We were only 12 minutes ahead of the Euston-Carlisle at Shap Summit so it was touch and whether Control would let us skip our pathed visit to Penrith loop. They had to believe we could scuttle down the bank a bit rapidly, a distinct possibility if 45596's fire was up to it. We passed the plateau Summit Board, mp37 1/2, at 37.2 and accelerated to 51 down the short 130f and to 63 after 3/4m of 106f. We started down the 7 miles of 125f at mp41 1/4 at 65.3; passed mp43 at 76.5 and challenged the 75 mph limit for the next 2 miles, mp47 passed at 75.4. Still doing well and we passed mp48 at 77. Onto a bit of level track, mp49 still at 75 and a bit. Hmmm, the brakes came in at mp49 with Penrith in sight. Fingers and toes were crossed and as we passed mp50 1/2 at 66 we knew Control had decided to let us continue to Carlisle. Good on them.

We passed mp51 at 67.2 then 45596 roared around the curve through Penrith North Lakes Station at 68.2, hooter wailing - not at its best. Apparently it was a 'guest hooter' that had worked perfectly on Friday. Time wise we were now 5 minutes early. The Euston-Carlisle was 12 minutes behind us. The 17 miles to Carlisle is virtually down grade. We passed the old Shap Station, 130f, at 46 then down the 106f, 63 at mp39 1/4. Down the almost 2m of 142f, 66 at mp40 and 72 at mp41. Freewheeling almost then as the gradient was 125f for almost 7 miles. Nice white smoke from the chimney and little in the way of noise. We got to 75 by mp42 1/2 and stayed there or thereabouts(??) all the way down to Eden Valley UGL with Penrith 3 miles away around the bend.

Could we escape a visit to P3 at Penrith station? Not sure as the brakes kicked in and speed fell to 70 at mp49 3/4. RTT showed we had almost 15 minutes on the Carlisle Service. Control did the right thing by us and we sped around the curve on the 616f through Penrith North Lakes, hooter squawking, at 68.2. Down the 186f we got 75 at mp54 ish and everyone enjoyed the high sped run over the next 12 miles+ with gradients of 186f/level/164f/172f/228f/184f, then 3 miles of 131f down through Plumpton, on through Southwaite to Upperby. We averaged a tad over 75 and the brakes came in as we passed mp66 1/2 at 78. At mp67 we were still running at 73, not too far above Upperby. The brakes kicked in harder then and we drifted down into Carlisle Citadel where we arrived in P3 some 11 minutes early. Too crowded to chat with Alistair and the Support Crew.

Our total elapsed time for the 63m 14ch journey was 70 minutes 20 seconds with a moving average of 54mph. None too shabby!!! Last year 5043 took 80 minutes but was looped at Penrith.

The Euston-Carlisle arrived in Citadel at 1202, 10 down. I guess if we hadn't been in front of it that might have been a bit less, though it had a 15 min booked running time from Penrith and actually only took 13 minutes.

The lunch break

Di and I didn't bother waiting for the spectacle of 34067 on the front of the coffins to arrive. We wandered down to the Woodrow Wilson for a snack and some beer for me. Much quieter arriving early and we found a table for 5 as the others waited to see the CME and were going to do a bit of shopping before joining us. We had a decent meal there and I sampled the delights of Titanic's Plum Porter and East London's Quadrant - a unique taste. Di had her usual Orange and Passion fruit J2O. Sean Emmett wandered over drinking a Thornbridge Jaipur. He told us it was excellent and that the sales of Jaipur had rocketed as it's a favourite of steam enthusiasts and many were in the pub. Sean introduced me to John Heaton; someone I'd heard so much about over the years but never met. The rest of our party joined us and John and Phil enjoyed a couple of Plum Porters while I just had to have a Jaipur. It really was excellent.

There was rain in the air as we wandered back to the station with the forecasts predicting some heavy stuff above Appleby and on to Ais Gill late afternoon. Sadly for us the train hadn't been turned so we were tail end charlies for the return. 45596 took the train out and 47773 hauled it back into P3. 47773 was detached and set back to depart for Hellifield Goods via Shap; a reversal at Carnforth South Jn; then a run via Giggleswick and Settle Jn. It arrived 8 early.

Carlisle to Appleby

We swapped tables with the ladies and I got the GPS in position for the return. Timing Sheets and stopwatch at the ready I waited for the off. We just about heard the long weird blast on the hooter as we left at 1513, 5 down. It was going to be a tricky run to Low House over the 132r and poor rail. After we passed Petteril Jn we just about heard the change in note as 45596 was eased away up the 132r. Locomotives are always treated with care on this section of rail and it took us 12 minutes to get to the old Cumwhinton Station only 2 1/2 miles from the junction. Things improved from there and we reached 45 at mp303 opposite Howe and Co. SB. That was the max and speed fell back to 40 over high Stand Viaduct, mp301 ish and over the Eden Brows Viaduct. 'Summit' passed at 40ish and rose to 52 over Low House Crossing down the 132f.

Down the 132f to mp299 we got to 59.1. back to 132r and through Armathwaite at 58. Down the 220f then on the level to the Viaduct, 62; then through the tunnel at 59.3. the gradient changes to 220r then and we passed mp296 1/4 at 57.6 before diving into Baron's Wood tunnel No.1 followed by tunnel No.2 at 55.2. a short bit of 132r, mp295 1/4 was passed at 57. Falling grade of 165f to mp293 1/2, passed at 67. The brakes came on for the tight curve through Lazonby and Kirkoswald Station, level, 57.9. off the level onto 264f for a mile left at 61.5; bit of level, 61. Then after long Meg Viaduct, mp291, back to rising gradients. We passed the old Little Salkeld Station, 132r, mp289 3/4, at 56.5. At mp289 there's a short bit of 110r and speed fell to 52. Langwathby, 195f, passed at 54.9. we got to 60 on the 264f , mp287; then we climbed 1 1/2m of 330r into Waste Bank Tunnel, 48. The brakes came on as we dived into Culgaith Tunnel, level, 35.5/41.4and we accelerated over Culgaith Crossing at 42.7. lost interest in mileposting as we were stopping for water at Appleby. My notes tell me we stayed around 50 most of the way. I noted 49.9 at mp278 3/4 on the 120r just before 45596 was eased and we drifted into Appleby virtually right time.

Elapsed time for the 30m 52ch run from Carlisle was 44m 40s at an average speed of 41.4.

No-one was allowed off the train as it was intended to make the water stop as short as possible. They succeeded and after 10 minutes we were on our way. The rain arrived and the winds strengthened. Typical Cumbria day on the S&C. Nice start and we passed mp277 1/4 just oast the shelter on the platform at 13.2. down the 176f we passed mp276 at 46.2 ad on the level crossed Ormside Viaduct at 54.4. then the long 100r gradient hit us and we passed mp275 at the same speed. Below the 60 hoped for but in this weather...

By mp274 speed had fallen to 45.9. Sort of common in recent years but not a good portent when you have 14 miles of mostly 100r to Ais Gill Summit still to climb. By Helm Tunnel speed had fallen further to 39.1 and to 37.3 as we passed mp273 back in the daylight(?). Hardly heard a thing 10 back in the strong crosswind. Bit of a struggle then and only 33.6 at mp272 where thankfully there was a mile's respite at 166r, left at 40 at 270 3/4. Even gentler mile at 200r saw a pick up to 45 on Crosby Garrett Viaduct. We left the viaduct on the level at 43.7 and hit a max of 46.5 on Smardale Viaduct, just back on the 100r. Things were going quite well and we passed mp268 at 42.4. approaching Waitby we experienced the usual drop in speed to 34.8 at mp267 1/4; then we felt the brakes kick in. We heard the safety valves howling so figured we were under caution for some reason.

We passed mp267 1/4 at 15.4 and worse was to come, 7 mph passing mp267, safety valves still howling. The brakes came off and we crept around through Kirkby Stephen Station at 10.6. Not good. We heard from our Coach Steward that there'd been a problem with a photographer on the platform. We shrugged and said one probably dropped a lens cap and went down to retrieve it. That actually happened and we hope the said person is reported to the BTP and heavily fined. He ruined his and everyone else's pictures and videos as well as risking his safety. Back to 45596. There's a bit of 264f to the Signal Box, mp266 1/2, used to pick speed up to 14.5 and our fireman got back to the job in hand excellently as by mp265 we were at 23; and at mp265, 25 with Birkett Tunnel in sight. We dived in at 24.2; exited at 25.2, then passed mp264 at 27.6. Here there is the one real respite, 3/4m of 330r where Alistair used the plentiful supply of steam provided to him to get us up to a respectable 41.6 around Mallerstang. Some recovery from KS.

The weather wasn't good with mileposts harder to pick out. We passed mp262 3/4 at 41.6 form where speed began to fall - but only slowly. We passed mp262 at near enough 40 but the bank bit more by mp261, passed at 37. We crossed Ais Gill Viaduct at 35.7 and passed mp260 1/2 at 35.6; then mp260 1/4 at 34.9, followed by the Climbing Summit, mp260 at a very creditable 34.7. We then passed the plateau Summit, mp259 3/4 at 37.5. It was too murky to see what state the Summit Board was in.

In my opinion, after the slowing between Waitby and Kirkby Stephen on the 100r, the elapsed time of 34m 16s from Appleby to the Climbing Summit mp262 was at the top end of what we could have reasonably expected in the conditions. Kudos to the footplate crew.

Over the level and parallel to the road, we dived into Shotlock Hill Tunnel, mp257 1/2, at 50. It's then down a 165f to Moorcock Tunnel, 52.9 and into Garsdale, 53.3. Ruswarp looked a bit miserable out in the open. Didn't bother timing the undulating section to Rise Hill Tunnel, level, 51.7/42.4, the slowing in preparation for Dent Station, 32.1. Very poor visibility across the fells. Down the 264f we passed mp253 at 41.4 and mp262 3/4 at 45.1. We crossed Arten Gill Viaduct at 51.4 and Dent Head Viaduct at 53.7 before climbing the short 264r to enter Blea Moor Tunnel at 50.7. The line climbs at 440r through the mile and a half long tunnel and we left it at 49.6, braking immediately in preparation for the restriction over Batty Moss viaduct. We passed Blea Moor SB, 100f, at 33.2; mp248, 100f, at 26.1 before drifting over the viaduct at 25.7.

We passed Ribblehead station at 32 on the 176f; then it was all 100f for the 10 miles+ to Settle. Little interest in timing posts down the bank that has a 60 mph running speed. We passed Selside, mp244 3/4ish at 58; Horton-in-Ribblesdale Station, mp242 1/2, at 60.4; crossed sheriff's Brow at 60 ish; dived into Taitland's Tunnel at 60.7 and drifted through Settle Station at 46.8. off the S&C proper we passed Settle Junction SB, level, at 56.8. Bell Busk, a couple of miles at 181r/290r isn't climbed these days as trains pull into Hellifield Goods that has a 5 mph entry speed. We passed Long Preston Station, 290r at 37.2. In days of old when trains ran to Skipton, Leeds or York the 114r the next couple of miles at 114r would have been seriously noisy, something we last enjoyed behind 60163 during the Plandampf runs of February. Some runs they were.

We drifted into the Goods Loop arriving at 1720, 7 minutes early. 45596 left the train at 1735. We didn't hear it depart at the back of the train. We'd already been told we'd have to wait for the arrival of 37240. The Class 37 was needed to assist an ailing 47773 up Whalley and Wilpshire and up the WCML to New Street.

Due to a few Rochdale Flyers, including one from Ribblehead - presumably for walkers - the Class 37 was delayed and we finally left the loop at 1849, 49 minutes down. A good run to Horrocksford Jn, up Whalley Arches and Wilpshire bank got us to Daisyfield Jn before the Colne-Preston service. We arrived in its place in P4 at 1937. The Preston service rolled into P2 at 1944 giving our Preston passengers ample time to use the underpass and get to P2 well before the 1946 departure.

We had an entertaining run back to Crewe with the 37/47 combination with speeds in excess of 80 mph showing on the GPS. They ran well enough that despite our set down at Warrington Bank Quay, Control let us run ahead of the Euston Service all the way to Crewe where we arrived in P5 at 2048, a mere 10 minutes down. We wandered to the car park with our friends and said our goodbyes as they were staying in the not very Premier Inn for the night. The drive south and west was so different to Friday afternoon with light traffic moist of the way. We were in the cottage in 2 hours, inclusive of a short stop for fuel near Symonds Yat.

A very enjoyable day out with the magnificent 45596. Thanks to the BLS for allowing us to have it on the train. It looked superb as always and showed a performance to match in the formidable Cumbrian Fells. It was our first time over Shap with the Jub and we hadn't been over the S&C South since 20th October 1990. We don't speak much of that tour as on a very frosty night 45596 slipped to a stand at Cumwhinton!!! We were diesel banked for the climb to Ais Gill that night. Our last successful S&C South was on 31st August 1989. We hadn't seen 45596 up north since Monday 23rd of August 1991 on a positioning train from Crewe to Carnforth via Blackburn.

Despite this being our 949th proper steam hauled rail tour in the UK, we've only travelled behind 45596 17 times covering a mere 2,900 miles of our total of 171,670 miles. Shame that but we didn't have many opportunities to travel with the Jub.

Thanks to Michael and all at VT involved in the organisation and running of a proper steam hauled train. Loved the use of 45596 on home territory and didn't the Jub do us proud. It's such a shame the vast majority of VT's trains don't live up to the Express Steam Category of their tour advertising.

Thanks to the footplate crews who did an excellent job up front, particularly under difficult circumstances on the return. Can someone post details of who crewed on the day please? The fireman(men) did an excellent job providing the steam for Alastair who drove skilfully all day(?). And of course thanks to our guards; the unseen and unheralded Support Crew; the Train Manager and the on train stewards.

Many thanks to Network Rail for letting us run on the big railway and for the excellent train regulation all day. Who'd have thought we'd get a straight run from Carnforth to Carlisle? and later a decent path up the WCML with the Class 37 and a none too well 47773.

Sadly our next train won't be until 5th July when we're semi-reluctantly doing the Swansea job, probably from Worcestershire Parkway. A Castle out of Swansea has to be done. The train is celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the opening of the Chepstow to Swansea route without apparently even stopping for a photo shoot at Chepstow. Surely the line ain't that busy? And is there really a need to take a diesel to shunt the train in Swansea? Can't it shadow the train as happened up north? Out of interest Michael, what would that cost per ticket?

Hope the Penzance Train becomes a reality. Might be difficult to get hotel accommodation. Very sad that we can only expect to have 2 proper steam hauled trains this year.

Kinda hope Mr Smith fits CDLs to his Mk1s so we can travel on our usual 20-25 trains a year. Times passing and we're all getting older.

I'll post the outward full timings and the less than full return timings when I get around to inputting lots of figures into a spreadsheet.

 

Not excessively so Liam but best not to put full details on here. Post files for members to download and read.

 

Excellent report Graham, much appreciated. On the outbound leg the sounds from the “strangled hooter” were the only minuscule blemish, and who cares with that roar!!

 

The usual enjoyable write up to digest - thanks!

The crew over Shap, unless I'm mistaken (which is possible, and I'm sure I will be corrected if so) was Alastair Meanley driving and Sam Perry firing, and the S&C was Alastair Meanley driving and Simon Horobin firing, with Martyn Fake also on the footplate as Ops.

 

Leander 2006 run

I couldn't post the full file as its a Word document with no extensions available. I have screen shot the logs.
Carnforth to Tebay


Leander 2006 run

 

'Mainline 2006 Volume 2' from PSOV. Footage at Scout Green, Shap Wells, Eden Valley Loops, Great Stickland and Shap Summit again.
I'll watch it this evening!
http://www.mainlinesteam.net/2006vol2.htm

 

Tebay to milepost 55

 

Plumpton to Carlisle

 

An absorbing and insightful analysis and record of the day, thank you for posting, Good to see you and your wife and friends again.

 

Brings back memories! Was one of those days when you expected the brakes to go in and they never did. There was fast running up to Preston too and on the return.
I doubt I will ever get a run like that again.

 

Knock off half a min for 10 miles at 80 versus 75 and the two runs between Milnthorpe and Upperby are very comparable.

 

Excellent report as usual - many thanks.

Just to put that indifferent performance by 5043 in perspective, I had a look at Mike Notley's log of 5043's performance on the 'Castle Over Shap' trip on 20.06.09. With load 10, the elapsed time from Carnforth to Shap Climbing Summit was 34m 55s. Grayrigg was topped at 45.5mph, and Shap Climbing Summit passed at 41/40.5mph. It was quite a run and I consider myself fortunate to have been on it.

Nick M.

 

Here's my full timings for the outward Saturday.

 

Thanks Alex. Sam's overalls didn't look like he'd fired from Carnforth when we saw him at Carlisle. Coal can't have been as dusty as last year. Bet Alistair enjoyed his day out. Superb skilful driving all day.

 

That's why we love Steam Locomotives. Every day is different. 2009 was indeed a bit special but we were a annoyed the Castle only took 10 when their earlier run with 46115 on 9th May had 11. Robbed of direct comparisons again back then. Too much 'molly coddling' of their Castle.