The Elizabethan 11 June - Tornado Kings X to Edinburgh, Alycidon back, all in a day!

I will confess to a soft spot for such machines. I did go North to log a few before they ended in normal service. And did a few photo trips as well.

I guess that was because they never harmed my wonderful SR Bulleids. So I had nothing against them. Nice to hear it ran so well yesterday.

 

Aah, TWO Mighty Machines out and about. In days gone by the Deltic would have been put on another 9/10 at KX and sent back up the road to Bonny Scotland. When they are running right they are wonderful bits of kit. One of the finest class of locomotives ever to have run in the UK.............I say so.

That bit of video of Tornado galloping through the Cambridgeshire country side, wonderful, It really did look on top of it's job.

AND....... a mid week day tour on the ECML..........thanks NR.
A Deltic mixing it with the electrics..........happy days.

 

The "Kings Own" was chuntering around York station yesterday with another diesel.....excuse my ignorance.....didn't know what type it was although I think it's an NRM loco...D5000 ?.....

 

Erm, I grew up on the GN with a staple diet of Deltics. Hooked from day one mate.

 

Nice to hear from you Ralph after yesterdays report about problems with life expectancy of those in the NW. Bad drink and food and I also think too much fracking going on up there now.

To ease our minds could you possibly put a health report here every three hours please?

The modern equivalent of the days when they used to nail a paper bulletin on the Kings health on the doors to Buck House every so often. Although I was never sure why they did that for a King. At that location so close to Victoria station I would have though a bulletin about L1 or D1 4-4-0s would have been more appropriate.

 

The star of yesterdays show, has to be that fantastic late night run by Alycidon. Here it is blasting through the dark night at Welwyn North, I guess at about 90-95
Slap your headphones on.




BIG thanks to the FCC driver, who held it off for me.

 

It took the DPS quite a while to get Alycidon back to that condition, but caps off, they've done a splendid job

 

Customary for a Deltic may be but I doubt a Duff or any other type 4 would match it. An ECT driver mate of mine and former Deltic man has been most fulsome in his praise of yesterday's run.

 

Forget headphones, stream it through the TV and into a surround sound system! My lord does D9009 make a good sound... not as good as 60163, but not far off!

James at SVN

 

Duffs are limited to 95 anyway, aren't they? The point was that, as I understand it, timings for heritage diesels are done for 95mph maximum (if the locomotive is cleared for that, of course), so Deltics & Class 50s have a little 'in hand'. That was the point I was trying to make

I agree though; only an exceptional effort by a Type 4 could come anywhere near yesterday's run. 3300 of Napier's finest horses were unleashed!

Mark

 

Credit where credit is due, a very nice short and to the point sequence of a wonderful spectacle.

So hard to time such a train from the lineside. Without knowing the exact train length and with only a few attempts I make it close to 100 mph.

Anyone on board care to provide the actual speed please?

 

I think we cross Digswell viaduct at about 97mph yesterday, so around 96mph through Welwyn North station.

 

Cheers. It made a lovely sight and sound!

 

The Elizabethan - Tornado At The Pans by JonathonAG, on Flickr


The Elizabethan - Deltic Departure by JonathonAG, on Flickr

 

East Coast Elizabethan heaven 11 June 2013

This ambitious excursion, promoted by the A1 Locomotive Trust, aimed to reproduce the flagship East Coast Main Line passenger service between London and Edinburgh from the 1950s to the 1970s.

An early start from King Cross saw Peppercorn A! Pacific No 60163 head north for its journey of nearly 400 miles. She started gently so her first turn of speed came after Potters Bar and she reached her 75 mph limit before Hatfield. On a clearly busy line it was only after St Neots that she got back into the mid seventies and arrived at Peterborough on time. We went up Stoke Bank in the early 70s but after the water stop at Grantham there was sustained mid-seventies running right through Newark and Retford to the outskirts of Doncaster. Then another fast spell saw us six minutes early at Colton Junction, after which we crawled into the water stop at York in customary fashion.

Across the Vale of York the running was restrained but after Darlington we again hit a sustained burst of seventies running until Chester le Street, before creeping into Tyne Yard for water and coal. After Newcastle we reached 62 at Longbenton and 72 by Cramlington; after the Morpeth curve we were back in the mid-seventies all the way to the outskirts of Berwick. From there to Edinburgh there were several more high speed bursts, interspersed with checks and being looped at Grantshouse. The final crawl into Edinburgh did not take away from the exhilaration of a long high speed run, worthy of the best of the LNER Pacifics.

But our excitement was not over, as we were to be hauled back to London by English Electric Deltic loco No D9009 Alycidon, with its deep throated roar and acrid blue smoke impressing themselves on all our senses, even though we remained at the back of the train. I did not keep a detailed log but we were at or near 100 mph most of the way from Darlington to York, which I had left 36 hours earlier with a Class 91 to London. In this period I had experienced the best of East Coast motive power: steam, diesel and electric - a fitting commemoration of the Elizabethan era on this iconic railway line.

18 photos are at http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com/p427592684

Peter, back home on a damp grey Thursday afternoon in Manchester
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com/

 

Look, this is only a personal and generational view but I can't stand the site or sound of the Deltics as it was these monstrosities which were the main reasons we lost the A4's on the ECML in 1961/2 forcing them to be banished to Scotland for the 3-hour Glasgow to Aberdeen services. Only good thing about this was that they were so successful in Scotland, even the diesels could not dislodge them.

Interesting to see so few spectators to see the Deltic. Says it all really - why? Steam is magic, a Deltic isn't.

 

WELL...just takes me back a long long long time when the 'new' Deltics were taking over the A4 duties, and watching (hearing) them belting through HITCHEN. Wonderful stuff, and not forgetting Tornado, some excellent photos and vids on here. Includes that sound on mrK's vid and Stuart ( Swiss Toni), thats a different aspect for you; must have a head for heights (car park?). For sheer frightening heavyweight...KJE Tues 10.59pm WOWWW...ps dont think we've seen anything wearing 2 headboards before ??!!.....Pete