Moorlander 2012

44713........Brilliant video. (noticed you stayed under cover !!!!)

 

Thanks mate. Oh yes. Best place to be is on the train in weather like that. In a perverse way, it's great sitting there looking out at the pouring rain, especially when you can see some brightness in the distance.

Alan.

 

which station is on IMG2928 with all the posts everywhere. ??

I would guess Oxenholme.

 

Looks like Crewe to me mate. ;-)

Alan. ;-)

 

Indeed it's Crewe. I'll get round to adding the captions later! I would rather have been on the train with No. 9 on the front than photting a couple of 47s, but it wasn't to be. Fingers crossed for this Sunday.

 

13/8 departed on time Preston behind 45305.

 

Lol,
Thank you Ralph, its nice to hear about journeys with detail like that.

 

Two shots of the returning Moorlander at Clifton and Shap village . Hope you enjoy LMS 45305 The Mersey Moorlander on the 13/8/12 - YouTube

 

There is not a great deal I can add to what Ralph as already said. It was, indeed, a superb performance by Stanier’s true finest as well as being a very eventful day!


The ‘Moorlander’ was again loaded to 12 on this occasion, which is a formidable load for one classed only as a 5. We set out from Preston at a fairly gentle pace and were soon brought to stand at Farringdon junc, for a ‘nodding donkey’ to pass! The restart was without a slip and we attacked the climb up to Lostock Hall – great memories of the shed there and its stud of quality black 5’s , amongst others – then we where soon on the climb to Wilpshire, where I was in the twelfth coach of twelve and could hear her clearly forging away.

After that, it was Hellifield and the failed 158, then the cow on the line at Settle, the sedate climb over the S&C, the ‘normals’ at Appleby and arrival at Carlisle were the normal passengers were much appreciative!

The shunting manoeuvres proved much better than last week, instead of propelling out to the Newcastle line, it was decided to go forwards on the down and propel back into the sidings on the west side of the station, then to Upperby for service, etc.

The loco and support came back onto the stock from Upperby and propelled out northwards to come back into the up platform 3 ready for a no nonsense start straight away! Much better. However, VT’s finest was late…….again…. and we were thus late getting away…. oh hum…thus is the modern railway…

Now the meat of the day began – in earnest. We set out, on a weekday, on one of the busiest main lines in the country. No one was hanging about to look at the scenery.

45305 was seriously ‘put to it’. It was ‘full on’ from the word ‘go’. I have heard 5’s on the big railway in the 60’s and in preservation, but this, was exceptional. 45305 was, surely, ‘flat out’ at times. At times, normal levels of speech were hard and raised voices were necessary and we where in the second coach!!

However, the ‘flange greasers’ again caught us out. The poor rail conditions begin shortly after milepost 45.5 and continue for half a mile, as can be seen in my video. After the loss of so much momentum it’s a hard slog for the 5 to get back up to speed, however, 5305 was equal to the job.

Another bout of slipping occurred on the level approaching Shap village, parallel to the A6, this time, I think, due to a very, very light drizzle of rain. After that, no doubt, the crew were very glad to reach the summit and have an easy downhill finish to Carnforth where she was removed for some ‘poorer’ traction. :-/

There is only one more Moorlander left to run and if anyone is interested in out and out loco performance, then I can’t think of anything better at the moment. Don’t forget, this is 55 minutes of continuous maximum effort from a loco, where else can you get that??

My video is the longest I've ever put on youtube, over 12 mins long, it's 1.8 gb and took six hours to upload, and it's only 720p. But, it's as complete a record as I can manage. Use 720p full screen and it's as near as you could be to what happened.

45305 Mersey Moorlander - YouTube

[FONT=&amp]Alan. [/FONT]

 

deleted

 

How many people of here would may good money for that?

 

Indeed. Thanks for the correction.

Alan.

 

Black 5 - 45305 today, and running to time, passing Billington in drizzly conditions.

2 piccys here - Mainline Steam & Notable Workings - 2012 - DSC 13554 - Steaming Around the North

John

 

Can anyone confirm if the loco swap is taking place at Carnforth or at Preston please?

Thanks

 

The five is coming off at Carnforth . Steve

 

On my way down to Chester today, managed the small detour for a trip to Armathwaite and back to see No. 45305 race through :


The Mersey Moorlander At Armathwaite by JonathonAG, on Flickr

 

That is a lovely shot Jonathon
Henry