55022

Pioneer Deltic 55022 ‘Royal Scots Grey’ will be running from Monday 2nd July to Thursday 5th July on our services to Whitby.

Built in 1960 at Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows, it entered service in February 1961 as D9000 and was the most powerful production diesel locomotive in the World. It was named ‘Royal Scots Grey‘ at a ceremony at Edinburgh Waverley in June 1962. Withdrawn in January 1982 it was rescued by the Deltic 9000 Fund in September 1983. Purchased by Beaver Sports in July 2004, it ran again in September 2006 and has been a performer at heritage railways and on the main line ever since.

Normal diagram is:

1010 Grosmont - Whitby
1100 Whitby - Grosmont

1310 Grosmont - Whitby
1400 Whitby - Grosmont

1510 Grosmont - Goathland
1610 Goathland - Whitby
1730 Whitby - Grosmont

 

Down the Calder Valley line this morning, times are on their web site.

 

Picture from LSL group page today, of an immaculate engine room, ready for installation of 2nd engine very soon....

 

How long will it stay like that?

 

If the other LSL locos are anything to go by, a real long time....

 

Deleted.

 

D 9000 at LSL yesterday...

 

Looks suspiciously like the engine fitted is now back out???

 

We have been working flat out on getting D9000 back together and ready for the Deltic Delight Tour on Friday 26th August. There have certainly been challenges presented to the team by Royal Scots Grey and we have had to manage several unforeseen problems with the Locomotive rebuild. It is not lost on us that we have already had to redate some Deltic Tours that Intercity customers have paid to travel on. This does not sit well with us and, whilst we are sure there are many out there with their own views on the complexity of the challenges we have and continue to face, our shared wish is for D9000 to be back on the mainline. Clearly from an owner’s perspective it is also vitally important that the Locomotive is in the right condition when we send it out onto the network, as if we experience a major failure because we’ve pushed too hard, everyone will suffer.
Having considered all the factors, including our wish to be very open about where we are, the following is our considered current position and plan for the Locomotive, including its booked tours. Much rides on the next few weeks and we shall provide continued updates through our Facebook page.
Current Position
There is a real chance that D9000 could be ready for the 26th August. Achieving this requires everything to go as we have planned. Whilst we have little reason to think it won’t, if the worst does happen, we will be too close to the 26th to avoid a late cancellation and a group of unhappy customers (and engineers). We will not substitute an alternate Locomotive should D9000 not be available. So, after much debate we have concluded that as close as we are, all the efforts put in will be wasted if we miss the date. We’d prefer to be in a better position, but the reality is that we cannot say with absolute certainty that we will hit the 26th.
Although the above is disappointing, we do believe we are in the final stages of the project, and we want to get the Locomotive completed. The intention is to finish the loco for the 26th as if the tour was running and we are keeping our foot on the gas to achieve that.
Regarding the Deltic Delight tour, we have also been thinking hard about how we can reschedule this trip. Mindful that the 26th of August is a Friday and passengers will have had to make specific arrangements to be on the train, we have asked LSTOC to be able to operate the tour on a Saturday, the 24th of September, instead. We have confirmation that this is achievable and are therefore going to run the Deltic Delight tour on that date. Whilst we know that means some passengers may have other commitments, we hope that many will still be able to join the tour. This also means that the Deltic Delight will be the first operation of D9000 under our ownership and will then be followed by the two planned trips in October as advertised.
This has been a hard decision to reach, but we believe the right one. Refurbishing any locomotive is tough, but Royal Scots Grey has been a particular ordeal. We very much hope that everyone interested in the Locomotive will understand our decision, even if they are somewhat frustrated by it. As said earlier we will be posting regular updates on our Facebook page.


Many thanks to everyone for their continued support and interest in D9000.

 

Not really into diesels but reading some posts on a different forum I never realised before how reasonable steam enthusiasts are.

 

Have you read ALL the threads on here?

 

...and how lucky some tour operators are with their clientele.

 

Not unreasonable for a tour with deltic in its name to run with a deltic.
After what happened with 40145 be wise not to lose the business of the deltic bashers too.

 

Here you go @Victor, running again on 2 engines!!!
Facebook
Sounds as sweet as a nut!!!!

 

Progress. That'll do nicely.

 

More like the bag of loose nuts left it the crank case!!!! But normal for one of these machines. Looks like a bit to go before the run at the end of September, fingers crossed for all concerned.

 

Run is postponed, to allow sufficent running in and testing.

 

It was meant to be end of August but has been postponed to September instead.

 

The latest pictures:

 

After her repaint. My favourite Deltic livery: