ELR Steam - A Volcano is about to erupt...

The East Lancashire Railway is pleased to announce that Southern Railway pacific, ‘City of Wells’ will be visiting the line for the summer season as additional backup to our own steam fleet.

The locomotive which is normally based on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway will be making its first visit to Bury from the 16 July until late August and feel that 34092 will be a great attraction for our summer season and will wow the crowds due to its impressive size. It will also appear at the head of our prestigious dining train on occasions along with our normal service trains.

Dates of when ‘City of Wells’ will be in steam will appear on the ELR website and social media in due course.

 

YES, YES, YES AND YES!!!!!

 

Working the dining trains, mmm, volcano roasted spam fritters could appear on the menu?
If the dining car train could be re-named as the Liberty Belle, then it could easily serve spam, spam and more spam! (marketing department take note). Just 'idle' comment, but wonderful news.

 

Excellent. The ELR has not been quite right since Tangmere moved away. (Purely a personal opinion as an exiled Bulleid fan living in Cheshire!)

 

And Wells is the GTi version too.

 

I dont think you could get any more Monty Python references in there if you tried!

 

i'll have what irwellsteam is having please he is an excitable sort isnt he

 

So you'll have the Bulleid volcano in northern exile too? Good man

 

no only one place to put a GTI Bulleid through its places, hang 10 on the drawbar and flatten medstead bank with it

 

Better still, the long drag both ways.

 

Today, geologists in the northwest detected the first signs of an impending eruption......

Latest photographic evidence suggests that the beast has arrived
https://www.facebook.com/eastlancsr...0879.158053957545748/1036299356387866/?type=1

 

According to the ELR website it's in use today.

 

not worth the trip, hardly any runs. What is wrong lately,, steam lines have steam with very long intervals filled by diesels

 

Huh? It works 3 round trips, same as the DMU. 72 miles. It's the same midweek timetable they've used for years.

 

Its similar at weekends, ELR is but a shadow of the 1990's. Sundays were always fully steam.

 

But it is the same number of steam sets at weekend, just with Heywood open a third set is required at weekends. Although yes, Sunday suffers as the dinning set runs using the 2nd steam locomotive.

 

Maybe in time 'normal coaches' can be added to the back of the dinning train, similar to how other railways work. If it was at KWVR it would have worked about 50 miles so for mileage wise it's going further.

 

the steam loco on the orange timetable does a 72 mile day

 

Up until a couple of years ago, that was what was done, and still is done on wednesdays. I believe it messed with the timings more when the diner was stuck on the back of the service train - I remember some of the delays(!!) - and the railway only had one engine capable of hauling 8 coaches at the time.

 

It's been reported in the press that due to road restrictions 34092 cannot be returned to KWVR in the near future. Anyone confirm?
Also potential effects on gala visitor locos for KWVR if it is more than a short term problem.
Might speed up the imperative to get Wells back on the main line, there was talk of it being registered to be towed recently.