CME 15/07/17

Passing Culgaith Signal Box on the return...


https://www.flickr.com/photos/iancawthorne/35808442081/

 

45690 assaulting Shap and the slog at Aisgill .

 

Very good Ian , what a difference compaired to Aisgill !

 

Stationary near Whalley behind Manchester Stopper.

 

You can say that again Stephen! Might be worth comparing the head count at the bridge shot today vs tomorrow! Weird weather just south of Appleby - the sun was out, a big expanse of blue cloudless sky looking one way, but it was raining on my back and looked very misty the other way (which was in the Ais Gill direction)

 

Between Langho and tunnel. Down to 7.8. Min 4.4. Stopped just after clearing Ramsgreave and Wilpshire station. Arrived at Blackburn 58 down.

 

I can confirm that Ian, bloody awful at Greengates

 

Not much interest from the locals, perhaps the weather has something to do with it. LMS 5XP Class 4-6-0 No. 45690 'Leander' working hard on the climb
to Grayrigg with the northbound 'Cumbrian Mountain Express'



Just to confirm what Ian said previously, absolutely stinking conditions as LMS 5XP Class 4-6-0 No. 45690 'Leander' works passed Greengates with the
return leg of the 'Cumbrian Mountain Express'

 

What a desperate sight, clearly overloaded.

 

Leander did seem to struggle today, however she's taken 12 over the S&C and onwards many times before on the past Fellsman and Waverley runs, so it's nothing new in that respect. Possibly the first load 12 for a Jubilee unassisted over Shap though?

 

Yes desperate full stop

 

Yes

 

Yes Ian aren't us northerners lucky

 

Yes Ian but surely it depends how the loco and conditions are like on the day

 

Well said Al but will it get through to them

 

15 /07/2017 - Jubilee 4-6-0 - 45690 "Leander" working hard off Whalley Arches and starting the slog up Whalley Banks towards Blackburn on a late running Cumbrian Mountain Express at Billington foot crossing.

 

For Shap, yes agreed. We've seen a fair few loco's crawling over there in difficult conditions, but the S&C I think less so. It's not like Leander was in a desperate state today compared to say Galatea struggling to keep the wheels turning over Shap with only 10 on 3 years back. It can be seen from Stephen's video at both Shap and Ais Gill that she was well in control of the load, but the times show that speed was not as good as it needed to be.

Various Black Fives have taken 12 over Ais Gill in the last decade with no problems in similar weather conditions. Yet all kinds of power classifications have struggled due to various reasons.

The loading limits we have seen suggested not so long back certainly seem to be 1 or 2 more than suggested on a pretty regular basis this year.

WCR have done a damn fine job of not including diesels over the northern fells this year. I can only think of three occasions since January where a box has been included.

 

More than misty at Ribblehead...

 

That is encouraging; and yet 12 does seem a heavy load for a Jubilee on a route with substantial climbs, so I do wonder about the decision process for taking or not taking a diesel. They got up Shap OK today, though at a speed that must have used up several paths at normal traffic speeds. And then they seem to have struggled on the way back. Whalley to Wilpshire is 1 in 81½, a tad less steep than Shap. All, I suppose, part of the unpredictability of steam traction.