The Waverley 5/08/18

Todays return leg at Angrholm.

 

05/08/2018 - LMS 4-6-0 Jubilee class 45690 "Leander" crossing Ribblehead viaduct with a running of "The Waverley"

 

I was on this one. OK, so I've said my piece about "show ponies" on this forum, but my wife had paid for this one as a treat for me so I wasn't going to say no! It was a great trip over one of the most iconic railway lines in the country. Everything ran to time and we had nice comfortable seats in First Class so for once it was a case of not worrying too much about how the steam loco was performing and just enjoying the scenery. From an operational point of view we had been told in advance that the outward trip was going to be diesel only as far as Hellifield due to the fire restrictions. I'm not convinced about that as the steam loco (Leander) worked all the way back to York in the evening. I guess it was more a case of Leander being at Carnforth and it being easier to run it to Hellifield rather than York. I'm guessing it will work from York next week as that's where it ended up.

Traction was provided by 33207 to Hellifield then Leander and 47237. Train manager tried to get us all interested in the 33 by saying how rare it was to see one up North. Sorry, but as one who has spent most of my life on Southern territory I find it hard to get excited by a 33! Traction over the Settle and Carlisle was an equal mix of steam and diesel I believe. I could hear both locos working at various points and judging by the amount of exhaust coming from Leander it was definitely more than a "show pony" and was doing its fair share of the work. I'm not sure how great the "fire risk" is up North anyway as the vegetation looked a whole lot greener than we have down south at the moment.

A few photos attached including one of me in the driver's seat at Appleby getting ready for the "long drag" to Ais Gill. Oh well I can dream!