60163 The Peppercorn Pioneer Sat 31 Jan / Sun 1 Feb

Glad you liked it. Needs a bit of cleaning up to reduce the track noise etc. but I'm pleased with it. Next up on the main line will be 70013 to Cardiff in March. Hopefully there will be some good thrash to be recorded.

 

Have you seen this? Some idiots about.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NARrsxYTY ... re=related

 

Lets not go over old ground again.

 

I was actually stood on a stool and using the top of the fence to rest on.

 

No it's Look North which is from Leeds and covers most of Gods own county. Look Northeast is from Newcastle and you cant understand what they say! \/

 

There is another Look North that comes from Hull and covers the southern bit of GOC and the wilds of Lincolnshire. Has been known to go as far as Kings Lynn but only on a slow news day. \/

 

Great clip there Spamcam, you can feel the power Tornado has got there and the way she purrs once shes in her stride is something else! Top draw =D>

 

Great Photos these, whilst out at work i have stumbled upon a location that is just as good as these. All i need now is to lend a decent camera, and wait for Tornado's next trip north.

Good job one of my customers is a professional photographer, think a "lendy" in lieu of work could be on the cards!!!

 

Glad you like them. There are others that will appear in due course.
For those who may want to know the locations are:
northbound run - the top of the tower of Durham Cathedral (staff are extremely friendly and vewry helpful) which is open to the public though access is charged for (very well worth it) and it has no time limit on duration of stay up there.
Southbound return leg - the "tower" in the park to the west of the line (above the station). This is where the gallery were gathered for the morning pass though in the evening no-one was there apart from a child brough by grandparents and some students. It is still a little early in theyear to get the best fro mthat location at dusk even with 3200 available.
As an alternative to the tower the green adjacent to the north door of the cathedral is also an acceptable alternative.

Best of luck with a "loaner". I hope you can swing it but look after it - having broke a few over the years i don't recomend open the estimate envelope as a way of improving your day. Get a feel for the kit and its differences and restrictions before going live though. I look forward to seeing this new location.

regards
Steve

 

How many steps to the top of the Cathedral tower? Bet it's quite a few. A very nice location even for modern traction photography.

 

The exact same violence occured last year, and many times before. Hardly unexpected. The irony is with the way the police like to operate nowadays, there were probably more cameras at Newcastle on Sunday than on Saturday!

 

Does anybody know what a 'Rail Enforcement Officer' is supposed to be? These idiots in their day-glo jackets and the GNER bods in hats (could have sworn that company had ceased to exist) kindly stood in front of Tornado all the while she stood at Newcastle first time round, their jackets nicely reflecting off the paintwork.

 

"already done 90mph?"

:-$ :-#

 

Do you doubt the man?

 

I find it a surprise. I had read on the forums during the test runs that many people were getting upset when it was hinted by one person that this had occured, when testing was only authorised to 75mph. And in the press recently it was claimed that an overspeed had not been authorised for the this test (which would have only allowed an upper limit of 82.5 anyway), and that an actual anomalous reading of 100! was recorded, but that was put down to dodgy data recorders on the diesel at the rear, stating Tornado's speed was firmly in the 75mph region. I sincerely don't want to doubt the man, as it must be more than beyond obvious by now that she could do that, and much more.

 

Ego engaged before brain perhaps?

I thought that 60163 was to be run "at 90 mph" for track force testing purposes only, not so it can be run in service at this speed?
Maybe 90 is on the cards as an operational speed, but wouldn't that mean a re-think of the 75mph limit for steam? or will a special derrogation be sought specifically for 60163?

 

I don't recall hearing that the force testing went that fast. Would they do it up to 90 even?

I would think that if the 75 limit is only due to the age of the locos, and not the track, then obviously it could/should/would be exempted for Tornado, being brand new.

Ignoring that though, in another thread, many people hinted that regular higher speeds were out of the question for older locos simply due to much higher replacement/repair costs it would bring, but I would think that cost would also apply to Tornado. A brand new component is a brand new component after all, whether it goes onto Bittern or Tornado.

 

I have no first hand information, only heresay but, IMHO, my sources are pretty reliable and I understand that 90+ has happened with Tornado. I also understand that officialdom has reacted to this. Someone tell me I'm wrong and I'll happily accept that.