Strathspey Railway

“This thing is running like shtt….but, dang! It smells goood!!”

 

Mmmmmmm… haggis bonbons!

 

Sounds like a question for the chamber for the MSP then. Crack on and help local tourism for both Grantown, Avimore and the villages in between.

 

In the sort of light that you only seem to get in the highlands Black 5 No. 5025 leaves Boat of Garten earlier this week. I think B&W works nicely in this sort of lighting.

 

That's a cracker... Take a bow sir!

 

Apologies if posted on another thread but thought this was worth of some advertising :

A weekend I can't make unfortunately but this coming weekend at the Strathspey Railway is a double-Ivatt 46512 + 46464 event worthy of some praise imo.

https://www.strathspeyrailway.co.uk/index.html#sectiondbl

 

37674 has had bodywork repairs and returned in Railfreight Red Stripe livery. Shame 31327 wasn't also in that livery which is what it arrived on the railway carrying. Certainly there were quite a few disgruntled voices when the 31 turned up (20 years ago!?) but the 37 seems to have got by on a changing attitude to such a modern livery.

 

Great move keeping the 37 in Railfreight. Really eye catching and sets the loco out from from the crowd. I hope everyone involved in the recent works are pleased with what they've achieved.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using Tapatalk

 

The Strathspey Railway are introducing additional diesel hauled trains on the first 3 weekends in July. These will be slotted into the existing steam timetable and will consist of two round trips diesel hauled, departing from Aviemore at 11.20 and 13.50. Ticket sales information should appear on the Strathspey web site during this week.

The proposed loco roster will be,

July 5th, and 6th. Class 27

July 12th, and 13th. Class 37

July 19th, and 20th. Class 31.

 

I've previously tried to discover which steam loco's are working before travelling up from home, unfortunately without success.
I'd have visited for the double Ivatt, double header weekend with a bit more notice...unfortunately it wasn't to be.

It was good to find the Black 5 working yesterday when we arrived, the observation car's always a bonus !!

 

5025 really does look lovely.

Do all the Strathspey trains carry the modern style headlamps?

Chris

 

Not normally, crew decision on the day.

 

Persuading the office staff, who might not be in tune with railway enthusiasts, that advance notice is paramount can be challenging.

 

Another small revenue stream would be to sell tickets to be safely escorted around the Aviemore yard / shed at arranged times to view the newly restored locos tucked away out of view. I understand this used to be in place pre-Covid?

 

I volunteer myself elsewhere and firmly believe that any visitors to steam railways and mainline steam charters have some interest (or be prepared to travel with someone who's interested) or would find somewhere else to spend their time and money.
When I visit the Strathspey line I have my other half with me, who definitely is not an enthusiast. If I'd been able to discover when the Carmyllie and or the other Ivatt was working we'd have made additional visits. Not looking for guarantees when steam is planned to work, any idea of planned working would do it.... Just my thoughts, though I've previously seen similar comments on Facebook

 

This is currently being talked about, although something as simple as this is not as easy as it sounds. The Strathspey operates with a very small number of volunteers and finding someone to do it on a regular basis can be difficult, however it should be reintroduced soon.

What will be introduced first though is selling a footplate ride on a round trip. This is not a hands on experience, 5025, 46512 and 46464 all have a third seat where the water scoop apparatus used to be, this will be used to sell a member of the public a footplate ride.

 

A seat? Luxury!

(We have recently started offering footplate rides, and although the risk assessment only allows them on certain locos where the cab is roomy enough that four people can travel without obstructing the driver and fireman from their duties, we don't go as far as to allow such passengers to sit down! )

Tom

 

Hanging off the underside of the tender? I'm not sure that'll appeal to many people!

 

At least they’ll have a seat

Tom

 

In my experience a gentleman fireman will always offer his seat to a visitor, even if it is male. Most decline the offer, though, preferring to stand behind the driver when going forwards and on the opposite side when running in reverse.