WCR Rail Tours

Oswald hasn't had too much luck with recent steam opportunities. Last Thursday domestic arrangements were such that a trip out would have been very difficult and the foul weather convinced me to stay at home. On Saturday I was all geared up for the NB until Tangmere decided to have a "duvet day". On Tuesday we had a visitor which knocked 48151 on the head and yesterday 70000's unexpected test run had to be missed as I was waiting in for a delivery - that never arrived! In the evening, it was going to be Tangmere (again), this time with the returning "Scarbados", but Oswald was in need of a bit of steam.

I was to be "Billy-no-mates" as Mrs W was planning to go out to watch the barn owls. (They did not put in an appearance and Mrs W got hounded my midges - oh dear!) I left Mrs W and Oswald Jnr watching the cricket with Maisie asleep, decidedly not watching the cricket. It was a lovely evening as I headed east carrying my signed photograph of Sir Geoffrey Boycott in case of any problems crossing into Yorkshire and, more importantly, getting back out again. I had thought about filming from the A59 road bridge as the train heads away from Skipton; it's a busy road and traffic noise is likely to be an issue, so not without a recce at a similar time. I chose the safe option, Gargrave. Filming from the eastbound platform (the wide side and potentially the sunny side) might not be that safe today as a Leeds bound stopping train was due to leave only 1 minute before Tangmere would pass through in the opposite direction.

I parked on the station car park and checked the trains, if the service train was running very late or even cancelled then the up platform might be back on the table. Predictably both Tangmere and the service train were running RT - the tight side it was. I set up and waited, 2H27 the Leeds to Lancaster arrived, stopped and departed (RT). Tangmere was sitting at Skipton and would follow it. After a few minutes the signal behind me flicked to green and a couple of minutes after that Tangmere was on her way.

The minutes ticked by and the Leeds bound train approached then stopped. With the sound of diesel engines it was impossible to hear if Tangmere was approaching. It was a quick stop and the Leeds train left (3L), still hard to hear anything, then, as the service train approached the distant curve, Tangmere appeared, I was so excited I managed to give the camera a slight nudge as I prepared to zoom back - what a clumsy old Oswald I am! Tangmere was certainly moving, plenty of exhaust and sounding ok - but I'm sure others will think otherwise. She flew through the station (1/165r) with 47382 providing an extra bit of help from the rear. A pleasant smog hung in the evening air - lovely stuff! 16C, 4L & 48mph.

An uneventful drive home in the evening sunshine. I arrived home just after the advert break, sorry "Hydration break" in the first half of the football. Mrs W and Oswald Jnr were watching, Maisie wasn't interested and had gone out for a spot of mooching/hunting. She returned shortly after the football had finished.

 

Excellent story and some really nice footage. Nudgegate fits very well with the excitement you must have felt when the box on rails thing got out of the way just in time.

Bryan