The Great Britain IX

A snap of the Jub at Wandel in the Clyde Valley this evening...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iancawthorne/26798958805/

 

Crew were feeling around rear driving axle and oiling it. 45699 was on the move around 20.40.

 

Not the only alleged 'hotbox' of the day. One of the road coaches taking us to the hotels arrived in Bowness with smoke pouring out of it's rear axle which caused some entertainment for those of us interested in such things (but no commotion, I hasten to add).

 

Superb filming and a joy watch! Thanks

 

Two more, from Saturday and Yesterday, as I couldn't resist processing off the camera....


Black 5 No. 44871 - Gleneagles by Jonathon Gourlay Photography, on Flickr


Black 5 No. 44871 - Loch Gowan by Jonathon Gourlay Photography, on Flickr

 

Wow, that was a long day. Wet, too. We started from Dingwall early enough to check out a couple of options around the Nairn viaduct at Culloden, and ended up with the classic angles - right for the sun but iffy for the wind and rain. Then off to Drummochter. Having looked at Balsporren Cottages, just below the summit, I dropped my pal in Layby 85 then zipped back to Dalwhinnie where a select few of us were treated to a slow approach from the single line and terrific acceleration through the station, past the bracket signals and away, with some nice crinkly mountains in the background. The sleeper was running rather late, so loop stops were rearranged: an extra stop at Kincraig was made to pass the sleeper, the next down train was passed on the double track section, the 3 stops at Blair Atholl, Pitlochry and Dunkeld were cut, and the tour arrived in Perth about 30 mins early. This meant we didn't get a third shot in Birnham Woods. Never mind. Thank goodness for friends on board. After a long wait in the passing showers, the last shot of 44871 was sunny - I was at Auchterarder and my pal at Gleneagles. We had to make a detour to Linlithgow to pick up pal's car, so we didn't know how far ahead of the train we'd be by the time we got back to to WCML. Happily, we were ahead of it still, and after it had taken water at Carstairs, we got shots at Crawford and Elvanton. The question now was - would it stop at Lockerbie, and for how long. The rumour was that it would but would then run non-stop to Oxenholme, recovering almost all its lateness in the process. I got a good get-away from Crawford and was in time to see two southbound trains overtake the tour in Lockerbie loop and then see Galatea make a very spirited departure up the bank. Sadly, I think I pushed the start/stop button on my camera twice! You'll just have to take my word for how good it looked. My pal had similar luck at Plumpton. He thought he must have missed it, since there were no other photographers around (doesn't have an internet phone to check RTT), so decided to change his boots prior to driving south. As he did so, the Jub flashed by...

Ach, yes, can't even copy what's in front of me at that time of night - I'd blame the beer...

8 down, 1 to go. Early start and early finish tomorrow. Clapham, Hellifield and then head for home. Just time for a quick look at the weather forecast before bed...

 

So Copy Pit gets a look in after all. 45690 goes back to Carnforth that way from Doncaster!

 

And also the light engine diesel in the morning from Carnforth to donny!!!

Shame they couldn't find a path.with the ability to water on that.route for.steam

 

Nope, ecs and the run from Grange back to Carnforth is 2 vacuum braked 47's

45690 is added at Carnforth, watered at Hellifield and taken off at Donny in.a loop

Thus sadly those on board.won't be.able to photograph only the 4th different steam loco on this.years.tour :-(

 

So that's Day 8 finished. What should have been an epic day with climbs of.Slochd, Druimuichdar, Beattock and Shap - presumably a first for a tour? was a day full of shoving

Shap was reached at a speed higher than when I had 46233 and 5043 double.headed over.there ;-)

Either that's one powerful jubilee or there was a mighty amount of shoving.....

Thus after 5 1/2 Gb tours thats.enough from me, even if one.was to run.next.year I won't be booking

The enjoyment of those climbs was taken away from a performance perspective.

I know earlier in this thread loco (un)availability has been discussed, but foresight and planning could.have prevented this especially as.the punters had been.booked on it.for at least 6 months.

If this is the last Gb it should have been.one for all to remember

Afterall. GB5 in 2012 managed 10 different locos ;-), here we'll welcome only the 4th different loco tomorrow

 

Oh that's a shame...

It's days like that where it seems the hobby has become nothing more than another day at the office..

It's not as if you can grab a quick photo from the window either anymore.


That sucks.

 

That's a real shame if that's the case (the last paragraph in particular). I hope you are put into a platform at Doncaster so you'll be able to at least see the engine!

Thanks for the info regarding the morning. 21 minutes to change the locos over at Carnforth is pushing it a bit though? Or is that just me?

Either way, the Cumbrian Coast will be a rather nice place to watch the sun come up, so I'll head there for that. If a black Jubilee turns up instead of a couple of 47s, then brill but a nice sun rise across the bay ought to be a nice way to finish my holiday!

James

 

A rather shiny 45690 away from Carnforth right time, with no diesel on the back! 47760 and 47580 to go light engine to Doncaster.

James

 

Yesterday evening

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124047467@N05/26535262390/in/dateposted-public/

 

Leander this morning.

 

A few of yesterday's images from the southbound trip.
Inverness to Oxenholme was an ambitious target, the delay at Perth which turned an early arrival into a late departure only guaranteed the diesel assistance south of Mossend.
Neither steam loco was making a token appearance but it was evident from the speed of the climbs that the Class 47 wasn't just idling.

Culloden viaduct in silhouette from the bank of the River Nairn west of the viaduct.
An unexpected flash of sunshine from the lazy man's location in the layby near Drumochter summit.

45699 in the Upper Clyde Valley between Abington and Crawford while the sun flirts with the edge of the cloud.
And an interruption to my fish and chips south of Lockerbie as Galatea head south at a rate that turned the late running into a near on time arrival.
And that marked the end of my seeing GB9 as I'm not in a position today to see anything of Leander.

No doubt we all have our views on the success of this tour. After last year's issues it has been great to see the efforts made to run the tour and to have steam on the front but such a shame the the unavailability of so many locos meant that the diesel assistance was inevitable in so many locations. A real let down for those whose reason for travelling is to experience the performance of the steam loco but I don't think anyone who went for a trip around the country can have been too disappointed have reached everywhere the tour was intended to go.

What of the future, who knows I certainly hope someone will have the motivation to go back to the far north.

 

Few people grumbling where I'm sitting, which is in the brake carriage. Aside from a push at the bottom, there was surprisingly little discernable diesel assistance on Beattock, and two of us were listening out for it intently. I'd also say that the warm bearing at Oxenholme is proof that some work was being done at the front. You can't please everybody...

 

Leander heading through Eldroth this morning

 

In glorious weather, LMS 5XP Class 4-6-0 No. 45690 'Leander' heads the final leg of GBIX towards Keerholme and onwards to London