Ben's pics of Kenton, on the WCML, reminded me that last weekend at the Barrow Hill open days, there were some preserved electric locomotives that used to race up and down the same route. and I cannot let this ECML racehorse go unmentioned : the engines were started and revved up during our visit, it was great to hear those deltic engines again!
Thanks Alan for making me feel really old I can remember these machines when they were brand new. I can even remember regularly seeing the prototype blue Deltic as it passed through Runcorn on a Saturday morning. My mother bribed me to go shopping with her to Runcorn by taking me into Woolworths and buying me an Airfix kit....2/6d for the kit and 6d for a tube of glue. John.
I didn't realize there were so many preserved WCML electric locos in existence. I have many memories of Deltics; spotting at Kings Cross in the 60s and then seeing them often in the suburbs at places like New Barnet in the 70s; the sound of their engines was thrilling; possibly the most exciting non-steam railway sound I have heard, at any rate until recent years when I have begun to experience some European and American (recorded) sounds. Ben
I agree about the deltic sound Ben. We went on a special "Deltic" hauled train near the end of their regular use. We boarded the train at Spalding (it had come up from London via Peterborough), up to Lincoln, and eventually over the Settle-Carlisle, with a photo stop at Hellifield, and on to Carlisle for a 2 hour stay. Then across to Newcastle, and down the East Coast Main Line at full authorised speed of around 100mph, I think! It was so exciting, virtually every window in the train was open, just to listen to the engines for the last time. It was very sad when we got off the train in Spalding, and listened to the train roaring off into the darkness towards Peterborough. No-one moved until all sound had faded. It is great that some are preserved
Yes, relatively recently (a couple of years or so ago) one of the preserved engines was used regularly during the summer months on the Saturday Birmingham to Ramsgate service and I went to Kenton a couple of times to see it (and managed just one not very good snap (in pre-digital camera days)); it was great to hear that sound again and not just at slow speed on a preserved line but working hard at WCML speed with a proper train; you could hear it approaching from the best part of a mile away! Ben
