A BUMPER crop this week! The Midland Pullman is rapidly becoming the best luxury tour train in the country with rave reviews abouts its ambience and the excellent, attentive train staff. My former colleague Mike was driving and I have never, ever, seen him in a shirt and tie and without his flat cap! The former Intercity HST was starting to throttle up at Askam for the climb up to Park North After a bit of disaster the Monday before when dragging brakes brought a Sellafield to Barrow Nuclear move to a halt ( And blocked the Cumbrian Coast line to a standstill for 12 hours!) It ran again this week. Running as 6X27 which denotes it is out of gauge and can only pass another train at certain places it swept around the curve at Kirkby in Furness. 68 003 Astute was Top and Tailed with 68 034 Rail Riders . The train consisted of all six KXA-C, four truck, Nuclear Flask wagons loaded with Castor Mk II transport Frames ( the reason for the X Classification) each one seperated from the others and the Locos by PFA barrier wagons. All of these freight cars were under my supervision before I retired. The most specialised freight fleet in the U.K The footbridge at Kirkby is a fine vantage point I had young Brooklyn with me as he was off school with a strange skin rash and with my favourite phrase..." to the Barmobile" we jumped in the X-trail and headed down to the dock 68 034 is now on the front following the reverse at Salthouse as it approaches the Dock gate 034 splits off and goes onto the dockside track and Astute propels the train under the 250 Tonne crane. All three PNTL Nuclear fuel carriers are in dock. Pacific Heron, Pacific Egret, and Pacific Grebe Mid week I set off to a place I haven't been to for ages . Green Road is only about 2 miles from my house as the crow flies but as it is across the Duddon estuary it takes 30 minutes to drive there and the roads are not good The Crewe Coal sidings to Sellafield Flask working with the Cumbrian Fells rising in the background 68 004 'Rapid' paired up with 88 005 'Minerva' and to cap off The 3 Peaks Challenge support train 57 311 in its lined Black livery ( A color scheme that divides opinion amongst U.K railfans) on the Bangor to Ravenglass leg. the charity volunteers had climbed Snowden ( Tallest Mountain in Wales) the day before The empty coaching stock returned to the carriage sidings at Barrow for tanking 47 593 'Galloway Princess' which had been on the rear of the Northbound service now on point By the time the contestants had come back down Scafell Pike ( Tallest mountain in England) the cleaned, tanked and replenished train was heading back to pick them up to go onto Fort William in Scotland on arrival at Fort William they would go on to climb Ben Nevis ( Tallest mountain in Scotland) If it carries on like this it is going to be a good summer of Rail action More soon Kev
Not many railfans in the U.K pay much attention to Northern Rails, new Class 195 'Civities' DMUs built by CAF in Spain but with final assembly in Newport in Wales Although they are now holding down most of the Barrow in Furness to Manchester Airport workings, once a week they get a run out up the Cumbrian Coast as far as Millom on Sunday evenings. The wife had got friends round and the sun was shining so I set out for Kirkby Pool Viaduct With Kirkbymoorside rising in the background 195 128 looked well in the evening sun. The driver was looking at me most intensly as I was perched on top of the stile for the foot crossing over the line here to minimise the efeect of the bridge rails! In contrast to the picture of the Midland Pullman above sister engine 43254 in its former Virgin East Coast/Colas hybrid color scheme now alocated to the PLPR Track inspection train looks exceedingly tatty these days The coaches are interesting The lead coach is a Mk II TSO that has been gutted and filled with computer desks and servers The next coach is 'Mentor' the overhead line test coach converted from a venerable Mk I BSK It has a working pantograoph, observation windows , Pancams etc 72631 was converted from a Mk IIf open carriage and carries the PLPR branding And finally just before the trailing HST power car appears, 6263 was originally a MK I BG Parcels van but has been converted into a generator van to power all of those computers! In Hybrid East Midlands Rail/Colas color scheme, 43 274 is a lot tidier More soon Kev
Hi all Rather later than usual here is June's video link. Because I tend to use three camcorders, two of which are static fitted with Big batteries and memory cards to do the 'departing shot' and shots like the broadside shot of Kirkby Pool Viaduct I tend to have a lot of raw footage. Back in June I had to edit it down from 4 hours 20 minutes to between 20 and 25 minutes for youtube! Anyway, Here it is A nicely varied selection in June. GBRF hauled weedkillers, DRS Moves to Barrow Docks, Heysham and Crewe, Two Bulleid Pacifics, HST action with test trains and the Blue Pullmans Roll call 01/06/2024 Kirkby Pool Viaduct 34067 'Tangmere' Carlisle-London Euston (WCR) 04/06/2024 Dalton In Furness PLPR Train, Derby RTC to Carlisle , HST power cars 43272 and 43 277 (Colas) Askam in Furness 68 004 'Rapid' and 68 034 'Rail Riders' Sellafield to Crewe CLS, Flask train (DRS) 05/06/2024 Askam in Furness 66 727 'Maritime 1' and 66 754 'Northampton Saints' Carnforth Bottom end - Sellafield- Carnforth Bottom end Weedkiller (GBRF) 06/06/2024 Kirkby in Furness 68 004 'Rapid' and 88 007 'Electra' Crewe CLS-Sellafield. Nuclear Flasks (DRS) 66 727 'Maritime 1' and 66 754 'Northampton Saints' Carnforth Bottom end - Millom- Carnforth Bottom end Weedkiller (GBRF) Askam in Furness 66 727 'Maritime 1' and 66 754 'Northampton Saint''s Carnforth Bottom end - Millom- Carnforth Bottom end Weedkiller (GBRF) 08/06/2024 Kirkby Pool Viaduct 34046 'Braunton' T&T 57 311 Carlisle -Leeds excursion (LSL) 11/06/2024 Dunnerholme 68 003 'Astute', 68 006 'Pride of the North' , 88 007 'Electra' and 68 004 'Rapid' Sellafield to Crewe CLS Flasks 12/06/2024 Askam and Dalton in Furness HSTs 43055 and 43047 Blue Pullman Carlisle-Gerards Cross (LSL) 13/06/2024 Askam in Furness 68 003 'Astute', 68 034 'Railriders', 68 006 'Pride of the North' and 68 033 'The Poppy' Crewe CLS to Sellafield Flasks (DRS) 18/06/2024 Kirkby in Furness 68 034 'Railriders' and 68 003 'Astute' Sellafield to Crewe CLS Flasks (DRS) 20/06/2024 Kirkby in Furness 68 003 'Astute' and 68 034 'Railriders' Crewe CLS to Sellafield Flasks (DRS) Askam in Furness 68 007 'Valiant' and 88 005 'Minerva' Heysham Power station to Sellafield Flasks (DRS) 68 034 'Railriders' and 68 003 'Astute' Sellafield to Crewe CLS flasks (DRS 22/06/2024 Thwaites Flats 68 034 'Railriders' and 68 003 'Astute' Crewe CLS-Sellafield Flasks (DRS) Askam in Furness HSTs 43055 and 43059 Blue Pullman Carlisle to Holyhead charter (LSL) 24/06/2024 Kirkby in Furness and Barrow Ramsden Dock Branch 68 003 'Astute' and 68 034 'Railriders' Sellafield to Barrow M.T All six KXA-Cs and seven PFAs as Barriers, Castor Frame move (DRS) 26/06/2024 Dunnerholme 68 034 'Railriders' and 68 033 'The Poppy' Sellafield to Crewe CLS Flask move (DRS) 28/06/2024 Askam in Furness and Dunnerholme 57 311 and 47 593 'Galloway Princess' "The Three Peaks challenge" (LSL)
Last Sunday we headed down to Preston in Lancashire to get an extremely rare move. We had got news that UK railtours were planning on taking a charter train down the steep incline down to the RSR and also that it would be hauled by a class 60 heavy haul freight loco our appetite was wetted On the way we called in at the Crag Bank Toyfair at Carnforth . Now, there is a lot of 00 gauge stuff there and Die casts and Brooklyn said " There is some Z gauge over there" He was right and after making the guy an offer we came away with a load of new Marklin turnouts, unopened building kits and a German 4 wheel railbus for £100 The former Preston Docks branch was once a really busy connection from the main line down to the extensive docks system. in Its heyday the docks rail system totalled 28 miles with a fleet of Bagnall Steam locos and Rolls-Royce sentinel diesels. Times change and the line is used by the local Bitumen Tank traffic from Kirton Linsey refinery. This is a rare symbiosis where the Ribble Steam Raiway preservation society own the track which is a busy heritage line at weekends. During the week their commercial sub-division switch the inbound loaded train into the tar works after taking the train off Colas, the main line operator on the lead end as it approached the swing bridge over the lock into the dock was 57 306 ( a former DRS 'Thunderbird rescue loco) You can see the joint where the bridge rails end. When it hit the joint the whole bridge deck Bounced! Loads of the locals, alerted by all the rail photographers presence come down to have a look at this rare event The line speed limit is 20 mph but they were going a lot slower than that 60 047 'Scafell Pike' was on the other end . Nicknamed 'Tugs' by UK railfans they are getting to be an endangered species these days. Seen creeping around the tight curve onto the swing bridge coming back out. We all said " they really should do this more often" kev
On Monday 'Pacific Grebe' one of the Nuclear Fuel carriers arrived back from Germany. Seen coming up the Walney Channel toward Barrow in Furnss on the high tide Tuesday the weather was pretty poor and I only videod the light engines heading to the dock but later caught them heading for Sellafield with one KXA-C wagon carrying a Castor Nuclear flask. Black Combe rises in the distance although at this time of year it should be called Green Combe! Wednesday. Something went wrong. The expected return move from Sellafield to Barrow was cancelled so Thursday 68 006 'Pride of the North' and 68 033 'The Poppy' stand side by side underneath the 250 Tonne Nuclear terminal crane 68 006 draws forward with the six loaded KXA-s behind and 68 033 at the rear. Pacific heron and Pacific Egret, the other two nuclear fuel carriers are dockside Creeping down the Ramsden Dock Branch towards the tight curve out onto the main line It reversed at Salthouse Junction so 68 033 was on the front as it went through Barrow in Furness station The flasks are new, empty ones so there is no radiation to worry about I wouldn't have let Brooklyn gat this close if it were loaded! Kev
Another excellent month of rail action in Cumbria with a hop over the border to get the much awaited charter train down the Preston Docks branch DRS 68s and 88s in action on the Sellafield-Crewe and Heysham power station workings. The 6K73 working on 30/07/2024 has a film crew and Michael Portillo in the cab as it passed Kirkby An extended sequence shot over a few days of a complicated Sellafield to Barrow Docks and return move with all six KXA-C Nuclear flask wagons in action. This includes a sequence of Pacific Grebe, one of the PNTL Nuclear Fuel carriers, sailing up the Walney channel and arriving back at Barrow from Germany carrying seven Castor Flasks HST Action with the LSL Midland Pullman and the PLPR Test train hauled by Colas 43xxx A couple of the Sunday only, Class 195s on the Barrow Millom trains The trip down to Preston was to get 60 047 and 57 306 top and tailed on a long charter train down the branch to the Ribble Steam railway For those of you 'stateside' Michael Portillo was a former Tory cabinet minister serving under Margaret Thatcher . As Secretary of Transport for Transport in 1989 he reprieved the famous Settle and Carlisle railway from closure, he then rose to the rank of Secretary of State for Defence. I first met him when he was Secretary of State for Employment when i was doing a lot of photo assignments for the Department for Education and employment Anyhoo He got voted out in 1997 and has since carved out a career making 'Great railway Journeys' TV shows which I am sure will be syndicated in the U.S somewhere So on the 30th, I was waiting for 6K73, the Sellafield to Crewe Nuclear Flask train at Kirkby in Furness. As it came around the curve I noticed the cab was full of people. The Driver, an Operations manager, A film Crew and the aforementioned Miichael Portillo having a ' Bit of a jolly' 68 006 Avenger with 88 005 Minerva on the back There will be a seperate thread on a great day out at the Threlkeld Quarry steam gala soon A taster Hopefully August will be just as interesting kev
The Apprentice is catching up! We were exhibiting Shasta my U.P/Espee Z gauge layout and as usual after the show closed yesterday we checked into the hotel and then headed down to the station at Leyland on the West Coast main line Two shots of 86 259, the preserved 100 mph 25 KV Ac electric hurrying back to London with the Cumbrian Mountain express after taking over from the steam locomotive at Carnforth. Line speed through the station is 110 mph so it is always a test to get the shot right Brookly, my grandson, had decided to go back to his own EOS 450D camera ( My first DSLR camera which has passed down to him) I've cropped his shot as he pressed the button a tad too early This thing was really, really moving. You could hear the rails sing as it approached I was using the EOS 5D and pressed the shutter button a little bit later Afterwards I explained that when trains are passing this fast 1/500th second wil only just stop it and in future 1/800th is the speed to go for He's learning fast! kev
Went down to Plumpton to get the Sellafield to Heysham working. hard to believe that this was one the site of two main line junctions, a large signalbox and extensive sifings. the trees are definetly taking over equaly overgrown is the view from Askam White Bridge towards the brickworks the area to the left was once the extensive sidings and junction for the iron ore mines and ironworks Sunday, went up to Kirkby to get the once a week working of a Class 195 'Civity' DMU. The Barrow to Millom and return service These modern , Spanish built, railcars are quite common east of Barrow in Furness but rare on the Cumbriam coast 195 109 tiny in front of the Cumbrian Fells The return working at Askam just before 8.00 pm More soon kev
Plumpton. In its declining years 1988 A view from 1996 You can see the formation of some of the branch lines You can tell how complex it used to be by the size of the Signalbox (Switch Tower) Look at the size of the lever frame! The white levers are the ones no longer in use Kev
I put these photos on the railphoto thread but they are also relevant to this one Me and Brookyn were exhibiting Republic Steel, my Z scale NKP layout at Carnforth railway station. It was really busy so I let him loose with both EOS DSLRs We set up Friday afternoon, tested it all and then waited for the late running Sellafield to Heysham Nuclear Flask train which turned up really late ( Loco problems at Sellafield) and had to wait for the signal to get out onto the mainline 68 017 'Hornet' and 68 034 'Railriders' ( my Photo) Over to Brooklyn Saturday morning, we got there early to put the stock out on the layout but it was obvious something was afoot south of the station. DRS EMD 66 423 had failed with just two engineering wagons behind it, blocking the Down main. One of DRS Class 57 'Thunderbird' locos normally used to rescue failed EMUs on the mainline had been dispached to rescue it 57 307 'Lady Penelope' still with its distinctive Pink Nameplates drags the hapless 'Shed' to Carlisle yard while all this was being sorted the normal Passenger trains were being diverted through the passing loop at 15 mph. Normal speed for the Class 390 'Pendolinos' through here is 110 mph! His luck just kept going Two Clas 90 A.C electrics ,90 044 and 90 042 with another 'Shed' 66 594 head north. And yes that is the Genesee and Wyoming paint scheme! What next? 34067 'Tangmere sets back out of Steamtown with its support coach to to take over the charter train Today, after that storm you sent us across the Atlantic had abated , The weather cleared to give me a good shot of the 'Green Machine' DRS 68 006 'Pride of the North' heading for Heysham. Looks like the driver recognises me! 68 034 'Railriders' is on the back Dapol have just released their 00 gauge model of Class 68s in this color scheme , Its about £160 for a DCC ready version and I'm tempted! On the return leg, also at Askam, 68 034 is in the lead as it passes the 1877 Signalbox ( Which is still leaning forwards but hasn't moved for a while) and semaphore signals Kev
GREEN ROAD About 1 1/2 miles away from wher I live across the Estuary is the remote station halt at Green Road. At low tide you can just about walk to it over the sands but to get to by road is bad taking about 40 minutes down some country lanes. the nearest house to the station is about 400 yards away and it it really rural. As a consequence I don't go there as often as I should but it is worth it when I do A class 37 with the Cumbrian fells rising in the background A Nuclear flask train heading for Sellafield there is a strict speed limit over the crossing so Eastbound trains come past nice and slow and then throttle up for that long straight A frined of Mine, Peter Cheshire, adopted the station and did lot to get it looking nicer. Planting flowers and recreating the original wooden station name board. Sadly, He passed away a few years agobut others carry on his legacy Some original Furness railway furniture survives in the station Building I first started going there in 2012 just as we started the training runs for the forthcoming loco hauled passenger trais on the Cumbrian Coast. The video has some rare stuff on it. I really should get there more often before winter comes in! Kev
Finished editing this months Youtube video a few hours ago. Lots of Nuke action and some business from Carnforth when we were doing the model show there but finished off by 43046 'Braunton' the rebuilt Southern Railway Pacific. This is the West country Clas operated by LSL and while some people were disappointed that it was not 'Royal Scot' as the local newspaper had announced Even though it has been through a few times it was most impressive on Saturday. When it passed us at Askam, for the climb to Park North and then Lindal on the fierce grade up to the Lindal Summit it was doing all the work. The Class 47 diesel on the back was just idling Late on a Saturday evening the light is in the wrong place at Lindal. Lots of local stayed outside the field in the full glare of the sun. I went as close to trackside as possible to get in the shade of the trees, The downside was I stepped into some animal dung, origin unknown, which meant there was a ,not nice, smell when we got back in the X-Trail! but my boots were soon sorted by the jet washer on return home anyway. the video is here roll call for the keen ones 01/08/2024 Askam in Furness. 68 008 Avenger and 68 017 Hornet, Crewe CLS to Sellafield 02/08/2024 Kirkby in Furness 68 002 Intrepid and 68 006 Pride of the North, Sellafield to Heysham Power station 08/08/2024 Askam in Furness. . 68 008 Avenger and 68 017 Hornet, Crewe CLS to Sellafield HST power cars 43272 and 43274, Carlisle to Blackpool North test train 66 791 Crewe Basford Hall to Bootle engineering move 09/08/2024 Askam White Bridge. 68 002 Intrepid and 68 006 Pride of the North, Crewe CLS to Sellafield Plumpton Junction. 68 002 Intrepid and 68 006 Pride of the North, Sellafield to Heysham Power station 13/08/2024 Askam in Furness 68 007 Valiant and 68 033 The Poppy, Crewe CLS to Sellafield 14/08/2024 Green Road. 68 017 Hornet and 68 008 Avenger, Sellafield to Crewe CLS 16/08/2024 Dunnerholme 68 008 Avenger and 68 017 Hornet, Crewe CLS to Sellafield Carnforth 68 017 Hornet and 68 034 Railriders, Sellafield to Heysham Power station 17/08/2024 57 315 Conway Castle, Carnforth Steamtown to York Holgate sidings 18/08/2024 Carnforth. 57 315 and 57 313, York Holgate sidings to Carnforth Steamtownh 20/08/2024 Askam in Furness. 68 007 Valiant and 68 033 The Poppy, Crewe CLS to Sellafield 68 033 The Poppy and 68 017 Hornet with a KXA-C in the rake, Sellafield to Crewe CLS 22/08/2024 Kirkby in Furness 68 017 Hornet and 68 034 Railriders, Sellafield to Crewe CLS 23/08/2024 Askam in Furness 68 006 Pride of the North and 68 034 Railriders, Sellafield to Heysham Power station 68 034 Railriders and 68 006 Pride of the North, Heysham Power station to Sellafield 29/08/2024 Dalton in Furness and Askam in Furness. 88 005 Minerva and 68 007 Valiant, Light engine Crewe CLS to Sellafield 30/08/2024 Askam in Furness 88 006 Juno and 68 005 Defiant with the KXA-C on the rear, Crewe CLS to Sellafield Kirkby in Furness 68 005 Defiant and 88 006 Juno, Sellafield to Heysham Power station Askam in Furness 68 005 Defiant and 88 006 Juno, Heysham power station to Sellafield 31/08/2024 Roose 88 006 Juno and 68 005 Defiant, Sellafield to Crewe CLS Askam in Furness and Lindal in Furness 34046 Braunton, Carlisle to Hereford And we already into September! Where does the time go? Kev
The Furness line has one big problem, In the morning looking due East you face the rising sun, in the evening you look into the setting sun Dalton station yesterday. I used whatever shade I could find to get 6C53, Crewe Coal sidings to Sellafield, Nuclear flask move 68 033 'The Poppy' comes down the hill from Lindal very carefully. 88 006 'Juno' (Diesel/25Kv Ac Bi-mode on the rear) later 88 006 'Juno' in diesel mode is in Multi with the same 68 as they come through Askam and throttle up for the climb to Park North. At this stage the 68 is doing all the work with its 3,800 Hp Cat engine. the 88 only knocks out about 950hp from its baby Cat engine When they get to the 'Wires' at Carnforth the 88 will deploy its 5+Kv AC for the trip to Crewe on the West Coast main line and the 68 will just be along for the ride I found a window in the appaling weather this morning to get to Ulverston to get some working boats ( See the cattle car thread on Furness vesels) before it closed in again But later 68 007 'Valiant' and 68 034 'Railriders ' head through Kirkby in Furness with 6K73 in perfect sunshine Kev
An interesting morning 6C53 the Crewe CLS to Sellafield Nuclear flask move. Due to leave the Coal Sidings at 06.25 I kept checking on realtimetrains but there was no sign of it setting off Finally at 09.18 ,173 minutes late, so something had been going wrong, it set off It kept the timings on the West Coast line O.K so I headed off to Kirkby to get it. Finally having lost even more time it slowly, very slowly, it came around the corner 215 minutes down pulled by two Class 88 25Kv AC/diesel hybrids. (Normally it is an 88 paired with a 68) When they were under the wires the driver would have had 10,600 HP behind him but the minute he came off the West Coast mainline and switched to diesel power he only had 2 x 950hp from the CAT 27s to get up the climb to Lindal summit. I'll see if my former collleagues will spill the beans but I reckon the locos got cooked and he was trying to get them to cool down. The Cat 27 sits in a steel cupboard on one side of the engine bay He was going so slowly I reckon I could have jumped in the car and beaten him to Foxfield 88 005 Minerva and 88 006 Juno He did give me a nice wave though ( He did have plenty of time after all!) Kev
Friday was a day to go somewhere different 68 034 Railriders and 67 007 Valiant are half way up the climb to Lindal Summit as they pass through Dalton on the Sellafield to Heysham power station Flasks On the return 68 007 was in the lead as they pass the iconic Chimney of the Askam Brickworks and pass under Askam White bridge on the spur of the moment this morning Brooklyn and I decided to go to Haverthwaite Brooklyns photo of LMS 'Micky Mouse' 2-6-0 46441 as it passes 0-6-0ST 'Victor' on its way to Lakeside The Ivatt designed mogul waits to depart Victor is obviously not in steam as it has a trashcan lid over the funnel Haverthwaite has the two surviving LMS Fairburn 2-6-4Ts 42073 is in one piece 42085 is undergoing a full rebuild The boiler The chassis with the sidetanks on More soon Kev
So the Cumbrian Coast line has been shut for a few weeks at the Eskmeals viaduct, They were replacing the timber decking with a new long life composite type. So things were pretty quiet on the freight side. But it did through up some interesting workings All of the passenger trains were terminating at Millom where the passengers transferred to a bus to continue their journey North to the stations to Carlisle. Northern rail took the opportunity to use the Class 195 DMUs on some of these services. Normally we only see them on one particular working on a Sunday evening The CAF built Civities are a 3 car DMU normally used on Barrow to Manchester Airport trains. 195 132 is seen slowing for the station stop at Askam enroute to Barrow signs that the viaduct was working was coming to an end was when various Tamper moves started to crop up DR 73922 'John Snowdon' is an 08-16/4x4C80 RT and had come up from Ditton Sidings The first pass of the HST powered PLPR (Plain Line Pattern Recognition) test train was on Tuesday. 43277 and 43 257, now in proper Colas color scheme are skirting the Duddon estuary at High tide on the Derby RTC to Carlisle 1Q47 Swinging around and over Kirkby Pool with the Cumbrian Fells in the background and Kirkby Pool almost in flood. The yellow carriages are former Mk IIf passenger vehicles, converted and packed full of sensors and electronics, The tallest mountain is the 'Old man of Coniston' So the Nukes are runing again. I went up to Askam White bridge to get 68 017 and 88 005 on the Heysham yesterday. 17 looks like it needs to go through the washing plant Returning at tea time yesterday. they have swapped the locos around at the power station so the 68 is still on the front as it slowly passes Askam running behind a passenger train Now. The big story. Those of you who follow this thread will know that on loco in particular appears quite often . 34067 Tangmere, an unrebuilt Battle of Britan class 4-6-2 has been used almost constantly this summer as the operator, West Coast railways, haven't got enough air braked steam locos available for all the charter trains planned , The inevitable happened last Saturday when a piston and piston rod broke apart and smashed through the front of the cylinder somewhere near Kirkby Stephen on the Settle and Carlisle line. Chaos ensued. Many railfans had been predicting hat something would happen to a loco being thrashed that much. One of the LMS Black V 4-6-0s allocated to the WCR 'Jacobite ' scheduled steam service in Scotland was brought down to Carnforth in a hurry to power todays 'Lune Rivers trust' charter The Stanier designed 4-6-0 is an iconic locomotive in the U.K. A simple, powerful, go anywhere, pull anything class that survived to the end of mainline steam. of the 842 built no less than 18 survive. 8 are in steam with 6 main line licenced and operable 45212 was in charge with the Class 47 diesel on the rear just idling as it started the climb to Park North through Askam Once it passed Askam and headed through Barrow in Furness I had to time to jump in the car and head over the hill to get it again attacking the climb to Lindal summit The minute I walked into the field it started to rain and the rain was being backlit by the sun The Black 5 was working hard as was the 47 on the back Hav'nt had time to look at the video footage. could be interesting Kev
A lovely Autumn day today 6K73 Sellafield to Crewe Coal Sidings saw 68 033 'The Poppy' and 68 017 'Hornet' at Askam in Furness And again at Lindal in Furness later on LMS Black 5 4-6-0 44871 was in charge of the Cumbrian Coast express. Brooklyn wanted to go to Barrow in Furness stationto get it I wasn't so sure but as it turned out there were very people there Passing Barow in Furness signalbox with a good rake of coaches in tow LMS 44871 was built in 1945 at Crewe works and was deputising for 'Tangmere' which may be out of action for quite a while Kev
