Coast to Coast Express, 10/06/17

Well, this one seems to be passing the forum by, so as I'm on it, I'll report the current situation. There have been a couple of changes, some positive, some less so. So the bad news:

1. It's departing Liverpool an hour earlier at 05:36.

2. Allegedly, gauging issues between Widnes and Manchester has meant that the trip will not now be going along the CLC route via Warrington Central (the reason I booked, if I'm honest). Instead, it is routed over the Liverpool and Manchester and through Man Vic and Romiley.

And now the good news:

1. The good news is that we have 11 carriages, and it seems from RTT that we are leaving something behind at Liverpool, so potentially a clean steam climb of Edge Hill bank, Miles Platting and the Hope Valley.

2. Scarborough to South Milford on the return is now steam hauled (which I suspected would happen in any case), though at the cost of an earlier departure from Scarborough.

So a mixed bag, but as I haven't done anything for four weeks, I'm not really complaining.

 

Looks promising, but unfortunately the weather doesn't!

 

05.36 who are they aiming these trains at!

 

Insomniacs. It's what NR have come up with; as the times emerged on Tuesday, I suspect there's an element of take it or leave it. There's the usual hour of fun at Brightside, too.

Whilst I can probably dream on, I look forward to the day when someone finally trusts steam to head over Diggle again. The Hope Valley is nice, but it's getting a little long in the tooth.

 

I don't know. At least the "fire risk" excuse is redundant

 

They should factor in a bacon roll for every passenger into the price...

 

At least they've reduced the price:

 

For new bookings only....

 

Standard business practice these days. Look at the growth of last minute booking sites offering deals. Maybe more modern standard business practices will be adopted in time.

 

Accepted. I was just pointing out that it was not actually a price reduction as @D1002 had stated, but a special offer applicable to new bookings only.

 

All things considered, let's see if 45690 does a repeat of the fine climb it did up Miles Platting in February in equally crap weather conditions. Providing the diesel does indeed stay behind, Edge Hill should be interesting.

Update: Oh well. Looks like we have a tail gunner after all.

 

Looks likely that theres a diesel on to Guide bridge, then solo from there
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50684/2017/06/10/advanced

 

Shame we don't leave it behind at Victoria, really, as 45690 has done that climb in inclement weather before. Belt and braces, I guess.

 

Well, we weren't exactly motoring up Edgehill as the climb was around 17-18mph. Suggests to me that once we'd moved off the blocks, the diesel did little more than carry it's own weight and act as backstop. I understand there were worries about Miles Platting, hence the accompaniment.

In other news, there's signalling problems on the way into Manchester, so looks like timekeeping will be interesting. We are currently crawling from signal to signal towards Eccles. Ironically, I have Gerard Fiennes 'I Tried to Run a Railway' in my luggage.

UPDATE: NR signalling decongested itself at Astley. Will we get the slot onto the Hope Valley line? Suspect we'll get a shove up Miles Platting now.

 

Seemed to be unassisted on miles platting, even if there was any assistance Leander managed to deafen us coming underneath the road bridge!

 

Pleasantly surprised overall. Apart from a shove off the blocks, Miles Platting seemed 'normal', with speed generally settling at 13mph (+/-3mph) according to my GPS.

 

Anyway, arrived at Scarborough just one minute late after what was generally a textbook run. I think assistance was fairly minimal before the diesel came off just beyond Guide Bridge, and 45690 did everything asked for thereafter.

If I had to put my finger on why we had a diesel last year in the light of today, then I'd suggest it was for the climb through Disley Tunnel, which is on a fair old gradient, and it was considered necessary to keep time.

Today was probably a similar issue with Edge Hill and Miles Platting, particularly with damp weather forecast. If we hit the section at New Mills at the wrong time, then previous experience on this section suggests that would have had a bit of a wait to obtain a new slot through the valley.

It also suggests to me that with west-east routes being increasingly beyond the reach of steam for various reasons, and the current challenge of fitting steam onto the Hope Valley line, now may be the time to enjoy it before it's gone. In the ten years I've been on the rails, I just managed to catch Denton-Dewsbury via Rochdale before it became rare, and Standedge has been taken offline indefinitely.

I plan to bail out at York on the return.

 

Looking at Rtt, is there a problem with this tour. Left York on time but was 41 late at Milford.