46233 King's X - York 14/08/16

I think the 'type'of passenger has very much changed too. We live on a hillside just the wrong side of the Welsh Border and to do the Cross if we can't get there by service train can be wearisome as we drive to Stevenage usually and get an electric into the Cross. In the 'old' days most fellow travellers wouldn't have dreamed of missing the climb out of the Cross but now most seem happy to join at Potters Bar and Stevenage or wherever is easier for them. The non-stop run to Holme Jn or even to Grantham as Tornado did in 2009 uses good paths but once pickups have to be facilitated there aren't any which is why we rarely do the Cross now. We ceratinly won't with RTC or SD as there's no guarantee an air braked set will turn up. Out of interest, The Man, how many carriages/trainsets of air braked Mk1s and 2s does WCRC have these days?

 

Seen ascending Holloway, emerging from Copenhagen tunnel.


46233 Holloway Bank 14-8-16 (V29716) by Tim Easter, on Flickr

I had hoped for a little more exhaust, but I don't think this train posed much of a problem for her....

 

They are the trips I was alluding to as I was on the support crew. On both occasions the engine wasn't pushed and I bet we had 14 on the hook!

 

Surely Jim Clarke is a DBC driver and he took the last leg of the Robin Hood the day before. Or are there two?

 

Yes you are right but this can be corrected

 

Yes Al and that's why I no longer book with them. It matters to me as a serious train timer that I get pure steam and I have for the last 9 years except last week when I got a run with 45699 knowing there would be a DL on the back. But that's because I wanted a new loco.

I can fully understand the decision by West Coast. They simply have to play safe

 

The Duchess speeds towards Newark in gorgeous evening sunshine, running around 25 minutes late at this point. When I zoomed in on this image I could see lots of scratches running down the side of the tender - I presume this is down to Network Rail's abject failure to do their gardening properly?

 

Super shot

 

Yes there are two Jim Clarkes! One at DBC and one at WCRC. The DBC one as I'm sure you know is the son of Don Clarke, the other one has been around a good bit longer. I don't know much about him, but he seems to pop up on the ECML and East Anglia. I've had trips with him to Ely and Lincoln (twice) so I think that's his territory.