The Great Britain XII - April/May 2019

Froddle Crook...


British India Line on The Great Britain XII

 

Having now finished my chasing here are a few from the tour.

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35018 British India Line passes the old station at Cumwhinton with the S+C leg of the GB tour
David Price - Cop Lane on Flickr

 

35018 "British India Line" between Selside and Horton-in Ribblesdale running downhill

 

A cracker David,always liked that location

 

Some crackers there Karl,Cumwhinton is a beauty to finish on

 

35018 on Day 7 of GB XII at Aisgill

 

Day 7 of the 'Great Britain XII' rail tour sees 'British India Line' accelerating away from Ribblehead with Mick Rawling driving and Bob Bullock on the shovel

 

My latest footage, enjoy

 

Cheers Henry,very lucky to get sun here !
David

 

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6233 at Frodsham 29/3/19

 

Did anyone manage to get the Lynx helicopter and train at Birkett Common? I was gutted BIL shot past me when pulling up at Kirby Stephen station then saw the helicopter go over and thought the speed of it would let you get the pair in shot, especially as it circled over the area!

Was out again today for it but the charter managed to beat me to a few places. Did get it when I caught up, but traffic was the jinx of this one...

 

I'll be very surprised if it was a Lynx as UK Armed Forces no longer use them. Could have been its successor though, the Wildcat, which is very similar in appearance.

 

Thanks Henry. That was lucky at Cumwhinton.

 

@henrywinskill's mate Ken has got a photo of a Merlin over the S&C a few days beforehand, so could be that.

 

Osprey's are fairly commn as well.
Not the feathered type either, had one right over me about 200ft near K Stephen a few months baack.

 

Us Northerners expected no less from OUR #18.

 

It flew over me at Mallerstang thankfully as otherwise it would’ve ruined the sound on the video.

 

Just back home from doing four days of the tour, the first time I've ever done more than a day trip. Everything worked from Northern on the 0652 from Leeds to Preston to TPE on the 1946 from Scarborough to Leeds. Then there was the little bit in between. I thought it was excellent. Perhaps not for the purist for whom Class 10.5 power is of limited interest and a few shoves from a 37 are a no-no, but for the general enthusiast interested in locos, unusual routes and scenery, it was really good. And coach G was populated by quite a few like-minded people including some of this parish mentioned by @Waterbuck above. And it was good to meet @torgormaig who was on both firing and then guard duties on the Ayr to Carlisle and Carlisle to York sections. If anyone out there is wavering, wondering whether to do it, I'd say do it while you can, you never know. Thanks to Kelly and co for accepting part loads!!

Highlights for me were

Day 4 --- Grayrigg 57, Shap 52, Beattock 47 and the lovely quality of the northern fells and the Southern Uplands---we were extraordinarily lucky with the weather on this trip.
Day 5 --- a run behind number 9 to Aberdeen. OK the occasional bit of help from the diesel, but definitely no more than that. Lovely light all the way back from Montrose to the Stirling (see photos above). The descent of the haar on Aberdeen was disappointing and probably the lesson is that three hours at Aberdeen is needed to be absolutely sure of doing the Ferryhill move. I hadn't realised just how many local trains there are (Stonehaven to Dyce etc). Having said that, anyone with experience of running out of path will be delighted with 3 hours 40 moving time on the return journey via Dundee and Stirling.
Day 6--- it depends what floats your boat. For some Whiflett E Goods Loop was clearly a highlight, and crossing the Clyde on the GSW/Cal joint line was good. But obviously the main event was Ayr to Stranraer and back and seeing all the school kids lined up at Ayr and Girvan will stick in the memory. Shirtsleeves weather at Stranraer, and a big thanks to NR here who showed what can be done within the rulebook with shunt moves under local control. Zero delay minutes to the charter on an itinerary like that is a credit to all concerned.
Day 7--- back over the GSW again the views of the wide open spaces, locos working hard up to Polquhap and Drumlanrig. Then BIL over the S and C with Messrs Rawling and Bullock, a good run, still in dry conditions, a steady start out to Howe and Cos, a stop for a blackcurrant ice cream, then 19 mins and something from Ormside to Ais Gill with a min of 41. The time from Carlisle to Settle Jn allowing for stopping at Appleby was probably very comparable with BIL's two runs last May. Then a trundle through W Yorks although non-stop over Whitehall Jn (good control there), with a final hurrah of 69 or so at Weaverthorpe.

I was very impressed with the sheer amount of organisation, advance planning and delivery on the day, which goes into doing this. A word for the guys who keep the train secure at 2 am. In fact a big thank you to everyone from numerous organisations. And a salute to the photographers, what pleasure there is in this thread!