Saphos: Blue Peter to Carlisle - 12/02/26; Sir Nigel Gresley - 11/03/26; Britannia - 8/04/26

Thanks to a swift loco change at Crewe, ex-LNER A4 Class 4-6-2 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley was almost right time as it approached Hartford station with Saphos Trains Cumbrian Mountaineer charter on Wednesday 11th March 2026.



Cheers,

 

Looked good on the Railcam with an on time departure from Crewe this morning!

 

Following on RTT - looks like a seriously good climb of Grayrigg...

 

Passing Brock

 

You and me both Julian - 17e at Shap Summit…
Suffering a severe case of FOMO sat at work right now!

 

I got it at 52mph using speed hub app at shap summit
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2026/March-2026/60007/i-CLq6vpb/A

Neil

 

I had to Google that. Think I'm getting a bit old for all these new acronyms that keep popping up! But, yes, a day when I wish I wasn't stuck at work. Sitting here following along on Railcam and RTT like you.

 

I’m sure others will have more accurate, but I got 55mph at Grayrigg, 72mph at Tebay (max 74), 52/53mph Shap Summit (min 51)

 

Sensational at Salterwath.

 

I had c.55 over the top at Grayrigg, and minimum 51 up Shap. A lovely noise! Leaves one to wonder about what 60532 might have done without the stop.

 

Passing the Lancaster Canal at Stubbins Lane.

 

Nicely done Loco swap video at Crewe has appeared.

LEGENDS Working Together! DELTIC Off & A4 Steam On! 60007 replaces D9000 at Crewe!

 

Well, that was a tad quick !

 

Looks like a good southbound climb, while I appreciate going off RTT is hardly an exact science, I have @1020 Shireman 's 60532 log in front of me, and it looks like after a slightly slower start on the bottom part of the climb, 60007 drew "level" with 60532 somewhere around Clifton and Lowther, and then mounted a heroic effort on the top section of the climb to somewhere in the region of 33 minutes from Carlisle to Shap Summit, versus 35 - 35.5 (depending on the comparator) for 60532. But this is just me enjoying a bit of desktop analysis, I may be wide off the mark when we get the @1020 Shireman logs!

 

Approaching Scout Green

 

Passing Low House Farm, Catterlen between Penrith and Carlisle...

Sir Nigel Gresley at Low House Farm by Ian Cawthorne, on Flickr

 

Super stuff

 

Just had a quick look at the GPS stored data for the northbound run. (GPS at the front of 5th coach)

Grayrigg
MP13 - 70.9mph (max 73.9 about a mile before); MP26 - 54.1mph with a minimum of 53.7 just before MP26.

Shap
MP31.5 - 74.5mph (max of 76.4mph); MP37.25 - 51.4mph (falling to around 51.2 for the next 0.2mile)

I will take a closer look at the data and possibly refine/adjust slightly. I will post a report in the next couple of days, but I think that the speeds are correct. An absolutely cracking run!