Saphos Trains 2026

60532 at Salterwath, Dent Head and on the descent from Ramsgreave and Wilpshire to Daisyfield Jn.

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A cloudy start to the day gave way, during the afternoon, to sunshine. Old Oswald has been laid up for a couple of weeks with a chest infection and regrettably had to miss out on Monday's visit by 60532 and The Chairman's Train. Today was therefore doubly important, with two trips due through Blackburn, 45407 on the NBelle followed by 60532 with the Lakelander. Nothing adventurous was planned, two trips to Wilpshire with a return home between for food. Mrs W was not coming with me on the earlier jaunt but would join me on the second. Instead, she and Oswald Jnr decided to take Maisie for a walk to the local park, about 400yds away. What a nightmare it turned out to be. Maisie got a bit over excited as she chased various insects and birds, both real and imaginary and point blank refused to come home. Eventually, Oswald Jnr managed to grab her and carry her part of the way home until she calmed down. They returned home just a few minutes before I set off.

Apart from a visit to the health centre this was my first time out in almost 3 weeks. I had decided to go the the bridge on the Blackburn side of Wilpshire summit. There are not too many occasions when the sun reaches the bottom of the cutting; today being late May, mid afternoon and likely to be sunny was one of them. As I made my way there I passed the local sports field where Ramsgreave Rovers (U11s) were playing a play-off final against Wilpshire Wanderers (U11s) - Wilpshire had been reinstated to the competition after the Brownhill Saints' manager had been caught cheating.

There is no other way to say this but 45407's performance was disappointing with most/all of the effort coming from 57313 on the rear. I did record it but may not bother to publish it. Back home, a bite to eat, a drink and back to Wilpshire with Mrs W.

This time to the road bridge by Ramsgreave and Wilpshire station. RTT showed 60532 had left Hellifield so we gathered up the various bits and pieces from the boot and headed to the bridge. It was a lovely evening, warm sunshine and little or no breeze. The train had left Clitheroe (4E). After a short wait BP appeared making a lovely snarl, despite the warm air there was some visible exhaust. A great sound from the "big" whistle as 60532 approached the platforms. The snarling from the Kylchap chimney rose to a crescendo as Blue Peter passed under the bridge and then faded as she worked away towards the summit. The beautiful blue paintwork shone as it caught the sun that had sneaked through gaps in the now considerable growth of lineside trees. There was no discernable contribution from 47593 on the rear, 10 + the 47 up a gradient of 1/86r. 18C, 5E & 27mph. Thanks to all concerned for providing a true and much appreciated spectacle.

 

I'm in coach H of today's English Riviera Express. It's a Mk1 but LSL have fitted aircon to it. It's the first time aircon has been fitted to a Mk1. As a result the sliding windows have all been sealed to prevent them from being opened. This is a trial they are running with this one coach. If it works they will roll it out to all the Mk1s. So the days of opening windows on Saphos tours may be coming to an end.

 

Good grief!
They obviously don't like the soot from their steam lcos getting in and spoiling the decor .....
Or maybe complaints from non-enthusiasts?

 

Apparently there have been a number of incidents of passengers fainting due to the heat, so decision was taken to trial aircon. That's what staff just told me. Too many medical emergencies.

 

Dealing with climate change then. Commendable.

 

If dealing with climate change was the aim we surely wouldn’t be running coal fired or diesel guzzling trains for fun at all.

Given thats not our agenda on this forum then sealed Mk1 windows surely is a bad thing for the enthusiast and we’d be hoping for a better solution?

 

Sir Nigel Gresley at Taunton. For anyone who does coach numbers, 3091 is the Mk1 with aircon.

 

And what might that be? Hot air comes in opening windows and screws up aircon if they are able to be opened. As many Thames Turbo journeys confirmed when I lived in London.

Medical emergencies on railtours are a nightmare, they are not great on any form of pax transport but on our overcrowded fragmented rail network they are a bigger headache on charters. The only people "owning the passenger" is the tour company, so often the tour is stuck. At least with a main TOC there is a good chance of some staff based at the station where you have to stop, which is hopefully near an A & E hospital.

 

We've figured out how to move the bolt. I hadn't realised it was hinged at one end. So a number of the windows in the coach are now open. Just arrived in Paignton. Torbay Airshow in full flow. Saw the Red Arrows.

 

Sir Nigel Gresley at Kingswear.

 

Any images?

 

If a rake includes even one coach with aircon it will need to include either a diesel or a generator car.

 

But most Saphos trains have a diesel on the back anyway. A generator car could be added for the few enthusiast trips they run, although if it is planned to have proper a/c then you would need for the windows to be kept shut which may reduce the appeal of those apparently.

 

If you need heating (which unless in heatwave conditions you need early morning in summer) you need either a diesel or a generator car. And for your kitchen car of course.

 

Depends whether the toplights were opened with the knowledge / permission of the Saphos stewards. If not I suspect they will not be best pleased and steps will be taken to ensure windows cannot be opened. May as well ride round in WCRC's infamous Mk2 "coffins". Anyway I'll see what happens when I go on a Saphos train in July.

 

I suspect the aircon experiment will be deemed a failure. All windows now open. Once a couple of us had figured out how to undo the new bolts they'd fitted it was a free for all then. If they are truly serious about the aircon they need to really lock the bolts down properly.

 

Which is the point I was making above - I am fairy sure they will lock them down

 

Surely the sensible thing is to include an ‘aircon coach’ option and marshal it at the end of the rake whenever possible. Appreciate some folk consider aircon a desirable thing.

Personally I literally can’t see the point of travelling on a charter where I cannot see, smell or even hear the motive power.