WCME & CME 2026

Looks to have lost almost another 20 minutes south of Rugby.

 

Not really anywhere to regain any of that.

 

34067 with the late running CME seen from the site of the old Scout Green Signal Box with the last shot taken by the culvert so a lot of vibration as Tangmere thundered over.

 

Running an hour or so late SR BoB class No. 34067 'Tangmere' speeds through Beckfoot with the northbound 'Cumbrian Mountain Express' toward Tebay and on to Carlisle with Mick Kelly driving and Matt Anderson on the shovel, the crew will also work the return over the S&C



From under the Boar SR BoB class No. 34067 'Tangmere' drifts away from the summit and down to Garsdale and onwards to Preston, eventually London Euston

 

That's a cracking shot just after the summit Shep.

 

Agree and one that few would think of going for

 

It was forecast to be a sunny afternoon with light winds, it was to be Tangmere (again) and today Oswald was going to Langho. Now I'm not fond of Langho (station) with its narrow platforms but today I was not going to the station, I was going to the field to the west of the station. What?!, I hear you exclaim, the field is below the level of the line, a line that's on a tree-lined embankment, surely there's no shot - has the old guy lost his marbles? Well, I may have lost a few, but today was a day for Wistle Air to take to the skies. It was very much "all your eggs in one basket", there was no camera shot available.

After the heavy delays of the outbound run, despite some great work by the WCR staff, the return leg left Carlisle 50L. When would it reach Langho? Any estimates were complicated by the fact that the NT Rochdale-Clitheroe service was badly disrupted following the failure of one of the units; some services were cancelled whilst others were greatly truncated. Eventually, it transpired that the 17.21 from Clitheroe to Rochdale was running and no matter how much time Tangmere "pulled-back" it would be impossible to run in front of the Flyer and must wait then follow it up the bank.

Mrs W agreed to come with me. Oswald Jnr was out and was due to return just after 5pm. Maisie had her tea and fell asleep and didn't notice when we left around 16.40. Finding a parking space at Langho proved a problem, but after a bit of a search I finally found one. RTT showed that the CME had left Hellifield only 37L, so off to the field carrying all the various bits and pieces. Preparations complete and time for another check on RTT, Tangmere had left Clitheroe at 17.30 (29L), but as the Rochdale Flyer was still in section, would be held at at Whalley until a couple of minutes after the Flyer had cleared Daisyfield Jn (17.43)

I set the drone off and hovering just in time to catch the Clitheroe bound service trundle down the bank and stop in the station at 17.47. There was a very distant whistle barely audible above the incessant traffic noise from the nearby A59, then a bit of smoke haze in the trees; it probably was Tangmere, well possibly, well could be, perhaps it was . . .

The unit headed off and as it neared the bend beyond the golf course, Tangmere came into view. Up the long straight, still over half a mile away and, against a gentle breeze, Tangmere could be heard working - hard. A whistle, the noise rising, sharper and more even than from the Tangmere of more recent times. Through the (almost deserted) station and approaching quickly. A nice translucent grey haze hovered above the chimney before being swept back along the train. A lovely crisp snarl as the loco passed the microphone, a snarl that continued long after the train had gone. With 12 on the hook and running late, 47812 on the rear was bound to be helping and it was! 20C, 37L & 42mph.

Mrs W took some footage on her phone that illustrated how nigh impossible it was to record from such a low and obstructed viewpoint. It is sad to note that following a planning appeal a Government Inspector has given permission for 300 dwellings to be built on the field; bounded by the railway on the right, the A59 around 400yds away to the left and stretching to a very minor road some 600yds behind the camera; the field contains many mature trees - very sad! I don't think the rabbits that live alongside the railway, of which we saw at least a dozen, will be too happy.

I won't mention the local who shouted across from his garden to ask if there was a steam train coming. As the mic was on I nodded and gave him a thumbs up. When is it due? I held up 5 fingers. When? All taken care of in the edit - eventually! When Oswald Jnr returned home a few minutes after 5pm, Maisie was still sleeping, she raised her head, yawned and went back to sleep.

 

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So much for the comment on Facebook that Tangmere had failed at Hellifield. Not sure where that one came from...

 

Just a brief stop at Hellifield for water then on our way, sounded good going up Wilpshire bank

 

The extreme heat of Friday (32C) had abated, Saturday was forecast to peak at 28C. Tangmere was due around these parts at around 18.30 when the temperature would, hopefully, have fallen to something more pleasant. Oswald had a sore knee, painful to walk or even stand. Some painkillers and lashings of Voltarol helped. I held off on the WD40 as recommended by a late cousin, he believed in its efficacious properties - if it worked for him . . . I spent the afternoon watching Jos Buttler and Harry Brook put the Indian bowlers to the sword, very entertaining.

The temperature remained high, Oswald's knee continued to be sore but a "Level Black" seemed inevitable and very soon - this may be the last steam for some time. When I announced that I intended to go out Mrs W gave me a resigned look and said that she would accompany me. So, an Oswald with even the smallest iota of common sense would just head to R&W, limp down to the station, sit on a bench wait for the train to arrive, film it and then go home. But not today, I think that the heat must have addled my brain, I decided to go to the field above Billington foot crossing. Even though it involved a walk of 200yds or so each way, even though the sun would be very much "on the other side", even though it would be a pan shot (sore knee, arthritic shoulders and poor eyesight) and even though I hadn't been to the spot for over 40 years.

Undeterred, we headed off. I found the spot to park and checked RTT, 20E at Settle Jn then nothing for Hellifield. (This is not too unusual, times for Hellifield often don't appear until shortly after the train leaves the loop.) We gathered up the bits and walked/hobbled to the stile; a stile with a spring so powerful that it could do someone a mischief. I looked at the view in disbelief, where had the line gone? where was the line? It was all trees, trees, trees and more trees. Whalley station was still visible, then trees, a very short stretch of the arches, then trees all the way towards the crossing. Oh dear! Oswald had made a stupid choice, but the next choice was stark, give it a go or go home!

After a bit of wandering around I found the least bad spot. RTT was still not showing any times for Hellifield. Was it a problem with RTT, or with the train? Nothing to do but wait and check RTT, and check RTT, and check RTT . . . Tangmere was to follow a LE (class 66) move from Castle Cement, but that didn't appear to be happening either. Reassuringly service train movements at Clitheroe were appearing on RTT. Less encouraging was that a Clitheroe bound service that had passed the crossing had disappeared in the dense foliage before reappearing at Whalley station.

Then success, a check on RTT showed that Tangmere had just passed Clitheroe, but still no time for Hellifield, this was added much later. We watched Whalley station and finally Tangmere appeared. A couple of minutes later Tangmere began to snarl as she left the speed restricted Arches, some grey exhaust drifted in on the cooling northerly breeze. The sound grew louder and Tangmere came into view, light grey exhaust and we were in business, a whistle for the crossing, some nice sounds as she got stuck in, only brief glimpses though the trees before the train headed off. The 47 on the back was also getting stuck in, Tangmere gave a long whistle and it was all over - some people were on the pitch! No, it was only some sheep. 25C & RT

Mrs W carried everything back to the car whilst Oswald limped, where do you get a bag of frozen peas in Billington?! It was a stupid choice of location and pan shots really are above my pay grade. Still it passed a couple of hours until the football, shame it's on ITV with the cliched commentator that they've got.