Scarborough Spa Express

The same is happening the other side of the motorway at Kellet Lane.
Not that long ago you could see under the M6 bridge, now you can only see part of it

 

just received these rude comments on fb from WCRC diesel driver for yesterdays Scarborough Spa Express
quote
'The diesel wasn't doing all the work. I know because I was driving it. Also, whatever the diesel does, it's none of your business, It's there to provide ETS, help shunt and be an extra safeguard'
and
'It sometimes seems that every enthusiast, no matter how clueless, bang on about what is and what should be on every aspect of railway operations.'

 

I hadn't planned to watch the "Last Scarborough" (of 2024). Wednesday had been spent in the company of Sir Nigel Gresley (an excellent day out) and the jobs were stacking up, including a problem with my printer. On Tuesday when I attempted to print my timing sheets for the following day, some of the lines were missing. A new cartridge made no difference nor did any of the advice on rebooting, reloading etc, etc offered on the internet. I was resigned to buying a new printer. Around Thursday lunchtime, with some trepidation, I decided to give it another go. Despite all my messing about the thing worked!?

I digress. The lure of steam proved too much particularly as it was to be that little-seen loco, Tangmere and with the prospect of no diesel (if only). But it was a glorious evening (very rare) so I decided to head over to Gargrave. The train was due 5 mins after sunset, but with high ground to the west the sun sets earlier at Gargrave station. The station car park was strewn with branches lopped from the overhanging trees and only half was usable. It mattered not as I was only the third car to park.

The train was due at 20.14. As the church clock struck eight I arrived on the road bridge, the light was fading fast and the station lights were on. I had decided to optimise my chances of capturing something by choosing to use a couple of camera phones from up on the bridge. The station was deserted, a couple wandered onto the eastbound platform, then a couple with a 9/10 year old lad joined me on the bridge. He was excited and couldn't stop talking (loudly). I chatted with the boy and his parents then I asked him if he would do me a really big favour and keep very quiet when the train came. His mum gave me a look of despair and said that he couldn't keep quiet . . . ever!. They kindly offered to go down onto the platform - thanks.

The train had already left Skipton and passed thro' Gargrave 2 minutes later, well that's what RTT said, so it must be true! A few minutes later Tangmere rounded the curve and came rushing towards the bridge, plenty of exhaust and at least she was working, as was the diesel on the back. Under the bridge shot the train, the turbulence shaking the i phones, and sped off into the distance. 13C, 3L & 54mph. It was much darker than appears on screen (the miracle of modern technology) but in the poor light with a bit of speed blur ("Smudge Vision") .



(Diego is still on holiday, hope the food is to his liking.)

 

I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s probably tired from all that use of the power handle!

Put it this way, for Tangmere to cover the near 132 Miles without water, is nothing short of a miracle if it did the work itself! Several times Ive been told its 50 Gallon per mile, leaving 1000 Gallons reserve. Pretty sure it holds 6000 Gallons, although happy to be corrected. So say 5000/50 - 100 Miles.

 

Kirkham Abbey by Harry Bradley, on Flickr

Kirkham

 

What a truly lovely shot that is, quintissentialy a picture of England, with the magnificent York Minster in the background....

 

That’s a cracker Swiss

 

Nice. It's unusual to get anything in the way of exhaust here, even when starting from Church Fenton.

 

Thank you very much, glad you like it. It's a shot I've been wanting to take for a while but the weather has always been poor.

Thanks Shep.

The ladies eight were out earlier!

 

Yes we didn’t get anything with the 5 a few weeks ago so happy with this

 

Serves you right, everybody has a right to reply.

 

Pretty much gone already Shep sadly

 

Not forgetting that there were ticket holders waiting at Skipton, Keighley, Shipley, Woodlesford, Church Fenton and York who'd no doubt appreciate a close as possible to booked time pick up for their day out.....

 

Tangmere has a 6000 gal Merchant Navy tender and they could do the 158 miles from Waterloo to Exeter without taking water but there wouldn’t have been 1000 gal reserve when it got there, no problem back then as there were water columns everywhere. The way the engine must have been thrashed to make up time I can’t see how it didn’t have assistance. The clue would be the amount of coal left in the tender.

 

Looking at the picture on the Ouse Bridge posted by Swiss Toni, there seemed to be a lot of coal, maybe 2 to 3 tons left in the tender.
Draw your own conclusions, but I suspect there is a big battery pack in the support coach and a EMU motor bogie under the floor...

Cheers, Neil

 

Well here you have a quote from facebook with no context whatsoever, so we have no idea to what the driver was responding to. However you can be fairly certain that this was the driver of the diesel loco on the return leg who was probably giving very little assistance as Tangmere had plenty of coal and water then. A very different story from the outward leg where assistance was necessary due to the delayed departure from Carnforth.

I would suggest Neil that it is inapproptiate to quote a single response to a post on another social media platform without posting what the response is to. It is quite likely that you got the response deserved.

Peter