The Lord Bishop Railtour
Date : 17th May 2003
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My first railtour of 2003 was my second attempt to "cop" a Stanier Pacific, (this time 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland", and required a very early start (5.30am departure) from Birmingham International. Just getting to the station was a bit of an adventure; I had never been to this station before, and just working out how the car park operated proved to be interesting!
The train departed slightly late, but by the last pick-up point at Crewe had made up the lost time. Hauled by a class 45 from Birmingham, we travelled up to Carnforth, where 6233 came onto the train. The ascent up Shap to Penrith, the first watering stop, was very smart, apparently the forth fastest time in preservation, and the fastest with the load being hauled (13 coaches). The watering stop at Penrith was advertised as a photo opportunity, but ultimately this turned out not be true. I was somewhat amused to observe as we left Penrith, that the tanker supplying the water was a milk tanker. I assume it was water we took on at this point!
Ex-LMS "Princess Coronation" class no. 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" takes on water at Appleby, Cumbria
From Penrith, the tour passed through Carlisle (an avoiding route meant we switched directly from the West Coast Main Line to the Settle and Carlisle line without stopping at Carlisle) and proceeded to Appleby. Apart from a dodgy signal, the run to Appleby was uninterrupted and we arrived well in time. After the passengers had alighted, the train was reversed into the sidings for servicing, in order not to hinder the regular services.
It was here that the bad weather which had been threatening all day, hit us, and by the time I had exposed one roll of film, it was raining fairly heavily. However, as the dedication ceremony began, the rain eased off and I was able to start on my second roll.
As part of the ceremony, some of the local amateur dramatic society dress up in victoria costume as navvies, their wives, "ladies of the night" and a preacher.
I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed by the ceremony. The rather poor PA system employed meant that I couldn't really hear a lot of what was said, and after a while I gave up and went back to photographing the tour. With the train pulled up to the water tower on the "up" platform, there were a few more opportunities for this, although the usual problem of crowds meant that a clear shot was impossible. I have to say that I prefer Garsdale for this sort of work, there is much more space that can be used.
After departure from Appleby, we had another superb run up to Ais Gill, and from there to Hellifield. The tight timetable on the section to Blackburn meant that we had a fairly slow run to the next water stop just outside Blackburn. After this, we joined the WCML to Crewe. It was the last section that for some reason proved to be our undoing; we got into Crewe 10 minutes late, and spent several minutes standing outside the station. Ironically, a freight train we had passed running into Crewe caught us up and passed us here. Crewe saw the return of diesel power and we returned from there to Birmingham International (and a queue for the parking machine!).
6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" stands at Crewe, her work for the day done
In conclusion, a spectacular day out. I could nit-pick at the photo-stop that wasn't and the poor PA system at Appleby, but these were minor points. The engine performed faultlessly and the tour (apart from the section from Farrington Junction to Crewe) kept excellent timing, with most problems not being of its making. I'd love to do it again, but can we stop at Garsdale next time please?