Settle & Carlisle and Shap Round Robin - 24th February 2009
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| Kissing zone at Bank Quay - in the short stay car park so only 20 mins kissing permitted !. Geoff Morris | |
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| | No Kissing zone on the forecourt of Bank Quay station. Geoff Morris |
A total of 11 members made a round trip to Carlisle, out via Leeds & the Settle & Carlisle line, returning via the WCML. Those who started from Chester were rewarded by the sight of the NMT hurtling north through Bank Quay closely followed by 142009 en route from Exeter to Glasgow Works. A visit to the station forecourt allowed photos to be taken of the new "Kissing" and "No Kissing" signs that have been put up to try to avoid traffic congestion in the drop-off zone. Kissing is allowed in the short stay car park but even there no more than 20 mins allowed ! After collecting further members at Bank Quay & Wigan, we caught 158901 from Preston on a Blackpool – York service giving some members their first experience of a trip over Copy Pit. All was not well with the unit because the engine under one coach had cut out and so the climb away from Bradford Interchange was desperately slow. Despite this we were only about 5 minutes late at Leeds where a fitter was waiting to attend to the unit.
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| Fitter has just attached a "Not to be Moved" light on 158901 at Leeds to attend to defective engine . Geoff Morris | |
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| | 91105 on Kings Cross service alongside 158784 (Barbara Castle) on Carlisle service at Leeds. Geoff Morris |
Some members had travelled direct to Leeds via Manchester and after meeting them we settled into 158784 for the run to Carlisle. This unit carries vinyls to celebrate public transport and among the images was one of a bus connecting with a Merseyrail emu at Maghull station, the local station of a former Branch Secretary. A further link with “absent” Branch members was the fact that the unit was named “Barbara Castle”: the Branch Treasurer is an ardent GWR fan and we wondered what he might feel about missing out on a trip with a “Castle”!
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| 333006 at Leeds on Skipton service. Geoff Morris | |
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| Vinyls on side of 158784. Geoff Morris |
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| Close-up of vinyls showing bus & train interchange at Maghull station. Geoff Morris |
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| 2 for the price of one - 158784 reflected in 333006 at Leeds.. Geoff Morris | |
The S&C has recently been upgraded with track & signalling improvements and the reason for this was underlined when we passed 3 southbound freights (2 coal trains and 1 gypsum train) between Skipton & Ribblehead. The weather was fairly typical of the S&C although at least it wasn’t raining! The train was moderately loaded and we enjoyed some “banter” with the lady on the catering trolley who kept us well-supplied with coffee etc..
We had a fairly short wait at Carlisle for our Pendolino south. Advenza’s 47375 was parked in the siding near the Power Box. It had worked an HST power car to Heaton the previous weekend and the barrier coaches were stabled in the centre road. It was due to return south with them plus some stored wagons the next day. The journey south was relatively uneventful with the only sight “celebrity” 66414 (James the Engine) was stabled in the loop at Tebay on the Daventry – Mossend “Malcolm” train, waiting to be overtaken by down passenger services. Two stored Cl.08s (08662/921) at Springs Branch were noted to have had their centre wheels removed.
At Warrington Bank Quay, the Chester contingent squeezed into a packed 158822 for the final stage of the journey. According to the guard, a Cl.175 had required Fire Brigade attention at Prestatyn earlier in the afternoon and services were disrupted as a result. Certainly the more usual 3-car 175 unit would have given us a more comfortable end to on otherwise very enjoyable day. These days out by train may not always result in many “sightings” but they are very enjoyable social occasions for those who participate
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| 158784 at Carlisle - on-time arrival. Geoff Morris |
12/03/09
