It was hard to imagine how yesterday's Route 66 could be bettered. Aside from one small sliver of track at Warrington, it had covered the whole extremely complex itinerary. Of course one big difference today, and something which had sold a few seats vacated by those who couldn't manage a two day pass, was the presence of 55022 at one end of the train. Deputising for 40145, on the mend but not yet mainline ready, the Deltic would not be on it's home turf today. Nor would it being doing what it does best - sustained periods of high speed running on mainlines. However, as the loco rumbled majestically into Crewe any doubts about it's suitability were soon forgotten. Back into Coach G with the same suspects as yesterday, and with the sun burning off a little early autumnal mist, we headed off via the Manchester line as far as Sandbach.
Here we took the Middlewich line. I've done this line before, on tours and diversions, but it was good to revisit and have the benefit of some local knowledge as we headed for Northwich. Here we took the eastern side of the triangle, and things started to go a little awry. The plan was to head into Lostock Works, connected via a short spur off the non-platformed loop at Northwich. However, we proceeded along the full length of the loop, passing the connection. A minor disagreement ensued between Network Rail and DBS and their respective controls about who the train 'belonged to' and where the limit of National Rail's jurisdiction actually lay! The argument was finally solved in our favour, but we'd taken a hefty time penalty. So, a further reversal beyond the connection, then a very quick run down the branch as far as the gates before reversing and heading west again. Using the connection at Hartford, we joined the WCML and picked up some time with quicker running. A brief slow down at Warrington however, where we managed to cover the non-platformed line as planned and missed yesterday. So far then, a 100% record on the track front. Impressive stuff indeed!
This left us with a largely uninterrupted run towards Ribble Junction where we took the steep dive down to the docks branch, descending beside Preston station. Having visited before on a previous BLS excursion I wasn't too concerned about our curtailed stop here. Time to get a quick snap of the Deltic on very unfamiliar territory and call home before settling in for the rest of the day's entertainments. We were soon heading back over Strand Road Crossing, with an impressive crowd out to see 55022. As we began to climb the gradient to Ribble Junction though, it became clear that this was too much for the Deltic. Whilst a powerful beast, it wasn't built for this kind of sustained, low speed effort - and it complained bitterly before slipping to a stand. The tell-tale whirr behind us of 66066 firing up confirmed it would need assistance and we were soon back on the mainline, reversing to head through the station via the Parcels platform. More quick running here as we sped north through Lancaster and took the curve onto the Morecambe and Heysham lines. These lines run as two parallel single lines, and we stuck to the southernmost of the pair which allows access to the Heysham branch. However, in Morecambe station we took the very rarely used non-platform loop, reversing to head onto the Heysham branch. A little outside Heysham Port, we curved onto the Power Station branch. Here again things were uncertain. Permission to enter the site had not been forthcoming and the paperwork situation on using the branch was unclear. With the security level being raised recently too, it was perhaps unsurprising to see the Civil Nuclear Constabulary out alongside the site security team as we approached the gates of the Power Station. A fair amount of spectators and photographers had also caused them a bit of a worry I suspect! As we waited to reverse, the CNC officers refused to engage with people on the train at all, and at one point returned to their worryingly unlocked car to retrieve sub-machine guns from the back seat! Not sorry to be reversing once again, this time using the platformed line at Morecambe, but travelling into the headshunt which is not used by service trains.
On leaving Morecambe there was something of a triumphant air on the train. I was quiet - at least until we'd successfully covered the north curve back onto the mainline. It's possible to do this on a service train, but only by being in the area really early or late - and I'd omitted this on my jaunt up to Lancaster a couple of years back. With this curve done, I settled back to enjoy the remainder of the day rather sociably. At Carnforth we took the line towards Hellifield, a bit of a slow trudge, but by now the sun was high in the sky and the day was surprisingly warm. Passing Blackburn, we used the very same goods lines which had been our escape route on an earlier, ill-fated tour. From here we headed towards Manchester, passing through the cityscape at Dusk which is always an interesting experience. After crawling through Piccadilly, we crossed over to the slow lines, passing Longsight via the goods loop - one last piece of rare track before the dark journey back to Crewe via Altrincham and Middlewich.
This weekend has been entertaining, and hopefully successful for the Society too. Any prospective members who are unsure will hopefully look at this trip, which despite it's complexities delivered everything planned and landed close to the planned times too. Here's to the next one in November...
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
