The Spice of Life

As we all know, the spice of life is variety and there has certainly been plenty of that in the last few months.

The ex-LMS Class 5MT 2-6-0 42968 visited the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway early in 2006 ostensibly for the February Steam Gala but, as the loco arrived on the railway two weeks before the gala they took the opportunity to use it on ordinary service trains.
On 4th February 2006, with a train of just 4 coaches, the 2-6-0 is heard approaching from Oakworth and raising the echoes as it passes through Mytholmes Tunnel heading for the next stop at Haworth.

Friday 19th May 2006 saw the first of a three day Steam Gala on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and as there were two interesting visiting engines in attendance it just had to be done!
The first day of last year's Spring Steam Gala was excellent and in the notes to one of my recordings I wrote; 'With plenty of warm sunshine, a light breeze, superb scenery, the gorse in full bloom and the air full of bird song on this fine Spring day, I can think of few better places to be especially if you add a steam hauled train or two!'. Well, on this particular Spring day, while the gorse was once again in full bloom and the air full of bird song, the air was also full of rain. And the breeze wasn't all that light either!
Despite the weather I headed for my favourite field below Dowson Garth Farm in the hope that the weather would improve and in the hope of getting some good recordings of the two visiting engines thinking that, if the weather showed no sign of improvement after I had recorded these two, I could always abandon the line side and take shelter on the trains for the rest of the day!
One of the visiting locos was the GWR 4-4-0 3440 'City of Truro'.
Whether it was the Railway's decision or imposed at the insistence of the NRM I'm not sure but the maximum load for this loco when working single handed was no more than 3 coaches.
The three coaches that the loco was hauling on this occasion were hardly typical of a GWR train being of the LNER Teak variety.
As you can hear in this recording, the 4-4-0 has no difficulty whatsoever with this light load on the climb.
Like last year, I had noted that there was still a 15 MPH speed restriction in force on the gradient which began almost opposite my recording position so perhaps that is why the loco wasn't worked particularly hard on the climb!

Being an eternal optimist I decided to stay where I was in the hope that the weather would improve and, while sheltering under my umbrella, across the valley I was able to see despite the rain which had become much heavier, a couple of PW men arrive and remove the speed restriction signs. Another new experience - I've never seen the actual lifting of a speed restriction before!
The heavier rain prompted me to consider looking for better shelter than just my umbrella and I walked across the valley to inspect a likely looking barn which would have been excellent had it not been exposed to the strengthening wind.
And then the sun came out!
So I returned to the original field and settled down to await the next train which was hauled by the other visiting loco; the LNWR Super D 0-8-0 49395.
I'm glad I did as the load had been increased from 6 to 7 coaches and, as you can hear, 49395 makes an excellent sound climbing the gradient, being worked somewhat harder than it had been earlier in the day.

With the improvement in the weather I spent the rest of the day in the same spot and was there for the last train of the day which was hauled by the double chimney BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 75029.
Although not travelling at any great speed, with 7 coaches behind the tender 75029 makes a fine sound climbing the 1 in 49 gradient past Green End, a good recording to round off the day.

On 27th May 2006 the LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 5690 'Leander' worked a train from Tyseley to York & Scarborough and during the return journey we tried for a recording of the Jubilee departing from York.
I had already noticed that there was a temporary speed restriction on one of the tracks out of York which meant that, if the Jubilee was routed on that line, our usual recording location at Dringhouses wouldn't be much good. However, if it was on the other westbound line...
To be sure of getting something we went to a spot quite near to the site of Chaloners Whin Jc. where the original line to London through Selby used to diverge. This was just beyond the end of the 20 mph speed restriction so, whichever line the train was routed on, we should be all right!
The other problem with this busy location was the possibility of another train passing on one of the 4 tracks at the same time as the Jubilee and spoiling the recording but we were lucky in this respect as the train passed shortly after an east bound freight and just before a westbound HST!
The train turned up about 10 minutes late and was, of course, on fast line, the one without without the restriction, so our usual spot could have been Ok. Not that I'm complaining you understand as 5690 sounds fine accelerating hard with it's 8 coach train.

On 3rd June 2006 the LMS Princess Royal Pacific 6201 'Princess Elizabeth' worked a train northbound over the Settle - Carlisle line and a good weather forecast persuaded me to go out and try for a recording at Settle.
The location I chose for my recording was just to the north of the town but 300 feet above the line which would be about a third of a mile distant.
I had recorded here once before in 1988 and felt that this spot had potential for a really good recording. The reason why I hadn't been back to see if I could realise that potential was mainly due to the weather!
The hillside here faces west and is very exposed with virtually no shelter whatsoever, so in all but the calmest conditions, recording here isn't really a possibility.
The weather forecast was correct for once and although there was a westerly breeze blowing, it wasn't too strong and it was very pleasant sitting in the sun until 6201 appeared running about 20 minutes late.
With 13 coaches behind the tender the loco makes a fine sound and can be heard accelerating a little on the easier gradient through Settle station before passing, working hard and going well on the 1 in 100 gradient.
The sound carried back quite well at times so I was able to continue recording until the train was well above Stainforth and, after I had stopped recording, I could still just hear the loco as far away as Helwith Bridge.

On 17th June 2006 the LMS Coronation Pacific 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland' was booked to work a train from Crewe to Carlisle and back over Shap. Once again we went to Shap Wells to try for a recording.
The calm, hot & sunny weather in the morning deteriorated into hot & sunny but quite breezy weather by the time smoke appeared rising above Greenholme in the distance but we were able to hear 6233 as soon as it appeared running about 45 minutes late.
A load of 13 coaches doesn't sound to be proving to be a problem as 6233, driven by West Coast Railway driver Bill Andrews, passes on the 1 in 75 gradient and soon reaches the summit.

Our last recording of 6233 was made at Lancaster during the return journey from Carlisle near the top of the 1 in 98 climb away from the station.
This particular spot was well sheltered and for once there wasn't a breath of wind to disturb our recording.
As the recording begins 6233 can be heard going well on the gradient having passing through the station about a mile away at some speed.
Given a run at this short climb no really hard work is required from the loco and 6233 soon reaches easier gradients just beyond our location.