Duchess of Sutherland by fishers

Duchess of Sutherland

Although the regular summer steam hauled services to Scarborough have now finished, there are occasional one-off trips, and one of these was last Saturday. This run began in Stafford and was diesel hauled to Derby, where the 'Duchess of Sutherland' took over for the run to York and onwards to Scarborough. Here it is approaching York station. I recently spotted a new vantage point to get a shot through the clutter of electrification masts, and this is the first time I've used it, but it does need quite a high level of zoom.

This locomotive was built in 1938 by Crewe Works for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Built as a high speed express passenger locomotive, 'Duchess of Sutherland' was designed to haul fast express passenger services such as ‘The Royal Scot’ and ‘The Mid-Day Scot' between London Euston and Glasgow Central as well as other expresses to Liverpool.

Withdrawn by British Railways in 1964, the locomotive was originally sold to Butlins Heads-of-Ayr holiday camp in Scotland and placed on static display there. In 1996, the locomotive was acquired by The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust with the intention of restoration to mainline condition which was achieved by 2001, and since then has been a regular performer on the national network.

Ian
Fantastic shot capturing the train in its regal glory.
September 29th, 2016  
Great shot, lovely old engine.
September 29th, 2016  
I had no problem guessing whose shot this was as soon as it appeared on my feed... nicely done Ian, your new PoV has come up trumps.
September 29th, 2016  
Great fav. shot of this beautiful steam train. It`s a realy beautiful big one.
September 29th, 2016  
Splendid in all respects. Mega Fav!
September 29th, 2016  
great shot
September 29th, 2016  
A realy beauty
September 29th, 2016  
wonderful fav ...
September 30th, 2016  
Super shot, details and history
September 30th, 2016  
Your narrative is always welcome, so rich in history. great shot of the engine.
September 30th, 2016  
Great shot
September 30th, 2016  
Brings a lot of nostalgia, doesn't it? I Bet the engine driver is very proud of her. Beautiful capture and thanks for sharing the history.
September 30th, 2016  
@thresheg @lhart @vignouse @pyrrhula @s4sayer @bokehdot @777margo @pdulis @seattlite @bruni @mv_wolfie @sangwann

Wow, I'm amazed by the popularity of this shot - thank you all for your generous comments and favs!

For those of you who haven't realised yet, I do love to see a steam train at work. Usually, between the end of the regular summer service from York there is a big gap before several pre-Christmas specials, but not this year - this was a one-off special, but there are three more at the end of October so don't be surprised if there is more steam in this project in a months time!

Ian
September 30th, 2016  
Love it, loved them then...fav
September 30th, 2016  
@ivan

Thank you Ivan - I think I could be adicted to them!

Ian
September 30th, 2016  
Already looking forward to the Halloween specials.
September 30th, 2016  
Super shot, not sure exactly where you are to get so clear a view. I spend many a happy hour at the NRM, when I grow up I want to be an engine driver & take Mallard home with me...
j
January 1st, 2017  
@jesikajae

Thank you for your comment - Duchess of Sutherland was towards the south end of platform 5 at York station. I was stood on platform 3 taking the shot through a useful gap in the overhead masts that I had just discovered. We are lucky in York having quite a lot of opportunities to photograph working steam, although there is a gap before the next working on 18th March.

Ian
January 2nd, 2017  
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