Thursday lunchtime at York railway station, and there were quite a few people with cameras to record the latest Scarborough Spa Express on its journey from Carnforth to Scarborough. It stood a York for a few minutes since it had arrived several minutes early.
The locomotive was built in 1945 at Horwich works, the first of the design to be built there. Four other works were involved in their construction, whic had been taking place since 1934. 842 of these locomotives were eventually built, and they worked right until the last day of regular steam services on British Railways in August 1968.
This locomotive was bought for preservation and use on the main line after its time with British Railways. It is currently based at Carnforth and regularly hauls special trains. This is the first time for about 13 years that I have seen it at work, and it made a lovely sight as it slowly pulled away from platform 5 in York.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
There is only one more Scarborough Spa Express this year, at the end of August, and sadly I won't be able to get photos that day. This service hasn't yet recovered from the pandemic. Before 2020 it would run weekly for about 3 months, but this year there are only 4 runs. Hopefully we will see more next year.
I have two prominent memories of travel by steam train in the 1960s - a small engine with three coaches climbing through a long tunnel near Sheffield into Derbyshire, with smoke and sparks everywhere, and a trip on a special train pulled by Flying Scotsman from South Yorkshire to Farnborough for the air show - both great memories!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
There is only one more Scarborough Spa Express this year, at the end of August, and sadly I won't be able to get photos that day. This service hasn't yet recovered from the pandemic. Before 2020 it would run weekly for about 3 months, but this year there are only 4 runs. Hopefully we will see more next year.
Ian
I have two prominent memories of travel by steam train in the 1960s - a small engine with three coaches climbing through a long tunnel near Sheffield into Derbyshire, with smoke and sparks everywhere, and a trip on a special train pulled by Flying Scotsman from South Yorkshire to Farnborough for the air show - both great memories!
Ian
Thank you Vesna. The steam tends to be trapped under the roof for a while after the steam engine leaves. It's smell is a great memory of childhood!
Ian