I was on this throughout yesterday.
BIL* was struggling to move the 12 coach train right from the outset. It was a cold morning with a layer of frost on the rails. We slithered to an undignified halt on several occasions, but careful driving managed to get us under way again each time. Passengers joined at both Wennington and Bentham, by which time we were about an hour late. Arrival at Hellifield Loop for water was about 75 minutes late. By then the sun was well up, and we were on rails that had previously been used by other trains, so BIL got going with only intermittent (rather than constant) slipping. There then followed a minor miracle - we managed to run non-stop from Hellifield to York via Leeds. Departing from Hellifield 57' late, the schedule included pathing stops at Skipton (14 mins) and Whitehall Jn (9 mins), but thanks to some good work by Control and the signallers, were were given a path straight through non-stop, arriving York 11 minutes late, so 21 minutes regained by the loco.
The majority of the passengers alighted at York. En route to Scarborough I thought we might even arrive on time, but the old demon of slipping reappeared, so the start from York was rather slow. We stopped for some time at an intermediate signal (Rillington maybe?) due to a report of brakes dragging at the rear of the train. Once we got going again, we got to Scarborough about 30 late, but were then held with the train half in and half out of platform 1 so the rear vehicles could be examined. Eventually we drew forward and alighted about 50 minutes late, in a rainstorm. Cheers.
BIL was detached for servicing. Only once it had been turned and watered could it be reattached to the train, and the issue of the dragging brakes investigated. The problem was that the brakes were slow to release, with only 14 inches of vacuum showing at the rear of the train (should be 21 inches). The problem was eventually traced to coach E, which had to be cut out of the train. To add to the problems, passengers had been allowed to leave their belonging on the train, so the stewards had to retrieve all the passengers' belongings from coach E and tranship to other coaches.
Eventually we did get going again, 106' late, which became 2+ hours late by Carnforth. The journey home was nearly all in the dark from Leeds. It was also rather chilly.
I had booked this tour expecting a single Jubilee on the outward and a pair on the return. Instead I got the unsuitable BIL alone both ways. Speculation on my part, but the non-appearance of Alberta might have been down to traincrew issues: WCRC were also responsible for running 46115 Carnforth - Carlisle and return around the coast for RTC yesterday, so they may have been running out of suitably qualified steam crews? It was certainly disappointing for me, whatever the cause. BIL could have done with a pilot.
There are several excellent YouTube videos documenting the morning progress of the train. Enjoy.
Thankfully there was just enough space to accommodate the passengers from coach E.
* BIL = 35018 British India Line.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
