Diesel assisted Steam tour?

[mpthomson]

Went on "The Hadrian" from Leicester to Carlisle via Settle & Carlisle Line on Saturday. We were "hauled" by Merchant Navy "British India Line" from Hellifield to Carlisle, Carlisle to Newcastle & Newcastle to York.

The diesel assistance was in the form of a WCR Class 37 between the MN and the train, which pretty much did all the work and provided some pretty good thrash for any diesel haulage fans in the front coaches. Unfortunately, this drowned out any authentic noises coming from the steam loco and for me took away a lot of the pleasure of the trip. We didn't know it was going to be a Merchant Navy pacific when we booked the trip and it turns out that it was the first ever haulage by one of those locos over the Tyne Valley Line, except British India Line seemed to be as much of a passenger on the journey as we were.

Ironically, the countryside we were passing through didn't appear to be as parched as has been made out and we were rained on quite heavily on the way back from Newcastle to York. There was also good evidence of the torrential rain that had fallen the previous day and night.

So, if all you want is a nice big kettle up front with the occasional whistle and wisp of steam, diesel assistance is fine. If you want to be hauled by a steam loco on the main line, pray for a traditional wet British summer! Or save your money if it's been hot.

One or two huge downpours, which is what Yorkshire got, don't make it much safer as it quickly evaporates and we're already back to everything being tinder dry again (live near York). The ground is so hard that it needs time to soak in, so prolonged gentle rain is what is needed, not two huge thunderstorm cells, which is what we got. I've got a landscape gardener in at the moment and he said on Tuesday that the soil in the garden is still like concrete.

 

[alexl92]

KVWR in 2018

Given the traction I assume that was at the KWVR50 Gala. How do they put out a fire like that? Their hose looked tiny.

 

[xotGD]

Given the traction I assume that was at the KWVR50 Gala. How do they put out a fire like that? Their hose looked tiny.

The fire was on 26th June - during the gala.

The fire brigade attended and dealt with the fire.