22nd September 2001

Pathfinder Tours
The Cleveland Cleric

Locos Used 56056, 58025 & 66185

Route :
1Z27 : Swindon - Bishop Auckland
1Z28 : Bishop Auckland - Swindon

Locos Route (1)
58025 Swindon - Chippenham - Bath Spa - Bristol Parkway - Cheltenham Spa - Barnt Green - Birmingham New Street - Water Orton - Whitacre Jn - Kingsbury Jn - Tamworth - Burton-on-Trent - Derby - Chesterfield - Dore Station Jn - Sheffield - Holmes Jn - Masborough North Jn - Swinton - Moorthorpe - Pontefract Baghill - Church Fenton - York
56056 (2) York - (via ECML) - Darlington - Bishop Auckland
66185 (3) Bishop Auckland - Darlington - Dinsdale - Eaglescliffe - (4) - Stockton
56056 (2) Stockton - Eaglescliffe - Yarm - Longlands Jn - Thirsk - York
58025 York - Temple Hirst Jn - Doncaster - Hexthorpe Jn - Swinton - Masborough North Jn - Beighton Jn - Chesterfield - (reverse of outward route) - Swindon

Notes :
(1) Route confirmation for Swindon to York & back required.
(2) 66185 on rear.
(3) 56056 on rear.
(4) Booked reversal point was at Eaglescliffe but the train as too long for the goods loop!

Source : David Clark
(joined/left the train at York)

Tour review :
 (by David Clark)

Well this was another nice easy day out from Pathfinder.  Either you could go from Swindon (or stations to Derby) for a lovely few hours in York, which is rather a splendid place, or take the tour further up to Bishop Auckland.  The traction was to be Class 58 to York, with 56 from York with a 66 to assist.

The Bishop Auckland add on was £20.  So was pretty cheap for a nice afternoon stroll.  Gen on Friday thought that 58029 would be the tour loco, but gen on the Saturday morning found 58025 to be the loco.  Which was not required.  The other locos mentioned were 56056/66185 both of which were required.  Another bit of gen was that 47816 was working for Vermin on a Newton Abbott to Newcastle, and back to Totnes.

We left Scunthorpe, got parked at Tescos at York, took the bus in to the centre, bought some food and drinks and set off for the station where we found some people I knew from work, who were at York for Green Arrow to Newcastle.  However, a meeting with a B&T participant from last week saw us chat, and watch 58025 arrive, and with it the Wimbledon fan!!!  If you put your mind back 7 days.  About this time the previous week, we had come in to York on 56089 on the Blyth and Tyne tour, and so some of the route today was griced the previous week!  And so comparisons were soon forthcoming.

The kettle departed in a glower of smoke, and pollution filled filth, while the clean looking 58 departed from the train and headed out to the NRM, where it reversed and headed south to Doncaster.

While walking down the platform I found a few work colleagues, and spoke to them about Europe.  And then my party decided to board the train, and found seats in Coach B, which was the Pay on the Day Coach.

The grid was attached to the train, and at 1308 we departed with smoke / noise and grid cranks shouting at the platform.  The departure made Green Arrow look tame!!!!  And let the noise commence….

At Skelton Junction we were put on to the fast lines, but at Tollerton we were placed on to the slow Lines.  But by Thirsk we were 5 early, Northallerton (again!) (8 early) but after stopping outside Darlington we passed through the station 3 late!!!

The 56 opened up in the platform, and the station scattered as clag enveloped the station and the noise was awesome.  We took the branch, and at Shildon, locals were out in force, and by Bishop Auckland (where we arrived 11 down) our train went further than the platform.

We departed Bishop Auckland with 66185 at the helm, got back to Darlington at 1501 being placed in front of the GNER!  And took the line to Eaglescliffe via Dinsdale.  At the Goods loop we were to reverse, but due to the train length being too long, we had to go to Stockton before we could reverse.  So some extra Mileage with the 66 was had, now didn’t’ we do the return to York with a Grid last week??  We departed Stockton at 1526 and passed Eaglescliffe at 1531 (25 late) and took the freight lines at Northallerton (again!).  What a splendid place.  We took the Slow Lines at Longlands Junction (17 late) and went on to the fast lines at Tollerton (18 late) and finally arrived at York 23 late.  We bode farewell to friends, and checked up on how Virgin were doing with 47816.

Most of the people alighted, and the people who had a lovely wander around York came back to their train for their journey south with 58025.  After much deliberation my dad and I decided to wander through the streets of York again, and get our bus back to the car park.  There we saw 56100 on a northbound steel service.  Hellfire!!!  At this point a friend from the South told me that I needed some more education in some dubious place in North Yorkshire.  How much I agreed with him!!!

So we departed York and got back to Scunthorpe at 1820.  So as a verdict, it was a nice afternoon trip with a hellfire sounding 56 and some interesting areas visited again!  But when will people learn to close doors when they go through them!!  It really annoyed me, as they were obviously born in a barn.  Oh, the coaching stock with them being the newly refurbished Mark 2s were really comfortable too.

David Clark

Timings & Mileages (Booked & Some Actual)
(provided by David Clark)

M C Location Booked   Booked M C
0 00 Swindon 06.36d   22.49a 258 62
5 64 Wootton Bassett Jn 06/47   22/43 252 78
16 53 Chippenham 06.57a ~ 07.00d   22.30a ~ 22.33d 242 09
18 67 Thingley Jn 07/03   22/27 239 75
27 32 Bathampton Jn 07/12   22/19 231 30
29 48 Bath Spa 07.16a ~ 07.18d   22.13a ~ 22.16d 229 14
40 27 North Somerset Jn 07/30   21/58 218 35
40 50 Dr Days Jn 07/33   21/50 218 12
44 47 Filton Jn 07/38   21/44 214 15
45 66 Bristol Parkway 07.42a ~ 07.44d   21.39a ~ 21.42d 212 76
50 36 Westerleigh Jn 07/51   21/31 208 26
52 08 Yate 07/54   21/22 206 54
58 49 Charfield 08/00   21/16 200 13
71 74 Standish Jn 08/11   21/05 186 68
78 04 Gloucester Yard Jn 08/17   21/00 180 58
78 71 Barnwood Jn 08/18   20/51 179 71
84 34 Cheltenham Spa 08.26a ~ 08.28d   20.40a ~ 20.43d 174 28
91 45 Ashchurch 08/37   20/33 167 17
102 32 Abbotswood Jn 08/45   20/24 156 30
113 49 Stoke Works Jn 08/54   20/15 145 13
115 62 Bromsgrove 08/56   20/13 143 00
119 25 Barnt Green 09.02a ~ 09.05d   20.05a ~ 20.08d 139 37
125 33 Kings Norton 09/12   19/57 134 29
127 47 Selly Oak 09/16   19/52 132 15
130 78 Birmingham New Street 09.23a ~ 09.23d   19.40a ~ 19.43d 128 64
132 43 Landor Street Jn 09/32   19/26 127 19
138 49 Water Orton 09/38   19/15 121 13
143 64 Kingsbury Jn 09/41   19/05 115 78
149 45 Tamworth 09/46   18/56 110 17
156 73 Wichnor Jn 09/52   18/50 102 69
162 36 Burton-on-Trent 09/57   18/45 97 26
168 53 Stenson Jn 10/06   18/39 91 10
173 37 Derby 10.12a ~ 10.15d   18.30a ~ 18.32d 86 26
183 30 Ambergate Jn 10/25   18/21 76 33
193 38 Clay Cross South Jn 10/34   18/13 66 25
197 48 Chesterfield 10/39   18/09 62 15

 

M C Location Booked
205 78 Dore Station Jn 10/48
209 68 Sheffield 11/00
210 25 Nunnery Main Line Jn 11/04
213 00 Wincobank Station Jn 11/07
214 71 Holmes Jn 11/09
217 73 Aldwarke Jn 11/13
220 04 Swinton 11/15
227 75 Moorthorpe 11/31
236 77 Ferrybridge North Jn 11/44
241 06 Milford S.B. 11/53
245 35 Church Fenton 11/58
250 52 Colton Jn 12/03
256 13 York 12.08a

 

M C Location Booked Actual
0 00 York 13.08d 13.08
1 51 Skelton Jn 13/11 13/11
9 40 Tollerton 13/19 13/19
22 16 Thirsk 13/35 13/30
29 76 Northallerton 13/46 13/38
44 10 Darlington 13/58 14/01
45 33 Darlington North Road 14/01 14/05
49 72 Heighton 14/08 14/13
51 14 Newton Aycliffe 14/11 14/15
53 12 Shildon 14/14 14/22
56
0		 11
00		 Bishop Aukland 14.19a ~ 14.24d 14.30 ~ 14.36
2 79 Shildon 14/29 14/42
4 77 Newton Aycliffe 14/32 14/45
6 19 Heighton 14/35 14/48
10 58 Darlington North Road 14/42 14/55
12 01 Darlington 14/45 15/01
20 64 Eaglescliffe 14/57 15/15
21 24 Eaglescliffe DPL 14.59a ??/??
?? ?? Stockton - 15.20a ~ 15.26
0 00 Eaglescliffe DPL 14.36d ??/??
0 40 Eaglescliffe 15/06 15/31
15 19 Boroughbridge Crossing 15/28 15/48
16 08 Longlands Jn 15/32 15/49
22 63 Thirsk 15/38 15/56
35 39 Tollerton 15/50 16/08
43 28 Skelton Jn 16/02 16/15
44 79 York 16.05a 16.28

 

M C Location Booked
0 00 York 16.55d
5 41 Colton Jn 17/00
13 45 Hambleton North Jn 17/07
19 24 Temple Hirst Jn 17/11
28 24 Shaftholme Jn 17/19
32 43 Doncaster 17/23
34 44 Hexthorpe Jn 17/27
39 49 Mexborough 17/33
41 17 Swinton 17/35
43 28 Aldwarke Jn 17/37
45 52 Masborough Jn 17/41
52 28 Beighton Jn 17/52
61 56 Tapton Jn 18/07

Timings continue in first table.

Key;
a : arrival time
d : departure time
/ : passing time

All distances, in miles and chains (M & C), are taken from the timing sheet given out on the train. No attempt has been made to verify the mileages given and they do not reflect the over-distance to Stockton to reverse direction.

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