Six Bells Junction

Route:
1Z40 : Birmingham International to Carlisle
1Z41 : Carlisle to Birmingham International

Loco(s)	Route
56102	Birmingham International - Stechford - Aston - Bescot Stadium - Bushbury Jn - Stafford (1)
37065 (2)	Stafford - Norton Bridge - Crewe
37684	Crewe - Weaver Jn - Runcorn - Liverpool Lime Street
D345	Liverpool Lime Street - Huyton - St Helens Central - Springs Branch Jn - (via WCML) - Carlisle
D345	Carlisle - (via S&C) - Settle Jn - Hellifield - Clitheroe - Blackburn - Lostock Hall Jn - Farington Jn - (via WCML) - Crewe
56107	Crewe - (reverse of outward route) - Birmingham International

Notes :
(1) 56102 failed at Stafford with dragging brakes.
(2) plus 56102 dead-in-tow.
(3) Ran in association with the Class Forty Preservation Society.

Another day and another of D345's mainline outings. Although I was a fairly late booker on this tour I was still lucky enough to find myself in the leading standard class coach so some decent thrash was in prospect.

Starting at Birmingham International this tour was to use an EWS class 56 as far as Liverpool Lime Street where D345 would take over for a run to Carlisle and back as far as Crewe where, in theory, the same 56 would take over for the trip home.

Theory and practice when applied to railtours are, of course, two very different things...

The good men of Pathfinder were doubtless very happy to see the stock arrive at Birmingham International behind 56102 as this was one of the very few serviceable "grids" never to have hauled a Pathfinder-organised railtour. Me, I'd had it on a Hertfordshire Rail Tours outing about ten years ago so was a tad disappointed not to score it, but then again I was on the trip for the 40 anyway!

Stories of the grids ill-health were about from the start and a long wait at Stafford confirmed the worst, the driver had failed 102 on account of dragging brakes. A long wait ensued whilst alternative plans were made and enacted. During this time we witnessed the passing of two other railtours, a posh-nosh with a royal spoon and a Past Time Rail kettlex with a less salubrious 47 in charge.

Plan 3a was the one that took place at the end of the long wait - 37065 (required!) rolled in from Crewe to tow us northwards, 56102 being dead-in-tow...much to the annoyance of all those Stafford joiners who required it!

The failure of the grid meant we were running almost 90 minutes late but a further loco change was required at Crewe where 37065 & 56102 were removed in favour of 37684 "Peak National Park". I was coming in for some stick at this point as I also required this tractor for haulage!

37684 took us to Liverpool then it was time for the days star to perform - D345.

The run northwards via St Helens and the WCML was memorable for the right...as well as wrong...reasons. Right reason - as we were leading coach the whistler performed very well, the sounds of which were even relayed to Hertfordshire Rail Tours when I took a call from one of their stewards just as we were powering away from Lime Street! Wrong reason - one passenger was removed from the train at Wigan after he managed to come into contact with a line-side structure somewhere between Liverpool and Wigan. Despite warnings in the tour brochure and over the PA it seems some people are determined to put themselves at risk, and potentially spoil the future enjoyment of many hundred people by their stupid actions. Enough said.

Shap was the highlight of the day for me - 40mph or so over the top then a blistering run down the other side making full use of the 90mph limit now re-applied to D345 after the fitting of TPWS equipment. A re-timed departure from Carlisle (we were still well-late) gave an hour to stretch our legs, get some food, a drink or whatever grabbed us. I made do with a hot-dog and watch D345 running round. As she rolled into the station silently there was a moment or two when some looked worried, but not the CFPS personnel on board (at least, if they were then it didn't show!). D345 was soon re-started and hooked on to the other end of the train.

The run southwards was via the S&C. Missing out a booked leg-stretch break looked like having us back to schedule but as we approached Hellifield silence descended once again and there was a delay before the familiar whistling sounds re-commenced up front. An announcement was made to say we would be stopping for a few minutes at Hellifield to allow D345 to be watered as there were some problems with the coolant level.

Cue Network Rail - as a result of the pause we were about 20 minutes late. We arrived at Clitheroe to see the signaller putting the service train out in front of us. Rumours soon circulated were were to sit here for a couple of hours waiting a suitable gap but thankfully someone managed to get this decision reversed, however it cost us almost an hour!

At least the late-running meant an entertaining run back to Crewe. The now apparent traditional cheer and round of applause went up as D345 ran off the tour stock...well deserved as it had been an excellent performance

Our loco home was pleasing for me - 56107, my third required loco of the day (and I'd only really come to enjoy the 40!). A good run plus slack timings had us less than 15 minutes late back to Birmingham International at the end of what had been a very good day out.

M.C	Location	Booked	Actual	Booked	Actual	M.C
0.00	Birmingham International	07.12d	07.13	21.17a	21.30	59.08
4.33	Stechford	07/20	07/20	21/11	21/23	54.51
7.26	Aston	07/28	07/26	20/58	21/18	51.58
9.48	Perry Barr North Jn	07/35	07/29	20/54	21/15	49.36
13.06	Thame Bridge Parkway	07.39a ~ 07.42d	07.35 ~ 07.41	20.48a ~ 20.50d	21.09 ~ 21.10	45.78
14.05	Bescot Stadium	07/45	07/44	20/45	21/07	44.79
15.23	Darlaston Jn	07/47	07/45	20/44	21/06	43.61
18.22	Portobello Jn	07/52	07/49	20/39	21/03	40.62
20.70	Bushbury Jn	07/55	07/52	20/32	21/00	38.14
34.47	Stafford	08.14a ~ 08.17d	08.07 ~ 09.45	20.18a ~ 20.20d	20.43 ~ 20.45	34.37
39.76	Norton Bridge	08/25	09/53	20/11	20/37	19.08
50.78	Madeley	08/37	10/04	20/02	20/28	8.06
57.20	Basford Hall Jn	08/43	10/13	19/56	20/20	1.64
59.04	Crewe	08.47a ~ 08.55d	10.24 ~ 10.44	19L10a ~ 19L50d	19.46a ~ 20.17d	0.00 159.33
59.62	Crewe Coal Yard	08/58	10/47	19/05	19/43	158.55
67.70	Winsford SB	09/05	10/54	18/53	19/38	150.47
75.45	Weaver Jn	09/11	11/01	18/46	19/37	143.11

M.C	Location	Booked	Actual
81.37	Runcorn	09/16	11/08
84.06	Ditton Jn	09/19	11/14
89.01	Allerton	09/26	11/20
92.24	Wavertree Jn	09/29	11/23
93.25	Edge Hill SB	09/31	11/25
94.56 0.00	Liverpool Lime Street	09L37a ~ 10L10d	11.31 ~ 11.45
1.31	Edge Hill SB	10/14	11/50
1.78	Bootle Branch Jn	10/17	11/51
5.50	Huyton	10/25	11/56
11.36	St Helens Central	10/42	12/08
18.66	Springs Branch Jn	10/57	12/25
20.09	Wigan North Western	11/03	12.30a ~ 12.38d
27.60	Balshaw Lane	11/10	12/48
29.63	Euxton Jn	11/12	12/50
35.19	Preston	11/21	12.58a ~ 13.00d
56.17	Lancaster	11/41	13/27
58.09	Morecambe South Jn	11/45	13/30
62.25	Carnforth North Jn	11/49	13/33
75.25	Oxenholme Lake District	12/01	13/46
88.38	Tebay	12/16	13/58
107.37	Penrith	12/36	14/15
125.26 0.00	Carlisle	12.55a ~ 14.49d	14.28 ~ 15.34
0.53	London Road Jn	14/51	15/36
0.72	Petteril Bridge Jn	14/52	15/38
8.29	Low House Crossing	15/02	15/48
23.29	Culgaith	15/19	16/03
30.62	Kirby Thore SB	15/22	16/08
41.44	Appleby	15/29	16/15
51.29	Kirkby Stephen	15/43	16/27
59.45	Garsdale	15/55	16/40
60.64	Blea Moor	16/09	16/50
73.44	Ribblehead	16/12	16/52
75.43	Settle Jn	16/27	17/06
76.69	Hellifield	16.31a ~ 17.10d	17.19 ~ 17.30
89.77	Horrocksford Jn	17/32	17.50a ~ 18.10d
90.17	Clitheroe	17/33	18/11
100.48	Daisyfield Jn	17/51	18/44
101.15	Blackburn	17c55a ~ 17c57d	18.47 ~ 18.48
110.15	Lostock Hall Jn	18/10	19/00
111.12	Farington Jn	18/13	19/04
113.68	Euxton Jn	18/17	19/08
115.71	Balshaw Lane	18/19	19/10
123.42	Wigan North Western	18/26	19/17
124.71	Springs Branch Jn	18/29	19/17
131.66	Winwick Jn	18/36	19/23
134.13	Dallam Jn	18/38	19/25
135.22	Warrington Bank Quay	18/39	19/26
137.09	Acton Grange Jn	18/41	19/27