18th - 19th July 2003

Pathfinder Tours
The Grampian Gyrator

Locos Used 31327, 37698, 37707, 56088, 66001, 66190, 86612, 86627 & 92039
Stock Used 5275+4902+4963+5009+1863+3098+3148+3107+3140+3122+3066+21272
on Strathspey : 45021+460xx+5057+5228

Route:
1Z58 : (Nuneaton) Stafford to Inverness
1Z18 : Inverness to Stafford (Nuneaton)

Date(s) Loco(s) Route
18/07 66001 (1) Stafford - Norton Bridge - Crewe
18/07-19/07 92039 Crewe - (via WCML) - Carlisle
19/07 56088 Carlisle - (via WCML) - Motherwell - Mossend Yard
19/07 66190 Mossend Yard - Whifflet - Coatbridge Central - Garnqueen North Jn - Greenhill Lower Jn - Larbert - Stirling - Perth - Blair Atholl - Aviemore (3) - Inverness
19/07 37698 + 37707 Inverness - Aviemore - Perth - (4) - Stirling - Larbert - Falkirk Grahamston - Polmont - Haymarket - Edinburgh Waverley
19/07 56088 Edinburgh Waverley - (via ECML) - Newcastle - Hexham - Carlisle
19/07 86627 + 86612 Carlisle - (via WCML) - Crewe
19/07 66001 Crewe - Norton Bridge - Stafford - 

Notes :
(1) Train was booked to start & finish at Nuneaton but this was changed to Stafford on account of a freight train derailing near Lichfield a few days earlier. Passengers from Nuneaton, Tamworth & Lichfield were transported to/from Stafford by bus.
(3) For optional round trip on the Strathspey railway, train hauled by 31327.
(4) Originally booked via Ladybank & Forth Bridge but re-routed due to engineering works.

Source : Gary Thornton (on the train Stafford to Aviemore & return plus Strathspey option)

Tour Review

Here are some photos from the day.

For several years now there have been hardly any (no?) class 86/6's seen out on railtours, but recently this trend seems to have been reversed. As I only need five 86's to clear the whole class for haulage any tour with one on (86/6 or the chance of 86501) simply has to be done!

As well as the prospect of picking-up a required 86/6 this tour also offered the chance to sample 20020 on the Strathspey Railway - an option I opted for as I required the chopper as well as the line north of Boat of Garten.

My "small" booking (24 of us) were allocated in the leading first class coach out of Nuneaton.

Did I say Nuneaton, sorry, make that Stafford (with buses feeding into there from points south). The change was forced on Pathfinder as a result of a Freightliner derailment near Lichfield on the Tuesday prior to the tour. Perhaps it's me, but to take almost a week to re-open a line after a relatively minor accident (8 vehicles left the rails, thought due to heat-affected rails) seems somewhat long...another example of how the UK has "lost it" in terms of operating a railway me thinks!

66001 was our loco from Stafford to Crewe. Almost a farce at Crewe as the plan was to rip the shed for 92039 but the 92 was sent straight to the train to couple on to 66001. Apparently EWS in Scotland were short of traction so someone in "control" decided we were to have our own pet shed for the whole tour! Question: how many railway employees and how many phone calls does it take to avoid a farce? Answer - quite a few! After 92039 was hooked on it was promptly un-hooked so 66001 could be removed as had originally been planned. I heard as all this was going on that 66190 was allocated to take the train from Mossend Yard to Inverness, so what was all the fuss about?

92039 hustled us northwards as only a 92 can - probably very loudly and with ease, but we were happily oblivious to all this in our FC coach at the rear of the train. Most of us were disturbed from or slumbers at Carlisle though to witness 56088 taking over charge of the train. My first dud loco of the tour (66001 & 62039 having been winners).

My next recollection was somewhere near Perth!

I, like quote a few on board, had booked the add-on Strathspey Railway option. Time to view 66190 leaving for Inverness and a look down Aviemore high street before our train arrived on the Strathspey platform. Strange, having only visited Aviemore once in my life before this year, this was the second time in a month I'd been here again on account of stopping a night here on the DPS Freedom of Scotland tour in late June!

 I knew quite a while before the tour that it was unlikely to be 20020 hauling the train on account the loco was leaving the line. In the event we got 31327, a dud loco for me. Some were quite unhappy as they were not aware of this change, it not being made clear in the pre-tour blurb or on the tour itself. Reports were that the chopper had left only a couple of days before, so it was a case of so near, yet so far...

37707 & 37698 (the latter required for haulage by me) appeared back into Aviemore juts as we rolled to a halt having been to Broomhill and back. Now at the front of the train we were all awake to enjoy the tractor thrash southwards. By lunchtime we were at Edinburgh Waverley where we said hello again to 56088. Another case of ridiculous timings saw us arrive early into Newcastle (despite a 30 minute later re-timed Waverley departure) but luckily the Newcastle signallers put us out in front of the stopper we'd been booked to follow! The Carlisle signallers however were having none of this and a half-hour early arrival into Carlisle was destroyed courtesy of a 16 minute wait at Petteril Bridge Jn. That said, the 86/6's weren't yet due to arrive into Carlisle from Crewe thus we wouldn't have gained anything arriving earlier (other than a chance to do more in Carlisle with an extra half-hour...).

Despite various positive rumours I was bowled out for a required 86/6 and we had 86612 plus 86627 to get us back to Crewe. A slight TPWS problem was the only thing of note as we headed homeward.

EWS now did us proud (not...). Our traction home to Stafford - 66001 AGAIN! Think someone needs to have a quiet word with EWS to explain what a "spin and win" tour is all about...

I departed Stafford in a colleagues car to see a long queue of punters waiting their buses back to points south - the line south still shut, then slated for a Monday morning opening.

All in all it was a good tour, though I ended up with a lot of dud engines on a tour that could have delivered a lot more for me. Hopefully my next 86/6-hauled outing will be more profitable! (Freightliner to note : I need 86605, 86606, 86622 & 86637, plus 86501...).

Gary Thornton.

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Gary Thornton)

M.C Location Booked Actual   Booked Actual M.C
0.00 Nuneaton 20.32d DIV   22.15a DIV 60.70
13.02 Tamworth LL 20.49a ~ 20.53d DIV   21.57a ~ 22.00d DIV 47.68
19.13 Lichfield TV LL 21.02a ~ 21.03d DIV   21.45a ~ 21.48d DIV 41.57
36.33 Stafford 21.20a ~ 21.22d 21.26d   21.24a ~ 21.27d 21.40 24.37
60.70
0.00
Crewe 21L50a ~ 22L18d 21.54 ~ 22.25   20L35a ~ 20L55d 20.46 ~ 21.07 0.00
141.08
8.66 Winsford SB 22/30 22/34   20/22 20/34 132.22
16.22 Weaver Jn 22/36 22/40   20/16 20/26 124.66
22.24 Acton Grange Jn 22/41 22/44   20/12 20/21 118.64
24.11 Warrington Bank Quay 22/43 22/45   20/10 20/19 116.77
27.47 Winwick Jn 22/47 22/47   20/07 20/17 113.41
35.71 Wigan North Western 22/56 22/53   20/00 20/08 105.17
45.45 Euxton Jn 23/06 23/02   19/52 19/59 95.43
51.01 Preston 23.16a ~ 23.27d 23.11 ~ 23.28   19.42a ~ 19.45d 19.46 ~ 19.53 90.07
71.79 Lancaster 23/46 23/47   19/22 19/16 69.09
78.07 Carnforth North Jn 23/51 23/52   19/15 19/10 63.01
91.07 Oxenholme 00/03 00/03   19/03 18/59 50.01
106.20 Tebay 00/22 00/13   18/51 18/48 36.68
123.19 Penrith 00/47 00/29   18/32 18/22 17.69
141.08
0.00
Carlisle 01L09a ~ 01L48d 00.46 ~ 01.47   17L38a ~ 18L13d 17.20 ~ 17.59 0.00
186.10

 

M.C Location Booked Actual
8.57 Gretna Jn 01/58 01/59
25.66 Lockerbie 02/13 02.13
40.03 Beattock 02/25 02/24
49.64 Beattock Summit 02/37 02/35
57.70 Abington 02/44 02/42
73.53 Carstairs 03/03 02/54
84.09 Law Jn 03/11 03/02
89.38 Motherwell 03/17 03/08
91.75
0.00
Mossend 03L24a ~ 03L44d 03.16 ~ 03.44
2.67 Coatbridge Central 03/48 03/49
9.23 Cumbernauld 03/55 03/58
14.60 Greenhill Lower Jn 03/59 04/06
17.46 Larbert Jn 04/03 ?
26.29 Stirling 04/13 04/19
31.24 Dunblane 04/19 04/25
41.33 Blackford 04/31 04/37
57.22 Hilton Jn 04/45 04/50
59.30 Perth 04.52a ~ 04.54d 04.54 ~ 04.58
66.43 Stanley 05/03 05/08
74.72 Dunkeld & Birnam 05/16 05/18
87.62 Pitlochry 05/28 05/31
94.50 Blair Atholl 05/38 05/40
118.08 Dalwhinnie 06/12 06/12
131.14 Kingussie 06/24 06/27
143.13 Aviemore 06.37a ~ 06.40d 06.40 ~ 06.44
149.41 Carrbridge 06/50 ?
154.61 Slochd 07/01 ?
158.28 Tomatin 07.06a ~ 07.10d ?
170.71 Culloden 07/23 ?
176.61 Millburn Jn 07/31 ?
177.44
0.00
Inverness 07.34a ~ 08.07d 07.36 ~ 08.07
0.63 Millburn Jn 08/09 ?
6.53 Culloden 08/20 ?
19.16 Tomatin 08/42 ?
22.63 Slochd 08/50 ?
28.03 Carrbridge 08/55 ?
34.41 Aviemore 09.03a ~ 09.12d 09.02 ~ 09.11
46.40 Kingussie 09.27a ~ 09.30d 09.26 ~ 09.41
59.36 Dalwhinnie 09/47 09/56
82.74 Blair Atholl 10.12a ~ 10.34d 10/19
59.36 Pitlochry 10.44a ~ 10.47d 10.32 ~ 11.07
102.52 Dunkeld & Birnam 10/59 11/19
111.01 Stanley 11/09 11/29
118.14 Perth 11.20a ~ 11.22d 11.38 ~ 11.39
120.22 Hilton Jn 11/27 11/44
136.11 Blackford 11/44 11/58
146.20 Dunblane 11/52 12/09
151.15 Stirling 11/59 12/13
159.78 Larbert Jn 12/09 12/22
160.34 Carmuirs East Jn 12/10 12/23
162.13 Falkirk Grahamston 12/13 12/26
165.13 Polmont Jn 12/18 12/30
170.09 Linlithgow 12/23 12/35
175.07 Winchburgh Jn 12/27 12/39
179.12 Newbridge Jn 12/30 12/42
186.35 Haymarket 12/38 12/51
187.54
0.00
Edinburgh 12L42a ~ 13L12d 12.55 ~ 13.36
3.39 Portobello Jn 13/16 13/40
6.15 Monktonhall Jn 13/19 13/42
17.60 Drem UPL 13*37a ~ 13*50d 13/51
29.05 Dunbar 14/00 14/00
41.14 Grantshouse 14/12 14/11
57.36 Berwick-upon-Tweed 14/26 14/24
72.71 Belford 14/40 14/38
89.47 Alnmouth 14/55 14/52
98.58 Chevington loop 15*05a ~ 15*14d ??/??
107.66 Morpeth 15/27 15/18
122.42 Heaton South Jn 15/44 15/32
124.36 Newcastle Central 15.49a ~ 15.58d 15.37 ~ 15.43
125.10 King Edward Bridge South Jn 16/00 15/46
126.33 Norwood Jn 16/03 15/49
129.75 Blaydon 16/19 15/55
146.60 Hexham 16/44 16/13
154.27 Haydon Bridge 16/53 16/19
163.05 Haltwhistle 17/04 16/31
175.13 Brampton 17/20 16/46
185.18 Petteril Bridge Jn 17/34 17.00a ~ 17.16d

Timings continue in first table.

Strathspey Railway (actual times only) :

Location Actual (out) Actual (rtn)
Aviemore 07.32 08.59
Boat of Garten ??/?? 08.28a ~ 08.45d
Broomhill 07.59a ~ 08.02d 08.13a ~ 08.16d
Broomhill RR loop 08.03a 08.12d


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