5th February 2005

Past Time Rail Ltd
The Yorkshire Terrier

Route:
1Z44 : London Kings Cross to Scarborough
1Z45 : Scarborough to London Kings Cross

Notes :
(1) Booked route was Thorne Jn - Skellow Jn - Adwick - Doncaster, but not taken on the day due to a "signallers error" despite the fact this tour was a re-run from last year, partly to traverse this stretch of line!

Sources : Richard Rooker & Terry Jackson

Tour Review
(by Terry Jackson)

This tour was a repeat of the Yorkshire Terrier tour which ran in March of last year on which 61264 collapsed in a heap just south of Hutton Cranswick. A lot of steam track bashers thus missed out on the rest of the line to Hull, the Hull avoiding line and the Skellow curve onto the Leeds-Doncaster line.

Andy Staite, with his usual understanding of our needs, therefore arranged a repeat tour but this time with 45407 which has a proven reliability record. Interestingly enough this was the second time that Past Time has organised a repeat tour with one of Ian Riley's engines after 61264 collapsed (76079 down the East Suffolk line was the previous occasion).

It had been planned to plan the route in reverse order to the original tour i.e. Doncaster-Bridlington-Scarborough-York but apparently Network Rail put the block on this as they would not let steam tackle Hunmanby bank from the south. The tour was therefore to follow the original route throughout.

EWS provided 67024 to start the ball rolling from Kings Cross and I picked up the train from Potters Bar. Time was near enough kept and a five minute late arrival at Doncaster RMT was a good start. After putting the support coach on the rear of the train, 45407 coupled up and we made our way to Knottingley and onto our first water stop at Milford Loop. We arrived about 20 minutes late but we managed to get away only 10 down. The run to Scarborough was uneventful although we still arived about 10 down.

The planned stop at Scarborough was 1 hour 22 minutes which, on past experience, seemed rather tight but despite the late arrival we got away only 2 down with 45407 now in the hands of David Court who was driving 61264 on this leg last year. The running was decidedly noisy in places to the appreciation of everyone in standard class who were now at the front of the train. We were checked several times before Bridlington and we arrived 19 down to find the station packed with locals who were obviously appreciated having a clean Black 5 gracing their station again. However the planned 20 minute working stop was reduced to 2 minutes and we got away only 1 down.

More noise ensued from the front and everyone kept their fingers crossed as we approached the scene of our problems last year but we swept past and we could breathe again. Apart from several checks and losing a bit more time, we soon reached the Hull avoiding line noting what appeared to be the entire East Yorks police force parked in the football stadium car park. Hull were playing Bristol City and this was obviously deemed more important than manning the speed cameras. By the time we reached Goole goods loop for our final water stop we were about 20 down.

Although we were booked here for 36 minutes, we didn't pick up any time and it was after we left here that it all fell apart. We were booked to turn off the main line at Hatfield onto the Doncaster avoider to Applehurst Junc, onto Skellow Junc. and Carcroft Junc. before heading back to Doncaster. Instead of slowing at Hatfield, we continued full tilt on the direct line to Doncaster. The Past Time stewards, to their credit, realised that their passengers would not be happy, missing out one of the highlights of the tour and made valiant efforts to find out what had happened and allegedly EWS control came up with the answer, signalman's error.

Needless to say people were not happy and simply did not believe what EWS were saying. Assuming that, after carefully reading his notices re special traffic, the signal staff did make a mistake, this does not explain why the driver, who presumably also read his notices, did not slow approaching Hatfield in preparation to turn onto the avoider, stop at the signal showing the wrong route and phone the signalman. Instead the train was running at normal line speed which you would expect for a service using the direct route. The more cynical of the passengers (nearly everyone) suggested that, when the driver phoned the signalman before leaving the loop at Goole, they may well have agreed to run direct to Doncaster to regain time. Whatever did happen, EWS and Network Rail owe everyone on the tour a truthful explanation of what really happened and I would suggest compensation, after all these tours are not cheap, for the cock-up. There was certainly nothing that Past Time could do about it and one can only feel sympathy for them having to pass on EWS's "excuses". (Webmasters comment: come on EWS/Network Rail - I'm quite happy to print your side of the story here on this Page...)

You have only to read the tour reports on this website to realise that there are sometimes genuine reasons to change tour routes on the day however disappointing that may be but in cases such as this when routes are changed without notice and without any good reason being given by the operating company or Network Rail it is simply not acceptable.

So the Yorkshire Terrier No.2 was a another good tour which did virtually everything that it was supposed to do but left most people feeling that they had been cheated by the railway companies (sounds familiar). Perhaps they are really trying to say that they don't really want our business.

Terry Jackson

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Richard Rooker)

Timings continue in first table.

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