6th September 1997

Hertfordshire Railtours
The Deltic Scotsman

A suitably adorned D9000 at Edinburgh Waverley

Diana, Princess of Wales. 1961-1997

 

Locos Used D9000 'Royal Scots Grey' & 87101 'Stephemson'
Stock Used Set BN96 (12 mark 1 coaches)

Route : 1Z93 throughout

Loco Route
D9000 London Kings Cross - (via ECML) - Edinburgh Waverley
D9000 Edinburgh Waverley - Haymarket - Dalmeny - Inverkeithing - Dunfermline Lower - Cardenden - Thornton South Jn - Kirkcaldy - Inverkeithing - Dalmeny - Haymarket - Edinburgh Waverley
87101 Edinburgh Waverley - (via ECML) - London Kings Cross

Notes :
(1) Run on same day as Diana, Princess of Wales' funeral. A two minute silence was held at the England-Scotland border - train stopped and D9000's engines shut-down.

Source : Gary Thornton (Joined train at Kings Cross, left at Peterborough)

Tour Review
(by Gary Thornton)

"In Memoriam: Diana, Princess of Wales. 31 August 1997"
This simple wording was carried on the window labels in each coach and on the cover of the tour brochure following the sudden death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

With the announcement that Diana's funeral was to be on this Saturday I suspect many participants of this tour were expecting it to be postponed or cancelled. In the event it was decided to run the tour as, in the words of John Farrow of Hertfordshire Railtours: "a positive and unique mark of respect by the rail enthusiast fraternity, for the Princess and for the principles which she so tirelessly supported."

The tour proceeds, and those from the days raffle, were given given to the "Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund".

I would like to put on record my thanks to all at Hertfordshire Railtours and the other organisations involved, for running the tour and also for the "special touches" on the day that I am sure will have made it a tour that will be long remembered by all on board.

......

The tour described:

I, like many aboard, chose to use the railway to get to London rather than risk taking the car and getting caught in any jams. I rolled onto Kings Cross station just after 0430 to see 47777 "Restored" at the platform 1 stops with the tour stock. I found my seat in the second coach and managed to get my head down for a little while, being awoken something after 6am by the sound of D9000 backing onto the train.

As a mark of respect, D9000 was carrying a wreath on the top headlamp bracket and two loco lamps, one above each buffer. As a final touch, the headcode panel had been turned to show only black.

The outward run to Edinburgh was not too eventful but was a good example of what the Deltics were built for, mile after mile of high speed running. Pick up points at Stevenage, Peterborough and York also gave opportunity to savour the climb back to speed. D9000 performed faultlessly, cruising most of the journey at, or very close to, 90mph.

It was nice arriving at York on platform 5, bringing back more memories of the days when all the northbound expresses would be Deltic hauled. On the approach to Newcastle we were stopped on King Edward Bridge and it was commented just how sparse the traffic was on the road bridge alongside us (this would have been shortly before the time that Diana's funeral was due to start). We pulled up at Newcastle station on time for a crew change and soon after headed off towards Berwick and Scotland.

As another mark of respect on the day, it was arranged that our train would be stopped and a two minute silence held. An so it was that, shortly after passing through Berwick station, we slowed and then stopped with D9000 exactly at the England-Scotland border sign. Both engines were shut down for two minutes and all of us on board took the time to reflect on the events of the past week and what it meant to us personally.

The remainder of the journey to Edinburgh was made at a very good pace and although we were slowed on the approach to Waverley station, we arrived at 1309, one minute early. As at York, we did not use the normal "railtour" platforms but were brought into platform 11. We had 20 minutes to photograph RSG then just after 1330 we set off for a "mini-tour" over the Forth Railway Bridge and round the Fife circle. I do hope someone captured on video our exit from Haymarket South Tunnel, and through the station - looking back we could not see the station for the cloud of blue-white exhaust that enveloped the platforms and the passengers waiting for a service train!

The next 90 minutes or so were spent enjoying D9000 working at low and mid speeds as we ran over the Forth Bridge and clockwise around the Fife circle through Dunfermline, Cardenden and Kirkcaldy. All too soon we were re-crossing the Forth Bridge and were back at Edinburgh. Here we said farewell to RSG which was soon despatched to Motherwell for stabling until her next turn of duty. 87101 appeared and was hooked on ready for the run back to London. The wreath that adorned D9000 was also put onto 87101.

There's not much to say about the return leg as it was a straight high speed run with the same stops as the outward. I also only remember bits of it as my early start caught up with me! I left the train at Peterborough, having arranged a lift home which saved me about four hours travelling time going into, then back out, of London.

An excellent railtour and, I believe, a fitting tribute to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales from the rail enthusiast fraternity.

Click here for a photo review of the day.

Gary Thornton

Route, Distances and Timing's (Booked and Actual)

 
M.C Location Booked Actual   Booked Actual
0.00 London Kings Cross 07.03d 07.04   21.50a -
2.41 Finsbury Park 07/08 07/10   21/39 -
4.78 Alexandra Palace 07/11 07/13   21/35 -
12.57 Potters Bar 07/19 07/18   21/27 -
20.25 Welwyn Garden City 07/25 07/24   21/22 -
23.73 Woolmer Green Junction 07/28 07/26   21/20 -
27.45 Stevenage 07.32a ~ 07.34d 07.29 ~ 07.35   21.15a ~ 21.16d -
31.74 Hitchin 07/40 07/41   21/11 -
44.10 Sandy 07/48 07/48   21/00 -
58.70 Huntingdon 07/59 07/57   20/51 -
68.28 Connington South Junction   20/46 -
69.26 Holme 08/06 08/04  
76.29 Peterborough 08.14a ~ 08.17d 08.10 ~ 08.18   20.38a ~ 20.39d 20.42 ~ 20.44
84.64 Tallington 08/26 08/27   20/28 20/34
99.61 Stoke Junction 08/40 08/37   20/20 20/26
105.38 Grantham 08/45 08/40   20/16 20/21
109.56 Barkston South Junction 08/48 08/43   20/14 20/18
120.08 Newark North Gate 08/55 08/49   20/07 20/11
138.49 Retford 09/09 09/01   19/56 19/59
152.00 Loversall Carr Junction 09/22 09/11   19/49 19/51
155.77 Doncaster 09/26 09/14   19/46 19/48
160.16 Shaftholme Junction 09/29 09/17   19/43 19/46
169.16 Temple Hirst Junction 09/36 09/24   19/38 19/40
174.75 Hambleton North Junction 09/40 09/29   19/34 19/36
182.79 Colton Junction 09/46 09/37   19/29 19/31
188.40 York 09.52a ~ 09.55d 09.50 ~ 09.56   19.20a ~ 19.24d 19.19 ~ 19.26
190.11 Skelton Junction 09/57 09/59   19/17 19/16
198.00 Tollerton Junction 10/05 10/08   19/10 19/10
210.56 Thirsk 10/15 10/20   19/00 18/58
218.36 Northallerton 10/25 10/28   18/53 18/52
232.50 Darlington 10/37 10/36   18/45 19/42
244.57 Ferryhill South Junction 10/47 10/45   18/29 18/34
247.33 Tursdale Junction 10/49 10/47   18/25 18/32
254.53 Durham 10/54 10/53   18/20 18/27
268.02 King Edward Bridge South Junction 11/09 11/03   18/10 18/16
268.56 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 11c12a ~ 11c16d 11.11 ~ 11.16   18c04a ~ 18c08d 18.10 ~ 18.10
270.50 Heaton South Junction 11/20 11/21   18/01 18/06
285.26 Morpeth 11/34 11/36   17/49 17/55
303.45 Alnmouth 11/49 11/49   17/37 17/43
319.13 Belford Level Crossing 12/02 11/59   17/27 17/31
335.56 Berwick-upon-Tweed 12/14 12/10   17/17 17/20
345.78 Reston 12/23 12/26   17/10 17/11
351.78 Grantshouse 12/29 12/30   17/05 17/07
364.07 Dunbar 12/38 12/39   16/56 16/58
375.32 Drem 12/47 12/46   16/48 16/51
389.53 Portobello Junction 13/00 13/02   16/38 16/40
393.12 Edinburgh Waverley 13.10a 13.09   16L34d 16/36

 
M.C Location Booked Actual
0.00 Edinburgh Waverley 13.30d 13.33
2.28 Haymarket West Junction 13/36 13/38
9.02 Dalmeny Junction 13/42 13/44
13.12 Inverkeithing 13/48 13/52
16.68 Dunfermline Lower 13/55 14/00
22.41 Cowdenbeath 14/05 14/17
26.70 Cardenden 14/12 14/22
31.64 Glenrothes with Thornton 14/21 14/29
32.28 Thornton South Junction 14/25 14/31
36.62 Kirkaldy 14/30 14/37
42.42 Burntisland 14/37 14/44
49.40 Inverkeithing 14/45 14/52
53.50 Dalmeny Junction 14/55 15/01
60.24 Haymarket West Junction 15/04 15/09
76.13 Edinburgh Waverley 15L10a 15.15

Back to "The Railtour Files"