22nd May 1999

Deltic Preservation Society
(Mainline Debut Tours)

Route :
Tour 1 :
1Z45 : Kings Cross to York
1Z46 : York to Kings Cross

Tour 2 :
1Z45 : York to Kings Cross
1Z46 : Kings Cross to York

Notes :
(1) The return to mainline running for both D9009 'Alycidon' & 55019 'Royal Highland Fusiler'. The day consisted of two trains - a Kings Cross to York and back with a York to Kings Cross and back "tucked in the middle" of the first train. Separate tickets were sold for each train however many people simply purchased a ticket for each train and spent the day going back and forth between London and York.
(2) Gary Thornton comments: Both our train (on the up fast) and a GNER southbound train (on the up slow) were signal-stopped at Loversall Carr Jn - unfortunately the driver of our train appeared to have slightly over-run the signal and a reversal of approx. 2ch was required. A delay of around 20mins ensued before we were allowed on our way.

Source : Gary Thornton (on both trains throughout)

Tour review & Performance Log
(by Gary Thornton & Ralph Barrett)

Tour write up by myself, photographs and performance log courtesy of Ralph Barrett. The performance log for 55019's northbound journey is included at the bottom of this write-up along with Ralphs thoughts on the run.

Ever since D9000 "Royal Scots Grey" returned to mainline service in late 1996 the opportunity has again existed to enjoy a Deltic doing what the class was built for- operating at high speed and with a "decent load" in tow. The only problem is that all the outings were behind just one locomotive. In early 1999 however the Deltic Preservation Society announced that a deal had been agreed with VSOE, an operator of railtours at the luxury end of the market, to return the three DPS Deltics to mainline service. D9009 "Alycidon" and 55019 "Royal Highland Fusilier" would be the returned to service ahead of 55015 "Tulyar" which required a little more attention.

Work on Deltics 9 and 19 soon progressed and the date of Saturday 22nd May was selected for the return to mainline service for both locomotives on a relatively simple "out and back" run between Kings Cross and York for each locomotive. The plan may have been relatively simple but the schedules would be very testing, three of the legs being non-stop and with a required average speed of over 80mph (one run almost 90mph) "start-to-stop" to achieve the booked schedules for the 188.5 mile journey. In the event 55019 gained her certification with quite a bit of time to spare but work on D9009 took a little longer and things went "right down to the wire" with the mainline certificate not being granted until the evening of Thursday 20th May! Were both Deltics really ready for their return to mainline service on such a challenging schedule? Only the events of the day would tell us....

I arrived at Kings Cross with time to spare and had time to chat to a few people I knew. A little later than planned and the nose of 55019 appeared out of Gasworks Tunnel and she eased the nine coach rake into platform 2. D9009 was already attached to the rear of the train and would therefore have the honour of hauling the first two legs of the days tours.

D9009 at Kings Cross in the morning sunshine

With smiles all round we clambered aboard to find our seats - in my case in coach B near the front (even bigger smiles of course the nearer to the front our seat was). Departure was bang on time and "Alycidon" eased the train into Gasworks Tunnel without much fuss. Half way through and the regulator was opened and in typical Deltic style our coach soon filled with white, sweet smelling, two stroke diesel exhaust fumes.

As we powered ever faster through the London suburbs we noted that each station had a large contingent of photographers eager to record our passing. I should mention at this point that they were not just out to witness the passing of our train - by coincidence (or otherwise...) D9000 "Royal Scots Grey" was also booked to haul a railtour along the East Coast Main Line (ECML) on this day - so no less than THREE Deltics could be seen during the course of the day in "mainline" service - something not possible since the days prior to withdrawl of the Deltic fleet in 1982.

We hit 100mph quite quickly and our driver did a superb job in maintaining our speed at or near the 3 figure maximum for mile after mile as we sped northwards. Unfortunately these days the ECML electric traction can out-pace a Deltic and as we approached Holme (near Peterborough), almost 10 minutes ahead of plan, we were transferred over to the slow line to allow 90029 past us with the 08.10 Kings Cross to Leeds service. A 365 EMU was also allowed to pass us before we got the road and set off again. Despite the stop we still thundered through Peterborough station at a very fast lick and a few minutes up on schedule. The number of people out to see us here was quite amazing! For some reason another stop was forced on us south of Tallington Junction so we had a standing start attack on Stoke Bank. Even so, we topped the summit with our speed in the high 90's and the magic three figures was again reached on the falling grade towards Grantham.

Approaching Newark and yet again we were stopped - very frustrating as D9009 was plainy very eager to get to York as fast as practically possible! Yet another slowing as we neared Retford however was soon forgiven as we suddenly found ourselves overtaking a GNER rake of coaches. It was 90029 again! A loud cheer went up as we passed the stationary express. The scene for onlookers at Doncaster station can only be imagined as we shot straight through the centre road at exactly 100mph - shades of the 1970's when Deltics powered through on crack expresses like the "Flying Scotsman" and the Aberdonian". The seemingly obligatory stop approaching York saw us arrive at 10.24, just two minutes later than scheduled. A start-to-stop time of 2 hours and 21 minutes meaning we'd achieved an average speed over the journey of 80.2mph.

A break of about 70 minutes allowed "Alycidon" to run-round the train and the opportunity for me to catch up with some other friends who were joining the train here for a round trip to London. Leg 2 (technically tour 2 of the day) left just a minute behind the booked time and soon proved that "Alycidon" was just as keen to get us back to London as she was to get us to York. Doncaster station was again merely glimpsed as we roared through at about the ton mark a couple of minutes early, though we did note a GNER express just pulling out of the platform. With 125mph capability it would soon catch us up so a looping to allow it past was on the cards. The brakes soon came on confirming we'd have to yield to the faster train at Loversall Carr Junction. We stopped and very soon the GNER service passed alongside us - and stopped too. Hmmm....

Just as it stopped we began to move again - but in the wrong direction, back from where we'd just come! After setting back about two coach lengths we again stopped and a couple of minutes later the GNER service pulled away. Strange goings on indeed. Word soon spread round the train that we may in fact have been involved in a SPAD incident - Signal Passed at Danger. In other words, we had gone past a signal which was at red against us. We were held here for about 20 minutes before continuing on our way. What was the real story of this incident? Sorry, but we never found out exactly the true facts of this little drama and it would be foolish of me to try to second-guess what actually happened.

Shortly after passing Retford and a very significant event occurred - the recognisable "roar" of the locomotive on a train passing the other way was in fact D9000 with her railtour heading north. Not for over 18 years have two working Deltics passed at speed on the mainline. I wonder if any trackside photographer was lucky enough to capture this event? The rest of the journey was uneventful (and fast) with arrival into Kings Cross being at 1412, 24 minutes late. As D9009's engines were shut down, a roar was heard from another platform as 55019's were started. Again, not since the 1980's has there been two "working" Deltics at Kings Cross at the same time!

The driver of 55019 starts up one engine.

So, how would 19's performance compare with that of number 9? To be honest I personally thought her performance was just a little below that of D9009 with the top speed varying between about 97 and 100mph rather than the more constant 3 figure max of our first round trip. That said, our route north was not littered with any unnecessary obstacles this time and the journey to York was completed in 2 hours and 4 minutes (we didn't even get stopped on the way into York station!). A quick check on the calculator confirms a start-to-stop average speed of 91.2 miles per hour. Superb!

55019 passes Decoy Yard approaching Doncaster (photo: Roger Geach)

Time now to say goodbye to those that had joined us at York and for 19 to run round the train. Time too to have a bite to eat - in my case sandwiches but a group of my colleagues managed to obtain a curry which certainly stank out our coach for a while! The final run home was timed as 2 hours 40 minutes - mainly due to a pathing stop at Retford and a set-down stop at Peterborough. Despite these stops, the gaining of a few minutes on the schedule did look possible. We were checked as we approached Doncaster station then a mighty cheer went up throughout the train as we spotted D9000 stood in Platform 1 waiting our passing. We even noted some the tour stewards from that train on the platform "saluting" us as we sped through (Mark and Ian - I saw you!). No doubt as soon as we cleared the station D9000 would have left to follow us. Another significant event not seen since 1981 - two Deltics following each other at high speed on the ECML.

As booked we were pathed into the platform at Retford where we sat for about 10 minutes to allow a GNER train past. As with most of the day, there were many people out to see us and photgraph/video the Deltic. As we departed it was very tempting to open the window and shout out to the trackside spectators "Don't worry, there will be another one along in a few minutes" !! The remainder of the run back to London was uneventful and good fast running did indeed gain us back some time. With 55019 at the buffer stops of platform 1 at Kings Cross, both her engines were shut down at bang on 9pm, 10 minutes earlier than scheduled.

Verdict : Need you ask? Brilliant, superb, excellent - just some of the adjectives that spring immediately to mind. Well done to the DPS and VSOE for deciding to run such a challenging return-to-service event for D9009 and 55019.

Gary Thornton.

Performance Log and comments
(from Ralph Barrett)

Deltic 19's first public main line run since withdrawal by British Rail was a record breaking run. Two hours, four minutes and six seconds has got to be the fastest ever Deltic hauled train from Kings Cross to York, although the Selby diversion is the real reason for the record. This run equates to an average start-to-stop speed of around 91mph. This more or less equals the Hull Executive average speed from Kings Cross to Retford, and it must be the fastest ever Deltic average speed over such a large distance.

The driver demonstrated a high standard of professionalism throughout this run, and managed to keep the speed between 97 and 101mph for most of the way. As this was an attempt at a non stop run, the driver wisely did not gain too much on the schedule, until he was well clear of Doncaster, as he would probably have been delayed by other trains. Train ran very close to the booked path throughout, and thanks are due to Railtrack for giving the Deltic a fast non-stop timing, on one of Britain's busiest main-lines.

It is interesting to compare the performance of Deltic 19 with her stablemate's first run, earlier the same day. Whilst 9 had a hellfire departure from Kings Cross, opening up in Gasworks tunnel (with smoke streaming through the open coach windows), number 19's driver had a much more cautious start. Deltic 9009 had the quicker time to Finsbury Park, whereas 19 had overtaken her on the long 1-in-200 climb to Potters Bar. Deltic 19's climbing potential was much better than Alycidon's, and this showed during the climb up Stoke bank, where 95 minimum at the summit is very good with nine coaches in tow.

We were checked three times during the run. I think that the check at Donny was due to a momentarily sighting of a double yellow. We were also checked approaching York too, which cost a minute or so. However, the signalmen all seemed to pulling out the stops for this non-stop run, and all did a grand job in keeping the road almost clear throughout.

55019 + 9Mk1s 315/340t

Ralph Barrett

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

Total Mileages :
D9009 ~ 377 miles 4 chains
(includes estimated 4 chains for set-back move at Loversall Carr Junction)
55019 ~ 377 miles 0 chains

Tour 1

Tour 2

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