The double chimney Great Western Castle Class 7029 'Clun Castle' retraces its steps over the steeply graded 'Long Drag' which it last traversed in 1967 and its been 11 years since we last saw a Great Western engine over the Settle & Carlisle Railway. With the day upon us, all eyes turned to the weather forecast, which was very bleak to say the least with rain and wind in the forecast. Not ideal considering the landscape and terrain which we would be filming from. There was also a few hurdles for the crew of Clun Castle to deal with, which was two speed related restrictions through Settle Station (10mph) and Horton In Ribblesdale (20mph) these restrictions would seriously hamper the climb, so this wasn't going to be a record setting run.
With the weather set against them, there was worst to come, a signal check at Settle Junction brought the train to a stand at the foot of the Long Drag due to a proceeding DMU not clearing the section in front. With a heavy train including the dead weight diesel, this was going to be a Battle with the big bank and this is what it turned out to be. Reports suggest mid 20's was sustained up the Long Drag all the way to Blea Moor tunnel, not bad considering the restrictions and poor conditions with an equivalent load of 12/13 coaches. Action is captured near Horton In Ribblesdale and Selside Shaw.
For the return leg the weather had eased off but remained dull. The destination for the Cumbrian Mountain Express was Appleby due to issues at Carlisle. We first capture the tour departing Appleby with the Castle once again in full voice as it crosses the A66 road. Our next glimpse of 7029 is a Great Strickland where the Castle is finally seen at a quicker pace as it heads up the lower slope of the southbound climb to Shap Summit. This is swiftly followed by a shot at Thrimby as the train sweeps round the curve in style.
The final shot, which we somehow made with only two minutes to spare sees the tour racing through Warrington Bank Quay at Speed. This topped off a challenging day for all concerned and hopefully we wont have wait multiple decades to see Clun Castle tackle the Northern Hills.
I hope you enjoy the coverage.