North Yorks Moors

LNER Festival 5 April 2008

With three A4s to film things looked promising as I left the Midlands in bright sunshine in the excellent company of Brian Burrows. However, the writing was on the wall when we were welcomed onto the Moors with a heavy squall of sleet and temperatures barely above freezing. This set the tone for the whole day and eventually resulted in an early return to Leicester. Well wouldn't you?

Arriving at a shivering Goathland station to find the the booking office and the gents closed we were informed that they would be opening....well that's good then.... any idea when? No.... ok which way were the locos facing? All facing Pickering up the grade from Grosmont....some consolation then (or so we thought). We walked to Darnholm in a driving, bitterly cold wind and stood patiently bearing the brunt of a series of squalls before the arrival of the first train. It was here that we met those "Big Issue" salesmen Chris and Paul who had once again spent the night in the open - are these guys winding me up? Do I look that naive?

Amazingly some blue sky appeared, as did the sun....and then, joy of joys, a whistle! In beautiful light the exhaust came into view behind the bridge.... and a gleaming tender appeared through the arches. Sh*t!! Just like every visit I've ever made to the Severn Valley Railway....tender first, and not just one but two locos. This was to be our only shot in sunshine.

60009 "Union of South Africa" works through Darnholm. (2.0mB). And so to the real business of the day and by now we were shivering in the near freezing conditions. Yet another unpleasant squall had finished and we were buffeted by a fierce, cold north wind as no.9 appeared. Cameras facing north into the wind was not ideal.

Rail Rage? As the train passes out of frame you may notice an orange clad figure emerging from the bridge on the right. A charming individual, he had bravely threatened to stay put, hi-viz and all, in full view of a large gallery consisting almost entirely of depressed masochists. All requests (I don't recall any polite ones) for him to move were met with the classic Yorkshire response "I've paid my money (you haven't) and I'm entitled to stand here if I choose!" and much colourful language besides. Whether it was self-preservation or good grace which eventually led to him hiding himself we will never know....but thanks all the same...and thanks for the entertainment as well.

60019 "Bittern" at Goatland, passing K1 62005. (5.0mB) After the doubtful pleasure of watching Q6 63395 working through Darnholm in a near blizzard we rushed to Goathland station and after a short drying out session in the crowded booking office (now open as promised) we marched to the road bridge just in time to miss the arrival of Bittern. At least the rain moderated to a slight drizzle for these shots.

60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" passes Moorgates with the "Moorlander" dining train. (2.2mB). The squall, which threatened in the distance, did not materialise, although the sun, which had been shining a minute or so before, disappeared on cue. We met Matt Allen at this location who was taking the whole experience in a sanguine philosophical manner. He was considerate enough to tell us that his wife had become sunburnt on the beach at Robin Hood's Bay the day before. Thanks Matt, that made us feel a lot better about life! NB Those who do not know Matt will not realise that he usually brings his wife to the NYMR for a holiday to coincide with the Gala and then leaves her to her own devices while he grices; this would be suicide for most marriages, but apparently she does not mind this. Worse still she is also very pretty!

Following this run-past a mile long walk to the next location promised a decent shot. As the train approached in bright sunshine with it's exhaust showing above an interposing building I heard Brian mutter the fatal words, "this is excellent, this will be my submission to the Heritage Railway magazine". Well that was it. Just before the train came into view the sun departed and, wouldn't you know it, the loco was 62005 tender first! The mile long walk back is not a memory I will treasure.

Q6 63395 works hard through Darnholm with the morning freight. (1.9mB). We Shivered uncontrollably as a heavy squall threw its content mercilessly into the faces just before 63395 arrived. As the wind and snow eased off slightly I pulled the camera out of the bag at the last moment much against my better judgement. Unfortunately the clip does not do justice to the foul conditions.

Footnote: driving back into Leicestershire we were greeted with bright sunshine. In the distance evil looking clouds threatened to submerge us in a major downpour. However all the way back to my house the sun continued to shine, but literally just as I stopped the car on my drive, large hail stones began to fall. Yes, all the time the dark clouds were positioned over my house! It was at that moment I realised that like the lorry driver in the "Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy" I am a rain God! So bow down and worship you heathen and bow your heads, otherwise I may visit a railway near you!

Autumn Steam Gala 29 September 2007

I travelled up to the Moors in the company of Clive Hanley and Brian Burrows. Later, we were joined by Matt Allen who was on holiday in Yorkshire. I still can't quite believe this, but he was allowed out for the whole day by his wife (remember he was on holiday)! During the course of the day we also briefly met Graham and Gordon and Henry and Dee It is significant that while we use to refer to prospective meetings of this lovely bunch of railway 'nutters' as "Graham's Gang" we now refer to them as "Dee & Co"! (sorry Henry!). Cliff Jones has a comprehensive set of pictures on his website.

The weather started dull, but brightened up during the day; the sunny spells turned our efforts into a lottery with shots either made or ruined by the appearance or disappearance of the sun at a critical time; familiar stuff then.

Mr Blobby attacks Clive: an enjoyable day, however, nearly turned into disaster when we were accosted in the Esk Valley by a belligerent cottager (who bore more than a passing resemblance to Mr Blobby) when we stood awaiting the train in front of one of the railway cottages. Anxious to placate the locals, we agreed to move to the end of the lane. As we did so Clive (who does not like to be pushed around, especially by a Yorkshireman) politely made one or two valid points on the realities of living next to a tourist attraction and the incongruity of living next to a railway when you don't actually like trains, when the man suddenly raised his fist and seemed intent on taking a swing at the surprised photographer. Fortunately Clive removed himself from the swing zone just in time and the obnoxious yokel stomped off mouthing obscentities.

7F 53809 and newly restored Q6 63395 climb through Darnholm with the 10:35 ex Grosmont (2.0mB)

30926 "Repton" impresses the gallery with a stirring performance through Green End (3.3mB)

Super D 0-8-0 no.49395 makes steady progress past Moorgates with the 9:20 goods. (4.3mB)

61994 "The Great Marquess" makes its first appearance of the day working the teak set through Darnholm in impressive fashion. (2.2mB)

30926 "Repton" climbs away from the Esk Valley in beautiful sunshine. (4.1mB)

A rare double-header comprising newly restored Q6 63395 and Super D 49395 pulls impressively away from Grosmont. (2.2mB)

ECML Festival 5 May 2007

Shades of my experiences at the WSR Gala here with a day of two halves; dull weather with plenty of trains in the morning and bright sunshine with few trains in the afternoon. Goodness knows I was reduced to filming diesels!

Despite the doom and gloom amongst the steam fraternity, there were sufficient steam movements to make the trip worthwhile, although services in the later part of the day were substantially curtailed by an unfortunate incident in Pickering where 62005 collided with its train during the runaround.

The weather was a little murky during the morning, but LNER Pacific no. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley makes a fine sight and sound as it sustains its attack on the stiff gradient towards Green End. I do not remember the knocking sound in earlier experiences of this engine. (3.2mB)

29 Lambton is a surprisingly powerful locomotive and seems to accelerate with the goods train up the gradient towards Green End Bridge. (3.3mB)

After a long wait, N7 finally arrived with the 9:05 at Darnholm after a blow-up on the Beck Hole section - well it was pulling two coaches.

If your car sounded like this you would immediately take it into a garage or, more likely, the scrapyard, yet I was assured that this was the normal sound for this locomotive. If you were to equate locomotives to women with similar "characteristics", on a scale of Rood Ashton Hall = Joanna Lumley, Duchess of Sutherland = Geraldine James, Duke of Gloucester = Venus Williams, I would have to equate 69621 with Dot Cotton...with apologies to that good lady. (2.0mB)

After the idiosyncracies of the the Northern Eastern auditory repertoire, it was good to hear the reassuring beat of a good LMS Black 5. Here 45212 leads the Whitby rake on the climb through the Esk Valley banked by Lambton. This one caught us all by surprise (not least the couple who drove off 5 seconds before the sounds reached our ears) as we looked expectantly in the opposite direction for the arrival of 62005 which failed to arrive due to the unfortunate circumstances outlined above. I waited in vain in perfect lighting conditions for nearly an hour and a half for this combination to arrive at Moorgates (at great risk to the stability of my marriage). In the end I was forced to give up and go home. However, as I loaded my gear into the car, it arrived (though with Lambton leading) and I was only able to catch the last few seconds of the pass...thank you Lord! (2.6mB)

Who put this on here !!!???

Diesels generally do nothing for me, but my first view of a moving Deltic in preservation actually stirred some interest; it sounds a bit like a Spitfire and certainly a lot better than the N7! I include the clips for anyone who may be interested to look at them...it did get the best rake! NB D6700 is the supporting engine.

Sorry Graham, I fear I' may have let the side down!

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