Prototype Wensleydale Railway

[Rob Pulham]

We had a proper 'Heritage' train come down the line today. Topped and tailed by a 33 and 37

In other news, Chris is still trying to get more hedgehogs to come visit, she just hopes they can read...

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

In other news, Chris is still trying to get more hedgehogs to come visit, she just hopes they can read...

Who - the train crew?

 

[Rob Pulham]

As a welcome change from the blessed Pacers which keep trundling past we had another 'proper' train on the branch yesterday (and presumably right through until Sunday)

For once I manged to get photos of it out and back.

 

[Rob Pulham]

I was correct in my guess that we would have proper trains all weekend, yesterday and today we have them hauled by the class 37 which appears previously.

 

[Richard Gawler]

These photos are the first time I have seen the brackets holding the ploughs onto a 33. Also I the ploughs and cab front are different shades of yellow.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Today was a first for me on the branch, still loco hauled trains but todays loco was the Class 14. Which I have seen before but only on works trains not as a service loco. And I did manage photos of one of the return trips, which was more than I did the last two days with the Class 37 hauling the trains.

 

[Rob Pulham]

We had a bit of unusual activity on the branch this afternoon. We had a Ro/Rail crane fitted with a hedge trimmer operating on the line.

 

[Rob Pulham]

This year's Polar Express started running again this weekend and yesterday Chris managed to get a decent video of it.

 

[Rob Pulham]

In the last couple of days we have seen the Bubblecar finally emerge from the workshops. We last saw it in early march 2020 when it was involved in an accident with a falling tree limb.

I managed to get a couple of photos as it came passed this morning.





Call me biased but this is so much more 'Heritage Railway' than the Pacers we have had for the last couple of years on most services.

 

[Rob Pulham]

It's time for the Wensleydale Railway Polar Express again. This year it's started earlier and has more coaches than in previous years.

The first couple of runs had either the resident class 33 or 37 on one end with Black 5 Lancashire Fusilier on the other but over the weekend the loco has been a guest class 47 - 47701

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Are the headlight and bell fitted to the Black V just for the 'Polar Express'?

Call me biased but this is so much more 'Heritage Railway' than the Pacers we have had for the last couple of years on most services.

Another decade or so Pacers will become heritage units..... not that I would want to ride on one by choice. I've ridden on enough when commuting from Keighley to Leeds when they formed the Morecambe trains or as a stand-in for a Skipton EMU train failure. Then it was a case of cramming a 4-car EMU of rush hour passengers packed to the gunwales into a 3 car Pacer! It was easier to wait in the bar for the next train.....

However, Pacers must have been a life saver for some heritage railways, especially where they were donated in full operational condition which provided them with a 12'' to 1' ready to run train.

Half of one resides at Airedale Hospital....

 

[Rob Pulham]

Hi Dave,
Yes the light etc. Is designed to fit on the lamp iron, so quickly removed. They usually do a couple of runs between Christmas and New year without the lamp fitted.
Last year they also had magnetic vinyls on the tender saying Polar Express but they don't seem to have survived.