Black Five 44871 thunders through Durham at top speed with The Hadrian! 12/10/24

Описание: Today’s video sees me cover two of the North’s most scenic and rural routes in pursuit of LMS Black Five Class 4-6-0 44871! 44871 was hauling RYTC’s The Hadrian railtour from Derby to Carlisle and return. The outward would be diesel hauled as far as Hellifield, where 44871 would take over for the punishing journey over the Settle & Carlisle railway through Settle, Ribblehead and Appleby - most of the railway on a stiff gradient. After a break in Carlisle the tour would traverse the 1838 built and more lightly graded Tyne Valley Line through Hexham to Newcastle upon Tyne. After avoiding Newcastle Central by using the chord at Low Fell, she charged down the ECML through Durham, Darlington, Northallerton and York before she was taken off the train at Milford Loop near Pontefract. The tour then continued back to Derby diesel hauled. The weather on the day was really changeable, beginning sunny before a band of rain moved through around midday, after which it cleared up again.

First up I left my local at 9:23, heading across the Tyne Valley Line to Carlisle where I changed and took a train down the S&C to Lazonby & Kirkoswald station. Here it was very cold and windy which made filming conditions a bit challenging, especially when it started to rain, but thankfully 44871 turned up well before the worst of the rain as she’d skipped the stop at Langwathby. 44871 is seen coming out the tunnel and passing through the S&C style station as it would have looked in BR days! Afterwards I took the 13:08 service back into Carlisle and got lucky, as 44871 was held in Platform 3 to wait for 2 Transpennine Express trains to pass, which allowed me to get into Carlisle and set up with enough time to see 44871 get dragged out of the station. After this I took a bit of a break in Carlisle, complete with the classic Fish & Chips! After this I took the 15:37 service to Wetheral outside Carlisle. The best spots on the Tyne Valley Line, gradient wise, are generally West of Haltwhistle, but this is the more sparsely populated part of the route which makes it difficult to access without repeating locations you’ve done before. I therefore decided to experiment with a side on shot of Wetheral Viaduct in the valley of the River Eden. With the lighting having improved since Lazonby, I’d say it worked out quite well! Next up was to get to Durham on the ECML. I got myself on a service out to Newcastle from Wetheral which ran only about 10 minutes behind 44871. Once in Newcastle I then grabbed the next London Kings Cross service, which I only made by the skin of my teeth! That got me into Durham about 12 minutes after that. 44871 then came rocketing through in the fading light with a whistle the full length of the platform, digging in on the approaches to the climb to Relly Mill just south of Durham, and crossing Durham Viaduct, from which there are spectacular views of Durham Cathedral. After all that I grabbed the next LNER service back home!

Thanks to all who made today possible, including Northern, NR, WCR and RYTC as well as 44871 and her crew of course. Thanks very much also to my secondary planner for her input in the locations! I very much hope you all enjoyed this as I did!