The West Highlander Steam Express

Friday 25th September to Sunday 27th September 2009

Friday. Just after 1000 with LMS Jubilee 5690 "Leander", steams out of Preston heading to the north. After pausing at Oxenholme to take on water the gradient begins to increase, providing quite a climb up to Grayrigg Summit. Passing through the scenic Lune Gorge, the tour passes through Tebay before commencing its assault on Shap Fell, a major obstacle back in the days of steam. Once this is overcome, its downhill to Carlisle. We then see "Leander" just north of Carlisle at Floriston, just before it crosses the border into Scotland at Gretna. Lockerbie is another water stop prior to facing the formidable climb up to Beattock Summit. One last fill of water is taken at Abington before dropping down through Carstairs and Carluke before arriving at Glasgow Central.

Saturday. An early start at 0630, LNER K4 61994 "The Great Marquess" hauls the tour from Glasgow Queen Street and immediately begins labouring up the steep 1 in 45 climb up to Cowlairs Summit. Branching left to head through the suburbs of Glasgow before running parallel to the famous Firth of Clyde. At Craigendoran junction it veers right to join the West Highland line itself. After a brief stop at Arrochar and Tarbet station we witness the tranquil beauty of Loch Lomond. Water is taken at Crianlarich where the Oban line branches left and we head right. It's climbing all the way to County March summit then round the Horse Shoe curve. We see the tour departing Bridge of Orchy and heading up to the wild and desolate Rannoch Moor. Passing Loch Treig before it travels through The Monessie Gorge. Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis looms above us at 4418ft as the tour approaches Fort William around lunchtime. The passengers have a short break whilst the locomotive is changed for the trip to Mallaig. With Ben Nevis looking down, LNER K1 62005 "Lord of the Isles" puffs its way out of Fort William. It crosses the impressive Caledonian Canal at Banavie and then along the shores of Loch Eil. The climb then begins to the splendid elevated curved viaduct at Glenfinnan. After Glenfinnan itself the tour climbs again before descending along the southern shore of Loch Eilt. Twisting and turning through the glorious Scottish scenery another summit is reached at Beasdale before continuing to Arisaig and Morar then    finally dropping into Mallaig. After a long break LNER K1 62005 "Lord of the Isles" leads tender first back to Fort William. As the light is beginning to fade it makes for some impressive shots.

Sunday. At 0850, LNER K4 61994 "The Great Marquess" departs from Fort William. Climbing out of Fort William the tour retraces its journey past the Monessie Gorge and then tackles the climb up to Corrour summit. Steaming south it returns across Rannoch Moor and down to Bridge of Orchy before breasting the summit at County March. After taking on water at Crianlarich it continues to Arrochar and Tarbet our last view of the West Highland line. 61994 powers through Dumbarton Central and continues east to Cadder Yard. At Cadder we see the change of locomotives, with the K4 swapping for the LMS Jubilee. Briefly the tour heads westward back towards Cowlairs before  returning eastwards through Stepps and joining the mainline from Perth at Coatbridge. At Law Junction the tour re-joins the West Coast main line. From Carstairs, it begins the climb to Beattock Summit the descending through Lockerbie to Carlisle. We see our last view of the tour as it departs Carlisle for the journey south on the West Coast Main line through to Carnforth, from where a class 47 diesel returns the train to Preston.

Running time 66 minutes.

On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 16.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

The West Highlander

Spitfire Railtours tour of the year ran on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th of July 2009. It saw the return of a class 20 locomotive to the West Highlands of Scotland. The tour started at Preston with 20302 and 37069 double heading the train up the West Coast Mainline to Scotland. The sight and sound of the pair heading up the West Highlands drew out many line side photographers. Upon arrival at Fort William 20302 was run round the train and would lead nose end first all the way to Mallaig. The last time a class 20 worked a passenger service on the Mallaig line was back in September 1988 when a small handful of 20s were RETB fitted. 20s running nose end leading in BR days happened fairly regular but as the years went on it became less and less popular with the drivers. Currently nose end running is very rare. So it's off to Mallaig with 20302 doing the majority of the work and 37069 giving some assistance at the rear. Mallaig is still reached even after a few problems with 20302. As the late summer sun was starting to set 37069 then takes the train back to Fort William. The following day it's a trip to Oban before heading back South to Preston. As 20302 is not on full song the train is lead by 37069 with 20302 tucked inside. Our last view of the train is at Carlisle as it heads of on the last stretch of its journey. A fantastic two days with both class 20 and class 37 action.

 

Running time: 75 minutes.

On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 16.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

Highland Steam Special

On Saturday 4th July 2009, SRPS Railtours organised a chance to ride behind A4 60009 "Union of South Africa" between Perth and Inverness. First we see is the stock movement from Bo'ness to the junction with the main Edinburgh and Glasgow line on the Friday evening with Bo'ness's class 47, 47643. On early Saturday the stock has to run via Edinburgh so it facing in the right direction for its starting point at Polmont. West Coast Railways class 37, 37676 hauls the stock to Perth. Upon arrival at Perth diesel makes way for steam and A4 60009 with its support coach backs on to the train. No.9 as it is known by its followers is ready to attack the 118 mile trip to Inverness. Two major climbs are in its path. The first is to Druimauchdar summit at 1484ft and the highest point on Britain's rail network. The second is to Slochd Summit at 1315ft. No.9 takes them in its stride to reach the Highland capital. The return trip is by the same route and No.9 takes it bow at Perth and 37676 takes over back to Polmont.

Running time: 60 minutes.

On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 16.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

SRPS Railtours "The Forth Circle"

LNER K4, 61994 "The Great Marquess" was the locomotive for the two SRPS Railtours which ran on Sunday 5th April 2009 around the area of the River Forth. We see the K4 first on Saturday 4th April 2009 at Thornton Depot. This was where it was being prepared for its move to Bo'ness for following day's tours. The loco was to follow part of the route that it would use on the tours. Travelling from the depot, the K4 went via the Thornton triangle so as to be heading boiler first, back through Glenrothes with Thornton and onward to Dunfermline. It then traversed the line to Longannet via Culross and onward through Alloa to Stirling. From here it headed south to Larbert then east through Falkirk Grahamston before reaching the access to the SRPS line at Manuel. The K4 then headed to Bo'ness for the evening. Early on Sunday morning we catch the stock working up from Bo'ness arriving at the exchange sidings at Manuel prior to it heading to Linlithgow to pick up its first passengers. Linlithgow station was very busy with those about to travel behind the K4 as we see it approaching. The first run traversed the following route. Linlithgow, Winchburgh branch, Dalmeny, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Lochgelly, Dunfermline, Culross, Longannet, Alloa, Stirling, Falkirk Grahamston and Linlithgow. The second run started and finished at Dalmeny and those who had booked to do both runs had the extra haulage on the section from Linlithgow to Dalmeny. Overall it was a fantastic day with some good weather and great steam action.

Running time: 60 minutes

On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 16.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

Spitfire Railtours "The Celtic Growler"

 

Saturday 7th March 2009 was Spitfire Railtours first trip north of the border in 2009 and saw a pair of West Coast   Railways class 37s at the helm, 37706 and 37676. The tour had started from Preston and traversed to the east coast at York before heading to Edinburgh. An extra mini tour was provided for those wishing to stay on the train with a jaunt to Perth via Aberdour and Ladybank. We see the tour arriving at Perth and the locomotives running around the stock prior to returning south. For the return to Edinburgh, we get an exclusive view from up front in the cab of 37706.  With 37676 and the tour coaching stock behind us we depart Perth. The weather is overcast with a little rain. However this doesn't spoil the day. At Hilton Junction we diverge to the left onto the line to Ladybank. The line is single track after crossing the River Earn and we pass former stations at Bridge of Earn, Abernethy and Newburgh. From Ladybank we head South along the main east coast line as far as Thornton North Junction where we head west on to the Fife circle. This takes us via Cardenden, Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline. We re join the east coast route at Inverkeithing for the climb up to the Forth Bridge. Continuing south through Dalmeny and South Gyle we merge with the main line from Glasgow at Saughton for the last few miles back into Edinburgh. After a short stop at Edinburgh Waverley to collect the rest of the passengers, we see the tour depart back down the East Coast Mainline to York and onward to Preston.

 

Our thanks go to West Coast Railways for allowing us to film from the cab and to Spitfire Railtours for another great railtour.

 

Running time: 95 minutes
On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 19.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

Forth McFreighter

On Sunday 8th February 2009, Pathfinder Tours ran an excursion around the branch lines of Edinburgh and the River Forth. Class 66s 66039 and 66201 were provided from DB Schenker. The tour started at Edinburgh Waverley with 66201 leading and 66039 on the rear. The first branch to traverse was the Powderhall line. This branch currently only has one freight working a day to take Edinburgh's rubbish away to landfill. On reversing the tour then heads along the ECML to Drem and then turns North onto the North Berwick branch.  After a brief stop the train retraces it route back down the branch and heads Edinburgh bound. At Monktonhall Junction it diverges left on to the access line to Millerhill Yard. The tour continues by covering all three sides of the Millerhill triangle before heading through the yard. From Newcraighall it heads down to Portobello East Junction and crosses the ECML to enter the Leith Docks branch. Once Seafield level crossing is reached the train returns back up the branch to Portobello East Junction. The tour now has short sprint up to Edinburgh Waverley were a short break is taken. Departing Edinburgh for th second time the tour heads West via the E&G. Going via the E&G was a last minute change to the route which should have been via the Shotts line and Mossend but emergency engineering work prevented this. So after heading to Cadder yard to reverse, we see the tour heading through Croy whilst heading to Grangemouth Docks. From the sidings at Grangemouth the return to Edinburgh was via Larbert, Alloa Longannet and Dunfermline Townhill where the tour reversed. At 1930 the train arrived back at Edinburgh Waverley.

 

The Retro Retracer

 

Back in May 2007, Pathfinder Tours ran spin and win tour from Bristol with type 5 traction, a class 40 and a class 92. We catch the best of the action from another classic Pathfinder special. 59203 takes the Bristol - Birmingham section where class 60 60024 takes over. This hauls the tour as far as Worksop. One of Fastline Freight's class 56s, 56303 then takes the tour for a while before heading to Leeds. Preserved class 40, 40145 works Leeds - Crewe before Brush built class 92, 92030 powers the tour to Birmingham. The last leg has 59203 back at the helm for the return to Bristol.

 

Running time: 60 minutes

On screen captions, No commentary

Cost: £ 14.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.

The Lochalsh Special

In mid September 2008, SRPS Railtours ran "The Lochalsh Special" from Aberdeen to Kyle of Lochalsh on behalf of Grampian Railtours. It was Sunday 14th September and the tour started from   Aberdeen with a pair of EWS's dwindling class 37/4 fleet at the helm. At 0844, 37401 and 37417 power away from Aberdeen on time. Our next view of the dynamic duo is at Huntly. A classic view with semaphore signals greets the arrival and another powerful   departure is witnessed. Following a train on the Aberdeen to Inverness line is hard as the railway has the easier faster route. However with luck on our side we manage to see the tour passing round the tight curve at Forres station. Once the train reaches Inverness it by-passes the station via the Rose Street curve to head North. At Dingwall we turn left and West on to the Kyle line. The weather is good and the views are spectacular. We see the railtour at many locations, including the classic shot at Achanault Viaduct and the superb climb to Luib Summit. Kyle of Lochalsh is reached by 1451, a good 10 minutes early. The return trip is the reverse of the outward journey. Again we see the tour at many    locations. Rockfall Tunnel on the Southern shores of Loch Carron, departing Achnasheen and Dingwall. At Nairn we catch the token exchange and one of the best power busting departures. Arrival back at Aberdeen was at 2221 and another great class 37 tour comes to an end.

Class 37 Running Day

SRPS Diesel Group held a class 37 running day at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway on Saturday 3rd January 2009. The two main locomotives for the day were 37025 and 37175. However, last minute negotiations lead to DRS supplying a 37 for the event. 37611 arrived the day before and proved very popular with the enthusiasts that attended the event. With the recent arrivals of 37403 and 37413 at Bo'ness, this meant that no fewer than five 37s were on display. The weather was sunny but cold and this tempted many enthusiasts out, to both photo and travel behind some classic English Electric Type 3s

Total running time 78 minutes

On screen captions. No commentary.

Cost: £ 14.95 including P&P.  To purchase via PayPal click add to cart. Alternatively send a cheque or Postal Order made payable to "MD Rail Productions" to the address on the contact us page.