In years gone by I used to regularly chase main line steam. These days, with so many engines passing work on a regular basis and of course going out myself with Tyseley, I have 'gone spotting' less and less. Tonight however, with something quite unusual occurring at Nuneaton station, I decided it was worth half an hour of my time. Not one but two steam hauled rail tours were due to call at Nuneaton station's platform 5 within around 25 minutes of each other. Tyseley-based 7029 "Clun Castle" was working back from Chester, followed by the Princess Coronation on a West Coast job from Manchester back to Euston. Tracking the progress of both trips via Real Time Trains, I was surprised to see the Duchess in front of "Clun" (originally it should have been "Clun" first). What was even more surprising was that, by Atherstone, the two trains were literally two signals apart! The two engines are of course no strangers to me: particularly 7029: but this one after the other phenomenon was! Soon enough, we were treated to the sight of 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" simmering in platform 5...
Running early on her original path but now actually holding "Clun" up, the Duchess departed Nuneaton with the safety valves blowing furiously. She made quite a sight as she summoned her strength for the sprint south to Rugby...
As the Duchess' tail lamp left platform 5, the headlamp on "Clun" could be spotted to the north! I'd never seen anything like this and, despite being previously well acquainted with the Castle, it was a pleasure to be briefly reunited with her tonight. Here she is, in all her glory, feathering loudly in platform 5. Beautiful...
As soon as her passengers had alighted, "Clun"s double chimney voice echoed around Nuneaton as she pulled the train out of the station bound for Tyseley via an elongated route around the Leicester circle. Farewell old gal, until next time...
A few waves and light hearted chants from some of my old mates aboard the support coach were followed by "Clun"s disappearance into the night. What a lovely few minutes at Nuneaton and quite special in a lot of ways. I don't know how many more times (if any) we'll see two rail tours in a busy main line station one after the other. It was like the "good old days of steam". Well worth the short drive down that was. To support Tyseley and Vintage Trains, travel on one of their several upcoming rail tours. Their website is here. Cheers all and thanks for reading, Sam...
No comments:
Post a Comment