This morning I was sat at my desk typing away when a message came through from one of the chaps I know who works for LSL at Crewe. He said that they were less than an hour away from us, on their way southward with the Bulleid pacific "Braunton". I wasn't aware of this move and so it was a pleasant surprise when, a couple of minutes early, No34046 rolled gently around the curve from Mill Lane and came to a stand at a red signal at Northampton north junction. I expected it to be an engine and coach working, similar to the last time we saw "Braunton" working past us earlier this year, but to my surprise she had a full rake of smart looking ECS and a Class 47 on the drawbar. It's only a guess but I'd imagine that 34046 is heading to the capital to work some Saphos jobs since the recent failure of fellow 7P "Britannia". "Mayflower" was covering for the Brit down there but she headed northwards earlier this week with this same ECS before steaming across to take part in the Valley gala this weekend. Whilst we watched from our lawn in the hazy sunlight of this blue sky afternoon, "Braunton" blew off as the boiler pressure reached its maximum of 250psi...
After a couple of minutes listening to the engine's air pump chugging away (I'm not a fan of that sound but it is of course needed to work air braked stock), the signal changed and the 1946-built 4-6-2 slowly steamed away towards the south. I must thank Rob for letting me know about this move as I think it caught a lot of people by surprise. It's always nice to break up the afternoon with a sighting of passing steam!
Please note that the above images were taken from land outside of the NR boundary fence.
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