30th August 1997

Pathfinder Tours
The York Cross

Locos Used 37012, 37185, 47749 & D9000
Stock Used 4938+4915+5005+17015+4956+4949+4998+3148+3150+3143+3127

Route :
1Z27 : Reading to York
1Z49 : York to Worcester Shrub Hill

Loco(s) Route
47749 Reading - Didcot Parkway - Swindon - Chippenham - Bath Spa - Bristol Temple Meads
D9000 Bristol Temple Meads - Bristol Parkway - Cheltenham Spa - Abbotswood Jn - Worcester Shrub Hill - Stoke Works Jn - Kings Norton - Bordesley Jn - Water Orton - Kingsbury Jn - Burton-Upon-Trent - Derby - Chesterfield - Beighton Jn - Masborough Jn - Swinton - Moorthorpe - Pontefract Baghill - Church Fenton - York
D9000 York - (ECML) - Kings Cross
37012 + 37185 (1) Kings Cross - Finsbury Park - Hornsey Slow Lines No.2
D9000 (2) Hornsey Slow Lines No.2 - Finsbury Park - Camden Road East Jn - Camden Jn - Willesden West London Jn - South West Sidings
37012 + 37185 South West Sidings - Acton Wells Jn - Acton Main Line - Reading - Didcot Parkway - Swindon - Chippenham - Bath Spa - Dr Days Jn - Bristol Parkway - Cheltenham Spa - Abbotswood Jn - Worcester Shrub Hill

Notes :
(1) D9000 on rear.
(2) 37012 + 37185 on rear.

Source : Gary Thornton (Joined/left train at Didcot Parkway)

Tour Review
(Gary Thornton)

Following on from Pathfinders very successful trip to Penzance on August 23rd, we had only seven days to wait before leaving Bristol on another D9000 hauled charter train. Destination this time was York, returning via London. Highlights of the tour included the assault of Lickey incline and the requested non-stop run from York to Kings Cross.

As I arrived at Didcot station the large digital clock clicked over to 05.50, bringing back memories of a certain Kings Cross to Aberdeen service that was booked for a Deltic to Edinburgh right up to their final withdrawal. Indeed in the early 80's the service would often get one Deltic to Edinburgh and another to complete the journey to Aberdeen. I digress however, back to the plot.

Shortly after 6am and in rolled 47749 "Atlantic College" (for those of you still working in feet and inches, it was originally 47625) on load 12. I was hoping for my coach (A) to be at the rear of the train and was pleased to find that it was. This would give the cross country run added interest as we would be at the front on leaving Bristol. The run with the 47 was not much to write home about and we in fact turned an on-time Didcot departure into a 12 minute late arrival at Bristol. In the rain we watched the 47 being detached and then wandered to the other end of the train to await the arrival of RSG. It arrived a few minutes later but, for reasons unknown, we did not depart until 0810, 18 late.

Our late departure seemed to fire the crew into action and Filton bank was attacked in typical Deltic style of much smoke and noise and the run to Worcester was treated in similar fashion and, despite the minor inconvenience of pick-up stops at Bristol Parkway and Cheltenham, we rolled into Worcester Shrub Hill only 2 minutes behind plan. At Droitwich Spa (on time) we took the single line to Stoke Works Jn and once there (30mph at the junction) we turned out onto the main line and the start of the climb to Lickey Incline. Speed rose quickly and although I will admit the 2 miles of 1 in 37 did slow us a little, the Lickey did not prove much of an obstacle to D9000 (well, did you really think it would?).

The run through Birmingham was a bit stop and start but once past Saltley we had a fast and clear run to Derby which resulted in a 12 early arrival. A photostop had been arranged here so we had plenty of time to capture RSG from all angles.


Somewhat dull conditions at Derby (photo: Gary Thornton)

Can't say I thought much of the other visiting trains during our stay, several HST's and a few sprinters. I much preferred Derby in the days of 45's, 46's on passenger services and 20's on the freight workings. On a good day a 44 or two might also be sighted and even, on odd occasions, a class 40. Sorry, I'm digressing again...

Nothing too exiting on the run from Derby to York, but there was a big cheer in our coach as we passed by Booths scrapyard at Rotherham where, amongst the debris, were a class 56 and several 50's. As we passed Ferrybridge we also saw all six class 59/2's on shed along with a Network SE liveried "bubble car" - now what was that doing there? Arrival at York, where we had a break for about two and a half hours, was close to time.


Nicer weather at York (photo: Gary Thornton)

Now came the "classic" Deltic run from York to Kings Cross, requested by the organisers to be non-stop. Speed rose quickly after leaving York and we kept a very respectable pace until just short of Doncaster when the brakes came on. Although much slowed, we were not actually stopped and were soon back at high speed as we swept away past the yards south of the station. Very soon and we were tearing through Peterborough (by now 14 minutes ahead of plan) with London drawing ever nearer. At St. Neots we were turned onto the slow to allow a class 91 to pass and at Sandy we very nearly stopped, waiting the road back onto the fast. South of Welwyn Viaduct and we got routed back to the slow on which we stayed for the rest of the journey. Towards Finsbury Park and another close shave waiting for a signal to clear then, in Copenhagen Tunnel and less than a mile from Kings Cross, we came to a stand, waiting for the road across to platform 1 to clear! Cries of "refund", "failed" etc were heard in our coach at this point.


At the stops, Kings Cross (photo: Gary Thornton)

A break at The Cross whilst the somewhat tatty 37012 and 37185 were added and for the next two hours we entered the railway equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle (even the tour itinerary gave no timings over part of the route).


The 37's at Kings Cross (photo: Gary Thornton)

Out of Kings Cross as far as Hornsey where we reversed and, using the Ferme Park Flyover, headed back towards Kings Cross. As we exited Copenhagen Tunnel we took the North London Incline to join the North London Line at Camden Road, the 37's (now at the rear) helping shove RSG around the curve. The line through the former Primrose Hill station was traversed and we joined the WCML for the short run to Willesden. By the time we left Primrose Hill tunnel we were motoring and even our coach, the last one, was full of exhaust smoke courtesy of D9000! Branching off at Willesden we paused in South West Sidings whilst RSG was removed and the 37's ran round to the front of the train. We eventually passed Acton West Jn, by now "dark o'clock" and some 25 minutes late, having taken an hour and 45 minutes to cover about 13 miles...

The run to Reading and Didcot went very quickly (I suspect in part due to the class 37's performance) which saw us only 15 down by Didcot. On arrival I said farewell to my travelling companions and walked back to the car with the sound of the "tractors" still audible some five minutes after departure! Another excellent tour completed (well, for me at least, those going back to Worcester still had nearly three hours on board).

Gary Thornton

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Gary Thornton/Nigel Rollings)

M.C Location Booked Actual
0.00 Reading 05.55d 05.55
17.12 Didcot Parkway 06.13a ~ 06.15d 06.11 ~ 16.16
30.41 Uffington 06/27 06/28
41.25 Swindon 06.36a ~ 06.38d 06.38 ~ 06.41
47.09 Wootton Bassett Jn 06/44 06/56
57.78 Chippenham 06.53a ~ 06.55d 07.04 ~ 07.06
60.12 Thingley Jn 06/58 07/10
68.57 Bathampton Jn 07/05 07/17
70.73 Bath Spa 07.08a ~ 07.10d 07.20 ~ 07.23
81.48 North Somerset Jn 07/22 07/33
82.28
0.00
Bristol Temple Meads 07L24a ~ 07L52d 07.36 ~ 08.10
0.46 Dr Days Jn 07/55 08/13
4.43 Filton Jn 07/59 08/17
5.62 Bristol Parkway 08.10a ~ 08.13d 08.19 ~ 08.21
10.32 Westerleigh Jn 08/20 08/27
11.55 Yate 08/22 08/31
18.45 Charfield 08/28 08/36
31.70 Standish Jn 08/39 08/44
38.00 Gloucester Yard Jn 08/44 08/49
38.67 Barnwood Jn 08/45 08/50
44.30 Cheltenham Spa 08.51a ~ 08.54d 08.56 ~ 08.59
51.41 Ashchurch 09/01 09/06
62.28 Abbotswood Jn 09/11 09/14
63.10 Norton Jn 09/13 09/15
66.15 Worcester Shrub Hill 09.18a ~ 09.21d 09.20 ~ 09.24
71.74 Droitwich Spa 09/32 09/32
76.09 Stoke Works Jn 09/38 09/39
78.22 Bromsgrove 09/41 09/42
81.65 Barnt Green 09/46 09/47
86.73 Kings Norton 09/53 09/54
92.08 Bordesley Jn 09/59 10/04
92.34 St Andrews Jn 10/00 10/05
92.72 Landor Street Jn 10/06 10/06
98.78 Water Orton 10/12 10/12
102.73 Kingsbury Jn 10/16 10/15
108.54 Tamworth HL 10/20 10/18
116.02 Wichnor Jn 10/26 10/24
121.45 Burton-on-Trent 10/31 10/27
127.62 Stenson Jn 10/40 10/34
132.46 Derby 10p51a ~ 11p29d 10.39 ~ 11.30
142.39 Ambergate Jn 11/39 11/41
152.47 Clay Cross South Jn 11/48 11/48
156.57 Chesterfield 11/53 11.52a ~ 11.55d
166.05 Beighton Jn 12/05 12/05
172.61 Masborough Jn 12/13 12/14
175.05 Aldwarke Jn 12/16 12/17
177.16 Swinton 12/18 12/18
185.07 Moorthorpe 12/25 12/24
192.05 Pontefract Baghill 12/32 12/31
198.18 Milford Jn 12/39 12/39
202.47 Church Fenton 12/44 12/43
207.64 Colton Jn 12/47 12/50
213.25 York 12.53a ~ 15.32d 12.56 ~ 15.33
218.66 Colton Jn 15/39 15/40
226.70 Hambleton North Jn 15/45 15/45
232.49 Temple Hirst Jn 15/50 15/49
241.49 Shaftholme Jn 15/59 15/55
245.68 Doncaster 16/03 16/00
249.65 Loversall Carr Jn 16/06 16/04
263.16 Retford 16/15 16/13
281.57 Newark North Gate 16/29 16/26
292.05 Barkston South Jn 16/38 16/32
296.23 Grantham 16/42 16/35
302.26 Stoke Jn 16/47 16/41
316.79 Tallington Jn 17/01 16/51
325.34 Peterborough 17/12 16/58
334.58 Connington South Jn 17/18 17/05
342.73 Huntingdon 17/25 17/11
357.53 Sandy 17/36 17/26
369.69 Hitchin 17/45 17/38
374.18 Stevenage 17/48 17/42
377.72 Woolmer Green Jn 17/51 17/45
381.40 Welwyn Garden City 17/54 17/48
389.09 Potters Bar 17/59 17/54
396.69 Alexandra Palace 18/04 18/01
399.24 Finsbury Park 18/08 18/05
401.65
0.00
Kings Cross 18L10a ~ 18L48d 18.14 ~ 18.50
1.43 Holloway South Jn 18/51 18/53
2.41 Finsbury Park 18/55 18/56
4.04
0.00
Hornsey Slow Lines No.2 19.00a ~ 19.15d 19.00 ~ 19.15
1.43 Finsbury Park 19/25 19/23
3.20 Freight Terminal Jn 19/30 19/27
3.54 Camden Road East Jn 19/33 19/36
3.79 Camden Road Jn ? 19/50
4.65 Camden Jn 19/40 19/53
8.38 Willesden WL Jn 19/47 20/01
9.08
0.00
South West Sidings 19L49a ~ 20L09d 20.03 ~ 20.32
0.66 Acton Wells Jn 20/11 20/35
1.38 Acton Main Line 20/19 20/38
2.17 Acton West 20/21 20/43
6.23 Southall 20/25 20/47
? Airport Jn 20/28 ?
15.53 Slough 20/34 20/53
21.36 Maidenhead 20/39 20/57
28.18 Twyford 20/45 21/01
33.15 Reading 20.51a ~ 20.53d 21.07 ~ 21.10
50.03 Didcot East Jn 21/08 21/24
50.27 Didcot Parkway 21.09a ~ 21.16d 21.25 ~ 21.27
50.72 Foxhall Jn 21/20 ?
? Challow 21/31 ?
63.56 Uffington 21/33 21/39
74.40 Swindon 21.44a ~ 21.46d 21.47 ~ 21.49
80.24 Wootton Bassett Jn 21/52 21/56
91.13 Chippenham 22.01a ~ 22.03d ?
93.22 Thingley Jn 22/06 ?
101.68 Bathampton Jn 22/16 22/19
104.04 Bath Spa 22.19a ~ 22.21d 22.22 ~ 22.25
114.59 North Somerset Jn 22/33 ?
115.06 Dr Days Jn 22/35 22/37
116.01 Stapleton Road 22/37 22/38
119.01 Filton Jn 22/40 22/43
120.20 Bristol Parkway 22.43a ~ 22.45d 22.44 ~ 22.48
124.70 Westerleigh Jn 22/51 22/53
126.33 Yate 22/53 ?
133.03 Charfield 22/59 23/02
146.22 Standish Jn 23/09 23/11
153.08 Gloucester Yard Jn 23/15 ?
153.75 Barnwood Jn 23/16 23/16
159.38 Cheltenham Spa 23.22a ~ 23.24d 23.22 ~ 23.25
166.49 Ashchurch 23/31 ?
177.36 Abbotswood Jn 23/41 23/39
178.18 Norton Jn 23*43a ~ 23*49d ?
181.23 Worcester Shrub Hill 23.55a 23.47


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