5th December 1998

Railtours North West
The Southport - Settle Scotsman

Locos Used 37414, 37428 & 37716

Route :

Locos Route
37414 (1) Southport - Burscough - Wigan Wallgate - Springs Branch Jn
37414 (2) Springs Branch Jn - Wigan North Western - Leyland - Farington Jn - Lostock Hall Jn - Blackburn - Hellifield - Settle - Appleby - Carlisle - Carstairs avoiding line - Haymarket - Edinburgh
37414 Edinburgh - Haymarket - WCML - Lancaster
37716 (3) Lancaster - Preston - Wigan North Western - Springs Branch Jn
37716 Springs Branch Jn - Wigan Wallgate - Burscough - Southport

Notes :
(1) 37428 on rear.
(2) plus 37428, dead.
(3) plus 37414, dead.
37414 + 37428 topped and tailed Southport to Springs Branch, where the train reversed and 37414 ran round, but 37428 had failed and provided no traction throughout the trip. 37414 worked the return alone from Edinburgh, but stopped abruptly 1/2 mile north of Lancaster with a brake fault. After around 2 hours (the train was already about 1 hour late), 37716 rescued the failure, dragging 37414 to Springs Branch Jn (confirmation that 37716 worked back from Springs Branch Jn to Southport is courtesy of Tim Moss).

Source : Richard Hughes
(joined at Leyland, left at Preston)

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