11th August 2001

Deltic Preservation Society
(main line tour no.7)

Loco Used D9009 "Alycidon"
Stock Used 99328+99327+99317+99722+99127+99125+21266+99311+99318

Route :
1Z55 : Preston - Carlisle
1Z56 : Carlisle - Preston

Loco Route
D9009 Preston - Chorley - Bolton - Manchester Victoria - Rochdale - Todmorden- Hebden Bridge - Halifax - Bradford Interchange
D9009 Bradford Interchange - Bramley - Whitehall Jn - Engine Shed Jn - Woodlesford - Castleford - Milford Jn - Church Fenton - York - (via ECML) - King Edward Bridge South Jn - High Level Bridge - Newcastle - King Edward Bridge South Jn - Norwood Jn - Hexham - Petterill Bridge Jn - Carlisle
D9009 Carlisle - Petterill Bridge Jn - Appleby - Settle Jn - Skipton - Shipley - Whitehall Jn - Engine Shed Jn - Methley Jn - (1) - Altofts Jn - Wakefield Kirkgate - Healey Mills - Huddersfield - Diggle - Stalybridge - Miles Platting Jn - Manchester Victoria - Bolton - Chorley - Preston

Notes :
(1) Booked route was Methley Jn -
Castleford - Milford Jn - Church Fenton - York (run round) - Church Fenton - Milford Jn - Castleford - Altofts Jn then as per above actual route. Diversion was caused due to combination of factors.

Source : Gary Thornton.
(on the train throughout)

Tour review :
(by Gary Thornton)


D9009 "Alycidon" alongside 90015 at Carlisle.

What on earth would possess me to get up at 3am and make my way to Preston for a railtour promising no new track and only one loco for haulage all day - and a dud one at that?

Well, my arrival into Preston on this Saturday morning a little before 7am was greeted by the unmistakable sound of a Deltic, reminding me why I had chosen to book on this tour despite it meaning a near 24 hour outing for me - almost 500 miles behind D9009 "Alycidon" was a treat not to be missed!

Finding our coach, A, at first looked to be a challenge as the coaches were not lettered in strict order however it was soon located as the rearmost of the nine coaches. Bags stowed at our seats and there was time to head to the other end to photograph no.9 and meet and greet a few other friends who were also on the tour. "Alycidon" departed bang on time to the usual clouds of blue-white exhaust.

The start of our route was pretty well all-new for me with a Deltic up-front - we made our way to Manchester Victoria with pick-ups at Chorley (where we departed 2 minutes early!) and Bolton. Time for another photo at Manchester Victoria then we were treated to quite a lively run over the Pennines (via Summit Tunnel) to Bradford.

Coming in to Interchange station from the Halifax direction with a Deltic in charge is quite a rare event and the locals had turned out in force to witness our coming. D9009 ran round the train here - an operation I suspected might take considerably longer than the booked 18 minutes booked, but in the event we were away only a little behind time.

Now coach A was the leading coach in the train things were considerably noisier for us and I was suddenly very happy with my decision to get up so early! Our onward route was towards Leeds, skirting round the avoiding curve - an experience which was not not possible on a DPS tour last year when we arrived only to find the curve had been lifted completely and was in the course of being re-laid.

Passing the Freightliner depot at Stourton 66522, 66503, 47150 & 47358 were seen. Bit of a stagger round through Castleford then the driver of "Alycidon" got the speed up a bit as we sped towards Milford Junction, Church Fenton and York. Staggering in (how unusual) meant we arrived 8 minutes late but there was still enough time to grab a photo or two before heading off.

The run north from York along the racing straight was superb - we soon hit the ton and kept on or around this figure most of the way towards Darlington. On the approaches to the station we were slowed by signals and a feather confirmed we were being routed through the station rather than via the avoiding line. A strange move considering we had a green through the platform but at least it gave the driver the chance to "open up" under the canopy - withering the waiting passengers in the process!

Our passage through Newcastle was interesting - a circuit past the long-closed Gateshead depot then over High Level Bridge. We weren't platformed but we did stop - just long enough to realise the class 142 alongside us on a Hexham service had already been given the road. As per usual - a late running all-shacks stopper was given priority!! We staggered out onto King Edward Bridge but, as expected, the nodding donkey overtook us and headed off in same direction as we were headed.

Stagger.....

....By Hexham we were running approaching 10 late yet, even though we passed the 142 here, we continued to lose time. Arrival into Carlisle was at 13.39 against the booked 13.25 arrival time but at least we'd enjoyed quite a bit of thrash from "Alycidon". Plenty of time to photograph D9009 with the added interest of some shots in the company of 66524 and 90015. D9009 then headed off to Kingmoor for refuelling and run-round.

Carlisle....it was raining....so nothing new there then....

I spent the couple of hours at Carlisle photographing the comings and goings...and I even started to write this tour review!

All too soon and D9009 pulled back into platform 4 and we all boarded ready for the run south over the Settle & Carlisle (or "Stagger & Crawl" as mentioned by one of our nearby travelling companions). It was.....a stagger that is.

Then, as we approached Mallerstang the brakes went in hard and we stopped....and so had D9009's engines....

For about 20 minutes not much happened, except there were a few attempts to get both engines going again. The guard put out an announcement to say the news was that he had no news (!). 

Eventually we were on the move again - the rumour going through the train was that a circuit breaker had tripped and that was the root cause of the problem. Now running around 40 minutes late the driver put in a lot of effort to catch back time and, by the time we approached the set-down point at Shipley, we were back to about 25 late. Despite this an announcement was made to say that the train would now not be routed via York so passengers for there would have to alight at Shipley and get home by public transport.

Hmmm, the change of plan would most likely mean we would now remain at the rear of the train for the rest of the journey. Not really on...so we relocated to a seating bay in coach H at the far end of the train to enjoy the thrash back to Preston. Various rumours circulated about what had happened to cause the change to our booked route - as and when I find out the actual reason(s) I'll update the Page accordingly.

Our diversion took us round the curve from Methley junction to Altofts junction rather than going via York with a reversal. This put us a bit over an hour ahead of booked time (I wonder...would this be "RST to the power of minus 1" or "inverse RST"?)

Manchester lived up to expectations - it was raining hard! Here we were held to take up a path exactly an hour early and we continued in this way to Preston and tour's end.

Another superb day - as per previous DPS tours, this one didn't go exactly to plan either, but it was still well worth the effort going on the tour. Highlights for me were the blast through Darlington station and the thrash through Standedge Tunnel - both sounding simply superb.

My booking is already in for the next DPS railtour which is on October 20th - is yours?

Gary Thornton.

The following statement has come from the Deltic Preservation Society regarding Alycidon's performance and the missing out of the York stop;

For information, D9009's control circuit breaker tripped at Mallerstang on the S&C. The cause was quickly identified and rectified by the DPS Engineer, who travels with the loco. Once moving again, D9009 crested Ais Gill at 57 mph from a standing start.

The delay, unfortunately, was sufficient for representatives from The West Coast Railway Company Ltd (TOC for the day) to advise that the evening York stop be omitted to avoid the possibility of getting caught up in Railtrack Engineering Possessions.

The DPS would like to thank all those passengers affected for their understanding and, also, Arriva for getting everybody to York from Shipley.

Route, Distances and Timing's (Booked & Actual)

Location Booked Actual
Preston 07.12d 07.12
Euxton Jn 07/20 07/19
Chorley 07.26a ~ 07.28d 07.22 ~ 07.26 
Lostock Jn 07/39 07/37
Bolton 07.43a ~ 07.45d 07.43 ~ 07.45
Salford Cresent 07/58 07/56
Deal Street Jn 08/01 08/00
Manchester Victoria 08.03a ~ 08.11d 08.04 ~ 08.11
Miles Platting 08/15 08/15
Thorpe Bridge Jn 08/16 08/17
Rochdale East Jn 08/31 08/32
Littleborough 08/34 08/35
Hall Royd Jn 08/40 08/40
Hebden Bridge 08/44 08/45
Milner Royd Jn 08/49 08/50
Halifax 08/54 08/54
Mill Lane Jn 09/03 09/05
Bradford Interchange 09.05a ~ 09.23d 09.06 ~ 09.28
Mill Lane Jn 09/25 09/30
Holbeck Jn 09/41 09/43
Whitehall Jn 09/42 09/44
Engine Shed Jn 09/44 09/45
Methley Jn 09/52 09/59
Whitwood Jn 09/56 10/01
Castleford 09/58 10/04
Milford Jn 10/03 10/11
Church Fenton 10/08 10/15
Colton Jn 10/15 10/22
York 10.21a ~ 10.56d 10.29 ~ 10.36
Skelton Jn 10/38 10/40
Tollerton Jn 10/46 10/46
Thirsk 10/57 10/54
Northallerton 11/06 11/00
Darlington 11/17 11/11
Ferryhill South Jn 11/27 11/20
Tursdale Jn 11/29 11/22
Durham 11/35 11/32
Birtley Jn 11/43 11/39
King Edward Bridge South Jn 11/46 11/44
Greensfield Jn 11/51 11/46
High Level Bridge Jn 11/52 11/48
Newcastle 11/54 11.50a ~ 11.51d
King Edward Bridge South Jn 11/57 12/01
Norwood Jn 11/59 12/03
Metro Centre 12/03 12/08
Blaydon 12/09 12.12a ~ 12.14d
Prudhoe 12/18 12/27
Hexham 12/36 12/43
Haydon Bridge 12/45 13.00a ~ 13.01d
Haltwhistle 12/54 13/12
Brampton 13/09 zzzzz.....
Petterill Bridge Jn 13/21 13/35
Carlisle London Road Jn 13/22 13/37
Carlisle 13.25a ~ 15.28d 13.39a ~ 15.29
Carlisle London Road Jn 15/30 15/33
Petterill Bridge Jn 15/31 15/36
Culgaith Crossover 15/55 16/05
Appleby 16/07 16/14
Kirkby Stephen 16/20 16.26a ~ 16.28d 
Blea Moor 16/42 17/22
Settle Jn 16/58 17/37
Hellifield 17/01 17/41
Skipton 17/22 17/52
Keighley 17/36 18/00
Shipley 17.46a ~ 17.48d 18/08 ~ 18/10
Dockfield Jn 17/49 18/12
Apperley Jn 17/52 18/15
Armley Jn 17/58 18/21
Whitehall Jn 17/59 18/23
Engine Shed Jn 18/01 18/24
Methley Jn 18/10 18/36
Whitwood Jn 18/12 DIV
Castleford 18/20 DIV
Milford Jn 18/25 DIV
Church Fenton 18/30 DIV
Colton Jn 18/35 DIV
York 18.41a ~ 19.01d DIV
Colton Jn 19/07 DIV
Church Fenton 19/13 DIV
Milford Jn 19/19 DIV
Castleford 19/26 DIV
Altofts Jn 19/34 18/38
Wakefield Kirkgate 19/41 18/45
Horbury Jn 19/50 18/50
Mirfield East Jn 20/09 18/58
Heaton Lodge Jn 20/11 19/01
Huddersfield 20/16 19.08a ~ 19.08d
Marsden 20/26 19/18
Diggle Jn 20/31 19/24
Greenfield 20/33 19/26
Stalybridge 20/39 19/36
Ashton Moss North Jn 20/43 19/40
Baguley Fold Jn 20/47 19/45
Philips Park West Jn 20/50 19/46
Miles Platting 20/51 19/47
Manchester Victoria 21.02a ~ 21.06d 19.50 ~ 20.06
Deal Street Jn 21/08 20/09
Salford Cresent 21/13 20/13
Bolton 21.25a ~ 21.27d 20.24 ~ 20.25
Lostock Jn 21/32 20/29
Chorley 21.41a ~ 21.43d 20.39 ~ 20.40
Euxton Jn 21/48 20/45
Preston 21.55a 20.52a

Key;
a : arrival time
d : departure time
DIV : diverted from booked route
/ : passing time
zzzzz..... : asleep!

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