| OK, confession time. Regular visitors to this site (how are you both?) will know me to be a huge fan of WCML AC Electrics. However, having been born and bred in York, my first love is, always has been, and always will be.... Deltics.
Thus it was I found myself en route to Linlithgow for the SRPS tour on 23rd September last year. This was the return of Royal Scots Grey to main line action after what amounted to a virtual re-build. New owner Beaver Sports (more specifically - Martin Walker) spared no expense, with major work being undertaken on the bodysides, as well as a complete internal re-fit and equipping with OTMR - itself reckoned to cost a good £20,000. Little wonder, then, that the overall bill came out in the region of £250,000. But, as the following pictures show, it was well worth it. 55022 looked as if she had just rolled off the production line, such is the standard of finish, both externally and internally. The paint has a near mirror finish, testimony I suppose to advances in paint technology over the past four decades! And, of course, the performance was well up to par, and the accompanying bellowing racket on the return trip was indeed something to savour for those of us fortunate enough to be in the front coach - with all the windows open, of course, despite the chill! As is now well known, she failed in the worst possible fashion for a Deltic only a couple of weeks after this trip, putting a leg out of bed after pulling away from Doncaster on the Autumn Highlander. Debate continues to rage as to the cause - the use of incorrect oil being one theory I have heard more than once.... - but as I type this, the offending power unit has been lifted out, and a replacement is being prepared. Whenever Royal Scots Grey returns, it will not be a minute too soon....... :-) |
"Hell's teeth. What the **** kind of time is this to be up on a Saturday morning?!" So it was we appeared, rather bleary-eyed, just as dawn was breaking. The Napier music as 55022 rolls to a stand in Linlithgow is more than reason enough...... |
After a short run to Edinburgh Waverley, 55022 stands ready to run round at the east end of the station. Just look at that paintwork, the chrome window frames, the orange pipes....... |
This is what we came for - 55022 stands at the head of the tour, ready to set forth for the capital of the Highlands. |
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Heads aplenty out of the windows as we cross the Forth Rail Bridge; and why not. To my mind there is no finer railway structure in the country. It is quite magnificent. |
Just imagine the noise emanating from this beast as I took this shot ! :-) |
Resplendent in the early morning sunshine at Perth, Royal Scots Grey pauses for a few minutes, long enough for folk to descend and record once again. The shadows on the platform, and the people at the front, give an indication of the reverence in which these machines are held........ rightly so. |
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Another shot of Royal Scots Grey at Perth, ready for an assault on Druimachtar. Magnificent! |
Having been recorded by innumerable lineside photographers, chasing the train along the A9, 55022 approaches Dalwhinnie. The building on the right is, if memory serves, a distillery. And yes, the ballast really is that colour - this is Scotland, remember ! The whole view is one I shall never forget. |
My first visit to Inverness for twenty years (shame on me!) but what a way to do it. Royal Scots Grey stands, triumphant, under the station roof, soon after arrival. It will be noted that two plumes of smoke are still blasting forth under the roof, and the glorious Napier song fills the station, making conversation difficult, but no-one would have it otherwise. Best noise in the world ! |
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Another view at Inverness; a welcome visitor to the Highlands.... |
Word quickly spread that a shot could be had from a nearby supermarket; thus it was that dozens of bashers trekked round to Morrison's car park, immediately behind the station, no doubt to the bemusement of their staff! |
An early arrival at Elgin afforded another opportunity for photos; hence something a little different - an overhead view, in which the red cooling fans are visible as the Napiers bellow below. |
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The locals awaiting the passage of the 158 on the left must have wondered what this sunny Saturday afternoon had brought them. Deltic power, no less !! |
After a storming run from the Granite City, 55022 stands once again at Waverley, in the same platform (I think!) from which she departed for King's Cross in charge of 1F50, on 2nd January 1982. She was shortly unhooked from 1z55, and the driver entertained the faithful crowd with some fine thrash as he drew away. It just does not get any better than this. :-) |
