Royal Scot to headline Moors’ March gala
In seven days during March this year, the north Yorkshire Moors Railway received 10,000 visitors and made an estimated £½ million, when it hosted ‘A3’ no. 60103 Flying Scotsman on March 12-18. And the railway is hoping to replicate that success by bringing in doyen of the ‘Royal scot’ class, no. 46100 Royal Scot, for its start-of-the-season event on the 18-mile line next March.
No formal announcement has been made regarding the Stanier 4‑6‑0’s forthcoming visit to the Pickering‑Grosmont line, but NYMR General Manager Chris Price confirmed exclusively to Steam Railway that an agreement had been made with the locomotive’s owner, Jeremy Hosking, for Royal Scot to visit the railway during the last week of March 2017. The visit is Royal Scot’s debut on ‘Moors’ metals and part of a strategy in which the traditional spring steam gala will be replaced by a curtain‑raiser event built around a big name visiting engine. Mr Price explains that: “Bringing in celebrity engines like Flying Scotsman or Royal Scot appeals to the market where 90% of our revenue comes from, but sadly that’s not enthusiasts. However, it’s commercially focused events such as these that subsidise the enthusiast events throughout the year.” That said, it’s likely that many enthusiasts will relish the chance of a trip behind No. 46100, which will become the first ‘Royal Scot’ to travel over the NYMR. The home fleet will be in steam, and it is hoped that their numbers will be bolstered by Maunsell ‘Schools’ 4‑4‑0 No. 926 Repton, whose overhaul is expected to be completed in January. Mr Price also said that LNER ‘A4’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley could form the basis of a similar ‘curtain‑ raiser’ event when the 4‑6‑2 returns to the NYMR, once its overhaul has been completed. Upon its return to the line the locomotive has called home for the last two decades, the plan is to use No. 60007 only for “high days and holidays” says Mr Price. “It’s a blue riband engine ‑ a racehorse we’ve been using as a cart horse.” It seems that Sir Nigel Gresley’s days of being the mainstay of the NYMR steam fleet are over.