TEN YEARS OF THE ‘GREAT BRITAIN’
‘Mogul’ steals the ‘Great Britain X’ limelight from failed ‘Number 9’.
THE TOUR MARKED ‘BLACK FIVE’ No. 45212’s DEBUT ON NATIONAL NETWORK METALS, AWAY FROM ITS REGULAR ‘JACOBITE’ DUTIES
Glamorous ‘Pacifics’ should have been the headline act of this year’s ‘Great Britain X’, but arguably the stars of the show were humble workhorses - in the shape of ‘Black Five’ No. 45212 and ‘K1’ No. 62005. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the Railway Touring Company’s flagship UK railtour, which across nine days (April 29May 7) took in England, Scotland and Wales, and featured seven locomotives. The failure of John Cameron’s ‘A4’, No. 60009 Union of South Africa (see separate story, page 10) propelled the Peppercorn ‘Mogul’ into the spotlight, with the LNER 2-6-0 dominating the Scottish legs of the ‘GBX’. During the tour, No. 62005 achieved a number of historic firsts, for both the locomotive and the class, according to NELPG Chairman John Hunt. It is believed that the ‘K1’ was the first to both traverse the Highland Main Line and to visit Kyle of Lochalsh. Mr Hunt says the ‘Mogul’: “surmounted the formidable ascent to Slochd and the less dramatic climb to Drumochter with consummate ease! “Over the five days, No. 62005 covered 951 trouble-free miles, a vindication of the winter work carried out by West Coast Railways and Paul Hutchinson’s NELPG team at Carnforth.” In another first, ‘Black Five’ No. 45212 made its debut on national network metals away from its regular ‘Jacobite’ duties, hauling the train out from Edinburgh on Day Two, and worked in tandem with the ‘K1’ on both the Perth-Inverness and Inverness-Aviemore-Perth legs on the second and fourth days of the tour respectively. One highlight came at the very start of the ‘GBX’, with ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman making only its second departure from King’s Cross since its return to steam, the first time being its inaugural run on February 25 last year. The run from the GNR terminus to York on Day One was the Gresley 4-6-2’s sole contribution to the ‘Great Britain’. No. 62005 took charge during the middle part of the tour, hauling the train from Inverness to Kyle and return on Day Three, Inverness to Glasgow via Aviemore, Perth and Dunblane on Day Four, then Glasgow to Fort William on Day Five. The latter was a last-minute change to the schedule, as the 2-6-0 had been booked to work through to Oban, but this was
cancelled because the ‘K1’ was deemed too heavy for the route. The final four days of the tour were dominated by Stanier designs, with a ‘Duchess’, a ‘Jubilee’ and a ‘Royal Scot’ all providing motive power. The Glasgow-Oxenholme leg of the trip was hauled by ‘Princess Coronation’ No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, with Carnforth ‘Jubilee’ No. 45699 Galatea taking over the following day, heading the train from Grange-over-Sands to Bristol. The Stanier ‘5XP’ stood in for classmate No. 45690 Leander, which was unable to perform its scheduled duties. For the final two days of the tour, ‘Royal Scot’ No. 46100 Royal Scot worked alongside rebuilt ‘West Country’ No. 34046 Braunton (still running as No. 34052 Lord Dowding), taking the ‘GBX’ from Bristol to Plymouth, then Penzance back to Paddington on the concluding day of the nineday tour. Railway Touring Company Managing Director Nigel Dobbing said: “This year’s ‘Great Britain’ was very successful. We only had one problem, which was the failure of the ‘A4’, but apart from that it all ran very smoothly.” Mr Dobbing went on to say that discussions were already being held for a ‘Great Britain XI’ to run next year, but that so far nothing had been confirmed.