Double ‘bongos’ back on the beat

Two ‘B1s’ together – a main line first! At least I think so, and so does No. 61306’s owner David Buck. He told me he’s “as certain” as he can be that his engine has never run along the ‘big railway’ with sister survivor No. 1264 in preservation – meaning you have to go back to 1967 or before for a ‘Bongo’ double-header to have taken place.

That’s now to change. Good as the prospect is though, don’t get too carried away with its meaning. For rather than taking place on David’s beloved Great Eastern – or indeed any other part of the old LNER network – the planned stage for this historic pairing is a different ‘Great’… the Western.

You still have a while to wait too – because it’s not due to happen until September. David – also chairman of Steam Dreams – has always intended that his promoter’s multi-day trip involving Plymouth for the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers’ journey to America (SR497) would employ two engines. However, until now only ‘Mayflower’ has been confirmed.

The Thompson pair are to doublehead from Paddington to Penzance on September 14; the next day then brings three Plymouth-Par shuttles with the pair running ‘top and tail’, before another double-header back to London on September 17 (September 16 is a ‘free’ day).

The connection with all this is of course No. 61306’s name – ‘Mayflower’ – which the 1948-built engine has now carried in preservation for longer than the original Mayflower – ‘B1’ No. 61379.

Fun as all this is, it’s still probably true that most gricers would prefer something like it to happen on the ‘GE’ rather than ‘GW’. However,

I don’t think it would be giving anything away to suggest that given David Buck’s own allegiance, that won’t have passed this former Ipswich spotter by…