‘U-BOAT’ STEALS THE SHOWS ON 11TH ‘GREAT BRITAIN’ RAILTOUR

Double-headed ‘Jubilees’ and LNER ‘B1’ also feature on marathon railtour.

In a line-up that consisted of four named express locomotives, it was one of Maunsell’s humble ‘U’ class 2-6-0s that stole the limelight on this year’s ‘Great Britain’ railtour. No. 31806 hauled its first public revenue-earning passenger trains on the main line since 1964 on the eighth day of the Railway Touring Company’s flagship nationwide railtour, which is now in its 11th year. On April 26, the former South Eastern & Chatham Railway ‘Mogul’ demolished the climb to Evershot Tunnel on the YeovilSwanage leg of the tour, in which the ‘U-boat’ returned to home turf for the first time since the 1960s. It was No. 31806’s inaugural main line outing following its successful gauging trial on April 13 (see SR479). Another highlight of the ‘GBXI’ was the rare sight of doubleheaded ‘Jubilees’, with Nos. 45690 Leander and 45699 Galatea working in tandem on the CarlisleEdinburgh leg of the tour. The latter also took over ‘A4’ No. 60009 Union of South Africa’s booked turns on the Scottish legs of the tour, the Gresley ‘Pacific’ having been failed before the tour with firebox issues. It was the second year in a row that ‘Number Nine’ had failed to participate in the ‘Great Britain’, as gauging and valve problems halted plans for the locomotive to haul the Edinburgh-Dundee and Perth-Inverness legs of last year’s ‘GBX’ (see SR467). One three-cylinder ‘Pacific’ that did appear on the ‘Great Britain’ was recently restored rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35018 British India Line, the Bulleid 4-6-2 making only its second main line railtour appearance since it was restored to working order in May 2017, hauling the York-Carlisle and Carnforth-Crewe legs of the tour on the second and seventh days of the ‘GBXI’ respectively. Celebrity ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman made a welcome return to the ‘Great Britain’ after making its debut on last year’s ‘GBX’, and in a repeat of last year’s itinerary, hauled the inaugural leg of the tour out from King’s Cross – only its fourth departure from the former Great Northern Railway terminus since it returned to steam in February 2016. Passengers on this year’s ‘Great Britain’ were treated to extra mileage behind ‘Scotsman’, with No. 60103

working as far as Scarborough on day one of the tour, before returning to York the following day. The only other form of LNER motive power on the ‘GBXI’ came in the form of Thompson ‘B1’ No. 1264, which worked on the Scottish legs of the tour, often double-heading with Galatea (see panel). Despite being main line-registered, the 4-6-0 had to be transported to Bo’ness by low-loader owing to gauging restrictions. RTC Managing Director Nigel Dobbing said: “It was a great success – everybody seemed to enjoy it and we were able to run almost all the advertised engines. “There will be a ‘Great Britain’ next year and we’re currently making plans for it.”

JOHN COOPER-SMITH A different double-headed combination as ‘B1’ No. 1264 leads ‘5XP’ No. 45699 Galatea on the third day of the ‘GBXI’. The pair are pictured at Dalnacardoch, halfway between Blair Atholl and Drumochter.

JOHN COOPER-SMITH With the worst of the climb behind it, the safety valves on rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35018 British India Line lift as the Bulleid ‘Pacific’ approaches Ribblehead on the second day of the ‘GBXI’, having taken over from Flying Scotsman at York.