It’s always been an ambition to film steam on the climb to Shap summit, and with two steam tours booked to take on the climb on Saturday 16th March it was the perfect opportunity to do so.
The first was 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, at the head of Vintage Trains “Shap Mountaineer”, travelling from Birmingham New Street to Carlisle with steam on at Carnforth and back as far as Crewe on the return. Behind the Earl would be 34067 Tangmere, hauling one of Railway Touring Companies regular Winter Cumbrian Mountain Expresses, from Euston to Carlisle with steam on at Carnforth and off at Preston on the return. Delays to both tours resulted in them both passing Shap Wells within 20 minutes of each other, beginning with the Earl taking on the climb unassisted, with Tangmere flying up the bank with needed assistance in order to make up time to the delays.
With Tangmere going back via the S&C, and the Earl going back via Shap, it was decided to focus on chasing the Earl’s return journey. Our final shot of Tangmere comes from Langwathby, before we headed back to the WCML at Airey Hill to capture the Earl’s southbound climb to Shap. By now the rain had settled in but had thankfully eased off as we caught our next shot of the Earl passing over the River brock. Finally, and just making it in time, we see the Castle class whistle through Acton Bridge on it’s final part of it’s journey.
A top outing in the north and good to finally tick off some bucket list locations.
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16 мар 2024
