Preston to Carlisle 

There are various reasons for dislikes Peter. Some simply don’t like how I’ve presented it and some searched for something else but got a cab ride. Some get hacked off with the adverts and some will pick up on my spelling of the fact I use captions instead of a voiceover. I’ve accidentally hit dislike instead of like before now but usually correct it. You can’t please all of the folks all of the time but I really appreciate your support.

Mach appreciated Jeremy.

Yeah I agree.

I totally agree.

Thanks for this great video and even more for the interesting info. I run Train Sim and I'm interested in creating scenarios as close to real life as poss... Looking at www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P58639/2019/08/28/advanced for 1S63, there are three columns for timings: WTT; GBTT and Real Time. Can you throw some light on them please? I'm trying to keep to WTT - but in a class 91 (my favourite loco.) I'm assuming the 350 you're driving here and the 390 presently being used on this have better acceleration?

Thanks Ray. Blackpool vid is available now.

I think you must be a similar game to me Colin. I don’t follow footy I’m afraid but I hope your team does well!!!

Haha, it was indeed!

its 110mph through carnforth - i know this because of a route learning video on train simulator

Glad you like them Dave.

Several more in the pipeline Keith. They’ll pop up as soon as I can work through them.

I’ve not seen the sim rides but I understand they are very good. In fact I did see a Class 45 from Leeds to Manchester which was very realistic!!!

More soon Anthony, thanks.

Glad you liked it Martin 👍

I think thats a Guiness stain ;-)

I spoke to one of our Newcastle drivers that signs them and he says they are fantastic to drive. I’ll get on one soon ;-)

I don’t actually sign Carlisle although I have been once before. Thanks for the positive feedback Karl.

You and me both! It was a jackdaw when I froze the picture. Sometimes they bang when they are out of view and that makes you jump too!

You are welcome. Thank you Marc.

Thanks George.

Cheers Darren. I did travel that line once.

I took a ride round there some years ago Bruce but made the big mistake of not taking a drink. Four hours later!!!

Its hard to imagine Tony. We take so much for granted.

Glad you found us Peter. Thank you.

Thanks Ian. You might like the next one which is St Pancras to Derby.

Its a lovely run up there John. I had the bit from Carlisle to Edinburgh but the weather spoiled it.

Thanks Brian.

Haha, you have to shut them out of your mind.

Glad you enjoyed it

I would always recommend that. Thanks Terry.

Stay off the track Alan ;-)

Whatever the reason, I’m glad you enjoy and follow them.

The pleasure is all mine Nick.

Yes, there was moody sky that day.

Thanks Charles.

You’re officially a regular now!!! Many thanks.

Oh I don’t know. Not sure aspirin is any good for him!!!

You are lucky living up there Dan but I bet its wild in winter. I get similar up in the Peak District.

Thanks for being a regular watcher.

I love it on the railway so tend to be nosey and into everything! Thanks Keith.

The worst s a snow storm at night because we still do 100 mph and the snow becomes hypnotising in the headlights.

Much appreciated, more soon.

Thanks Karen, much appreciated.

Thanks Jonathan. Yes, the clouds were very moody weren’t they. If you run it fast, they are incredible to watch.

Thanks Martin.

Will do Tony - thanks.

I wonder where all the other passengers go? Interesting story Jim, thanks.

It is a lovely run up there Padishar.

I remember Andy but my train enthusiast range was limited to Manchester due to a lack of funds!

Thats it Steve, a Saturday blockbuster!!! ;-)

Get a beer or larger instead

Since you told me about these books, I’ve ordered the The Railway Navvies and I’ll have a hunt for the Victorian Engineer. Excellent info, thank you.

@@doncoffey5820 How kind of you to reply Don. I greatly enjoyed your video. It was our Economic History lecturer at Glasgow who told his class to read The Railway Naavies. It sheds much light on the railway building period, but also gives a human dimension to the period that is I think largely ignored. I met E F Clark, the author of Bidder's biography - his great, great grandson, also an engineer, and he gave a talk about his forbear that was so interesting I looked out for his book, and indeed it doesn't disappoint. Oddly, Bidder is hardly known of nowadays, although everyone knows of his contemporary, IK Brunel. But Brunel considered Biddder to be his equal as an engineer. The book is hard to come by now, but is generally available second-hand (I got my copy through Amazon). It gives great insight into Victorian economic and social development. Bidder was a railway engineer in his own right, but was also a friend and colleague of the great railway engineer, Robert Stephenson so we learn about him as well. Happy reading!

Railway history and architecture is my favourite subject and you’ll find me waxing lyrical in many of my videos. I also appreciate feedback like this because I learn such a lot from it. Its a pleasure to discuss it with you.

@@doncoffey5820 I think you'll find we are the ones who are learning from you! It's good when people who know a lot about something are prepared to work at sharing it with many others on You Tube. The Railway building age was indeed a time of amazing achievement. All stemming of course from the fruits of the Industrial Revolution in which Britain led the way (something now apparently forgotten by a modern "woke" elite determined to rubbish this country at every turn!). The remarkable development of the railways is taken for granted by most people apart from those such as you who know about it. Bidder belonged to first period of railway building and his biography delves deep into that. Of course Acts of Parliament had to be passed to allow individual lines to be built so the high-profile engineers such as John Rennie and Robert Stephenson being established in their profession had some advantage. Bidder himself, as well as being an accomplished engineer, also had from childhood a prodigious ability at mental arithmetic and was dreaded by his opposition when he appeared at parliamentary committees since he could look at any figures of projected costs and work out the full implications at first sight! I wonder how many of our railway lines were built only because things went well or badly at some committee hearing. Yes, you will enjoy his biography very much!

I’m not immune to making errors on that route because I don’t actually sign it so have to research it as I go. Glad you enjoyed it Alister.

Thanks Mel.

Glad it took you back Donna. The videos often evoke memories of happy times. Funny how it stays with you!

Ah well, it is smooth but not as smooth as it looks. The image stabilisation on the camera real does exaggerate the smoothness.

Thanks Neil.

Thanks Hugh, much appreciated. Watch out for the Blackpool video tomorrow night.

Glad you enjoyed it Michael.

If you like that, wait until next week. I’ve got something special lined up (well it might be a couple of weeks before it gets edited).

Now you tell me. We would have called for a brew if we’d known ;-) Thanks for the kind words Geoff.

That would be interesting John.

A premier tomorrow night to Stephen.

Cheers Anthony, much appreciated.

My pleasure Peter, thanks for being a regular viewer. All proceeds go to charity too.

70 years ago! My word, congratulations to you sir. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

It did go a bit grim. It was filmed early in the day.

Hope you are well Thomas. I’m working on new material.

Bring your raincoat Tim. The railway is a busy industry here and most operators regularly recruit. Its worth having a look at their websites/careers pages.

Yes, I know it. Its all changed out there.

Thanks Michael.

Hello Ohio and thanks for watching.

Thanks Mike, I hate killing wildlife but there is little we can do. Thats a curious noise which I believe is to do with the electronics feeding power into the traction motors.

It was only a crow. Farmers shoot them, so no great loss there.

Don, maybe the next charity could be to the RSPB? we hit so many birds and it’s quite upsetting as a driver seeing an injured bird flapping as you pass.

I’ll add it to the options next time ;-)

Its actually quite a wide angle lens which makes it look much faster than it really is. The later films are better. I couldn’t get in the cab on that one although I have a general green light at TPE I still have to have a rubber stamp and I just turned up on that day as I was travelling to Edinburgh. I just asked the driver (who I know) if I could stick a camera in the opposite cab window.

Much appreciated Kevin, the Blackpool video premiers tomorrow night too.

Thanks John. Much appreciated.

Thanks Nick. Some people would love to live where you live.

I will be going “off patch” in a future video. Keep watching Tim.

Glad you enjoyed it BaldEagle

Hi Nicky. With Covid, I can’t promise anything at the moment but I’ll try to sort something out in the future.

Maybe we’ll see Geraldine Grainger when we do the GWR video (after the lockdown ends) - no no no no no, yes! ;-) We will soon be having exclusive passenger routes but so far there is only HS1 in the south of the country.

Seconded. I love this one!

Thanks both. more on the way.

You’re welcome but I have a confession to make, I can’t remember if I added one to tomorrow’s Blackpool video!!!

@@doncoffey5820 I'll probably be able to forgive you.

They're in different lanes. You can see the overtake at 45:12

Mr FL! The video I'm currently working on goes past the EVR. Could you send me a couple of photos that I can use that you think portray it well?

Don Coffey you bet! I’ll dig a couple out for you.

That’s an interesting perspective 👍

Hah, I know, somebody else got me on that one. I definitely typed Shap but my untrusty auto correct helps me when I don’t want it and ignores me when I do.

Yes, we were lucky to some extent as the driver can’t see the second mans window and forgot to switch the wiper on so if it had rained hard, it would have ruined the footage.

They are quite comfortable aren’t they Steven. Nice units but soon to be replaced by Class 397s.

@@doncoffey5820 if they're coming from Manchester and I am going to Preston, I'll definitely be looking forward to going on one as they look nice when I saw one coming through Victoria once

Hello Germany! I used to travel regularly to Bad Camberg near Limberg before I joined the railway. They were just building the ICE line along the A3. Amazing.

The 350s? They’ve already gone but we’ve got the new 397s now. I’ll be filming a new version of Manchester Airport to Carlisle soon.

I’m sure if they advertised that front passenger seat at a premium price, they’d fill it every time!

Thanks John, much appreciated.

I was in Japan last week Pauline and clocked the bullet trains doing 185 mph on my phone App!!!

That is impressive. 100mph was slightly scary on our network!

I’ll be watching too Adam so can answer questions on the hoof!

Enjoy! Don’t forget the premier tomorrow.

@@doncoffey5820 a really informative, and beautiful video, mate. The fragility of those two tracks serving the whole west coast is quite frightening really. I'd never travelled the route, beyond Lancaster, anyway, but I've done it on Train Simulator WCML Over Shap, and it's a surprisingly good recreation. Must look out next time for low flying crows.

Yes, you don’t instinctively duck on a simulator!!!

Thanks.

You’ll have to watch it twice!

Very impressive acceleration

It was organised but all the plans have gone to pot I’m afraid.

Yes, I profiled the hardship of the Navvies in the Chat Moss video. Its hard to imagine the conditions they lived under.

Thanks Nigel.

Thanks for being a regular Paul.