Unassisted Steam a Thing of the Past ? 

More and more true enthusiasts, like myself, are giving up on travelling on main line steam charters. Who wants to travel in a sealed mk 2 carriage with no sound, smell or atmosphere, and a diesel doing half the work on any grade. Only Vintage Trains run occasional unassisted tours, and well done to them.

Wow. Wonderful sound and no ugly box!

Great to see archive footage of Lizzie. It was certainly putting on a show and it was good to see no box on the back. 🤓 Well done Steve 🤓

I agree with Nick Gardwood; I look at the likes of Saphos and I am not interested in sitting with the only sign of an engine upfront being smoke drifting past. There was an interesting video on RU-vid a few months ago taken from inside a train of aircon stock and Clun Castle was filmed heading in the opposite direction. One could hardly hear a thing even though it was working quite hard. No, my days of a steam trip are severly limited, Vintage Trains seems to be the only orgasniser with caoches where you can open a toplight window, so a little hope there. Lovely shot of Lizzie doing her thing, Stephen, thanks for reminding us of her noise and beauty.

Steam without a Diesel on the back for assistance is now a rare occurance. I like to read the timings, speed and horsepower figures on pure Steam runs. I accept now that the network has to be kept free running with no holdups and delays possibly caused by vintage equipment. Passengers who book on these tours for a day out in say the dining option would not always be interested in the facts and figures of a pure steam run. The cost is also a factor for anyone who is not so well off.

Another lovely video Stephen well done great camera work as usual I am really looking forward to seeing your next video I hope you get a nice video next time also when is your next video going to be on RU-vid bye for now Philip

Great footage Steve. Unfortunately I think it'll be a while before we see the great lady grace The Fell again with her overhaul only just in its preliminary stages. The subject of Diesels on the rear is a thorny one but unfortunately is becoming a necessary evil but you have to remember that..... As a general rule CDL needs both a power supply & an air supply (something vacuum only locos can't provide). Operators are under pressure to minimise the impact of failures, this is more prevalent when operating far away from base, unlike in BR days there aren't spare locos lying around to assist. Availability (& cost) of paths to have the diesel following on behind is now generally prohibitive. Hopefully in time "non-compliant" stock can be modified to meet the requirements but one thing to bear in mind - at the moment all Regulation 4 Exemptions (nothing to do with CDL) to operate Mk1 type stock on the mainline expire in March 2028..........

Clan Line has been dashing about recently unaccompanied.

Working hard there and nothing worse then diesel pushing most of the way.👍

Very impressive, those were the days when it was down to pure brute power of the loco and there were very few better than Lizzie.

I went on one a couple of months ago in NZ. A tank locomotive, short runs - 14 km in the morning, 60 km in the afternoon, both as close to dead flat as you can get Iin New Zealand, so no need for dynamic braking.

I always understood is was for [air ] brakes, electric heat, lights, esp newer carriages with 1st class dining, plus in case the loco fails or with no turning facilities the diesel pulls it back, they have been on steam specials for 30 yrs. some had generator cars if I remember correctly

Proper steam action right there! What year was that? Like you I'm getting a bit fed up of all these tours being pushed around with what amounts to a Kitmaster model on the front. Thought the black5 at the weekend would be half decent still up wilpshire bank but wasn't doing anything, crept up on everyone running early thanks to the big push. Hopefully the 3 Dalesmans will be steam only but getting somewhat sparse!

Nice video Steve :)

Very nice, LIKE !

Glorious

Let's hope it's not a thing of the past Steve, be such a shame if we couldn't see sights like this anymore

What I'm not sure about is if Mk 1 coaches have Central Door Locking fitted, do they require a diesel at the back to produce the power to operate them? All Steam Dreams and Saphos charters run MK 1s with CDL, but always with a diesel. Belmont are the same, but sometimes run with a generator coach and no diesel. Especially with Clan Line as the motive power. If they do need electric power to run CDL carriages, I think that will be the end for most steam power only charters.

This actually makes me feel a bit gloomy. Just booked CME for 22nd June (will wave to you, wherever you may be.) I think this will be my last mainline steam excursion, as they are not as pure as they once were.

Assisting or being towed?

Its not the loco its how good the driver and fireman are

That's more like it! Give me steam!!!

What a load of rubbish. Of course there's a bit of an issue with WCRC at the moment, but they have no choice. There have been several tours in the last few weeks that have run without a diesel, so there goes your whole point.