The dearth of ex-BR tender engines on the ELR through the summer began to be rectified in early October with the arrival of John Cameron's K4 2-6-0 No 61994 The Great Marquess. She was later joined by Ian Riley's Class 5 4-6-0 No 45407, which had also had a spell north of the border. Nevertheless, it took a contingent of industrial locos to make up a decent fleet of locos for the gala at the end of the month.

LMS Rebuilt Scot No 46115 Scots Guardsman made its first run on the Hadrian route for Railway Touring Company, heading from Hellifield via Settle to Carlisle, then over the Tyne Valley route and the East Coast main line to York.
The wet and windy weather, combined with the heavy Autumn leaf fall, did not promise well for the climbing ahead, but the Scot charged away from Hellifield, reaching line speed (60 mph) well before Settle Junction and the start of the climb. Speed had dropped to 49 by Settle, and to a minimum of 22 in the Stainforth area, where rail conditions are notorious at this time of year. Speed rose to 35 on the level stretch after Helwith Bridge, and she slogged up from Horton to Ribblehead at between 25 and 30. A lively run down from Ais Gill to Appleby and a short water stop at Appleby saw us early at the outskirts of Carlisle.
We departed Carlisle on time, closely following an NXEC HST and a stopping train. This was to be our undoing, as a signal check on the 1 in 107 between How Mill and Brampton brought us to stand in a heavily forested cutting. Linesider's YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54xxot-37qw shows the manual sanding of the line and the painfully slow restart, which left us half an hour late at Brampton.
However, we were only 15 minutes late leaving the water stop at Low Fell. After a gentle start up the East Coast main line, the sparks really began to fly after Durham, with several impressive bursts of speed followed by braking on reaching the 75 mph maximum. There was clearly plenty of power in reserve! South of Darlington, the running was more restrained, but we hit the maximum again near Tollerton, bringing a fine end to a dramatic day's running.

This weekend, the A1 Locomotive Trust took Tornado over the Settle and Carlisle line for the first time, running two return York - Carlisle trips entitled The Waverley. The Saturday run took place in gale force winds and when I saw her at Appleby she was already late and struggling, as she left, to keep her feet on the greasy rail. What with this and a falling tree having brought down the overhead near Bingley, she was very late back into York.

The Sunday dawned bright and sunny and Tornado was early off the National Railway Museum to pick up her train in York station. The running via Leeds and Skipton was disappointing but sufficient to keep to the schedule. Then, after the water stop at Long Preston, she stormed away, reaching Settle Junction at 55 mph and hitting the bottom of the bank at 56. She had dropped to 33 after Settle and 29 at Helwith Bridge, but then charged across the level stretch to reach 38 by Horton and 41 just after. Speed stayed in the high thirties until slowing for Ribblehead Viaduct, and she had a fast run across the tops, reaching 60 after Garsdale. A smart run downhill brought us to the outskirts of Carlisle over 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

The return run was gingerly as far as Appleby, but a smart departure brought us up to 54 at Great Ormside and 44 at Smardale. From there to Ais Gill she was in her thirties almost all the way, and went over the top at 34 mph. A lot of her downhill running was at or near line speed, and then after a slow run from Skipton to Leeds, she really made the sparks fly on the home run into York. An excellent day out and another triumph for this fine machine.

There were four Pacifics out on the main line in the North today: I chose to see the two built at Crewe as they passed through Appleby. LMS No 6233 Duchess of Sutherland came south in mid afternoon, having come from York via the ECML and the Tyne Valley. The gloom had brightened a bit when, two hours later, BR No 70013 Oliver Cromwell followed in the tracks of the Duchess. A fitting end to a grand summer of steam in the North West.

The Railway Touring Company have had an intensive programme of steam specials based in the North West this August, with an impressive motive power lineup.

On Friday 21 August I saw Stanier 4-6-2 No 6233 Duchess of Sutherland climbing through Stalybridge on its way to Scarborough. On Saturday 22 August, No 6201 Princess Elizabeth left Liverpool over an hour late for Carlisle via Shap, but it was on time at Appleby on the return, prior to its climb southward over Ais Gill and back to Liverpool via Blackburn.

New trains for SouthEastern will enable High Speed 1 (the former Channel Tunnel Rail Link) to be used for high-speed commuting from Kent from later this year. The five-coach electric trains, from Hitachi in Japan, are capable of 140 mph on High Speed 1 and can also run on the third-rail electrification on the classic lines in Kent. A preview service is now open to the public, with half hourly services from St Pancras International to Ebbsfleet International, near the Bluewater shopping complex in North Kent, taking 17 minutes. The same trains will provide the Javelin service from Central London to the Olympic Games site in 2012.

Today saw the welcome return of Rebuilt Scot 4-6-0 No 46115 Scots Guardsman to the Settle-Carlisle line for only its third round trip. The weather was fine and mostly sunny and with a clear run through Settle Junction and a dry rail, the climb to Ribblehead varied between 30 and 40 mph all the way, followed by some lively running down to Carlisle. The return journey saw some more bursts of speed between signal checks on the way to Appleby. However, with a clear road up to Ais Gill, the Scot pulled competently but did not manage the speeds up Mallerstang that she had achieved in snowy conditions in February. But an afternoon of sunshine had seen the beautiful Scot looking her best, and giving a good overall performance for the summer Sunday trippers on the 60% full train.

New tour company Statesman Rail ran its first steam tour yesterday, “The Fellsman” from Lancaster to Preston and Blackburn, then over the Settle - Carlisle. LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No 5690 Leander reached 73 mph on the straight and level main line to Preston, then turned east to pick up passengers at Bamber Bridge, Blackburn, Clitheroe and Long Preston. The loco got away sharply from its final pickup, reaching 55 mph by Settle Junction. The 1 in 100 and the damp rail in the mist and drizzle took their toll and we dropped to 26 at Taitlands, recovered to 40 after Helwith Bridge and reached Ribblehead without dropping below 30 again. Leander ran freely down from Ais Gill, having to brake frequently to keep its speed within the limit.

Contrary to the weather forecast, the mist and rain cleared for the return run. Leander performed well again on the southward climb from Appleby, accelerating to 38 past Outhgill and reaching Ais Gill Summit at 32 mph. Its final challenge was the steep climb from Whalley Viaduct to Wilpshire, where it slogged away steadily in the high 20s with its ten coach load – not at all bad for a Class 6 engine with a ten coach load.

The newbuild Peppercorn A1 Pacific No 60163 Tornado began its season on the Torbay Express with some sparkling running from Bristol to Kingswear and return. The climb of Whiteball would set no records with a speed of only 33 on entering the tunnel, but a looping after Tiverton was followed by a high speed run into Exeter. Down the Exe estuary the running was also brisk, and only a little slower along the Dawlish sea wall. Moving onto the private steam railway at Paignton, she made a workmanlike effort with 11 bogies up the bank to Churston.
On the return from Kingswear, she struggled with a damp rail on the climb out of Torquay, but there was another lively run to Exeter and the descent of Whiteball was stunning. Looped at Taunton and released behind the stopping train, she nevertheless managed several bursts of speed between the inevitable checks. We were three minutes early into Bristol Temple Meads, at the end of an excellent day.

The star guest at the Tyseley 101 Open Day was Peppercorn A1 Pacific No 60163 Tornado, returning for the first time as a complete engine to the place where its frames were laid down. Also on display was an impressive display of resident motive power, largely of GWR origin. The next major project for Tyseley will be the restoration of No 7029 Clun Castle.