The Deltic Preservation Society would supply BR Class 55 'Deltic' - 55013 "The Black Watch" (D9009 "Alycidon") to deliver 'The Coronation Deltic' for UK Railtours, operating between London and Scarborough, with support provided by West Coast Railway Class 47 - 47813.
"Alycidon" would be reidenitified for the railtour, carrying the identity of scrapped classmate 55013 "The Black Watch". 55013 was a personal favourite of Harry Wilson, a veteran 'Deltic' driver in BR days based at York, who recently turned 100 years old, and who'd be present at York to take a footplate ride to Scarborough and back. For this leg, the locomotive would carry the headboard 'Harry Wilson Centenary'.
55013 would lead the tour from London King's Cross, heading up the East Coast Mainline to York where the 'Deltic' would haul the consist onward to Scarborough. The return journey had been scheduled to take a slightly deviated route through Salixby. However, even the best laid plans can falter, as would prove to be the case. The ‘Deltic’ led the tour out of Scarborough on time, soon facing delays north of York due to a fatality on the line, with the situation then being compounded by signal failures around Doncaster. These incidents caused a delay of an hour, resulting in 55013 being rerouted down the ECML in an effort to regain lost time. All was well for a brief period, until the final blow came when 55 reached Retford; the ‘Deltic’ suffered a light circuit failure, caused by one of the battery connection leads going high resistance and flashing over when restarting engine No1. Though a temporary and effective fix was made with both of the 55’s power units firing into life, the call was made for a thunderbird to haul the tour the remainder of the way to London, eventually being led by West Coast Railways Class 47 - 47848. The resulting delays saw the tour terminated short at Finsbury Park.
The plan had been to capture one shot each way of the 'Deltic'. However, with the issues and delays surrounding the return journey, the one shot would have to do. On the outbound leg, 55013 would be routed on the down fast line through Huntingdon as it overtook a stopping service, with the 'Deltic' hammering through as both power units roared, and demonstrating their renowned turn of speed.
All footage filmed on Saturday the 19th of August 2023.
