The 22nd of April 2023 was to be a historic day for 7029 Clun Castle, A Great Western Castle Class locomotive based at Tyseley owned by Vintage Trains. For the first time since 1967, 7029 Clun Castle would make a long awaited return to the famous Settle and Carlisle Line. As it was such a historic occasion, I decided to go up there making it the first time I ventured onto the Settle and Carlisle Line to film one of my favourite classes of engines. I stayed at a hotel the night prior to the run and was hoping that Clun Castle would be at her overnight stay at Hellifield in good nick and of course, she was. She looked resplendent as she sat posing to the cameras at Hellifield Sation. It was incredibly busy as they haven't seen a Castle hauling a train on the Settle and Carlisle Line since 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe back in 2012.
After breakfast at the Shed 24H cafe at Hellifield and a few of my mates at Hellifield, I decided to head to Selside near Horton on Ribblesdale to get 7029 Clun Castle attacking the famous long drag named by enginemen who used the route in steam days due to the continuous 15 miles of 1 in 100 from Settle Junction to Blea Moor Tunnel. The weather started to get worse with showers the theme of the day. Although not as windy as I thought it would be. I heard that she had a speed restriction through Horton in Ribblesdale of 20mph, so I hoped that the diesel on the back wouldn't push her up the long drag. She lost time due to slack at Settle Junction which is definitely not ideal for a Castle with such a heavy train waiting to tackle the long drag. As expected Clun Castle lost time, however, she came into view around 15 to 20 minutes late, but she seemed to cope with the load brilliantly and even better was that the diesel didn't do any work at all. She managed to negotiate the long drag, tricky conditions, and a few slacks along the way with 10 coaches and an idle diesel in tow (the equivalent of 13 coaches) fantastically.
That was a brilliant performance from Clun Castle. Kudos go to the people of Vintage Trains, Network Rail, the support crew team, and the enginemen on Clun Castle for making the occasion possible and putting on a stunning job. Keep up the good work.
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