Bro-in-Law tipped me off midweek about this excursion to York, going through Chesterfield station this morning, pulled by "Duchess of Sutherland", nicely painted in LMS maroon, and I'm told it's had £750,000 spent on it in recent times, looks and sounds the part.
On it's way to York. The return journey this evening is apparently pulled by LNER "Union of South Africa", seemingly it's final journey as I gather it's being withdrawn from service for museum preservation due to ongoing running costs. Beautiful as these loco's are, they've resulted in bankruptcy for a number of owners, but at least it can be said that they've done something useful with their money for once! Keith.
Lovely pictures of a magnificent engine Keith thanks for posting up, a maroon Coronation / Duchess ... doesn't get much better than this in the LMS circles.
It looks like it Ron, with "Sir Nigel Gresley" undergoing it's 10 year boiler overhaul on the North York Moors railway, and (as far as I know) "Mallard" in cosmetic condition only in the NRM, so it only leaves "Bittern" in running order, and as it must be 4 or 5 years since the 90mph runs now, I guess it'll not be that far away from the 10 year overhaul too. I guess that owning such a loco needs someone with bottomless pockets when it comes to overhaul time, as the engineers don't know what they'll find until everything's stripped right down, and of course there aren't that many companies with the necessary 'know-how' and experience, which tends to put repair prices up somewhat! Keith.
60009 is also running. I hope so anyway, it's scheduled to bring the Plymouth Christmas Market Special down on the 1st December.
Just how mine will look when I get her built - Single chimney and no smoke deflectors though - Duchess of Buccleuch as she was when she was built.