Std 3 82027 ready for the paint shop. The loco went from Kirkby Stephen to Malton and ran over what is now the NYMR.
Std 3 82029 on a Darlington - Penrith local train passing the summit signal box.
Std 3 82027 on a similar train. The first two carriages are an articulated twin set (sharing a common middle bogie) more often found on the Saltburn - Darlington route.
The west bound carriageway of the A66 now occupies part of the trackbed from here to the overbridge, which has been demolished.
The local pickup goods, which will have last called at Bowes, is hauled over the last few yards of the climb. It has the road set for Belah and Kirkby Stephen but will probably stop before the descent to take water at the column just past the signal box.
Having taken water the pick up goods, with the section signal off in the distance, is passed by a returning Blackpool Newcastle excursion double headed by an Ivatt class 2 and what we know of today as a 'pocket rocket' a class 4 mogul.
A load of 350 tons of coke, bound for the blast furnaces of West Cumberland. The loco is an Ivatt class 4MT no 43055. Normally these heavy trains would be banked and would go into a headshunt here at the summit. The banking loco would stay on the mainline and would run forward. The mineral train would set back from the headshunt into the siding. The banking loco would set back onto the front of the train then the train would descend to Kirkby Stephen.
A going away shot of the train showing the ubiquitous NER designed 21 ton wooden hopper wagon and the LNER 21 ton steel replacement. A banker was necessary not just for pushing but for safety in case of a breakaway from this unfitted train. The double heading down the other side was for braking effort.
No 43055, one of several Ivatts on the layout. The model is Bachmann converted to EM gauge. With ready to run models of this standard, it's hardly worth spending weeks or months building from a kit.
Two more Ivatt 4MTs on a summer Saturday's Newcastle to Blackpool train
The "express" and the Darlington bound local (one of only 3 a day) approach each other. All three sets of crews can now take a breather during the descents down either side.
The stock is a bit on the clean side. These trains were inveriably made up of elderly carriages. The first two in this rake are Thompson steel sided post war stock (the oval toilet windows are a giveaway). These were one of the forerunners of the Mk1s, of which the 3rd carriage is an example.
The Newcastle Blackpool train starting the descent to the west of the summit. The circular loop on the post of the section signal indicates that there is a 'call plunger' there. This was for mineral trains that have shunted and taken water to indicate to the signalman they were ready for the white knuckle ride and that they request the signal to be pulled off.
Legend has it that one of the signalmen from Belah, 4 miles away, would regularly walk the line to the summit to swim in the reservoir in the hills depicted here. The reservoir supplied water to the two summit water tanks!
A rather fuzzy shot of the summit sign. 'Stainmore Summit Height 1370 Feet' is what it said. One of the signs is in the Darlington North Road Museum and the other in the NRM at York. Not much else survived.
A trian of bolster wagons finishes the slog from the west as the Blackpool train descends.
The lightly loaded steel train heads for the north east.
Std 2 78018 before it was painted
Tender of 78018. The real 78018, under restoration by the Darlington Railway Preservation Society, featured in the British Transport film 'Snowdrift at Bleath Gill, a cutting only a mile to the west of Stainmore Summit.
Some front end detail.
Cab and injectors.
