Cumbrian Trainspotter
Easter Holidays Review! 98 trains, 3 WCML trips, 3 37s, a class 40 and Chesterfield! All in 18 days!! Well the Easter holidays got off to a bang on April 2nd, when I was joined in Appleby for 'The Northern Belle-Settle and Carlisle Steam Special' railtour. Unfortunately, Tangmere didn't bother to stop but as always a steam loco at full pelt is great to see! On Monday 4th April, we had a visit of 37558 behind a DRS 66 on the engineers train to Crewe! And the fun didn't stop there as a day later I made my first visit to Penrith North Lakes station! Penrith is only a 20 minute drive for me and after a couple of hours on the station (and an ALDI sandwich!) I couldn't understand why I had never gone before! This is now probably my favourite place to spot. Some highlights from the time spent at Penrith were a Dynamic Tamper (DR75013) stabled in the sidings and a TPE class 802 (802201) on a driver training run! There was then a few quiet days with 66303 "Rail Riders 2020" the only real highlight. The loco was on driver training ahead of a railtour. Then we went away for a few days. One of the stops on our little mini break was Chesterfield on Friday 8th April! Chesterfield is a great town famous for its crooked spire which of course we went and visited! 🤣 The station was also on the 'must see list' and half an hour then ensued. I managed to catch a special livered 66 (66794) so I was chuffed! On the way back from Chesterfield we stopped in Huncoat. I did have a trip to the station but only saw a couple of 195s both of which I'd previously seen. Saturday 9th, saw 35018 "British India line" make a visit to Appleby working the "Settle and Carlisle" railtour. The following Monday (11th April) I went to Penrith again! This was a great trip featuring celebrities 390121, 390044 and 390119! There were two tampers stabled in the sidings (DR73115 and DR77905) and I also caught 88009 on the Tesco train. From there the excitement at Appleby really began! On Wednesday 13th 37425 and 37422 double headed the engineers to Crewe! Only a 3 wagon train so unfortunately the 37s weren't putting in much of a shift! The following day 68003 worked the engineers but DR75013 came out of the sidings and worked north to Carlisle befor heading down the WCML to Crewe. And well on the Friday the two 37s (37422 and 37425) worked "The Easter Highlander Day 1" railtour which finally tested the pair! An Easter weekend followed visiting family but on the final day of the holidays (Tuesday 19th April) we went to Bolton-le-Sands for a walk along the beach where I saw a 397, a 195 and a 156. On the way home we called at Carnforth and I was a little disappointed not to be able to see more of Steamtown but my disappointment didnt last long. Just as we were leaving more cameras turned up and I figured out that 40013 "Andania" was due to pass light engine. I went back and saw it. Not a great photo but what a sight! And what an Easter Holidays!
