Part 1 (January - June)

It's a dark January morning at London Euston as 47237+47746 are pictured at the head of the Railway Touring Company's 1Z86 0709 charter to Carlisle. The duo were a late replacement for the preserved electric locomotive that had been intended to work the non-steam leg as far as Carnforth, and following a departure reminiscent of the 'Hale Stone' back in 1996 didn't do too bad a job of keeping to the timings (31/01/2015)

Later that evening 47237+47746 are pictured again on arrival back at Euston with the 1Z87 1440 return charter from Carlisle after taking over from 'Duchess of Sutherland' at Farington Junction near Preston. Half an hour earlier whilst hurtling through the Hertfordshire darkness, my '47' mileage had finally topped the million mark, and I can certainly think of worse ways to celebrate the occasion (31/01/2015)

With the '86' still out of traffic awaiting wheelset repairs, I'd assumed the plan for the non-steam legs of the following week's 'Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express' would be identical to the previous one and wasn't disappointed. With dawn breaking, 47237+47746 await departure from London Euston with 1Z86 0709 to Carlisle (07/02/2015)

With the southern end of the WCML in turmoil following an incident earlier that evening, the run back south was nothing like as entertaining as the previous week: 47237+47746 rest on the blocks at London Euston after arriving with 1Z87 1440 ex-Carlisle (07/02/2015)

Having missed the unit I was hoping to make back north there was plenty of time for phots, so here's another view of 47237+47746 at Euston after working 1Z71 forward from Farington Junction. Today's steam loco was 'Duchess of Sutherland' once again, and after sampling some front coach 'thrash' over Shap Fell earlier that morning I'll admit to being a fan (07/02/2015)

47760 arrives at Sleaford with West Coast Railways' 1Z10 0635 Skegness-Carlisle charter (14/02/2015)

47746's newly-applied 'Chris Fudge 29.7.70 - 22.6-10' nameplate is pictured a few moments after being unveiled by family members during a short ceremony at Tamworth station. The loco was en route with 1Z45 0758 Carnforth - Stratford-upon-Avon, a private charter train organised by the Brush Type 4 Fund (02/03/2015)

When 47746 was sold out of preservation by the Brush Type 4 Fund back in 2011, West Coast kindly agreed to a request that the loco be named in honour of Chris (one of our members) after his untimely death the previous year (02/03/2015)

Stewarding duties prevented me from joining the bulk of the train's passengers in the Stratford Ale House, so I made use of the temporarily-deserted platform to record this view of 47746 whilst stabled during the break (02/03/2015)

47245 was on the rear of the train for most of the day, but had played a brief supporting role by leading 1Z45 on the short leg to Stratford after the train had reversed at Leamington Spa (02/03/2015)

A close-up of one of the commemorative window labels that had been produced to mark the occasion (02/03/2015)

Now fired up and ready to go, 47746 awaits departure from Stratford with the 1Z47 1313 return leg to Carnforth, which was routed via Shirley, Sutton Park and the Crewe Independent lines (02/03/2015)

The CIS display at Stratford (02/03/2015)

47746 is pictured on arrival back at Carnforth with 1Z47. Whilst enjoying my first pint of the day a few minutes later it was commented that "Chris would have absolutely loved today" and I wouldn't disagree. Many thanks to all those who made it happen... (02/03/2015)

47237+47580 wait to depart from London Euston with the Railway Touring Company's 1Z86 0709 charter to Carlisle (14/03/2015)

It's only five weeks since I last stood on this spot at this time on a Saturday morning but the days are clearly getting longer as 47237+47580 wait to depart from Euston with 1Z86. With the '86' still out of traffic and no '68' available this week the '47s' were given another crack at getting the train to Carnforth and didn't disappoint (14/03/2015)

With today's excursion being the 'Cumbrian Coast Express' rather than the more usual 'Cumbrian Mountain' affair it was a longer day so I opted to alight and head into work for the afternoon before picking up the return leg later that evening for the run back into London. 47237+47580 await departure from Preston with 1Z86 0709 Euston-Carlisle (14/03/2015)

My return north off the previous evening's 1Z87 included a detour via the Great Central Railway where 47117 is pictured on arrival at Leicester North with 2A23 1300 ex-Loughborough Central (15/03/2015)

A single round trip on the '47' wouldn't normally be enough to lure me down to the East Midlands, but the loco is due to be retired at the end of the month and moved off-site for some major TLC, it seemed rude not to make the effort just in case I don't make it to the forthcoming Diesel Gala. '117 waits to run round at Leicester North before working the 1345 back to Loughborough (15/03/2015)

47580 arrives at East Grinstead with Steam Dreams' 1Z82 0815 charter from Horsted Keynes to Ely. 'Essex' was covering for an unavailable steam locomotive which had been failed the previous day, and had been piloted as far as the Network Rail boundary by one of the Bluebell Railway's own fleet (21/03/2015)

47580 propels its empty train into the reception sidings at Ely after working 1Z82 0815 from Horsted Keynes. This might not have been a mega-mileage move, but the opportunity to sample 'County of Essex' on home soil wasn't one I was going to turn down in a hurry (21/03/2015)

47401 shunts its empty stock at Butterley before working 2P21 1110 to Riddings during a running day at the Midland Railway Centre (05/*04/2015)

47401 'North Eastern' pauses at Swanwick Junction whilst working 2H21 1140 Riddings - Hammersmith (05/04/2015)

47401's final round trip of the day had to be cancelled due to a lack of fuel. 'North Eastern' is seen arriving back into the station loop at Butterley having taken the empty stock up to Hammersmith to run round (05/04/2015)