A couple of photos from today. The Flying Scotsman on a rare trip along the Carlisle to Newcastle line. After all my prep. They went a stuck a bloody diesel engine on the front!!! And 25mins late. Already used up 1 full battery just hovering in place. All a bit of an anti climax really. Photos taken in RAW although the speed it was going at, l could probably have used AEB no probs! 
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This happens a lot. Usually itâs only pulled by the Scotsman in one direction and returns via diesel. And yeah. Itâs always late, much to the annoyance of the other train companies which use the line as their customers get to put a compo claim in on the lateness.
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I see what you mean about the diesel engine, bit of shame they do that, spoils the magic of the steam engine.
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9 times out of 10 the steam engine is far more reliable then the crap the call engines these daysâŚ
Think they should go back to steam , more jobs for people , and far , far nicer. and lots more pride in the railways⌠
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Who wants to go work down tâpit these days, hard days work would kill off most of the youth.
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@CSB73 Aye I think you and the passengers were robbed , it looks like itâs not even making an effort looking at the smoke compared to the video by Markas the other day , I wonder how much the passengers are paying for their nostalgic journey âŚAlan
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Depends if you wine and dine. But itâs pricey. I believe for this very trip with pick up from Tamworth I was quoted about ÂŁ200 per person for standard carriage, (though to be fair I bet Iâd be quoted around the same if I tried to do that trip at short notice by the regular railway operators!) it was also advertised in advance it would be hauled back by diesel. this was when covid was in its winter prime though and the main reason I never bothered following it up as at the time you just had no idea what the state of play was going to be. I think they were intending to run it as a ânormalâ trip but god knows in the end.
I know my local heritage railways prices are ridiculous at the moment due to having to buy the whole compartment regardless of if youâre a single traveller or a family of six! Much to my annoyance.
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I had a similar experience to this a couple of years ago at Ribblhead. We were on a short break in the area with my photography group & it was their idea to go to the viaduct, I was well up for it after I checked if there might be something interesting going through. A special was indeed booked southbound. After arriving, I checked on the trains progress & it was on time, so I put my P4 up & hovvered near the station looking north, then I noticed a puff of smoke as it came out of the tunnel. Damn it, they had put a kettle on the front, all the info I had read said it would be a 37 but no. Chug, chug chug, said Thomas as I brought the phantom back & began to dismantle it. I was most miffed, there was a 47 on the back but no sign of the 37. Sometimes you get unlucky.
::
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Last week the âBrauntonâ steam train came along our line right behind my house but they put the diesel on at the back. Itâs only used if there is a problem with the steam loco.
@firstadekit @Rusty21 @Bashed @Sandbagger, thanks for your comments chaps. Since found out it broke down in Carlisle. Should have been the Scotsman pulling the train to Newcastle and then onto Darlington, I believe, where the diesel was to take over. Typical, I get the perfect location and weather!! Never mind, it has inspired me to try again maybe later in the year. On the day, just unlucky I guess 
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When planning a shoot of a train try using the website realtimetrains and do a detailed search of train movements at the nearest station. Its pretty much to the minute. You dont need to hover for no reason
Cheers
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Traksy uses realtimetrains data but goes one better if a map is available of the area youâre looking at. Itâs like the famous London Tube map, an artistâs impression of the lines nothing like reality. Hereâs a screenshot of Lancaster and you can see the Blackpool branch including lights. This is what I used to see Tornado leaving Carnforth yesterday but it doesnât yet map out Ribblehead. You can also click on a train code and it shows the realtimetrains data for it.
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Thanks @highcamera , @Crackerjack for the info above. Iâll remember these tips next time around. Had the drone hovering for 1 full battery yesterday as I was just preparing for the scheduled time of the train passing. Didnât know then about the problems they were having at Carlisle. One thingâs for sure I have never landed and changed battery as quick in my life!
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Agree.
Were short of European fruit puckers now that Brexit has happenedâŚ
A journalist naively asked the farmer. Why donât you use the unemployed youths?
His eyes rolled up and said they donât last half a day and just walk off site.
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As someone who has quite a lot of work around the mainline railway, I would not agree with you on that.
A more modern diesel such as a CL66 may not be glamorous but generally just works, ditto the more reliable older locos such as the CL37.
Some of the older types of diesel can be a bit unreliable admittedly, but fewer of those about now, the fleet mainstay in the big FOCs is the CL66. Passenger units are generally reliable too, the miles between failures we get on passenger units these days far outweighs what was achieved in steam days.
The other issue with steam is that getting them to run with the modern track safety kit is not so simple, and I cannot see the public being happy with the railway passenger fatality rate of say the 1950âs.
The Scotsman has for decades been something of a tetchy money-pit so I wouldnât be surprised if the diesel was supplying the motive power as it was being wicked again.
Or maybe run without the diesel AND no cap-out- and see how long steam charters last. (Clue- not long). Steam Charters have a low cap-out on delay minutes compared with other commercial trains, but the flip side is that NR require âinsurance policyâ diesel traction which is fair to me.
GC
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If you want to cheat, there is always PS
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Iâve driven the CL66 CL37, and the 101. To be fair it was on Train Sim World 2 on the Xbox. But so realistic.