Скачать или смотреть Black 5 45212 | The White Rose - Stevenage, Sutton on Trent, Scrooby & Doncaster - Sat 15th Feb 2025

#ecml #steam #rail200

Saturday 15th February would see the Railway Touring Company run a 'Valentines White Rose' along the regular 'White Rose' route from London Kings Cross to York and return. This years tour would be routed along the Hertford Loop initially, before direct down the ECML to York via Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham and Doncaster. The return would be direct up the ECML as far as Doncaster, before running via Lincoln to Peterborough, where steam would swap to diesel for the final sprint back to London Kings Cross. Black 5 no.45212 would this year be in charge of the steam leg.

The 'White Rose' is a popular route for the Railway Touring Company, and we have filmed both on the southern end of the ECML, and around South Yorkshire where my wifes parents live, but we have never travelled north to see them on a day the tour has run - until this time! Very helpfully this years tour was scheduled for the first Saturday of half term where we planned to head north to spend a few days with Rebecca's parents.

So to the day, and with travelling up with our four month old son it was very much a case of hopefully timing it right and just being able to stop off and catch the tour a couple of times, without waiting around. We start at Bridge Road in Stevenage as I quickly headed 10 minutes from home on my own to capture 45212 working hard away from the Stevenage passenger pick up. Leaving home altogether and heading north at 9.15am, if all went to plan we would overtake 45212 as she waited for three trains to overtake in Carlton on Trent loop, and be able to pull just north of there at Eaves Crossing, Sutton on Trent. Amazingly traffic was light and 45212 pretty much ran to time throughout her northbound run so as we pulled off the A1 at Carlton on Trent at 10.55am we could see 45212 waiting in the loop. There was plenty of time to drive round to the crossing and set up two cameras to see 45212 powering away from the loop in the rain a couple of minutes early at 11.12am. With a water stop planned at Babworth loop, Retford, we now had around an hour to do the 25 minute journey to the site of the former Scrooby Station, between Retford and Doncaster. Two cameras are again set up and we see 45212 pass by at speed. We arrived at Rebecca's parents at 12.40am, taking around an extra hour to do the journey and seeing 45212 working hard twice on the way, a very enjoyable journey.

For the return the challenge would be the light, I decided to take a chance and head to Warren Lane, Bessacarr, and the bridge overlooking the Doncaster to Gainsborough line in the hope of catching 45212 working hard away from Doncaster. Luckily a 8 minute late departure from York had turned to running two minutes early at Bessacarr Junction as the tour left the ECML and in the very last of the light on what had been a dull, drizly and foggy day two cameras again see 45212 working hard towards Lincoln.

Four shots all with 45212 working hard and all without deviating from a journey we were doing anyway! A very nice day, thanks as always to all involved in running the tour and hopefully all the passengers enjoyed there day in York.

Photos...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts198...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts198...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts198...