Hi all. Today saw me take a trip to the Midland Railway Centre, Butterley in Ripley, Derbyshire to see the PRCLT (Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust) BR 4MT Standard 2-6-4 Tank Loco No.80080 in operation on the Midland Railway Trust's own site between Butterley and Swanwick Junction....Well...So I thought anyway...
I woke up at 06:00 and having got a lift from my dad to Burton Railway Station, i caught the train into Derby to change for a bus to Butterley. I arrived at Butterley Station just after 9am and walked down the pathway to the station entrance. Having walked onto Butterley Platform, I proceeded to walk to The West Shed home of The Princess Royal Locomotive Trust who own No.6233 "Duchess of Sutherland" and No.46203 "Princess Margaret Rose".
On my arrival at Swanwick Junction, I was greeted by a Midland Railway Trust Volunteer who informed me that 80080 had failed and would be replaced by the railway's resident Class 141 Pacer DMU Railcar. With this information in mind I had a choice, I could either head back to Butterley and catch the Bus back to Derby and go home or I could stay and photograph 80080, 6233 and 46203 and spend the rest of the day photographing and filming the Class 141... I decided that it would be a waste of money to go home emptied handed without any photos, so wandered up to West Shed to be greeted by three other photographers who were gathered taking photos of 80080. I got my DSLR Camera out of my camera bag and began taking photos of her in the morning sunlight. I was then approached by a PRCLT volunteer who informed me that 80080 would be moved back into the shed by the trust's Class 08 Shunter No. 08 331, With that in mind I managed to get a photo of both the 08 and the Standard Tank side by side before the 08 moved to drag 80080 back into the shed.
Now with the main reason for my visit no longer running I decided to walk back down to Swanwick Junction station to wait for the 141 Pacer to get a morning photograph of it in the sunlight. On my way down to the station i decided to stop off outside the Exhibition Hall to take photographs of the Class 37, 20 & 52 along with a diesel shunter too....lol.
I then headed towards Swanwick Junction Station to wait for the 141 Pacer Railcar with the first train of the day (11:00) from Butterley to Riddings Junction. Before long the sound of the 141's horn could be heard before she came into sight in beautiful sunny conditions.
Having taken a photo of 141113 on her arrival into Swanwick Junction. I decided to hang around to wait for her return so I could get a photo of her departing Swanwick for Butterley.
On her return I quickly got a photo of her as she left Swanwick for Butterley before walking up to West Shed again this time to take photos of 6233, 46203 & 99041. For anyone wondering, 99041 is 6233's support coach for when she's out on the mainline, currently receiving some well earned TLC in the West Shed's workshop.
After taking photos of 6233 and 99041 from the workshop balcony I worked my way back towards The West Shed Entrance to get photos of 46203 and 80080 before making my way back to the station to catch the train back to Butterley.
While on the workshop Viewing Gallery, I noticed that work had started on repainting 99041 as can be seen in the photo above.
After taking photos of 80080 in the shed, i headed out the shed back to Swanwick Junction Station to get the train back to Butterley. On my arrival back at Butterley it was time for refreshments before filming 141113 as she departed with the 14:00 service to Swanwick Junction. After filming her depart Butterley for Swanwick Junction, before taking a photo of Butterley Signal Box.
While waiting for the return of the 141, I discovered that Butterley Signal Box had been bought down to Derbyshire from Ais Gill on the Settle and Carlisle Railway by volunteers of the Midland Railway Trust Ltd. below are two photos of the box, the first being a distance photo looking across Butterley Yard. The other being a close up photo of the signal box itself.
The box can be seen in all its glory gleaming in the sunlight with its lovely looking Carmine and Cream colour.
A close up of Butterley box with the box name clearly visible on the front. One interesting thing I discovered during my visit was that non of the 3 operational boxes on the line were in use, this is due to only running one train service with the driver on the DMU keeping hold of the token during the service. (Sadly I was unable to get a photo of the token itself... watch this space for future photos of railway tokens and signalling systems though.)
Before long the recognisable sound of 141113's Two Tone Horn could be heard in the distance as she approached with her train for Hammersmith. Before long she departed Butterley for Swanwick Junction. I decided to get one more shot of the DMU, this time at the reservoir edge looking across at the train. After two more shots of the Pacer, this time crossing the causeway, I walked back into the station to look in the gift shop before catching my bus back to Derby.
After a quick look in the gift shop to buy myself yet another DVD and some chocolate I left MRC to get the bus back into Derby. Another great day out once again. Cheers all, Jake...
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