Saturday 9th of April saw the return of a class of locomotive that was very much associated with the final years of the old Waverley Railway. D9009 Alycidon had the honour of being the first Deltic to visit the re-opened railway, ironically also the only Deltic that had never travelled over the original Waverley Route in the 1960s. The tour has been very popular to the extent the a second one is running in June. Tweedbank therefore saw a very busy day with both the tour and Melrose sevens utilizing the station.
It is good to see the railway attracting rail-tours, with the only down side being it causes service trains to be cancelled to accommodate the tour on the line. The push to extend the dynamic loops will surely grow as the railway continues to be very popular.
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- D9009 Alycidon roars through the new Galashiels station on her way to Tweedbank
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- 67015 brings up the rear of the Deltic Borderer railtour
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- Alycidon sits at the buffer stops at Tweedbank.
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- With a full platform from a sell out tour, the return of a Deltic to the Waverley has been a massive draw.
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- On the return to Edinburgh 67015 lays down an exhaust haze as it pulls the train away from crossing the river Tweed
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- With a wave from the driver the 67 makes light work of its load.
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- With a typical blue haze D9009 works away at the rear of the train.
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- Passing the site of Selkirk junction Alycidon sets off back to Edinburgh.
Very good, Alicydon. But who won the 7s?
By: Dave Scott on April 10, 2016
at 7:45 pm
In addition to extending the dynamic loops (back to the original plan?) a run around loop at Tweedbank would be a good idea. Seems crazy to pay for another engine to haul a Deltic back to Edinburgh.
If Melrose had been the terminus there probably would have been lots more rugby fans travelling.
By: John D on April 11, 2016
at 12:08 am
The other engine wasn’t there to “haul it back” but in case it broke down.Network Rail normally insist that there is an auxiluary engine on heritage hauled mainline excursions. They have had their schedules messed up too often especially by steam engines breaking down at inconvenient places.
If a heritage engine broke down between dynamic loops half the days trains might have to be cancelled.
By: A Scotsman in Suburbia on April 11, 2016
at 5:44 pm
The 67 was there to haul it back. There is no run-round loop at Tweedbank. All railtours are top & tailed on the Borders Railway. Matt S.
By: wrha on April 11, 2016
at 5:47 pm