'Twas on a fine May morning…

Except that it wasn't… It was an awful morning with horizontal rain and just enough of a breeze to chill you through once you were soaked!

But I'd made up my mind to pop out and photograph Compass Tours 'The Canterbury Tales Explorer' rail tour as it stopped at Langley Mill this morning so off I went…

37402 and 37405 pause at Langley Mill, 28/05/14

The tour started off from Crewe at 05.23 and was due to arrive in Canterbury (via a circuitous route) at 13.46 for a three hour stop before making the return trip. 37402 Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954-8.6.2013 and 37405 seemed to be making light work of a multicoloured rake of nine coaches and departed bang on time at 08.05.

Compass Tours have an interesting and varied programme of trips with starting points all over the country and although I haven't yet travelled with them I've heard very good reports from those who have and I'm very tempted by one of their Scottish tours.

Now, if only they could do something about the weather!

Put the kettle on…

BR Class 7MT 4-6-2 70013 OLIVER CROMWELL at Cromford, 27/5/12

By my reckoning it's been 27 years since I last stood by the lineside to photograph a steam railtour on the mainline but Sunday 27th May saw me standing in a field waiting for 'The Peak Forester' to pass on its way to Peak Rail at Matlock.
By the time 70013 OLIVER CROMWELL passed Cromford Meadows just south of Matlock, the tour was running roughly two hours late thanks to a combination of a track machine blocking in the stock used for the charter and a footplate incident which caused injury to some members of the crew. The warm and sunny weather (and a picnic) made the wait a pleasant one though so I can't complain.