6201 'Princess Elizabeth' Thunders Over Ais Gill On The Dalesman (2019)

LMS 6201 'Princess Elizabeth makes her full Royal return to action on the Dalesman. The outbound trip was a difficult one for the big red machine, as there was signalling issues at Hellifield meaning a late departure of 27 minutes. To make time up it was hoped that the locomotive could run non stop to Carlisle and avoid the need to stop at Appleby for water. Unfortunately 6201 used more water than planned over the long drag and it was decided that they would now take up the chance to water as they were close to empty, but more bad luck would ensue and on arrival the crew had no water tanker due to fact the tanker was sent away as it wasn't needed. This meant the crew had to get permission from the signalman and control to cross over to the other platform to use the southbound water tower, making for the rarest of moves at Appleby. The lengthy delays were now adding up and taking it's toll on other services which were at a standstill further down the line.

In this video we capture the arrival of Princess Elizabeth at Appleby and the discussions between the footplate crew on the water issue and what to do. The movements around Appleby do not feature as they are too lengthy. After watering we capture Lizzie departing Appleby running over one hour late.

With the outbound issues behind them the return trip over the S&C was nothing less than superb and the long awaited sound of 6201 roaring over the S&C was back ! The final two scenes show Lizzie storming towards Ais Gill summit and romping over the summit at 38mph with load 12 for good measure.

Great to have this locomotive back and performing superbly well considering her lengthy time on the sidelines. I hope you enjoy the return of 'Lizzie'