'Black 5' no. 45231 - 28 July 2015

A trip to the wild uplands of The Pennines for ‘Black 5’ no. 45231 with 'The Dalesman'. It is a very wet day indeed, in torrential rain it’s a struggle keeping our equipment dry as we scramble across boggy ground to our location at Ais Gill Viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. The whole of Mallerstang Common is shrouded in low cloud but we have a good view of the line and only just manage to set up before we see the exhaust from 45231 on the 1/100 climb towards the summit a short distance behind us. Despite the rain it is a calm day with just a very light breeze as we pick up the sound of 45231 against the backdrop of rushing falls at Ais Gill. With 11 coaches attached and a damp road this is a good test for a ‘5’ but 45231 is on great form and there is only a hint of a slip as the loco approaches. 45231 makes a wonderful spectacle as it hammers across the viaduct and away towards the summit.  45231 was returning to Hellifield following a trip to Carlisle. The section between York and Hellifield was diesel hauled.  

 

Listen to 45231 on the climb on Soundcloud here.