Further Afield - Northern Belle for Ladies Day at Ascot & New Layout of Tickets.
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| 57 310 "Pride of Cumbria" - © Andy. |
Just over a week ago, I had the opportunity to go and see the Northern Belle again on one of my local lines!
After researching through Railtour Timings on the internet, I had found that there was a DRS Operated tour for Ladies Day at Ascot (18/6/15). A quick check on the Northern Belle wesbite confirmed this, so I imminently confirmed travel plans. I travelled on board the 17:58 service from North Camp down to Wokingham which arrived at around 18:15.
While on board the First Great Western Service which was 166 221 "Reading Traincare Depot", it was apparent that the empty coaching stock was running quite early and I wondered whether I would actually see the tour. Luckily, the ECS must have been held at signals or junctions as the Empty Coaching Stock arrived in to Ascot on time. It's roughly 10 minutes from Ascot to Wokingham, and with extra SWT services to and from Reading, some were running quite late so this delayed the tour a little.
The two locomotives on the Northern Belle this time were two non Northern Belle Liveried Class 57's - 57 306 and 310. I had already seen 57 306, but it was nice to get a tour without Northern Belle liveried Class 57's - these were being used on the Three Peaks Challenge trains.
A bit of background, the 57's were originally built as Class 47 locomotives between 1964 and 1967. The diesel locomotives were rebuilt between 1998 and 2004 from Class 47's at Loughborough, this is why some know Class 57's as Body-snatchers. In it's life before DRS, 57 306 was in Virgin Trains Livery while 57 310 was in Virgin Trains livery and Network Rail Livery. 57 310 has a nameplate of "Pride of Cumbria."
A bit of background, the 57's were originally built as Class 47 locomotives between 1964 and 1967. The diesel locomotives were rebuilt between 1998 and 2004 from Class 47's at Loughborough, this is why some know Class 57's as Body-snatchers. In it's life before DRS, 57 306 was in Virgin Trains Livery while 57 310 was in Virgin Trains livery and Network Rail Livery. 57 310 has a nameplate of "Pride of Cumbria."
Pictured below with a toot toot here and a toot toot there, Direct Rail Services Class 57 locomotive 57 310 leading the 18:25 Northern Belle special from Ascot to Manchester Victoria through Wokingham at 18:35.
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| 57 310 "Pride of Cumbria" - © Andy. Below is 57 306 on the rear of the service. |
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| 57 306 - © Andy. |
As reported in previous months, the new ticket layout is being rolled out slowly across the UK. This is the first time I've had the latest tickets with a fresher look and changed layout - what do you think?!
Andy
