In 2023 the GWR Castle 4-6-0 locos celebrate their centenary year. What better way to celebrate than for a pair to showcase their performance on the UK mainline, culminating in the assault of the steepest sustained gradient anywhere on the network?
So, today the stage was set, but with thunderstorms moving in, the rain began to fall just 10 minutes before due time. Someone, somewhere, was smiling on the assembled masses as the rain stopped for 5 or so minutes just as the train approached! With a trailing load equivalent to 14 carriages with an idling diesel locomotive providing electrical supply, we see the pair in full song half-way to the summit near Burcot.
A sight and a sound that I will find hard to forget for a long time.
