Rail-Blue Charters in a JV with Spitfire Railtours operated the Birmingham to Glasgow and return charter with 87002 on October 15th and RBC with Flamboyant Trains ran a pair of Class 50s to Minehead from Manchester Piccadilly on October 18th.
It has to be said that both trains were not without their problems. 87002 suffered from an overheating battery charger shortly after leaving Polmadie to work the return leg to Birmingham International and 50044 shut down with battery problems and loss of coolant at Severn Tunnel Junction. In both instances, 57601 powered the return to Birmingham on 15th October and 50049 worked on it's own to Minehead where 50044 was repaired. The return to Manchester Piccadilly was without incident, both locos putting up a great performance.
However, the atmosphere on both charters was euphoric and gave an opportunity to see what a Class 87 and a pair of Class 50s could do. Thanks to all who supported both charters and made so many positive comments about the rolling stock.
We also managed to raise £1,000 for our charity, the Sarcoma Trust across both charters which was a stupendous effort. Many thanks to Spitfire Railtours and the AC locomotive Group who supported the raffle and donated prizes on the Electric Scot Tribute .
We'll be back out again with 40145 (see separate story) on December 6th with a spin from Shrewsbury to Lincoln. We hope to see you there!
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