Some photos of yesterdays (11th June) steam hauled royal train, the first in over 30 years. I also took some photos with my trusty old 35mm camera of the train on the move in the Welsh countryside which I will post when I have processed the slides. Martyn covered the actual cars of the royal train in great detail in a recent posting so my photos are mainly of the loco. The train travelled up to North Wales from London in the early hours of the morning hauled by diesel locos and was then stabled in a remote freight spur at Valley on the Isle of Anglesey. Here pacific no.6233 “Duchess of Sutherland” was attached ready for the short journey to the small town with the long name…LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH where the Queen was to start her tour of the area. The British royal train in steam days always carried 4 lamps on the front of the loco. The centre lamp above the buffer beam disguises a high intensity safety lamp which is a modern day requirement for steam locos operating on the main line. While the Queen continued her tour by road the royal train made its way to Llandudno Junction station and waited for her arrival. Visible security……. the good old British “Bobby” Believe me there were plenty of other less conspicuous officers in the vicinity. Two members of the loco crew in their smart new overalls ready to be presented to the Queen. The royal train headboard. Apparently none of the original boards had survived and there were no drawings so this one was constructed by scaling up old photographs. One of the lamps specially handmade for the occasion can also be seen. The Queen was later presented with one of these as a momento of the journey. John [ 12 June 2002, 10:57: Message edited by: John Whitby ]
John, these photos are very exciting for the ones that loves old steamers. BTW how do you pronounce the town name LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH ? (phonetically I mean) ------- Helge SR&WF NARA member #5
<font color="336633">Good photos I would have thourght that they would have painted the cab roof white...... or do they not do that anymore </font>
That is one FINE looking locomotive. Am I to presume that the two gentlemen in workmens coveralls were the driver and the fireman? I'm sure those two gents have seen plenty in their RR careers and were probably hand- selected for this assignment. CT
I knew we could rely on you for some splendid photos John Funny how the loco crew always get new overalls when royalty is around I see the locomotive is carrying a Camden shed plate - happy memories of visiting the depot in the days of steam (not entirely legally)
Meanwhile at the rear of the train and getting very little attention was the almost obligatory “royal” class 47 diesel. For some unknown reason the spare loco “Windsor Castle” was being used as normally “Prince William and/or “Prince Henry” are used (see Martyns posting) because they are painted in the same livery as the royal train cars. On this particular occasion the diesel loco had a very relaxing day and was only called upon to assist when the train needed to travel in reverse for a number of miles. Below is a photo of the plate carried by the loco indicating its royal status. No doubt "Duchess of Sutherland" will be entitled to carry one of these crests in future ?
Helge, I do not speak Welsh but if you care to visit Llanfair P.G. there is a description of what the name means and a wav. file of a nice young lady pronouncing it. John.
Nice pics John. Is the air brake gear on the Duchess under that bit of panelling on the back of the tender? Just curious, it looks like the only non-original looking bit I can see! Don't know the reason why the reserve 47 instead of one of the usual pair was used though? Is it the middle of a busy period & giving time for the other two to have a quick clean/service maybe? Anyhow, nice pics, looks like North Wales is yet another part of the country I'll have to get around to visiting!
Martyn, I am not sure but you could well be right about the position of the air brake gear. I believe that the coal-pusher is also in this area. Steam can be seen venting from the rear of the tender. “Prince William” took over from the Duchess at Crewe so it would appear his younger brother is skiving. John.
Beautiful photographs! Thank you for them, I'm very interested in how you managed to get so close! Especially interesting for me since I lived very close to Valley for a while and in Llandudno Junction for a few years. Yes, I can pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
, I LOVE THOSE PICTURES!!!! Well That is a very very long name 58 letters to be exact!! Natalie's friend put that train station's name on one of the audio tapes that we send back and forth......and that is one heck of a long name, I could try to get it off the tape if ya'll wanted me too to place on here.
