Home / Railway Gallery / Standard Gauge Heritage Railways / East Lancashire Railway / ELR 2018 / Non-event visits to the ELR in June 2018 117


This gallery contians a number of images taken during non-event visits to the ELR in June 2018. My first visit of the month was on Sunday 3rd of June. I had planned to be at a bus event in Kirkby on that day, but the closure of Lime Street Station and Northern Fail's continuing shambolic rail service quickly put an end to that idea. Instead I had a few pleasant hours at Rawtenstall Station, spoiled only by that damn sunshine - when will things return to the more normal grey, wet and miserable once again I wonder?:-)

My second visit of June 2018 took place on Sunday 10th and the main thing taking place on this day was the annual 'Race the Train' event, where runners follow the 8 mile route from Bury to Rawtenstall, and the ones completing the course receive a T-Shirt and very nice railway themed medal, followed by a ride back on the train. Locos in service on this day were Class 14 Teddy Bear 'Ernest', steam loco 'City of Wells' on the Dining Train, and A4 Pacific 'Union of South Africa' on the service train.

Another visit on Sunday 17th of June, this time to see the Bus Gathering and Collectors Fair at the Bury Transport Museum, after that I travelled back to Rawtenstall behind the Class 14. Due to City of Wells being away at the KWVR 50th event, Witherslack Hall was on the Dining Train, so most of the services were diesel hauled. To make things more interesting for visitors, services from Bury to Heywood were topped and tailed on the way out, and double-headed on the way back. The other locos in service were Class 47 D1501 and Class 25 D7629.

I was back there again on Sunday 24th of June, mainly because of the heat and the unreliability of Northern Rail Train Service.

I was there yet again on Wednesday 27th of June, which is an unusual day for me to be there, but in this case it was as a paying passenger on the Midweek Dining Train, and very good it was too. That didn't stop me from taking the opportunity to take pictures whenever I got the chance though, and with the black Class 14 on the rear of the train (there were 5 coaches on the Dining Train, plus five coaches on the service train, several of which were carrying 'evacuees' and WWW2re-enactors), and Witherslack Hall at the front, the train was so long it barely fit in the platform.

My final visit of June took place on the 29th, which was due to the visiting GWR813 being scheduled to run that day, this was also on the Dining Train, along with Class 14 'Ernest'.

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