Another steam train!

I seem, inadvertently, to be turning into a bit of a steam loco anorak! I just seem to be bumping into them all over the place. There I was, on Keighley station, minding my own business and waiting for a train, when I noticed one or two chaps hanging around who looked vaguely train-spotter-ish. Since the main line there is adjacent to the Keighley and Worth Valley heritage line, that is not in itself unusual but nothing much was happening over at the KWVR side. Then I heard one of them say something to another about 'It's just left Hellifield' (a station further up the line).  Hmm, thought I, I wonder if a steam train is due? Then... chuff, chuff... could that be a steam loco I hear? Yes, it was! I just managed to get a quick photo - and I had to be quick as it was moving at quite a lick.

I've googled it since (as you do) and discovered it was No 60009 Union of South Africa, which was being moved from the Bury East Lancs railway all the way over to Grosmont and the North York Moors railway. (I'm not sure what the Flying Scotsman sign was about, as it isn't the famous Flying Scotsman engine.) For those that like to know these things, it is an LNER class A4 locomotive, built in Doncaster in 1937 specifically for the East Coast main line. Designed by Nigel Gresley, these streamlined locos were capable of high speeds. In fact, the world speed record for a steam train (126 mph) is held by the Mallard, a similar A4 locomotive. Union Of South Africa was withdrawn from regular service in 1966, having hauled the last booked steam train service from Kings Cross to Edinburgh in 1964.  It's not an especially beautiful train (to me anyway). I prefer more conventional shapes, like the one I saw on Leeds station HERE. Still a real thrill to see steam locos pass through... yes, I might be turning into a proper anorak.