The Branch Line Society (Test)
Guest
Once again, the Branch Line Society excelled itself on Sat 4 Dec by partnering with ScotRail and Railway Children to deliver a rather special 5-car HST charter (set HA10) through to Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Railway.
As we walked along the special red carpet laid along Edinburgh Waverley P2, we could hear pipers from Dollar Academy School playing 'ScotRail the Brave' - the young musicians fingering the chanter with expertise. The seasonally decorated special balloon arch marked the entrance to the platform area, as Bill Reeve, Director of Rail at Transport Scotland (dressed in a festive waistcoat) welcomed the BLS contingent and many families from the local area. Our Fixtures Secretary arranged a photo call with the Driver, asking him to hold the bespoke 'ScotRail Santa Express' headboard (made by Procast of Wakefield).
Local BTP officers looked on with interest as Kev Adlam also spoke to the Driver Manager about a crossover of interest for home time. Once onboard the fully (and very quickly) sold out train, the attention to detail that had been paid to the train presentation by ScotRail and the Society volunteers, who had helped arrange the event, was obvious. Seasonal garlands, twinkling lights and special posters helped create a wonderful Christmas feel. Departing Edinburgh on time at 08.58, Magic Gareth (the onboard entertainer) performed sleight of hand table magic for all those on board, and later produced balloon models in the shape of reindeer, but without antlers! Our Committee members helped serve fresh pastries, while ScotRail volunteers dispensed complimentary hot drinks and light refreshments. Tim Brawn, a member of our stewarding team, completed the word search in the 'kids' activity pack.
Heading over the Forth Rail Bridge, special seasonal messages appeared on the customer information screens as Tim Wade from '125 Group' recorded details of the power cars (43175 & 43179) in his well travelled notepad. We were all delighted to be visited by George Michael from Wham! and Mariah Carey (who explained what she wanted for Christmas) among many other celebrities, but sadly it was only in the medium of song via the public address system. Special souvenir tickets (to Lapland!) were handed out to children and a film crew captured footage for the 'Inside Central Station' series. Jim Sellens, another member of our stewarding team, explained that we were not inside Central station, but on the Ladybank Single to Perth. The producer didn't seem to understand his explanation of the importance of 'directionality' and he went off to film ScotRail staff dressed as elves instead.
After a crew change at Perth, an extra stop was made at Pitlochry to pick up Alex Hynes, Managing Director of Scotland's Railway. It was rumoured that he only needs thirty odd miles to clear '175' for 'a thou'. A further stop, at Kingussie, was for the Strathspey Railway route conductors to join. The big man himself was seen to walk the platform in the snow waving to the little (and not so little) kids on the train! This was the highlight for many onboard, but the most rewarding part for our members followed next; the rather special connection on to the Strathspey Railway via 'HA313' signal.
This explained why the tickets were to 'Lapland' - we had gained 'overlap' between NR and Strathspey.
When Aviemore signal box closed (26 Mar 2019) with resignalling and transfer of control to Inverness Signalling Centre, the connection became a signalled passenger route (a colour light LED onto the railway and a semaphore off). The former ground frame worked access points were also motorised.
Shortly after, we arrived at Boat of Garten where the Strathspey catering team provided lovely hot soup and sandwiches served from their dining train set, while families could take photos with Santa and Cairngorm reindeers visiting in the adjacent station yard. An hour later, we all rejoined the train to head home at 13.26, knowing we had the run-round loop at Aviemore P3 to enjoy as we 'undertook' the Strathspey's own seasonal train stabled in that platform, hauled by Ivatt 2MT 46512. Lovely (not Loveday) presents were distributed to every child by Santa as we climbed to 1,484 ft above sea level to clear Drumochter Pass Summit. A great sense of joy was shared as it was announced that this train had raised over £12,500 for Railway Children. Back on 4 Dec, return was via Stirling (crew change).
Over 300 miles later, red pens were deployed by some as the crossover from P20 to P2 at Waverley was enjoyed; the Fixtures Secretary was seen to smile one more time, as that conversation from eight hours earlier paid off and we arrived back at the capital on time at 16.46. https://bit.ly/31IjIdL is a nice ScotRail staff filmed video of the tour (6â…” min). Merry Christmas everyone!
David Palmer kindly produced route descriptions and historical notes for the Boat of Garten and Fife Circle Santa Special trips - available as an e-BLN 1391 combined download. After careful consideration, due to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's 10 Dec announcement, the latter (11 & 18 Dec) were cancelled.
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