4498, Sir Nigel Gresley

The North Yorks Moors Railway Gala didn’t disappoint. Such a change to see large locomotives as ours are diminutive in comparison. Undoubtedly, one of the stars of the show was A4, Sir Nigel Gresley. It was the first loco we saw at Pickering and the subject of today’s blip. We also had the privilege of travelling behind the loco when we caught the train from Goathland.

I think we saw most of the locos in steam, the three visiting engines; 4498, 85 and 73156 as well as many from the home fleet, 9F, standard class 4s and SR Schools class Repton and S15 Maunsell Greene King. Also of interest was a freight train hauled by 85, from the Taff Valley Railway, built in Glasgow in 1899. Having said that there were a good number of locos that were younger than me…. Humf

A highlight was a ride in the beautiful varnished teak carriage set, comprised of eight carriages, dates from 1930 to 1950. What craftsmanship.

For the first time we took the train from Grosmont along the Esk Valley mainline to Whitby topped and tailed by a Class 32 diesel and 76079.

We had a few hours in the town, achieving another ambition to have fish and chips at the Magpie. We could have had several plates of fish and chips so frequent were the cafes.

The town looked splendid in the warm sunshine and clear visibility. To help deal with the fish and chips we enjoyed a stroll around the harbour, pier and West Cliff before catching the train back to Grosmont and Pickering.