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That’s it done, over, finito, finished. Phew!!! 70013 is back on shed at Carnforth.
There have been times over the last 4 ½ years when in our heart of hearts we began to doubt that today would ever come off. There were some huge obstacles to overcome, and several seemingly insurmountable problems cropped up. But in the end the Brit was ready and performed brilliantly. We received regular updates throughout the trip, it isn’t the same as being there, but it’s a whole lot better than wondering whether everything is going ok. So we had messages to say that the 8F had arrived at Manchester, that they (70013) were just leaving Manchester, that the mobile watering team had arrived at Hellifield by road (thanks team) and had the hoses ready, that the water was going in well and they had plenty of coal. Then we had a message to say that they had arrived to packed platforms in Carlisle - 15 minutes early. The last message of the day told us that they had arrived back on shed, at which point we breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, there will be plenty of other trips in the future, yes there will inevitably be some times when things go wrong, but this one trip meant so much to so many people that it really mattered that it went well.
Well done to all those involved in making sure that today’s trip happened. Thank you all for your efforts.
45305 may have missed out on today’s trip, but she wasn’t forgotten. Next time you see her, look at the front under the smokebox, see the black undercoat – that went on today, specially, so that she wasn’t totally left out. We were at the Great Central with her, and we were all wishing that we were further north...
By Info | Sunday, August 10, 2008 | Tags : 70013