Mainline Santa Steam Specials from 1994
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- Опубліковано 22 гру 2020
- To introduce our new section "The 1Z64 Archive" we present a video from 1994 covering circular Santa Specials on the main line. I'm afraid that details such as dates, times and who ran the trains are long forgotten. Even the opening shot of 46521 heading west through Acton Main Line is a mystery as this was not part of the circular route, but must have been a positioning move from the loco's base at Old Oak Common to the trains starting point at Kensington Olympia.
From Olympia the trains headed for Willesden, where they joined the North London Line. At South Acton Junction they swung right onto the freight only link with the Southern Region. Turning left at Kew East Junction, and passing through the long disused N.& S.W.J.R . platforms at Kew Bridge they would then be held at New Kew Junction, for the passing of a local service, before proceeding to Chiswick. From Chiswick it was a straight run to Clapham Junction, followed by a left turn onto the West London Line for the final leg back to Olympia. We don't know what the purpose of the Chiswick stop was; it wasn't a water stop, and passengers couldn't join or leave the train there. We had at least two families express an interest in travelling, but that interest disappeared when they found that they would have to make a round trip to Olympia.
We have several other videos to upload between now and the New Year, but in the meantime
A Very Merry Christmas
excellent job martyn
Brilliant video, well done! Appreciate to watch! Best Regards Railherbie from Germany
Thank you for your kind comment Herbert. Best regards to you too.
such a fantastic compilation. very well done and great to view
Thanks very much. Something similar was planned for this year but obviously it was unable to take place.
Brilliant video Martyn . Great compilation of that year. It brings back great memories. Take care and stay safe. Kind regards C&A
Thanks C&A
It certainly brings back distant memories, featuring locos that are unlikely to see the mainline again. Maybe next year we’ll get to produce something new. Take care.
I think I can help as I have some limited record of travelling on one of the trains. They were marketed by Flying Scotsman Services and were a series of circular steam shuttles using Kensington Olympia as the Start and finishing point. They were advertised as Santa Specials and had Santa on board and were a way of cashing in on the Christmas Steam Santa Special market. The train I was on departed at 15:40 running as you say via North Pole, Willesden, Acton, Kew, Barnes and Clapham back to Kensington.
I believe they ran over a couple of weekends with some running out of Paddington via the Greenford Loop and the others from Kensington. I hope that helps!
Thanks for your input Mark it’s good to hear from someone who actually travelled on one of these trains all those years ago. The only thing we weren’t sure about was who actually ran them. You say it was Flying Scotsman Services? So thanks for that. The trips out of Paddington were billed as Mince Pie Specials and were run after christmas. We put them out in a seperate video at the same time as this one. Thanks again.
Winter,1994