The Deltic Scotsman.

"In Memoriam: Diana, Princess of Wales. 31 August 1997"
This simple wording was carried on the window labels in each coach and on the cover of the tour brochure following the sudden death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

With the announcement that Diana's funeral was to be on this Saturday I suspect many participants of this tour were expecting it to be postponed or cancelled. In the event it was decided to run the tour as, in the words of John Farrow of Hertfordshire Railtours: "a positive and unique mark of respect by the rail enthusiast fraternity, for the Princess and for the principles which she so tirelessly supported."

The tour proceeds, and those from the days raffle, were given given to the "Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund".

I would like to put on record my thanks to all at Hertfordshire Railtours and the other organisations involved, for running the tour and also for the "special touches" on the day that I am sure will have made it a tour that will be long remembered by all on board.

......

The tour described:

I, like many aboard, chose to use the railway to get to London rather than risk taking the car and getting caught in any jams. I rolled onto Kings Cross station just after 0430 to see 47777 "Restored" at the platform 1 stops with the tour stock. I found my seat in the second coach and managed to get my head down for a little while, being awoken something after 6am by the sound of D9000 backing onto the train.

As a mark of respect, D9000 was carrying a wreath on the top headlamp bracket and two loco lamps, one above each buffer. As a final touch, the headcode panel had been turned to show only black.

The outward run to Edinburgh was not too eventful but was a good example of what the Deltics were built for, mile after mile of high speed running. Pick up points at Stevenage, Peterborough and York also gave opportunity to savour the climb back to speed. D9000 perfomed faultlessly, cruising most of the journey at, or very close to, 90mph.

It was nice arriving at York on platform 5, bringing back more memories of the days when all the northbound expresses would be Deltic hauled. On the approach to Newcastle we were stopped on King Edward Bridge and it was commented just how sparse the traffic was on the road bridge alongside us (this would have been shortly before the time that Diana's funeral was due to start). We pulled up at Newcastle station on time for a crew change and soon after headed off towards Berwick and Scotland.

As another mark of respect on the day, it was arranged that our train would be stopped and a two minute silence held. An so it was that, shortly after passing through Berwick station, we slowed and then stopped with D9000 exactly at the England-Scotland border sign. Both engines were shut down for two minutes and all of us on board took the time to reflect on the events of the past week and what it meant to us personally.

The remainder of the journey to Edinburgh was made at a very good pace and although we were slowed on the approach to Waverley station, we arrived at 1309, one minute early. As at York, we did not use the normal "railtour" platforms but were brought into platform 11. We had 20 minutes to photograph RSG then just after 1330 we set off for a "mini-tour" over the Forth Railway Bridge and round the Fife circle. I do hope someone captured on video our exit from Haymarket South Tunnel, and through the station - looking back we could not see the station for the cloud of blue-white exhaust that enveloped the platforms and the passengers waiting for a service train!

The next 90 minutes or so were spent enjoying D9000 working at low and mid speeds as we ran over the Forth Bridge and clockwise around the Fife circle through Dunfermline, Cardenden and Kirkcaldy. All too soon we were re-crossing the Forth Bridge and were back at Edinburgh. Here we said farewell to RSG which was soon despatched to Motherwell for stabling until her next turn of duty. 87101 appeared and was hooked on ready for the run back to London. The wreath that adorned D9000 was also put onto 87101.

There's not much to say about the return leg as it was a straight high speed run with the same stops as the outward. I also only remember bits of it as my early start caught up with me! I left the train at Peterborough, having arranged a lift home which saved me about four hours travelling time going into, then back out, of London.

An excellent railtour and, I believe, a fitting tribute to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales from the rail enthusiast fraternity.

Route, Distances and Timing's (Booked and Actual)

Railtour Operator : Hertfordshire Rail Tours
Train reporting number : 1Z93

Motive power;
D9000 : Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley and round Fife Circle
87101 : Edinburgh Waverley - Kings Cross

Stock : Set BN96 (12 mark 1 coaches)

M	C	Location	Booked	Actual	:	Booked	Actual
0	00	London Kings Cross	07.03d	07.04	:	21.50a	-
2	41	Finsbury Park	07/08	07/10	:	21/39	-
4	78	Alexandra Palace	07/11	07/13	:	21/35	-
12	57	Potters Bar	07/19	07/18	:	21/27	-
20	25	Welwyn Garden City	07/25	07/24	:	21/22	-
23	73	Woolmer Green Junction	07/28	07/26	:	21/20	-
27	45	Stevenage	07.32a	07.29	:	21.16d	-
-	-	-	07.34d	07.35	:	21.15a	-
31	74	Hitchin	07/40	07/41	:	21/11	-
44	10	Sandy	07/48	07/48	:	21/00	-
58	70	Huntingdon	07/59	07/57	:	20/51	-
68	28	Connington South Junction	-	-	:	20/46	-
69	26	Holme	08/06	08/04	:	-	-
76	29	Peterborough	08.14a	08.10	:	20.39d	20.44
76	29	Peterborough	08.17d	08.18	:	20.38a	20.42
84	64	Tallington	08/26	08/27	:	20/28	20/34
99	61	Stoke Junction	08/40	08/37	:	20/20	20/26
105	38	Grantham	08/45	08/40	:	20/16	20/21
109	56	Barkston South Junction	08/48	08/43	:	20/14	20/18
120	08	Newark North Gate	08/55	08/49	:	20/07	20/11
138	49	Retford	09/09	09/01	:	19/56	19/59
152	00	Loversall Carr Junction	09/22	09/11	:	19/49	19/51
155	77	Doncaster	09/26	09/14	:	19/46	19/48
160	16	Shaftholme Junction	09/29	09/17	:	19/43	19/46
169	16	Temple Hirst Junction	09/36	09/24	:	19/38	19/40
174	75	Hambleton North Junction	09/40	09/29	:	19/34	19/36
182	79	Colton Junction	09/46	09/37	:	19/29	19/31
188	40	York	09.52a	09.50	:	19.24d	19.26
-	-	-	09.55d	09.56	:	19.20a	19.19
190	11	Skelton Junction	09/57	09/59	:	19/17	19/16
198	00	Tollerton Junction	10/05	10/08	:	19/10	19/10
210	56	Thirsk	10/15	10/20	:	19/00	18/58
218	36	Northallerton	10/25	10/28	:	18/53	18/52
232	50	Darlington	10/37	10/36	:	18/45	19/42
244	57	Ferryhill South Junction	10/47	10/45	:	18/29	18/34
247	33	Tursdale Junction	10/49	10/47	:	18/25	18/32
254	53	Durham	10/54	10/53	:	18/20	18/27
268	02	King Edward Bridge South Junction	11/09	11/03	:	18/10	18/16
268	56	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	11c12a	11.11	:	18c08d	18.10
-	-	-	11.16d	11.16	:	18c04a	18.10
270	50	Heaton South Junction	11/20	11/21	:	18/01	18/06
285	26	Morpeth	11/34	11/36	:	17/49	17/55
303	45	Alnmouth	11/49	11/49	:	17/37	17/43
319	13	Belford Level Crossing	12/02	11/59	:	17/27	17/31
335	56	Berwick-upon-Tweed	12/14	12/10	:	17/17	17/20
345	78	Reston	12/23	12/26	:	17/10	17/11
351	78	Grantshouse	12/29	12/30	:	17/05	17/07
364	07	Dunbar	12/38	12/39	:	16/56	16/58
375	32	Drem	12/47	12/46	:	16/48	16/51
389	53	Portobello Junction	13/00	13/02	:	16/38	16/40
393	12	Edinburgh Waverley	13.10a	13.09	:	16L34d	16/36

M	C	Location	Booked	Actual
0	00	Edinburgh Waverley	13.30d	13.33
2	28	Haymarket West Junction	13/36	13/38
9	02	Dalmeny Junction	13/42	13/44
13	12	Inverkeithing	13/48	13/52
16	68/td>	Dunfermline Lower	13/55	14/00
22	41	Cowdenbeath	14/05	14/17
26	70	Cardenden	14/12	14/22
31	64	Glenrothes with Thornton	14/21	14/29
32	28	Thornton South Junction	14/25	14/31
36	62	Kirkaldy	14/30	14/37
42	42	Burntisland	14/37	14/44
49	40	Inverkeithing	14/45	14/52
53	50	Dalmeny Junction	14/55	15/01
60	24	Haymarket West Junction	15/04	15/09
76	13	Edinburgh Waverley	15L10a	15.15