20081220_IMG_7761
Class 86/2 No. 86259 "Les Ross" crosses Dinting Viaduct as it works the 1Z86 12:00 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly railtour on 20th December 2008.
The railtour was a mini excursion added to the itinerary of Vintage Trains' "BBC WM Kidney Kids Christmas Special", which ran from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly, and saw the Class 86 locomotive become the first to reach the Pennine village of Hadfield, the western limit of the former Woodhead route from Manchester to Sheffield.
Unfortunately the tour ran in miserable weather, but the sight of a 'proper' train on this usually EMU-only commuter line gives an idea of what might have been had the much-lamented Woodhead route not closed in 1981.
20081220_IMG_7761
Class 86/2 No. 86259 "Les Ross" crosses Dinting Viaduct as it works the 1Z86 12:00 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly railtour on 20th December 2008.
The railtour was a mini excursion added to the itinerary of Vintage Trains' "BBC WM Kidney Kids Christmas Special", which ran from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly, and saw the Class 86 locomotive become the first to reach the Pennine village of Hadfield, the western limit of the former Woodhead route from Manchester to Sheffield.
Unfortunately the tour ran in miserable weather, but the sight of a 'proper' train on this usually EMU-only commuter line gives an idea of what might have been had the much-lamented Woodhead route not closed in 1981.