Thursday 16 February 2012

Why the interest in Deltics?

My first encounter with a Deltic was when I was two in 1969 when I was standing with my father and my uncle on one of the platforms at Doncaster. My father tells me that after a conversation with the driver, he was invited on to the footplate of Deltic 13 - The Black Watch. He had to refuse the offer though as I was frightened by the throb of the two Napier Deltic engines as they idled.

It was some seven years later, during the long hot summer of 1976 that I next encountered the Deltics. My parents and I had travelled Northbound up the A1 one Friday evening, heading for Rennington in Northumberland, the first stop over on a three week caravanning holiday.

As I lay in the bunk in the van that first night, I recall listening to the sound of a distant express train hissing across the fields some distance away. The sound was different to any railway noise I had heard before. There was an underlying throb that seemed to resonate through the air, increasing in volume and then gradually fading away on the night air, long after the sound of the train itself had receded.

The next day I told my dad about this strange train noise. He told me that the trains that I could hear were on the East Coast Mainline and were hauled by special Deltic locomotives with twin 18 cylinder marine diesel engines. He explained to me how they got the name Deltic, from these special engines, even drawing a diagram  to try and explain the opposed piston, three crankshaft triangular configuration of the engines. I tried to understand but could not quite grasp the concept. All I knew was that each locomotive had 36 cylinders and 72 pistons and were the most powerful locomotives on British Rail. I was enthralled and begged him to take me to see the locos. So it was that very afternoon that my dad and I set off in the car to see the Deltics.

Rennington is situated a mile or so to the West of Christon Bank on the East Coast Mainline, and we parked at the bridge at the top of the bank. I recall the heat was intense that afternoon and I soon became impatient waiting for something to happen. "one on" shouted my dad and lifted me up so that I could see over the bridge parapet and, with my elbows resting on the bridge, I looked through a pair of binoculars.

At first, I could only see the twin tracks dropping off down the steep gradient of Christon bank, glimmering in the heat haze. Then, there was a purple flash as the sun glinted off something in the misty distance. Sudenly I saw it. Slowly the Deltic came into focus. It seemed to be crawling at first, but as it drew closer I could see the two classic shimmering clouds coming from the exhausts. The sun glinted on the sad droopy eyes and the huge yellow front end seemed to grow suddenly in my binoculars. The engines note changed and for the first time I heard the classic Deltic howl as the driver opened the regulator, coaxing every last ounce of power from the two glorious Napier Deltic engines as the Loco started to climb the bank. That was the noise I had heard before! The sound of 3300 bhp hauling 300 tonnes plus of Mk2D coach up the long steep gradients of Long Houghton and Christon Banks at well over 90 mph.

When I took my eyes away from the binoculars the locomotive was still hundreds of yards away. The tracks started to sizzle and vibrate as the Deltic bore down on our bridge. Then the monster was upon us. I waved frantically and the driver responded with a sharp blast on the two-tones, just before his machine, 55009 "Alycidon" roared beneath us, enveloping us in a warm blast of two stroke diesel exhaust. I shall never forget the experience.

That's why it was so incredible for me when last March, I travelled behind Deltic 55022 "Royal Scots Grey" from London to Edinburgh and back, 30 years after the Deltics were withdrawn. I was hauled up Christon bank at 93mph sat in the first coach behind Deltic 22. It was a profound and emotional experience for me to be doing this and to remember that day way back in 76 with my dad on the bridge.

It is the likes of men like Martin Walker, the owner and operator of Deltic 22, who made this possible by keeping the magic that is the Deltic alive and well.

Long may the Napier Howl be heard on the Mainline!

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