The 'Stainmore Limited'

To mark the closure of the Stainmore line the Darlington and North East branch of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) organised a final rail tour on Saturday 20th January 1962. The train was hauled throughout its 196 mile round trip by BR Standard Class 4MT 76049 piloted by BR Standard Class 3MT 77003.

The nine coach 'special' departed Darlington Bank Top station at 10:49 and headed up as far as Shildon from where it followed the curve west to Fieldens Bridge and then the SD@LUR line to Barnard Castle. After a 20 minute halt there, followed by a seven minute break at Stainmore summit, the train arrived at Kirkby Stephen for a twelve minute photo stop at 13:04

Leaving Kirkby Stephen the 'Stainmore Limited' headed west to Tebay with a brief stop at Ravenstonedale. At Tebay there was no time to 'turn' the locomotives so they took the train 'tender first' back to Kirkby Stephen where they arrived for a second time at 14:55. From the East Station the train worked west again down the Eden Valley branch stopping at Appleby West and Clifton Moor before proceeding to Penrith and on to Carlisle for the locomotives to be 'turned' for the return trip to Darlington.

At Carlisle there was a three hour stopover so that the "Stainmore Limited could follow the last scheduled 20:30 DMU service back from Penrith to Darlington and actually operate as the last revenue train over the route. But this return leg did not go so smoothly. First there was a delay caused by a preceding DMU between Carlisle and Penrith, and then the single line 'tablet' apparatus failed at Clifton Moor. By the time the train arrived at Kirkby Stephen it was twenty minutes late. And then almost as a final touch of fate the last climb up the 'bank' got the better of the train. Presumably the firemen were tired after twelve hours work and the locomotive grates might have been choked with cinders but one way or another they ran out of steam near Barras and had to pull up until the locomotive boilers could produce enough power to get the last train over the summit. The train was fifty minutes late arriving back at Darlington