Carlisle - What Is The Best Day???

[96tommy]

What is the best day to go to Carlisle Station for a mixture of freight. Last time I went I saw one Class 70 and a few Class 66's in around 2 hours and that was on a Friday (13:00 - 15:00). What are the best days to go and see maybe Class 86's, Class 90's or 92's.

Also, do the logs run every weekday. They went through at 13:11 when I last went being hauled by Fastline Class 66 (66434)

Thank You

 

[rail-britain]

In general I find Tuesdays and Thursdays better
Equally, it depends on how long and what times you plan to visit

My last visit was on a Thursday night into Friday morning
I went for nearly two hours and saw NOTHING, then all of sudden something like 18 freight trains in the space of half an hour

 

[Tugzrule]

18 in half an hour? I know Carlisle like the back of my hand and that is not possible. Anyway usually Tuesday/Wednesday are best as you will get a 92 on tesco, Hams Hall intermodal and China clay. Usually a pair of 86's on a liner at 16:45 but can at times be a 90. Should be a variety of sheds and possibly a 70 but they vary.

 

[rail-britain]

18 in half an hour? I know Carlisle like the back of my hand and that is not possible

It was something like 11 south and 7 north
This was all the result of incidents at Lockerbie and Penrith
Odd to have virtually no passenger services
The Glasgow sleeper passed about a further half an hour later, it was on time so I left (seeing the Inverness sleeper at Lockerbie)

 

[Tugzrule]

It was something like 11 south and 7 north

Still, that means they would have to have been queuing to penrith/wetheral/armathwaite and would be none stop. I am not denying the fact just it seems highly unlikely such frequency could occur anywhere in the uk, never mind Carlisle!

 

[The Snap]

Still, that means they would have to have been queuing to penrith/wetheral/armathwaite and would be none stop. I am not denying the fact just it seems highly unlikely such frequency could occur anywhere in the uk, never mind Carlisle!

If 11 came through in say 33 minutes to keep it simple, then obviously that's one every three minutes. Surely, as Tugzrule says, they'd have been queuing at every section outside Carlisle for miles and miles?! And for them to clear Carlisle in 3 minutes to allow the next one through, their speeds would need to be quite high (ie: 60mph)...surely it takes longer than 3 minutes for a loaded freight train to get up to anything near 60mph??

Still, I’m just rationalising, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what you saw!

 

[Shrub Hill]

when they restricted the travel north of lancaster because of the floods earlier in the year there was virtually no freight at all through stafford that day, chatting to 2 lads at nuneaton the next day who had stayed over night at stafford and the amount of workings was incredible compared to normal, probably because they held all the day time freight off and sent the lot down after the passenger serviceshad finished, so if it was that day then i could actually believe it, but dont expect it to be the norm