45596 'Bahamas' Hooting through Langford at 70mph! - Steam Dreams to York - 03/10/21

50 years and 1 day after the return of steam to the mainline, the Bahamas Locomotive Society's namesake Jubilee, No. 45596 'Bahamas' was to work a special for Steam Dreams from Ealing to York. The train would run along the Great Western Mainline to Acton Wells Jn. where it would join the West Coast Mainline for a pathing stop at Willesden Junction. After taking the North London Line to Copenhagen Jn, the train would follow the East Coast Mainline for the remainder of the journey with passenger pickups at Finsbury Park, Stevenage, St Neots; the first water stop, and Peterborough. Water would also be taken at Carlton on Trent Loop. The train would return to London diesel hauled. The original plan was to catch 'Bahamas' on the eastern side of the line just south of the A1 road bridge on the approach to Biggleswade station, see    • 60163 'Tornado' powers the 'Yorkshire Pull...  . However, the access point across the line at Smarts foot crossing was locked shut, so with only a short time remaining before the Jubilee was due, a quick dash to East Road level crossing was in order. After setting up several walkers joined us in waiting for 'Bahamas' as can be heard in the light chatter as LNER Class 801 No. 801211 with 1D09 from Kings Cross to Leeds hurtles north, horn blazing. Some calculations based on the speeds of 801211 and 45596 revealed that had both trains been on time, in the originally planned location, they would've appeared within 3.2 seconds of each other. Bullet well and truly dodged! In the event, 'Bahamas' was running 7½ minutes late so this wouldn't have been a problem. The sun briefly teased us around a minutes before the Jubilee came into view, unfortunately, by the time 45596 had crested the gentle rise from Arlesey, the sunlight had been obscured leaving an overcast sky. The crew on 'Bahamas' were evidently keen to make up for time lost after Finsbury Park, further compounded by a late departure from Stevenage. Driver Mick Rawling had the regulator wide open as the Jubilee races towards the crossing, steam flying from the double chimney. A decent blast from the distinctive Stanier Hooter signals 45596's imminent approach, clearly pleasing one of the walkers to laughter. A thundering exhaust accompanied by billowing steam crescendos to the train rattling passed at 68.02mph, the 10 coach train having the addition of Class 47 No. 47746 'Chris Fudge 29.7.70 - 22.6.10', increasing the weight on the drawbar to around the equivalent of 14 coaches! An impressive piece of performance from a 6P. A sooty eye brings proceedings to a close as the train rumbles north, eventually arriving at York on time. A fantastic display from 'Bahamas' as she took the reigns of her penultimate railtour of the 2021 season. With a bit of luck, we'll be able to see more of 45596 in the coming years, showing more of her strong abilities with her double chimney. As an aside, the polished tyres on the locomotive look excellent! Filmed on a Panasonic TZ70. Enjoy.