Toot toot!

It was meant to be a good old steam train watchin' morning, so despite the temperature being almost freezing I cycled out to the back of Edinburgh Airport to catch A4 pacific no.60007 Sir Nigel Gresley powering up the hill towards Dalmeny.  I made good time and was nice and warm with my flask of tea and some nibbles.  At the allotted time, a train appeared.

It's the wrong locomotive, Gromit, and it's gone wrong!

What we got was a very nicely turned out class 40 from Crewe, no.D213 Andania, it being named after a Cunard Line vessel, as were so many of its counterparts.  The driver and secondman both waved as they trundled past.  On the back was a class 47 I'd seen once before, no.D1924 Crewe Diesel Depot.  Funny name for a locomotive to be honest.  They passed in a matter of seconds and were away up the hill.

I had a chat with another enthusiast there and it turned out that although we knew Sir Nigel made it to Edinburgh on Thursday, it "suffered a failure" as the industry puts it.  Apparently the piston rings in the right-hand cylinder broke apart and bits went into the steam valve.  It's probably a few days' work at the most to put right, but of course they couldn't run the locomotive.  It's a shame because it had a major overhaul in 2021 and had only been running on passenger trips since last spring.

I cycled off into town again, having a go on the lovely segregated cycle lane from Roseburn to not-quite-Haymarket, then went to catch up with Laid Back Bikes for a bit, before hauling myself home for about a 30 mile round trip.  I went out to Mum and Dad's for tea, but afterwards it was -2ºC at home, so I left before it got any colder!