This was a glorious, sunny summer's day and two Stanier express locomotives were due out to Carlisle and back. I decided to turn my back on my usual station vantage points, and head up into the northern fells. I joined the large gallery just north of Ais Gill, which I had so often seen as a steam train passenger. The last patches of shadow disappeared as we first picked up, way down Mallerstang, the smoke and noise of LMS Pacific No 6201. We watched and snapped as she roared up the valley, under the bridge and on to the summit - a wonderful sight.
In the next two hours, I drove down to Kirkby Stephen for coffee and cake, then on to the station where I planned to watch Royal Scot 4-6-0 No 46115 Scots Guardsman at a lower point in the climb. The beautifully restored station looked wonderful in the sunlight, and again the smoke and the bark of the engine preceded its arrival by several minutes. Sadly a shadow had fallen across the station and my main shot failed to freeze the engine. So I have only a going away shot by which to remember the final chapter of a memorable day of sun and steam in North Yorkshire and Cumbria