Home»All my photos»2012 Railway Photos»The green Duchess heads for Wales 19 May 2012

It was a cold damp grey morning at Crewe but the distant plume of steam from the Heritage Centre warmed the heart, and the occasional bursts from the safety valves assured us that the Duchess was good and ready for the task ahead.

The WCRC 47 brought the train from Bristol into Platform 12, and when service trains from and to Chester had passed, Stanier Pacific No 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, still an arresting sight in Brunswick green, backed down onto the train. On time, she pulled away amid a cloud of steam from the cylinder draincocks and a little slipping, but she soon found her feet and headed off confidently towards North Wales, with a long train and the diesel on the rear.