2nd September 2023 - a strike day. At Carlisle no Northern trains or Trans-Pennine services are running, only a handful of Avanti trains are providing a restricted service whilst ScotRail is providing a full service - at least until 6 p.m.
On a beautiful late-summer day, Northern Belle's Settle & Carlisle Steam Special is due from Hull, York and Wakefield hauled from Carnforth by Oliver Bulleid's air-smoothed ("spam-can") light Pacific 34067 Tangmere, assisted by 57 601 Windsor Castle.
For me, the excitement came at the end of the session, when warnings appeared on my drone controller that contact had been lost - watch to see what happened.