Ecclesbourne Valley Railway (EVR) 22nd June 2013
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway (EVR) had the second of their three diesel running days, of the 2013 calendar, over the weekend of 22nd & 23rd June. Due to the non-availability of 33035, 31414 was the only loco available to work the Duffield trains, resulting in the Ravenstor bank services being operated by a DMU instead of being loco-hauled.
Of course 31414 working the full service was good news for anyone going solely for the 31 but the day had one big surprise in store; and it wasn’t the fact that 31414 wasn’t really up to scratch and didn’t sound the part, that was old news. It was the fact that as ‘414 came off shed it appeared to have been painted into BR Green livery, although once it got closer it was evident it wasn’t BR Green and the paint used seemed to be a more apple green; similar to the colour applied to 47522 in the late 1980’s. The big surprise being the fact that once you walked round to the opposite side of the loco, the extent of the re-livery could be seen; it had only been completed on one side and at one end……..
Effectively, depending on the angle you took photos, you could take pictures of 31414 in its existing Intercity livery and also of D5814 in BR Green livery. That was when the weather behaved of course. It was indifferent all day, as the below photos will show.
The trains on Saturday were formed of 3 Mk 1’s, all of the compartment variety. Tickets cost £12 per person, with the usual discounts applicable and the day went without a hitch, other than a vacuum problem with ‘414 on one of the trips.
31414 worked the following (on both Saturday & Sunday):
1020 Wirksworth – Duffield, 1110 Duffield – Wirksworth, 1220 Wirksworth – Duffield, 1310 Duffield – Wirksworth, 1420 Wirksworth – Duffield, 1510 Duffield – Wirksworth, 1620 Wirksworth – Duffield, 1710 Duffield – Wirksworth
