In this video we take a look back at some of best scenes we've captured in 2023 with LMS locos being the main flavour of the video, which features lots of Jubilee action. Last year was our least active year on the mainline due to work commitments and other reasons so we unfortunately missed out on a few locomotives, most notably 70000 'Britannia' and 34046 'Braunton. It's worth noting that Britannia has been off the rails since August due to a severe failure on the Sunset Steam Express. 61306 Mayflower and 34067 Tangmere are also absent from this compilation, with the latter being purposely ignored due to nature of the top & tail diesel operation on its Northern Belle duties.

With 2023 now in the past we can now look forward to what 2024 will bring on the mainline. The new year should see the return of some big name locomotives, in the form of 71000 Duke Of Gloucester, 60532 Blue Peter, 60163 Tornado, 35028 Clan Line and 6233 Duchess Of Sutherland. While this all sounds good on paper, there are still some operational uncertainties for a good chunk of next year's action due to the ongoing saga of CDL fitting of West Coast Railway's mark one coaches.

The regulator has insisted that WCR install all mark one coaches with Central Door Locking and the current exemption for this will end in February of this year. It's hoped and expected that WCR will come to an agreement with the regulator on a plan of action for the fitting of the required electronic locking system and there should be no effect to their planned steam operations for 2024. West Coast Railways is the biggest steam operator for British mainline steam excursions and vital to certain tourist economies throughout the country. Fingers crossed for a speedy solution for all concerned.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Locomotives featured

45596 Bahamas
45690 Leander
45699 Galatea running as 45627/45562
46100 Royal Scot
46115 Scots Guardsman
44871 Black Five
44932 Black Five
45231 Black Five
35018 British India Line
60007 Sir Nigel Gresley
60103 Flying Scotsman
5043 Earl Of Mount Edgecumbe
7029 Clun Castle