© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2011 With a few days to spare near York, I took the opportunity to partake of some rail-related activity - a look at the main line at Copmanthorpe, a peep at the station and museum, a ride around the York - Hull - Scarborough - York circle, and finally, following "the Duchess" around the same circular route. 6th April - the Duchess follows our tracks Well, almost... The steam special had been advertised as following the Selby Deviation. To quote the previously-mentioned article, "Five minutes before it was due past Bishops Wood, a fellow gricer leaned out of a passing car window to say that, at the last minute, it had been re-routed via Gascoigne Wood. "The small group waiting were somewhat flummoxed What to do? Was it true or just a vicious rumour? Debate ended abruptly when I spotted a trail of steam away to the north-west, obviously on the other line. I leaped into the car and hurtled off to Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, where I was the only photographer, and got a most acceptable shot. "I was to see the train again on Bempton bank, where the sun came out seconds after it passed; at Gristhorpe, just north of Filey, and at Malton - another most enjoyable day on "the other York circle". 2 April: Copmanthorpe These pictures serve to demonstrate just how much change there has been to the railway scene. The line here is part of the electrified east coast route, the multiple units are gone, as are the Peaks and 56s, and at the time of writing (November 2004) just a handful of 31s and 47s remain in service. Even the HSTs (yes, there were a few about) may be nearing the end of their lives. Later the same day I made a fairly brief visit to the NRM and York station -  and again, the station scenes depict a bygone era - the 08 is hauling the vans from Rowntrees - they will have joined the Scarborough line via the last stretch of the Foss Islands branch, which once served York power station, and connected to the Derwent Valley Light Railway at Layerthorpe. 3rd April: York - Hull - Scarborough - York This is the trip which I described in an article for the Shropshire Railway Society's newsletter - "The Other York Circle" - you can read it on the "Trips and Tours" pages. A rake of MkIIs hauled by 31 446 took us via the new Selby Deviation line, via Hambleton Junction, to Selby, and thence to Hull. A class 111 DMU formed our service to Bridlington (fish and chips - what else?) where I recorded the interesting station architecture. Another DMU then formed our train towards Scarborough. We made the mistake of detraining at Seamer Junction, where we could catch the next Scarborough - York working. It was a mistake simply because a loco failure meant we had to wait there for well over an hour. With two small children in tow, Scarborough (just four minutes further) would have been an infinitely better place to pass the time on a cold and rainy afternoon - a pity the station staff hadn't the wits to advise us, as they were well aware of the situation.