05:40.

Good morning folks! Our train’s currently traversing the the North Wales coast towards Chester. Those on-board woke up at silly o’ clock as the train left Holyhead at 03:55. Volunteers immediately swung into action to begin preparing for arrival at Bangor where we’d pick up the walkers. This year the weather’s been ideal so for the first time in many years the teams were already waiting for the train’s arrival. The bonus is that hardly anyone climbing Snowdon has picked up any injuries and the few that have were minor.

Now teams are bedding down on the train in order to get a few hours much needed sleep before we arrive at Ravenglass on the Cumbrian coast where we’re due to disembark at 08:46. Here’s a few pictures from the day so far…

07:50.

Good morning from the Cumbrian coast! The train’s woken up and everyone’s tucking into breakfast of ‘posh’ sausage rolls (with brioche baps) and porage., washed down with orange juice, tea or coffee. Meanwhile, the onboard crew have been busy preparing hundreds of sandwiches as part of the packed lunches walkers will be given to take with them to sustain their climb up Scafell. The weather here is glorious but that presents other difficulties, dehydration and sunburn being the major ones.

12:05.

The teams disembarked at Ravenglass 25 minute late due to a track-circuit failure on the Cumbrian coast line. Two trains took them along the narrow gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale railway to Dalegarth when they begin their walk to Wasdale to the climb up Scafell. This year I had the opportunity to get ahead so that I can get pictures if them ascending the mountain. So, here I am. Waiting…

21:30.

Well, that’s been a busy day! The photo above looks idyllic but when you’re sat there for three hours waiting for people to walk up into your lens the view does wane somewhat in the heat. Temperatures reached 27 degrees on Scafell today – unheard of in the history of the 3 Peaks by rail challenge. Understandably, some walkers struggled – even the experienced ones. Yet many managed to make the summit in a real feat of endurance and determination. Here’s a couple of pictures.

Now – after a couple of hours break in Ravenglass where people could enjoy a couple of glasses of ‘muscle relaxant’ we’re back on the train and heading for Scotland. The crew served the weary walkers an excellent Lasagne followed by Banoffee pie. Most people are already getting their heads down as we’re off the train at 02:15 to get coaches from Dalwhinnie to Ben Nevis in order to start the final challenge. Yet again the weather forecast is predicting a warm one.

22:30.

Our train’s looped at Beattock summit so all you can hear is the sound of the air-con which is often drowned out by the sound of people snoring. I’m the last one alive – but not for much longer. I’ve spied that someone’s left a gap between the back to back seats, so it’s my chance to stretch out and get some shut-eye. I’ll blog as I can tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day but I should have plenty of time between the teams going up on the mountain and me getting the shots of them crossing the finish line. Well, once Fort Bill opens, anyway…

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