55006 'The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry' arrives at Selby station

leading the 1L43 14.05 King's Cross to York stopper service. These expresses were as well suited to Deltic operation as were the long distance high-speed services that they were better known for. Deltics rapid acceleration and their ability to maintain high running speed for short bursts and then to slow again for the next stop meant that these York services had tight timings. This photograph shows clearly the snaking track at the southern end of Selby station, one factor that contributed to it being a bottleneck that severely hampered timings on the ECML and one that partly precipitated the opening of the thirteen-mile diversion four years after this scene.