71000 Duke of Gloucester departs Ely twice | Steam Dreams charter 13/06/2026

A loco I've been wanting to see for well over a decade now is unique BR Standard 8P 71000 Duke of Gloucester and when it was announced as the booked motive power for Steam Dreams' trip from Haywards Heath to Ely, this provided the perfect opportunity to tick it off. The loco arrived in Ely and was serviced in the reception sidings at the station, but before it could head south again, the whole train needed to be turned on the Queen Adelaide loop. We start the video with The Duke passing in front of Ely Cathedral, narrowly avoiding being bowled by a 755 but unfortunately missing the Sun by only a few minutes. The second shot sees the train now facing South departing from Ely at the start of the return journey, with 71000 showing no sign of breaking a sweat and making a lovely noise. Apologies for the slight shakes in this footage, I didn't have time to set up a tripod so it had to be handheld. 00:00 Departure for Queen Adelaide 01:33 Departure for Cambridge and the South