To boldy go.... well not quite. The traincrew of the Tees Goblin tour certainly had an eagerness to boldy go where someone has been before, but not recently anyway. Trains on the Seal Sands branch are a rare event. Certainly past the Petroplus plant at Port Clarence. Many who came for the spectacle of the tour remarked that the last one to venture this way was the NELPG tour with the K1 (which can be seen here:
http://www.blackhatrailwaypictures.co.uk/p376293376 ).
My knowledge says a test train was down about two years ago - but still, whether it went as far as the coast is uncertain.
The tour was part of a trip to freight only used lines, including the Tyne Dock branch and reinstated south curve and junction. Seal Sands was the icing on the cake however. With the trip going as far as possible... though those local followers, who started the game of leapfrog with the train and attending British transport police; questioned just how far it would go. Light became and issue when the train reached the branch and many shots of the industrial background became almost silouettes given the low autumn sun.
Pictures of the trip can be seen in this gallery, with a thanks to Martyn Nevatt for some good company too.