60019 Bittern to Chester 22 November

Yes yes I know, Its already been pointed out to me on YouTube. My only excuse was that I had 40 minutes of video to edit, I had been standing up a ladder for all that time, I had a 200 mile drive that day, the dog was pissed off because it hadn't had a walk, Strictly Come Dancing was on, my beer was warm and I hadn't had my dinner yet. (Have I missed any excuses out?)

 

And your video gives the destination as Chesterfield.

 

I KNOW! FFS I KNOW!

 

Sorry but Computer says No... those two excuses are rejected.

 

UK steam says "[Terminated at Watford Jn on return due to engineering works]" but RTT says it passed Watford at 2209¾ and arrived at Euston at 2241. Which is true?

 

(the lack of Bold text indicates it wasn't recorded).

RTT shows Watford Junc, then Bushey as the final recoding point.
There is also a corresponding stock move from London Euston to Southall, however this only has recorded time from Acton Wells (WCML) to Southall (no departure from Euston).

Stringing 2 and 2 together, it'd suggest the train was recorded south of Watford as 1Z87, then assumed the 5Z87 ECS timings to Southall (as times match and it was early).

Would be interested to know what became of 47237 however.. it brought in the ECS from Southall that morning, parked in the centre road between 15 and 16 all day and faced off 46233 when it arrived. As the Duchess had brought a lump of it's own from Sheffield 47237 wasn't needed, and as Bittern didn't return why did it stay there...?
(It left as 0Z87 at 2040).

The Duchess could have ridden without a lump all day, borrowed 47237 @Euston (and save money on fuel, Crew etc of having a Profit Eating Lump (PEL) sitting behind the Duchess each way) ? - I'm beginning to be afraid to ask such obvious questions however...

 

Stated elsewhere that the 47 was to heat the train.

 

So what does the 2241 signify, as it's neither the scheduled time (which was 2234) nor the actual time (if the train never got there)?

And what happened to the passengers, and those on all the other trains that presumably likewise terminated somewhere short of Euston?

 

Hopefully this screenshot helps (with apologies to RTT)..


As to what happened to the passengers....

I'm guessing 2N52 to Euston (12 mins late) from the same platform (9) at Watford.

As Euston was fully operational and the ECS arrived pretty much to original booked time at Southall, I guess it must have been a different type of Engineering work.

 

Oh happy days...

 

Many thanks for that explanation.

The last bold times are the half-hour stop at MK and the time passing Tring. One might have thought that, if it stopped at Watford to tip everyone off, those times would have been reported. But there must have been something strange going on that evening to explain the inconsistent info on the National Rail website and (if your guess is correct) why the service train could go through to Euston while the special couldn't.

Is a different type of Engineering work anything like the wrong kind of snow?

It would be good to hear from someone who was actually on the train ....

 

quite possibly, I was left wondering if it was Psychological engineering rather than mechanical engineering that night ?

 

No disrespect to the photographer but the images shown above give me the shivers.

This is how the Great Western main line will appear between Bristol and Reading in the near future.

Farewell to such picturesque locations such as St. Annes tunnel, Saltford / Saltford tunnel, Newton St. Loe,
Twerton tunnel, Sydney Gardens, Middle Hill tunnel, Box tunnel, etc, etc, etc. The list is endless.

May I suggest that you make an effort to visit these locations before it's too late. <BJ>

 

I tried Box Tunnel, but it was damn dark in there,

 

Are *you* the strategic reserve?

 

Well i did get lost down some side tunnel......

 

Did you glow in the dark after a while ?