Belmond British Pullman 17th April

maybe if they paint it green and keep it clean?

 

I don't like clean steam locomotives. To me they should be really grubby and dirty but in superb mechanical order. Everyday workhorses.

Like my photo of 35008 powering through Woking on the down Belle in 1962. No reflections!



But of course todays market demands locos clean enough to eat your posh lunch off and to reflect the image of a tasty Bavarian Serving Wench !

 

Climbing strongly through Merstham - went for a different perspective this time:

https://flic.kr/p/sbuCUy

 

Ah! 35008 - an old friend.

My brother and I cycled from Taunton to Bournemouth in the summer of 1965 and spent a couple of days in the area. We decided to catch a northbound express (2 hour) to Waterloo and a similar trip back. A standard 5 took us on the northbound trip and arrival amazingly was on time. For the return to Bournemouth we had 35008 and a superb run ensued with just one stop at Southampton. Have to say that the 35008 was very well turned out (I have a photo somewhere and will post if I find it), not polished up like Clan Line is these days but just clean green paintwork without the gloss! Personally, I didn't like to see SR pacifics in the grubby state that your photo reveals and I felt the same about Castles and Kings although I take your point about them being mechanically sound.

 

Regarding a future Surrey Hills BBP, please can somebody confirm I am not seeing things. I'm sure one of these was scheduled for Saturday 2nd May. I remember this as it's the same day as the Reading Beer Festival and seemed a good opportunity to combine seeing one and attending the other. The 2nd May trip no longer appears on UK Steam, with the next one around the Surrey Hills scheduled for Friday 22nd May. Looking at Belmond's website, Saturday 2nd May looks like being an ordinary diesel hauled Surrey Hills tour. Can anyone confirm there's been a change, and if possible the reasons why ? Many thanks.

 

Oh, well thanks Al, looks like my eyes have let me down on this one then. I thought it couldn't have changed as changes are always noted on the UKS calendar. Think I must have got my May Bank Holidays mixed up. That's my excuse anyway,

 

You're not the only one. I had 2nd May in my diary, too. I would have noted that down very early on in the year and I can only assume that plans have changed in the mean time.

Given Clan Line's looming overhaul, and the way the wind is blowing for WCRC, we must make the most of these Belmond trips.

 

I also had it down in my diary, so I can't believe that all three of us have independently made this up. Must have been changed a long time ago and just deleted from UK Steam.

 

Tornado has the Belmond contract from July plus she is operating a VIP Belmond CHARTER for the railway children charity on 4th june from waterloo.

(Edited by Moderator to remove information already reported in January)

 

No you are not imagining it. I deleted it from uksteam.info as I discovered it was never booked for steam haulage. Sorry !

David at www.uksteam.info

 

Ah, thank goodness for that. I'm not going mad after all, : )

Thanks for clarifying David

 

i've tried it before but the light was atrocious

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/belmond-british-pullman-7th-november-2014.377037/

 

railtoursuk.co.uk has an entry for 35028 on the BP on 2 May - presumably an error and may account for so many people thinking it is running then.