35028 Clan Line to Exeter - now 10/08/19

The train is routed via Bristol on the return. It's the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this weekend which invariably means gale force winds. <BJ>

 

Anyone know if it will have ACE headboard

 

Did the ACE change engines at Salisbury?

 

Yes but not always a Merchant on the up ACE as Exmouth Jct shed considered that the semi fasts were the harder jobs which they were west of Salisbury in my view. Some of my best runs on the up ACE were with light Pacifics eg 34058 in July 1962

 

My only experience of the ACE on a summer Saturday was the Padstow and Bude train in 1960. 34060 and then 31842 from Exeter down ; 34064 and then 34075 from Exeter up. So we didn't even manage a West Country never mind a MN!

Anyway, have a memorable trip on Saturday. If you leave Basing 2L and rock up at Farnborough as double amber turns to green, that will be just great!

 

I've come to expect to see steam being called 'kettles' (generally being used as a derogatory term) on other forums, but not here. Oh well...

 

With comments like that why are you even on this forum? Especially given your user name.

 

I believe the return working for the engine off the down ACE was an Exmouth Junction - Nine Elms freight. A bit of a come down

 

Milk to Vauxhall, perhaps?

 

No it wasn’t a milk train, I’m sure it was a fitted freight to the Elms

 

Which was steady trade throughout the year with meat and dairy products conveyed to London. The ACE and many other services to and from the West Country had loadings dependant upon the holiday traffic.

Cheers, Neil

 

The Southern was quite unlike the other three of the "Big Four". It was principally a passenger carrier, especially around the Capital. Thus there were few paths for slow freight trains during the daytime and principal freights to or from London ran at night. They were run to out-of-town mini-marshalcy yards such as Brockenhurst where they were broken down into locals as pick-up freights which took all day to run short distances between the frequent passenger trains. There was almost no long-haul originating heavy freight(such as coal) so the system worked very efficiently.
The Southern had few freight locomotives so many of the railway's locomotives were really mixed traffic machines and helped on the freights at night. Bulleid's often-mocked declaration that his Pacifics were mixed traffic machines is actually true: the MN's were rostered to freight at night - just because there are few photos of these is not evidence they didn't do the work, as shown herein. Remember, back in the day, night photography was very rare!

 

The good news tonight is that Clan Line is ready to run.
Clan Line Twitter feed.

We're pleased to announce that the fitness to run exam has been passed. We are now all good to go for tomorrow's trip with the "Atlantic Coast Express".

 

All that's needed now is for the signals' power not to be cut, the trees to avoid the line, the flood risk to remain just that and for people to be able to get to the train in the first place. Fingers crossed.

 

Just a small ask then. We plan to be on the first train up to Waterloo tomorrow. That may be the most difficult part of the day

 

Fancy an extra hour in bed - will be joining at Woking

 

Is that all?!!!