RTC 2023

Here's my footage of Flying Scotsman blitzing the South Devon Banks including Whiteball, Rattery, and in particular Hemerdon as well as tackling the Cornish Banks at St Germans on the Royal Duchy yesterday. She certainly impressed me, I hope you will too, and I hope you enjoy the video.

 

Lovely stuff and not a diesel in sight. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great to see Scotsman showing what she can do when allowed out without a minder. She sounds spot on as well. Impressive climb of Hemerdon.

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What a fitting tribute to RTC, West Coast Railways and Riley Engineering...Well done all of you..and not forgetting Network Rail too..

 

don't forget NRM

 

Oooouch, agree..and don't forget it's history of being adopted by the British public's deep pockets..

 

The Institution which essentially caused the overhaul to be carried out twice.

 

Not my video, great drone shot of FS leaving Yatton, pity about the people standing on the crossing.

 

A while back 61306 was let out on its own to tackle Sapperton in the westbound direction sans diesel. This meant reducing the load and increasing the price. From memory the train booked well and I for one was happy to pay an increased price for a diesel free run. That approach doesn't seem to have lasted long though.

 

The 61306 trip I mentioned wasn't cheap. It was sold pretty much on the basis of "if you wan't a diesel free run, you'll have to pay more" and people did pay more. Nowadays that approach seems to have gone out the widow for most trips and a tail gunner appears to be the norm. Thus it was very good to se 60103 let out on her own.

 

West Coast Railways continue to offer trips including the S + C for £85 in standard, often after travelling you're offerred 10% discount on future trips, they mainly run in summer much less chance of a diesel on the back for ETH

The Dalesman - Fare Prices | West Coast Railways

 

Very good just a shame no actual steam sound rather than music which isn’t quite the same sadly.

 

i booked 1st class on it back in January only £20 more the standard price, 15 hour day, so fancied a roomy seat, but only Saphos charter starting in W.Yorkshire this year, steam Preston to Carlisle, and round the coast back to Preston, possibility of D213 doing the diesel portion of The Lakelander as well

 

It was a very good run by 60103 yesterday; many thanks to RTC, NR and all involved. The crowds on the lineside were amazing but in particular at Yatton, on the train we were reckoning 1000's of people at Yatton alone!!

I was surprised that there was nobody from the NRM on the train, no literature about the NRM or Friends of the NRM or souvenir sales. I guess they have other priorities.

I'll post a summary of times and speeds when I've crunched all the numbers but climbs were pretty good, especially for a heavy 9 coaches.

 

I had a terrific afternoon at St Blazey yesterday. Sensibly managed access to the turntable and a great crowd. The roundhouse would make a splendid museum, surely the next task is to reconnect the shed roads to the turntable? My video and pics here: https://twitter.com/heritagelocum/status/1652685235753025536?s=46&t=dzzjup_kADlMH6rSzm2GTA

 

Would you hear much 'steam sound" over the whine of the drone?

 

Sorry I meant you need actual sound from the ground synced onto the video.

 

Royal Duchy 30/4/23 Bristol-Par and Return with 4472/60103 Flying Scotsman

The start out of Bristol was the usual careful affair, allowing the loco to warm through - the initial climb topped at 51 mph, then nothing over 60 mph to Yatton. At Yatton the crowds were huge(!) literally thousands of people. The run over ‘the levels’ was gentle mainly 60 – 70 mph, min 59 mph over the viaduct at Cogload. 57.6 mph average Yatton to Taunton.

The first climb of the day set the scene for excellent performances the rest of the trip. An energetic start from Taunton with only one slip saw 48.5 mph on the clock by NFW. Speed continued to rise into the low 60’s before falling back slightly then rising again through Wellington. The 1 in 80 was started at 61.5 mph. We were doing rather well maintaining 57.5 mph at MP171.25 but a slip saw this fall to 52 at MP171.75 (the weather was damp and misty, not good for traction). Nevertheless the loco did well entering the tunnel at 37 mph in 12 min 48.75 sec. This the 17th fasted out of 145 runs from a standing start on the Wilson-Long list, extremely creditable.

After water at Tiverton loop the downhill run set a maximum for the day of 77.5 mph.

Into Devon, we had a clear run at Dainton, 62 mph at Aller Junc was a good start, 48.5 mph at Stoneycombe and 32 mph into the tunnel, extremely good work - giving a time of 3 min 16.75 sec for the measured section – 8th fastest recorded with preserved steam, 5th fastest with a class 7 and nine coaches.

We weren’t so lucky on Tigley / Rattery, we were at 9 mph at MP222 before an acceleration started, meaning the climbing commenced at only 44 mph. 4472 did extremely well holding speed at 42 mph up the 1 in 66 /1 in 71. Even when the 1 in 47 was reached the fall in speed was slow, with a minimum of 31 mph passing Tigley Church. The effort must have taken it’s toll as the loco was eased slightly with limited recovery on the 1 in 90 until a final flourish up to 39 mph at the end of the reference section. The time of 7 min 34.56 seconds was 31st on the list, due to the slow start but, nevertheless, the performance was extremely good. The speed reduction was just 13 mph, compared to an average reduction of all climbs by steam of 27.9 mph, statistically that gives a sigma value of 1.79 so easily in the top 4 % of climbs (if you believe statistics).

After a long water stop at Plymouth we crossed the Tamar and into Cornwall and the crowds continued. 4472 also continued to do well, easily maintaining schedule.

After turning on the newly re-invigorated St Blazey Turntable, we set off on the return. as had become familiar 4472 lifted the train away without difficulty even up the tricky 1 in 60 climb from the station, not a single slip.

The Bodmin climb was interrupted by what I assume was a platform restriction of 20 mph, certainly the loco coasted into the station and once into the platform opened up with a rapid acceleration. Speed climbed to 36 mph. At MP272 the loco was pressed a little harder and speed was maintained at 30 – 34 mph for the rest of the climb. At the summit the regulator was quickly closed allowing the train to coast down to Liskeard.

After water at Plymouth (hydrant at the west end of the station) we set off again with the familiar shore-footed departure. After crossing the Plym river bridge at 62 mph, 4472 was working but speed didn’t seem to increase much until after the start of the bank at MP242.5, for the first mile of the bank speed increased to 65 mph, a very good start. Speed now began it’s inevitable fall but the minimum was 25 mph. The loco was eased significantly once passed the turn in to Hemerdon sidings so speed didn’t rise much on the final mile of the measured section. Nevertheless the time of 5 min 45.89 seconds was another strong effort, placing it 15th out of 68 climbs.

Totnes was passed at 65, brakes then had to be applied to bring us down to the 55 mph line speed. The start of the climb was passed at 55.5 mph but speed was allowed to drift down to 50.5 mph, this was a pity because once opened up, at MP220, 4472 provided an acceleration to 57.5 mph at MP219.25. Then the steeper grades started to bite, the sound was terrific and speed fell to a minimum of 35.5 into the tunnel. The time was 4 min 12.66 seconds, 14th on the list but if line speed had been maintained on the lower slopes the climb would certainly have been in the top 10.

Along the sea wall we caught a stopper and, as we were not booked to pass it, we followed it to Exeter.

After taking water we set off on the climb of Whiteball, no heroics on this section, in any case a platform restriction at Tiverton slowed progress before the final run to MP174.

Beyond Taunton we accelerated up to 71 mph, after which speed was allowed a very gradually further rise, peaking at 76.5 mph past Uphill junc. We were looking good for an even-time run (65.8 mph average to Uphill) but then we got a heavy signal check at Worle Junc, so it was not to be.

An excellent day, thanks to all who helped make it happen.