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Cotswold Venturer 16/02/19

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by gricerdon, Jan 12, 2019.

  1. D1002

    D1002 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Campden Bank, 61306 Mayflower versus 45699 Galatea:

     
  2. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

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    Cotswold Venturer 16th February 2019

    Someone has to provide a report on every trip with No.9 now as it might well be the big engine's final run over the route. For a change, this was a clockwise run, taking on Sapperton the 'soft' way and on the return tackling the climb to Campden Tunnel, both not done very often these days. So up at 0300 and off to Bristol Temple Meads to get the 0530 to Paddington. After an uncomfortable ride on a 10 car 800 - typically no trolley in the front set - not announced until after we'd left Bristol. We had a bit of luck as a trolley came to the front set after Swindon. Again, in what is a common occurrence on these trains, the boiler had failed and they had to make do with flasks.

    No.9 made a lovely sight in the early morning half light at the end of Platform 9 as we rolled in. Wandered over and the Class 47 had been detached. The load was 11, a bit of a challenge on the route. A right time departure, out on the relief as usual these days. Had a poor day as far as finding out who was crewing. Didn't get the names of the firemen at all. It was good to have Pete Roberts on the regulator to Didcot, from where the redoubtable Ray Poole was taking the train to Worcester Shrub Hill and back. Bob Baines was due to drive on the Didcot-Paddington return leg.

    So off down the billiard table with hardly a gradient in sight. Pete had No.9 up to 40 at mp1 1/4 and to 60 just after Acton Mainline, 4 miles further on. Didn't hear a thing 9 back as hardly any windows were open as the steam heat hadn't got that far. It was looking good for a 75 as we flashed through Southall at 66 - but then the brakes came on and we were down to 30 through Hayes and Harlington. Nice bit of acceleration got us up to 60 through West Drayton, and 62.5 was reached as we passed mp14. White smoke was drifting past so it looked like we had good coal on board. No fireworks were possible as there was engineering work at Slough which meant all trains had to cross onto the main at Dolphin Jn.

    This we duly did at 30 and then No.9 was let off the leash. We flashed through Slough Station at 51 in a mile and a half passed mp20 at 61. Greens led to some decent running through Burnham, 64, but we only reached 65 at mp21 1/2 before a bit of hard braking. We drifted through Taplow at 47 and crossed back to the relief just before Maidenhead, passed at 47. We hoped for a dash to Reading but again we got to 62 just after Twyford but no faster as we were on time and came to a stand at P13 in Reading 2 early. We left right time with a blast on the chime whistle and set off for Didcot. No fireworks disappointingly and through Tilehurst at 43; Pangbourne at 38 after gentle braking. Then we had greens all the way and it must have sounded superb as Pete got to grips with No.9 and we passed Goring and Streatley at 63 and accelerated to 73 through Cholsey, 4 miles further on over gently rising gradients. Very decent running but that was the top speed, no 75.

    We rolled into Didcot Parkway 3 early and left 1 early. Ray wasn't going to have much distance to have some fun with No.9 as we were taking water in Challow Loop, just over 10 miles away. Still No.9 must have sounded impressive as Ray worked the big engine up the 5 miles of 1in754. Steventon, just over 3 miles in was passed at 56, and we hit a max of 64 at mp58 3/4, 5 1/2 miles in. Then Ray slowed for the loop and we duly took up the allocated time for watering and letting a couple of trains pass.

    We left RT for the 13 mile run to Swindon. Greens all the way and again gentle rising gradients, averaging only 1in800 so every likelihood of 75 being achieved. We passed Uffington at 55; mp69 at 64; mp70 at 67; mp71 at 69, the max in the section; Shrivenham was passed at 6, a speed held until Swindon approach. We drifted through the station at 16, right time, and turned right onto the Kemble Road. We passed over Purton Crossing at 66 and held that onto the 2 miles of 1in330. We lost 3 mph to the gradient but on the 3/4 mile of 1in406 down rapidly got to 70. Over the next 2 level miles with Minety LC in the middle our speed fell to 67 on the level.

    At mp88 we hit the 3 miles of 1in330 to Kemble at 66 and held that speed through the station. Must have looked impressive bursting out of the tunnel!! After 3/4 of a mile of 1in143 where speed held at 67, and 3/4 of a mile of 1in400/lev/200, we took 66 onto the foot of Sapperton. There's a mile of 1in100 where speed fell slowly to 61 before the mile and a half of 1in94 to the summit in Sapperton Long Tunnel. We heard some noise even 9 back with windows shut as No.9 dug in to the task at hand. A mile in we charged into Sapperton Short Tunnel at 53.2 and held the speed as we burst out into the open before surging into Sapperton Long Tunnel still at 53. The summit is just in the tunnel and it didn't feel like speed had dropped at all. Felt like a good climb but not one I've done many times to have comparisons.

    We felt the brakes come on as we left the tunnel and ran down the 1in90; 1in60 and 1in74 ish in the mid to high 40s; crossing Frampton Viaduct at 45; St Mary's Crossing at 49; and drifting through Stroud at 49. All downhill to Gloucester Yard then. We passed Stonehouse and Standish Junction at 48 and joined the mainline. On the 14 miles downgrade to Gloucester Yard the max speed was 63. We were still on time and left for the short run to Cheltenham Spa on time. It was only 6 1/2 miles to our pathing stop in the High Street Loop and the maximum speed reached was 48.

    The Penzance-Newcastle XC was amazingly still RT, so we weren't held long in the loop. Decent start and down the ruling 1in300ish gradients we went. We passed mp86 at 40; mp85, Morris Hill at 54; Swindon Road at 60; passed mp83 at 66. Speed held around 65/6 to Ashchurch where, quite at odds to what we expected, we accelerated up the 1in311/301 to 70 by mp77 1/2. Then we slowed on the approach to Eckington, passed at 61, then drifted down to Abbotswood Jn after which there was nothing significant speed wise. We rolled into WOS at 1147, 3 early.

    After a gentle stroll to the Postal Order we had lunch and some beer. How I regretted Mrs S's broken ankle as they had my all time favourite beer, Exmoor Beast, a mere 6.6% dark ale. So one had to content oneself with a couple and an excellent large mixed grill.

    Unusually after a gentle stroll back to WOS, our train was allowed into the station 10 minutes or so before departure. Coach G was now 4th Coach and our window was opened wide for the return journey. We had a decent departure with the unique chatter from the A4 drifting back as Ray accelerated away towards Norton Jn. We got to 43 a mile and a half out before the brakes came on and we drifted up to the junction box at 15. A green led to a nice pull away down the bank but as we hit 63 at mp115 1/2, the brakes came in. Through Pershore at 48 and only 63 max at mp109 1/2 before we were checked again. A bit of a trundle towards Evesham, passed at 29. Hmmm, only 8 miles to the tunnel...

    No worries as there was some serious acceleration away from the station and the glorious sound of an A4 echoed around the Evesham area. We hit 54 as we passed mp105 on the 318d, and speed rose down the 318/616 to hit 58 across Littleton LC. Onto the approach to the climb to Campden Tunnel. It starts at mp104 where the gradient is 1in314 for the next mile, left at 62. After a bit of level running, the gradient steepens to 3/4 of a mile of 1in126, met at 60, left at 57. Then there was 1/2 mile of level track through Honeybourne where speed held at 57.

    At mp101 1/2, the 3 3/4 miles of 1in100 to the tunnel entrance started. No.9 sounded superb as Ray attacked the gradient at 57. A mile in as we passed mp100 1/2 speed had fallen slowly to 53. No dramatic loss of speed and with the engine sounding superb we passed mp99 1/2 at 50 and then mp99 at 49.1. No. 9 wasn't going to give the bank that much and we passed mp98 1/2 at 47.6; mp98 1/4 at 47.3 and held that into the tunnel. We burst out of the tunnel and passed the summit, or as close as mp97 1/4 is to the summit, at 45.6. Got the feeling it was a bit special.

    We picked up down the grade and passed Blockley LC at 66, our max on the run down to Moreton-in-Marsh. Through the station at 57 some 6 minutes early and a nice run down grade/on the level to pass Kingham at 63 (max of 65 just before the station). Nothing special down the grade to pass Shipton at 60; Ascott-under-Wychwood at 60 before the brakes came in slowly in preparation for our water stop at Charlbury. We arrived 8 early. A couple of locals I spoke to on the platform thought it was the first steam hauled train to stop there in preservation.

    Unfortunately the light went so mileposting was not possible after departure. It was mostly downgrade to Hanborough, the end of the double track. We passed through Finstock at 50 and maxed at 6 near Combe. We had a green onto the single track and passed Hanborough at 56. Nothing of note to our 3 minute stop north of Oxford and on the middle road for a Bournemouth XC to run into the station. Ray seemed determined to enjoy the run to Didcot as we left Oxford rapidly. We passed Hinksey South at 49; Kennington Jn at 52; Radley at 65; and Culham at 63. As we were ahead of time, No.9 was eased back and we ran through Appleford at 50before we braked to cross Didcot North Jn at 22.

    We drifted into Didcot Parkway 2 down. Bob Baines was due to take No.9 back to Paddington but no-one ontrain seemed to know if he did. We made a smart noisy departure and got to 50 as we passed Moreton Cutting, just over a mile and a half out. Speed rose to a decent 66 at mp49 and Cholsey was passed ay 65; Goring and Streatley at 65, a speed held until we braked on Pangbourne approach. Presumably we had a stopper in front of us. Tilehurst was passed at 51 before No.9 was eased on Reading Approach. We arrived at P14 RT and left 3 early.

    One of the disappointments in recent years has been the lack of any worthwhile running east of Reading. Unfortunately our train fell into the same category; disappointing. We passed Twyford at 57 and only got to 62 at mp26 before we barked to cross to the main at Maidenhead. Must have been behind a stopper as we failed to get above 48 before Slough. We didn't stop and crossed back onto the relief at Dolphin Junction. The run to Ealing Broadway was disappointing, station speeds were Langley 43; Iver 51; West Drayton 49; Hayes and Harlington 46. Bit of acceleration then to hit 55 through Southall and Hanwell and Elthorne Stations before we slowed for a set down at Ealing Broadway. Interestingly we used the 'underpass' between EB and Acton, a first for me. We passed Acton Mainline at 43 before No.9 was eased to drift the last 4 miles into Paddington for a 7 minutes early arrival. Too crowded to see who was crewing so I wandered over to P2 to get the 2030 Exeter to BTM.

    Two good climbs by No.9 with our 11 coach train and it was sad to think it might be the last time we see this doyen of the mainline in this part of the country. Disappointing not to have reached 75 on 130 miles of God's Wonderful Railway, but that's how it is in 2019.

    Thanks to everyone involved in running the train. The loading wasn't that great which surprised us bearing in mind the uncertainty surrounding No.9.

    We all hope No.9 is granted an extension to its boiler ticket that is due to run out in April. Only managed just over 6,700 mainline miles behind No.9 to date, and this might have been my last run. Not a memorable one, but a good one.
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2019
  3. MartinPage402

    MartinPage402 New Member

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    Thanks for the report, John Shawe was the fireman from Worcester to London
     
  4. gricerdon

    gricerdon Well-Known Member

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    I photographed it but really should have been on it.
     
  5. Sean Emmett

    Sean Emmett Member

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    Great write up as usual, Mr Shireman.

    Those climbs to Sapperton westbound and Campden eastbound are very good indeed. FWIW a 166 Turbo will bottom out at around 60 after Campden Tunnel, an 800 IET a couple mph more although an HST would have to be reined in to the 75 limit.

    IIRC its now only 60 on the reliefs Slough - Reading and vv except for the Turbos and electrics, which are allowed 90?

    Not booked RTC for a while. Had I realised this would be diesel-free would happily have done so.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2019
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  6. 1020 Shireman

    1020 Shireman Part of the furniture Friend

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    11 is the ideal load for No.9 to guarantee some decent fast running and hill climbing. Can't ever remember an RTC CV running with a diesel unless under 'fire risk' conditions. There were light engine moves in the timetable on the day; 0Z24 for the diesel from Pad to Southall in the morning; and 0Z27 from Southall to collect the train at the end of the day.
     
  7. gricerdon

    gricerdon Well-Known Member

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    46100 ran with a DL last year and for no apparent reason
     
  8. Arun Valley

    Arun Valley New Member

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    Finally got around to finishing this…

    The Cotswold Venturer Saturday 16th February 2019

    I had feared that the closest that l would get to riding behind 60009 would be this… :(

    A4 Chime.jpg

    Happily, this is no longer the case. Things have conspired that this was my first railtour for the best part of a year (actually The Ebor Flyer), but not for the lack of booking. For a change l was late in booking (just over a week before the day itself) as l usually book much earlier, so it was different to have all the paths shown on RTT and the like. I also managed to get my usual co-traveller to accompany me; l say this as he got quite annoyed with trips being cancelled, but he was not alone in that. I had worked out that this was the best (only) way to ‘get’ 60009 in the South, l am aware that the route was reasonably flat however that does not matter an iota.

    Anyway, to the day in question: we walked to our local station to catch the first train at just before half five to Gatwick Airport and swapped to a London Victoria one. Thankfully there were no problems with all the parts of the journey, having a moment’s wait to get the Victoria line Northbound and changing to the Bakerloo Line at Oxford Circus where a train was just pulling in. After having our hearing damaged by copious rail screeching noise we emerged onto the concourse at Paddington at a quarter to seven. Greeting us at Paddington was the noise of several types of diesel engines, including (DRS) 57306 that had brought the sleeper in and 37409 with Pathfinder’s ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ railtour at the buffers (37402 was at the Country End). The stewards for our tour had started to meet up – always a good sign; l wonder what the collective noun is for such a gathering? My suggestion would be a ‘Control’ of Stewards.

    The ECS for the Cotswold Venturer was brought into Platform 9 by 47746 ‘Chris Fudge’ at about 07:10, but what was on the other end? A short march along the platform revealed the reassuring shape and smoke signals of 60009 Union of South Africa. This was the first time l had been next to a working A4; therefore this was my first tour behind one. After the obligatory photographs we wandered back down the platform to take our seats in Coach H.

    After a short while we were away almost right time and as we moved off l could see the (now) headlights of 47746 being left behind. The carriage was quite warm when boarding, so windows were opened, so after moving for a time, all the warm air was replaced by cool. Although it was only mid-February the temperature was quite mild so it was not too bad. To We kept time to Reading, the only thing of note was the switch to the Main at Dolphin Junction to skirt around the engineering possession of the Relief at Slough. We returned to the Relief at Maidenhead East Junction. As always l try to look out for the people who are on the platforms of the stations we pass who do not know that we are coming through and the looks of astonishment on their faces.

    After the stop at Didcot Parkway we took water at Challow. Other down trains must have been running well as we were away on time. After Swindon speed rose to the mid to high 60s, passing Kemble at 67 which was a damn-sight quicker than the walking pace behind 6201 a few years ago. Although we did gradually slow, it felt that we were rollicking up the bank to enter Sapperton Tunnel at 54. Goodness knows what our speed would have been if we the brakes had not been on for a good proportion of the tunnel. You may like to see page one of the attached file ‘Charts.pdf’ which shows this in more detail.

    We stopped at Gloucester Yard Junction where there was a Pathing allowance of 4.5 minutes. We then moved on to Cheltenham to stop in Cheltenham High Street Loop where there was an announcement to say that that this may be of interest for “track bashers” as it is a rare section of line. Some decent running with a pause at Norton Junction saw us into Worcester Shrub Hill a few minutes early.

    Unfortunately we could not get to the front of the train as it was off the end of the platform with the (BT?) police keeping order, in addition station staff were stopping people from jumping the fence into the private (staff?) car park. It is nice to see an area that retains semaphore signals (even though they are ‘wrong’ quadrant) and the pop-up Birmingham route indicator. After walking around the centre for a good while we found a nice (little) pub to have our lunch in. Sorry: l cannot give the name of it as they could not cope with half a trainload of hungry gricers! After another ‘lap’ of the centre we made our way back to the station where 60009 could be seen being attended to for the return journey. It looked like a lot of coal was put into the firebox at once because the smoke became exceedingly black. When the previous train cleared Platform 1, 60009 glided into the station on time and we were away likewise.

    Now we were only three carriages back from 60009, most of the windows were opened to hear the very crisp sound from the front. As one of my legs can attest to, the steam heat was definitely working so open windows were not an issue. From a maximum speed of the low sixties we attacked the climb to Campden Tunnel, passing Honeybourne at 58 and entered the tunnel at a noisy 46. As for the assent to Sapperton, you may like to see page two of the attached file ‘Charts.pdf’.

    After some more good running we arrived at Charlbury (water stop) early. It appeared that the water tanker had a little problem in being positioned for watering however within a minute or two the water was flowing. After re-boarding we were away slightly early. I did wonder to myself owing to the number of people that had come down to Charlbury station to see the train if this was the busiest it had been for a long time? It was soon completely dark outside. There was a short stop before Oxford and after passing through the station on the through line we showed to let a train by. After that we stopped at Didcot Parkway and Reading. All the new(ish) structures on the approach to Reading certainly reflected the noises emanating from 60009.

    Earlier in the return journey there was an announcement to let those who intended to leave the train at Slough or Ealing Broadway to let themselves be known. After crossing to the Main at Maidenhead East Junction we skipped the stop at Slough, which l suspect was a operational change of plan, hence the announcement. After the stop at Ealing Broadway we arrived back at London Paddington seven minutes early. After a short time for more photographs (and use of the facilities) we headed home, which was also trouble free, walking through the door a little just before 10:20 pm.

    I acknowledge what some have said about the trip being the ‘wrong way round’, but l think this made it somewhat special. I close in thanking those who put their time into making the tour run and that l am glad to have experienced 60009 in fine fettle.

    -SC-
     

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  9. CLN_WVR

    CLN_WVR Member

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    A tad late but here's a couple of images taken through the murky conditions at Iver and one from where Oaksey Halt used to be.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

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