Steam Dreams 2023

The Garden of England Lunchtime Tour, 70000 Britannia, 18th July 2023.
Filmed at Sandling and Knockholt:

 

Hilarious to see the passenger on the platform at Knockholt take not a bit of notice, despite the whistle and all the other unusual noise!

 

Putting on a great show through Rainham and Hildenborough:

 

70000 did not sound entirely happy when I filmed at Gomshall - the still air meant the sound carried a long way but on approaching, on the climb at 1 in 100 it seemed very lacklustre and slightly 'wheezy'. I may be wrong, and hope all is well. No assistance from the (Intercity!) 47.

 

Best engine on the mainline by miles that is ❤️

 

At dusk climbing Gomshall bank. 8K video frame.

 

I note that 70000 went back to Crewe yesterday and I can find no return trip, so perhaps its appearance on Tuesday was a one-off after all?

 

But did it return? This was posted on uk-rail: 'This should be 47.828 & 47.805''.

Speed also indicated as 95mph. Realtime Trains | 5Z95 1251 Southall Loco Services Ltd to Crewe H.S. | 19/07/2023

Answers on a post card. <BJ>

 

It was definitely just the two 47s and stock, no 70000.

 

A-ha! Good - many thanks. Yet again, I foolishly trusted RH!

 

Confirmed - 70000 on the front today. Going well through St Mary Cray junction.

Regards,

Dan

 

A week late, but a couple of photos of the 18th July Garden of England. Looked a bit wetter in Dover today at lunchtime.

South Darenth


Shakespeare Beach

 

The Garden of England Lunchtime Tour, 70000 Britannia, 25th July 2023.
Filmed at Chelsfield:

 

I filmed at Chilworth and the sound carried from miles away. It sounded as if 70000 had either stopped at Shalford or crawled through - is there a speed restriction for steam through the station? The station level crossing at Chilworth was down for at least five minutes before the train crossed it!

 

We travelled aboard yesterday’s Garden of England trip. I'm no timer nor got any fancy GPS equipment so anyone looking for speeds and timings etc there isn't any here, but I thought I'd drop a report on what it was like onboard:

Our tale of travelling on this trip actually goes way back to 2021, where as a 21st birthday present, my family agreed to take me on the SD Lincoln Christmas trip set to be hauled by 60163. Mainline haulage from my personal favourite locomotive, the family able to visit the market in Lincoln, not too early start or late finish, seemed perfect for all of us. Then the A1 was withdrawn from the mainline because of wheel flats, and so with the soul reason for going on the tour gone, and it being replaced by 61306 which I'd already been behind four times (and the family twice having travelled on two previous Windsor shuttles), we cancelled and were given a voucher to be used within the next 12 months. We used said voucher on a SSE last year, only for it to be cancelled because of fire risk. Why it didn't run with two diesels like the next one did, we don't know, but it proved a lucky move for us as we were given a new voucher valid for another 12 months. So, a year later we try again. Not wanting to be hauled by the B1 again, we booked on this one with the Brit. We were originally going to go in Standard but found out that all the GOE’s and SSE’s are practically full in standard with only the odd seat available, so we ended up travelling First Class. Not a bad bonus as it did use up the vouchers value, and it would be interesting to see what 'First Class' was like.

So, off to Victoria we went, timing it perfectly to pass the ECS as it was coming out of Stewarts Lane Jn, with the Brit assisting up the grade sounding excellent. We were in coach J which, from what we saw, didn't exist, but as we continued to pass it we read coaches G to A telling us that coach A was at the back so we were at the front right behind the support coach. We got into Victoria in good time to see the ECS being dragged in, interestingly by ScotRail No. 47712. The train stopped so far from the buffers that there was little room to see the front of the Brit, but we did so and grabbed a few pictures including some on the footplate for myself and my friends including @TH Railway Videos who was travelling with us as his birthday treat. We then went to board and as guessed, we were right behind the support coach in the unmarked coach J, though disappointingly we were travelling in a Mark 2. Although the coach was incredibly comfortable and luxurious, it was obvious we wouldn't hear much of the Brit working hard. As we boarded it was also extremely warm, might as well have been on the footplate of the Brit!!

We left Victoria right time, able to hear the whistle of the Brit which we would certainly hear a lot of for the duration of the trip, even in the enclosed Mark 2. Shortly after departure the stewards came to greet us. The Mark 2 has a seat layout of tables for 4 on one side and tables for 2 on the other and the stewards addressed us in each of the groups of 6. Interesting to note that the middle of our coach was full of people but the ends were empty, so it seems they fill the seats by starting in the middle and working their way towards the ends of each coach. Shortly after the stewards offered us tea and coffee, such is the way of first class. One thing that was very obvious was the fact that they were not 'Steam Dreams' stewards but the same stewards that run with Saphos. It has been mentioned elsewhere that shortly after LSL bought steam dreams all of their stewards were sacked, apparently some of them have since made a move to RTC instead, can't say I blame them. If LSL prefer to have their own staff that's fair enough as there's more to the role (in first class anyway) than just talking to people. But was it really not an option to train any past SD stewards? Who knows.

We travelled via Denmark Hill to reach Bromley before heading to Rochester where we were held outside for a late running Thameslink that we would follow all the way to Rainham. The further we travelled from London the worse the weather got, it certainly wasn't the sunniest of days but there were still plenty of people on stations and bridges alike despite the rain, from what we could see on a rain covered window anyway. We heard endless whistling from the Brit at each station we passed, certainly nice to hear. We could hear the Brit working at times but you really had to be listening for it. It certainly sounded good at speed.

As we pulled into Canterbury East we received a message over the tannoy to say we would be stopping for water and we were allowed to leave for a leg stretch and to see the engine. We were asked to be back on the train around 1215. Seemed a bit early considering our departure was 1227 and at 1220 the Brit issued its 'get back on the train' whistle. Coaches A and B would have to travel through to C if they wished to disembark as the train was too long for the platform. CDL eventually unlocked (which as discussed included the 'out of bounds' Coach B and A, no idea of anyone manned the doors to make sure nobody tried to leave there with the 'door unlocked' sign above the doors illuminated) and a lot of people ventured out, though quickly got back on when the rain made a reappearance. Suddenly the ‘too warm’ Mark 2 was actually better than being outside. We had arrived 9 minutes early. I would suggest the crews would like to get to a water stop as quickly as possible, every extra minute makes a difference, but the tender seemed to fill up as there was water overflowing from the hose well before we were due off.

Bang on time we left and headed for Dover. With only a 9 minute stop here, presumably for pathing and to change the trains headcode from 1Z82 to 1Z84 we assumed we wouldn't be let off. We were right. An advantage of the CDL of course. Off we went and headed for the Dover Seawall and even though it was a grim wet day we could still see France in the distance. Infact we had been able to see a lot of the scenery outside despite our window being covered in rain. The Brit sounded incredible as we powered towards Shakespeare tunnels and onwards to run alongside HS1 where we were lucky enough to see two Eurostar’s, one in each direction. Even more luckily, they were both the old Class 373s, haven't seen them in a long while. The weather seemed to clear up the further we headed and we cruised through Ashford Int before arriving at Paddock Wood for what was certainly a 'splash and dash' water stop at only 11 minutes. Again, we assumed we wouldn't be let off and we were right. At this point me and my two friends walked to the end of our coach. The warning on the windows stated the windows couldn't be down while the train was moving, but as we were stationary, we opened them to have a quick look. We commented on how those new window bars don't do much justice in blocking people from window hanging. If they truly want to prevent people doing such, they should make them in an X shape rather than a /, such a design would still allow people to lower their hands to open the doors, but prevent sticking heads out, which was certainly needed as we had heard vegetation scraping alongside our Mark 2 for a lot of the journey, hope it didn’t affect any of the crews. Still, the guard passed us with a friendly hello as he needed to go into the support coach to leave the train as obviously the CDL prevented anyone doing so. We departed Paddock Wood, door windows now up, and the guard came back through and had no issue with us standing there, as we wanted to hear the Brit tackle Hildenborough bank having not heard that much in the Mark 2 for most of the run. Even with the windows fully closed you can still hear the Brit as there's a small air vent above the windows allowing you to hear the 'outside world'. The Brit sounded fantastic powering up the bank at speed with plenty of whistling from the crew.

We headed back towards Bromley before returning to Victoria via Herne Hill, making for a different route back to Victoria than we had taken on the outward to Bromley. The Stewards came through to thank us for travelling with them to which we thanked them for their impeccable service. All too soon (even though it had been just over 5 hours) we arrived back into Victoria. We had a lovely chat and a few photos with the crew before the ECS headed to Battersea loop for servicing. Shortly after we headed home, though we weren’t done with the Brit just yet, we would be back out in the evening to film it on the Sunset run. Strange seeing a train from the lineside that you were just travelling on…

A big thanks to LSL for their crews, coaching stock, and the exceptional 70000. I jokingly hoped that 70022 would make a return just so I would get asked “so you got a mainline run behind Tornado after all did you?”. Nonetheless the Brit was certainly a locomotive I wouldn’t have said no to riding on, and was still a good draw for the family, even though its one steam locomotive I’ve seen the least of compared to others. Thanks also to Steam Dreams for their staff and these new GOE circulars, they certainly are more interesting than the Windsor trips. I hope it proves to be successful for them in the long run and may see another year of running. Thanks to the Stewards who were incredibly kind and friendly and were never too short of offering us tea and coffee. You will certainly have a good experience with the onboard staff, but it is a pity that all of the Steam Dreams folk have since long gone. Thanks to NR for a very generous path, it’s one that allows some steady slow running but also a lot of fast running. We certainly passed 70mph on many occasions but were also able to hear the Brit powering at a slower speed. Just a pity it was changed at the last minute to not go through the Medway Valley as originally advertised, that used to be 'rare track' for steam, nothing having gone on it until 34067 did on last years Medway Valley Pullman.

The stewards must also be credited for the condition of our tables and the coach, although once again it was a pity we were in a Mark 2. It was a very luxurious coach and my family really appreciated it but we might as well have been 6 coaches back in a Mark 1 with how much we heard from the Brit, and the warm temperature at first was uncomfortable but we soon forgot about it when the weather turned ‘British’. Incidentally, I paid a visit to the buffet coach during the trip and it was laughable how when we got to the first Mark 1, the fourth coach from the Brit, we could hear more there than in our Mark 2, only the second coach behind it. The fact they were using a statesman Mark 2 behind ours suggests that they were using all the Mark 1’s available, hopefully they can arrange a full Mark 1 consist in the future. The first class experience was very nice, almost too good to be true but we’re not exactly used to it or regular railtour folk, so that could just be ‘newbie talk’. However, if it hadn’t been for the Stewards we would’ve very much been in the dark. The only time the, I assume train manager (as it was a lady who addressed us over the tannoy and not the male guard) gave us an on train message was the arrival into Canterbury East. Nothing else to say we were stopping for pathing at Dover / another water stop at Paddock Wood but weren’t allowed out etc. I guess they consider a welcome / thank you message not necessary as the Stewards did that personally which was a nice touch. Only letting us off at Canterbury made sense as it was a long enough stop to do so without worrying that people wouldn't get back on, and with us leaving Canterbury 2 and a half hours after leaving Victoria on a just over 5 hour trip it is almost halfway.

If you’re looking for an excuse to travel around Kent or have a daytrip by steam but also have a lovely onboard experience, I do recommend it. I can’t comment on whether it ‘fulfilled’ the original trip me and the family we were due to do because I’m now a year and a half older (and wiser, I think...), but it was certainly a fun day out for the family and friends.

 

Although I am compiling the 2023 season of SSEs into a single film, I'm posting this clip from last evening as a 'teaser' (or not!). It was a lovely evening and the sound carried well in a light westerly breeze.

 

Apologies if this has been asked before but why was there no GOE or SSE planned for this week?

 

At a guess, Saphos Train promoted 'Fellsman' tour which utilises the same stock on Wednesday. Pretty much impossible to move the stock to Crewe after the SSE, tank and clean.

 

Interesting report, particularly the situation with the windows. So you're not even allowed to stand next to an open window on SD trips?! That seems rather extreme and certainly wouldn't entice me to travel with them.