British Pullman 2024

Great - I wondered because RTT shows 420 tons at 75mph, which usually means diesel. Many thanks. Nice shot, by the way.

 

Yes Ralph, whereas most of the steam specials I check RTT for are shown as Diesel loco trailing 420 tons at 75 mph. A little bit strange that RTT don't have steam locos as a motive power, but I guess they don't want to get involved in the 'diesel on the back debate.'

Bryan B

 

Not generally when the path is offered for Pullmans with a 75mph upper limit.........

 

Exactly. Steam with the Pullmans usually shows as 715 tons, I thought. Anyway, steam it is.

 

Much as I dislike Facebook the Clan Line facebook page for which you do not need an account will usually tell you when the FTR has been passed for the next day.
Picture on there very recently showing how no one could get near the loco during servicing.

 

On a train from Sevenoaks where it has been announced that the train had to stop in S tunnel owing thick smoke from '28! The driver could not see the road or signals. '28 looks to have struggled on the climb and rain starting didn't help.

 

RTT shows 35028 may have been badly checked through Tonbridge, but I can't comment about the MN struggling on the climb afterwards, no doubt anyone from MNLPS on the train will update us on that. But there were three trains at varying times in front at Sevenoaks, and I thought the last of those was quite close in front and going slowly. But I can't find it on RTT! And I presumed at the time it was sent up the main in front of 35028, as Clan Line was just drifting slowly through the station, at one point I thought it might be stopped.

Anyway, I arrived at the main road bridge overlooking the station in bright sunshine and left in a torrential downpour, soaked through! I did leave home with my three umbrellas in the car boot, and at least they are all still bone dry.

I had aimed to phot 35028 storming through Sevenoaks in sunshine with a lovely exhaust in the cold weather. But the above explains why I didn't! And the heavy rain that had not long started to fall can just be picked up in my photo.


Bryan B

 

I was at the southern end of p3! A class 700 ECS crawled out of the down side siding just before '28 appeared, and took an inordinately long time to pass through the station (p3), despite having a green. Nothing had come up from Hildenborough for several minutes prior to the steam appearing, at a crawl itself. RTT shows it was 5E at Tonbridge loop, then 1L through the station and 9L by Sevenoaks. It's only my assumption that it found it hard going on the climb, especially as the rain had started. A down class 375 was slipping badly heading south out the station so I imagine '28 on its heavy train was similarly afflicted.

The incident with the following train (which I boarded at Sevenoaks to a 'fug' of smoke on board) prompts me to ask - has a service train ever been stopped in a tunnel like this because of post-1968 main line steam causing visibility issues? I can't recall one but there may have been other occasions. The announcements from the driver were a little petulant about the steam train! Two video frames attached.

 

The end of the platforms was my reserve position if I couldn't get clear view from the main road bridge. You did well there, especially as you didn't get blocked.

Thanks for the info about the ecs, I had no idea where it had come from, which is why I assumed it may have been in front of 35028.

Now the tunnel smoke. I was BR SR Finance Trainee 1966-1970 and when not at college enjoying the three and a half day week we had negotiated with our tutors, we had to go training in various BR SR departments. Which, if it was training meant that the non-finance ones we went to were very pleased to get rid of us as quickly as they could, so lots of half days to go bashing steam out of Waterloo. But in the finance departments we were often used as slave labour on menial tasks - which we objected to on the grounds it wasn't proper training, although our objections were really because we were being asked to do something called W.O.R.K. And it involved having to follow a totally new concept to us students called Office Hours.

Anyway, one task I was involved in was allocating freight, parcels and passenger train mileages to route sections, which was quite interesting at times. And during that work, one of the working timetables for the SE Division had a detailed set of instructions in/or attached, to be followed if a steam locomotive ever ran through Sevenoaks Tunnel again. I can't remember much of the detail but I think it included no other trains being allowed through for a set time after the steam loco had cleared the tunnel. What a shame I didn't take a copy of it - I could have said this may prove useful in 56 years time! I wonder what the current arrangements are.

Bryan B

 

Video.
British Pullman, 35028 Clan Line, 12th September 2024.
Filmed at Hildenborough.

 

Thanks Al. There was an ecs before the one that @Deepgreen mentioned that I wrongly thought 35028 had followed through the tunnel. Stupid me! Of course the earlier ecs, the one Clan Line was stopped at Tonbridge to let go in front would have been out of the tunnel some minutes before 35028 had restarted and tackled the climb with almost no forward momentum. In the conditions it sounds like a good climb on that load.

Not sure if the controllers would have had much choice, as I assume the ecs 35028 was stopped for would have been heading to London to form an evening down rush hour train, and would have been given priority even if departing late.

As for a lot of smoke in the tunnel, maybe the aim is to minimise that? But the firing sequence could have been messed up by the stop at the bottom of the climb?

But yes Al, I thought modern traction has all sorts of technology on board, and as for not being able to see in the tunnel . . . . is it normally lit all the way through?

Bryan B

 

SHE announced that she had to stop as she couldn't see anything ahead. 375s don't have cab signalling so I imagine that she was driving blind, notwithstanding audible warnings. I don't know if she panicked at the loss of visibility and stopped accordingly, or something else. I imagine the smoke may well have been thicker than any fog, but I don't know what the rules say about such a loss of visibility.

 

Tunnel lighting wouldn't help with signal sighting, which is what she claimed had prompted the stop. It did sound an odd thing to announce, and I wonder if she knew there was steam ahead or thought something was wrong/on fire. Stopping may have been a simple semi-panic reaction. The train was certainly very smoky when I boarded it, probably far more so than if it had just kept going.

 

My film of the somewhat damp (literally) squib that it turned out to be at Sevenoaks!

 

As far as I know Sevenoaks Tunnel doesn't have a ventilation shaft, so the steam would hang in the air.
If the driver has not met those circumstances before, stopping and seeking advice is understandable.

Cheers, Neil

 

A short clip of Clan Line climbing Bickey bank this morning in light drizzle:

 

According to my back garden, it's already leaf fall season and today, as you mention, was drizzly yet Clan Line is here showing itself to be completely master of the job on the steepest incline of the day - 13 on and nothing on the rear. Most impressive, as ever!

 

Marvelous to see Clan Line out today, looking and sounding fantastic! As others have said, I was surprised (and pleased!) to see there was no diesel assistance.

Here she is climbing past Hildenborough earlier this afternoon: