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RTC Portsmouth Flyer - 13/06/26

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by Big Al, Jun 8, 2026.

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  1. Deepgreen

    Deepgreen Well-Known Member Friend

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    My video from yesterday's run.

     
    Deepgreen, Jun 14, 2026 at 12:44 PM
    #61
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  2. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    My guess is that Control was worried that the train was booked 10 minutes at Woking and had it continued at the speed it was, it would have been at least that.
    There's a mile of 1 in 100 up to Milford - you can see it in your video - and then it gets serious again up to Witley. We also had an important ceremony to avoid at Haslemere with the opening of the old signal box as a heritage centre that would take place after we had left. So that window of time at Haslemere was important and I expect that it was decided that Clan Line needed to hurry. A gain of around eight minutes from Farncombe will tell you that. NR even held a late running Pompey service to let us go ahead in our proper path and so I think that the assistance up to Witley was intentional and not typical of the rest of the day.
     
    Big Al, Jun 14, 2026 at 2:01 PM
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  3. Deepgreen

    Deepgreen Well-Known Member Friend

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    Many thanks for that - interesting stuff. I know the line to Milford is far from flat but a MN could handle that load with ease, but of course the specific Haslemere deadline changes the picture completely. According to RTT the time made up between Farncombe and arriving at Haslemere was five minutes, so still a worthwhile effort. My faith in diesel assistance drivers is restored! Perhaps it might have been nice to have combined the signalbox ceremony with steam being present, but either way I hope it went well.
     
    Deepgreen, Jun 14, 2026 at 5:36 PM
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  4. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    The crowds were out at Bursledon too (good to see you again, Don). All these years after regular steam ended, these specials still seem to draw the crowds - particularly on lines where they are very infrequent (Has any steam train run between Fareham and Southampton since Royal Scot in 2021?) In my local area, there always seems to be a good turn-out for the RTC Sussex Belle trips to Eastbourne, although given three such trains are due to run this year, maybe the novelty will wear off.

    By contrast, I was on my own later on Saturday to see 35028 take the line to Romsey at Redbridge. I thought that I'd have quite a bit of company on the A35 overbridge, but not a soul!
     
    John Petley, Jun 15, 2026 at 10:18 AM
    #64
  5. Mick45305

    Mick45305 Member

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    35028 went that way last year on the GB, prior to that or since I’m not sure.
     
    Mick45305, Jun 15, 2026 at 3:26 PM
    #65
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  6. Deepgreen

    Deepgreen Well-Known Member Friend

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    Video still from the car park at Woking on the return leg - a filming location I haven't used before - a slightly limited field of view and a danger of being 'bowled' by down trains, but I tried it as there was nothing scheduled to pass in front - fortunately it was more or less on time. 115A7079.jpeg
     
    Deepgreen, Jun 15, 2026 at 8:25 PM
    #66
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