71000 'Duke of Gloucester'

"The eagle eyed among you will have noticed that there is no departure date for the Duke shown in the current Traffic News.

I have checked with Dewi, and this is not a mistake. It is not scheduled to leave within the time frame of the current Traffic News. Watch this space - as they say!"

From SVR Online Forum today regarding the Duke's visit to SVR gala..maybe a much longer visit in prospect..anyone got any further information???

View topic (http://forum.svra.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1075)
"

 

From the SVR Online forum courtesy of the SVR's traffic guru...Anyone who missed this fine machine at the SVR gala has another chance and those who enjoyed it can have another go!


"71000 "Duke of Gloucester" is booked to run on the following ten days.
The actual train times have yet to be decided.

April 10,11,12,13,17,18,19 and May 2,3,4

subject to availablility
_________________
Kind Regards,

Malcolm

 

71000 is now at Bridgnorth so I would think that all of her runs on the SVR will be off Bridgnorth. I will try to keep updated.

 

ooooo 71000 on 10 maroon mark ones! I will definetly find an excuse to get over at easter.

 

What I heard from the Gala two weeks ago is that 71000 will be staying at Bridgnorth for a few months as the MPD people are 'doing some work' on it.

Will definetly be making a trip to the SVR over Easter to get more shoots of 71000.

 

I missed the Gala, and I will be in Australia at Easter, but will definitely be there on April 18/19 weekend.

 

Thought I would give this thread a bump to remind people that the duke will be in action from this Friday &all over Easter, should be 1st train off Bridgnorth.

 

Just like to thank the 71000 boys for a great day behind their loco yesterday, was nice to actually hear it work this time after a quiet run behind it at the gala. Sounded lovely chattering up Eardington. Hope they managed to fix the coal pusher which was ging them trouble! Chatting to one of the team it is due to return to Bury soon after its booked turns on the SVR next weekend (18th&19th) to have some flue tubes replaced which will hopefully lead to a return to the mainline for this great machine.
The trains hauled by the duke yesterday were packed, lets hope this encourages the SVR to use visiting motive power more regularly as the 'Big Engine' weekend last year was also very popular.

 

I rode behind the Duke on the 12-35 out of Kidderminster yesterday, but I have to say that there were few enthusiasts on the train to ride behind 71000. 99% of the passengers were just normal passengers, and I doubt if most of them had any real idea what was up front. They were more concerned with finding a seat, or standing room, on a packed train.

Superb engine it is, but not really extended on a Heritage line. My return trip to Kidderminster was behind the Ivatt class 2, and considerable noise was generated on the pull up from Bewdley to the tunnel with a packed train. It was the BR Mk1 set. Considerably more memorable!

Nice to just stand close to 71000 at Arley though, and take in the detail of "Mr Riddles' best".
Magnificent engine. Congratulations to the support people.

46118

 

Spent an extremely enjoyable day at SVR yesterday.

To echo the seniments above 46443 and particularly 7812/7802 were excellent.The final train with 7802 was one of the nosiest runs on a normal running day ,I have sampled anywhere.The crew seemed to be enjoying themselves esp in the Foley Park Tunnel area.

And this is from someone who generally avoid GWR locos,yesterday 71000 was avoided apart from the first /last trains as a means of heading back for the train behind.

 

Travelled behind the duke on the first train out of bridgnorth with 10 on,8 LMS set and two svr dining cars,superb climb out of bridgnorth and out of bewdley towards foley park.Returned behind 7802 with 7 teaks and a scruffy mark 1,the differance a smaller loco on this line makes is unbelievable,all hard work and the noise out of hampton loade all the way to eardington summit was worth the ticket fare alone.The timetable for this weekend was excellent with departures from each end every 45 mins which if like me you want to hear locos doing their stuff is actually better than a gala weekend.

 

71000 is an engine I have yet to ride behind, I will have to put that right this year.

Does anyone know if there are any long term plans to make further modifications to her to increase her performance, or is that it for good ?

 

Is it not running on 2nd-4th May as previously mentioned? <BJ>

 

71000 is still booked to run on the 2nd - 4th May.

 

Whilst i'd agree with the comments regarding smaller engines being better suited to the SVR it is still nice to see these big beasts on the SVR. As a member I paid just £7 to travel behind the duke all day on Saturday whilst it'd be at least ten times that to travel behind it on the mainline, a prohibitive price for me at the moment. With the locomotive not mainline registered at present this is a win, win situation for the trust and the SVR. The trust have earnt extra steaming fees towards a mainline return and while the majority of people travelling were members of public i'm sure I wasn't the only enthusiast tempted to travel because of the duke; on Saturday only 71000's trains were full to standing not the others.
Yes, the duke is like a caged lion on a preserved line but glimpsing that power just makes me want to travel behind it up Shap even more; what better publicity can you get?!! I'm sure even Joe Public can tell the difference between 46443 and the 'Duke of Gloucester', maybe seeing something a bit extra special will ignite the spark that will bring them back to the SVR or for younger visitors maybe even volunteer when they're older, I can remember quite vividly my first encounter with a big blue streak going by the name of 'Sir Nigel Gresley' and it wasn't on the mainline...

 

Pretty much the same on the Monday.

Can someone tell me what was going on here please.......

 

Looks like a steam engine to me ? \/

 

Too many oily rags being burnt in the smokebox?