CathEx Victoria - Bristol: 3/05/18

The return this time, hammering through Sydney Gardens, Bath!

 

Lovely shots Mr Franklin.

 

Cheers, CG!

 

Heres my video of the day.. managed to get 4 shots due to some great driving from 92220 Evening Star and the section of the A303 past Stonehenge being quite clear and moving ok for a change!!
My video was filmed at Grateley,Wylye,Upton Scudamore and Grateley again.

 

Whitchurch:

 

As not a lot of information has come out about the train 'on the day', thought I'd put something together as it was a sort of special occasion for us.

CathEx to Bristol 3/5/2018

This wasn't a trip we intended doing but we made a last minute decision on Wednesday afternoon to give it a go having been impressed with the showings of 45212 on GBXI. 45212 became the 69th engine we've travelled behind since we started steam bashing on that fateful day, 30th August 1984. Not good days for us these if we want to do the 'whole day' but it was Mrs S's birthday on the 1st and she loves a good Steam Hauled Train as much as anyone. She was looking forward to the views of the illuminated bridges and the lights of the city as we cross Grosvenor Bridge on the return. What she doesn't like is the up at 0330. We got up and Mrs S fed the cat. After breakfast, off to Newport Station for the 0530 Pad.

The day started well when an HST rolled in right time. The odds of avoiding travelling on those dreadful Hitachi 800s are rising daily. Duly arrived in Pad at 0730 and got to Victoria at 0751 in time to have a bacon roll and coffee in Wetherspoons. We watched the stock roll in and by the time we strolled down to Platform 2 the diesel had been detached from the 10 coach train. One more than I expected with Upton Scudamore in the way on the return. We had most of coach H to ourselves so mile posting was possible as I could switch from side to side in comfort.

The downside of Victoria starts in the fairly tedious trundle through the suburbs and this was no exception. The diesel duly dropped off at Grosvenor Bridge and we set off for Clapham Junction with Spike Hodges on the regulator. After one signal stop we finally ran through CJ 16m 38s into our journey at a leisurely 22. We'd already heard enough from the front to demonstrate 45212 was in fine fettle. The even beat and strong pull was most impressive. We were into the 40s by Putney but were checked by signals on the approach to Barnes. Lovely noisy and smoky start. The coal was from Northumberland and is much liked by the crews. Bit dusty but good output.

Our decent progress lasted through Kew Bridge, 46 before the brakes came on and we were slowed to 20 after passing through Brentford. Got a bit messy crossing junctions and we didn't really get going until the run to Feltham, 38 and then we got to 54 approaching Ashford(Surrey). We trundled through Staines at 19 but right time. Slack timings or what? 19 miles out; journey time 50mins. Our first pick up was at Egham but it was still noisy up front for the couple of miles before the station, max speed 35.

Lovely note from up front as we left Egham but that didn't last for long as we drifted towards Virginia Water, passed at 16. Noisy pick up and in we'd got to 42 before the brakes came on for Chertsey, 19/21. Fingers crossed as RTT looked encouraging for the run to Woking. Plenty of noise and 39 through Addlestone; 38 through Byfleet and New Haw and plenty of sound up the 1in387 through West Byfleet, 32; picking back up to 36 before easing off for our pick up at Woking. Our fingers were crossed for an uninterrupted run up the 1in326; 1in 314; and 1in298 to Pirbright Jn; then the 1in304 to the 'summit'.

Looked good and we had a noisy smoky start, the sound echoing around. Over the junction at 26; speed and sound increasing to 43 at MP26 then an easing for the 30 mph restriction through Rookwood. Baffles everyone that as it's a dead straight station with no apparent clearance issues. Sound increased once clear of the station; crossed Pirbright Jn at 45; passed MP31 at 47.5. Then downhill at a max of 55 into the short tunnel just past MP31 1/2 before slowing for another 30 mph restriction through Fleet. This is another baffling one. We bowled along the mostly level track to Winchfield in the low 40s before braking for our water stop there. We left in some style and climbed the gentle grade through Hook, 47 and had a max of 54 around MP44 1/2 and were holding 46+ up the 1in249 before being checked to 26 on Basingstoke approach.

Once clear of the station Spike worked the 5 hard up the 1in249. Sounded superb and we passed Battledown at 47. Down the bank through Overton, 59; Whitchurch, 58; up the 1in275, 52 at MP62 1/2. Spike held the 5 back to her maximum of 60ish through Andover and dismissed the 2 miles of 1in220,to pass the summit at 56. We were looking forward to the climb to Grateley and hit the bottom of the 1in264 at 56; barked onto the 3 miles of 1in165 at 52; blasted through Grateley at 51 and held that to the summit. Excellent stuff. We rolled down the bank at 60ish and arrived at Salisbury a few minutes down.

After the watering had been completed we had to wait for a late running Cardiff-Portsmouth Harbour to clear and left 7+ mins late. Again there was some lovely noise coming from the front and we topped the short 1in115 at MP85 at 24. We crossed Milton Jn at 37 and set off on the gently undulating rising climb to Warminster. Speed got to 53 a mile after the junction and fell to a minimum of 44 on the short 1in93. We lost a few mph to the mile+ of 1in198, 50 down to 47. We did drop from 50 to 43 over the mile of 1in111/153 and a few mph on the 1/2 mile of 1in104, min 42. We rolled through Warminster at 36. All downhill to Westbury, 24; Yarnbrook 52; Trowbridge eased to 43; Bradford-on-Avon 50; Avoncliff 49; lost sped to 43 on the short climb to Freshford, 43, then drifted down the bank to Bathampton Jn, 38 to our set down at Bath Spa.

Unfortunately a '5' can't have a go at the '75mph Challenge' between Bath and Bristol. A slip leaving the station was different for a 4-6-0, but we were up to 38 through Oldfield Park; 43 into Twerton Tunnel; 55 into Saltford Tunnel; 59 passing MP113, 6 and a bit miles out; and 58 through Keynsham. We were checked into Foxes Wood Tunnel, 38 and drifted down into Temple Meads 3 minutes early. When the 5 could, it did run well. The valve setting sound spot on and she has a crisp bark from the chimney.

So lunch at the Knights Templar with young Sean Emmet where we chewed the cud about performance and gradient profiles, life, the universe and everything. The answer was still 42. OK but Wetherspoons food isn't what it used to be. Cotleigh Old Buzzard was excellent as was Otter Ale. An odd cloudy IPA, forgotten it's name, warranted trying and it was a decent ale.

Back to the station and no sign of the 5 and our train. Typically it came in 3 minutes before departure and they wanted us away. We only left 1 down which was impressive as was the departure, with I think Bill Montief, excuse the spelling if it's off, on the regulator. 21 passing MP118, just over 1/4 mile out of the station and 27 across the east junction. A superb run past North Somerset Junction, 31, and up the very gentle 1in1320 into the short St Anne's Park Tunnel at 43. We blasted out and into the longer Foxes Wood Tunnel at 42 and by MP115, 2 3/4 miles out we were flying along at 52. Keynsham was passed at 57; Saltford Tunnel at 56, with a max of just over 57 after the tunnel. We arrived at Bath Spa a shade late but left on time.

Watched the engine blast away from the station on the tight curve and we got to 43 before checking back to 41 to swing right across Bathampton Jn. On what is pretty much level track we blasted under Dundas Aqueduct at 59; passed the lovely old Limpley Stoke Station on the right on the old branch at 53 and accelerated noisily up the 1in250ish to Freshford, 55. We lost a couple of mph up the 1/2 mile of 1in115 through Bradford-on-Avon, 51 and ran on to Trowbridge in the mid 40s. Up the few miles of 1in200ish we crossed Yarnbrook Viaduct at 41 and attacked the mile of 1in120 at 39, speed falling back to 24 as much in anticipation of Westbury Signals as the climb itself I think.

Sure enough signals were against us and speed fell to 0.6 on the GPS as they tried not to bring the train to rest against a red. It was another late running Cardiff-Portsmouth Harbour that caused us problems so instead of a brisk run through Westbury onto the foot of Upton Scudamore Bank, we rolled through at 5 mph. We crossed the junction at 7 mph, not a speed you want to carry onto the 3/4 mile 1in76. The crew achieved a superb pick up on the short level section to join the 1in76 at 12mph. The 5 dug in as only 5's can and the sound increased as we rounded the first curve at close to 15mph. Speed picked up to a steady 20 as we came off the 1in76 onto the 1in75 and we passed through Dilton Marsh Halt at 20.8. Speed had risen to 22.4 at MP111 1/4 and to a max of just under 24 onto the 1in70. Black 5's love a slog up a steep bank and we had a superb one, with a minimum speed of just over 22. Better than we could have reasonable hoped for after the crawl to the foot of the bank.

Speed rose rapidly to 44 before we eased for Warminster, 37, and then made good use of the downgrades to pass Wylye at 61, with a max of 62 passing MP124. We arrives at Salisbury 4 late and after watering left 5 late. Bob Baines took over the regulator for the return to Victoria. We really like Bob and looked forward to the climb to Grateley. We blasted into Fisherton Tunnel ay 29 and passed Laverstock Nth Jn at 46, accelerating all the time onto the 2 1/2 mile+ 1in169. We passed MP81 1/4 at 50; MP80 at 48; MP79 3/4 at 50; MP79 at 50 onto the mile and a bit of 1in140. We accelerated noisily to come off the section at 53. The rest of the 'climb' is up almost 2 miles of 1in735to MP74 1/4ish, dismissed at 56. The mile of 1in400 saw speed pegged back slightly to 54 at MP73 1/4, the summit.

We blasted through Grateley at 57 and hit our max of 60 down the 1in165 towards Andover; lost speed to 55 up the mile of 1in330 then shot down the bank to Andover at a bit over 60. We attacked the 3 miles of 1in178 at 60ish and hit the summit at 54 and a bit. We flew past MP62 1/2 at 55; hit 60 on the level and only lost 3 mph to the mile and a half of 1in794. We passed Whitchurch at 56 and on the gentle 1in350ish actually picked up speed a little to flash through Overton at 59. We passed through Battledown at 58 and braked hard to drift through P3 at Basingstoke at 15. Speed picked up rapidly downgrade to 59 at MP45; we passed through Hook at 59; Winchfield at 60; Fleet at 52; Farnborough at 50; crossed Pirbright Jn at 34 before drifting into our Water Stop at Brookwood.

Another brisk and noisy departure led to a max of 51 down the grades before braking for the set down at Woking. We got to a max of 55 at MP22 1/4 just before West Byfleet; slowed through Byfleet and New Haw, 24. Nothing much happened over the section to Virginia Water and down to Egham, our next set down. What was a good departure disappointed to a slow 19 through Staines but a noisy pick up saw a max of 58 through Feltham before we slowed for our final set down at Hounslow.

Now that was a fun and noisy departure. We got to 31 by MP13; 41 through Isleworth; and then it got noisier; 49 through Syon Lane and only dropped to 47 through Kew Bridge but then came the inevitable slowing to 29 through Barnes Bridge; bit of a nice pick up to 34 through Putney then a steady slowing to 22 through Wandsworth Road and a crawl towards Clapham Junction where we were held just outside for 9 minutes. The 2107 Dover Priory Service was in P2 at Victoria so we crawled towards journey's end painfully slowly.

The crawl did however lead to a raising the echoes climb up to Battersea Park and Mrs S and I enjoyed the views from Grosvenor Bridge of the illuminated bridges up the river, and the city beyond before they allowed us into P2, 2 late. Typically before I could get around the platform a service train pulled down into P3 to ruin the station shot!

Back to Paddington in time to enjoy a pint of ESB in the Mad Bishop; then the 2245 back to Newport. It's mayhem on the GWML after 2100 and our train got held up at Reading due to only 2 platforms being open with trains left driverless in both!! They found a driver but we were delayed by 16 minutes and finally got to Newport 21 via the Berks and Hants and Bristol Parkway 21 down at 0156. Home by 0235, a typical 23 hour day in the life of insane Steam Hauled Train lovers!!

About the day, huge thanks to Mr Riley and his workshop folk for doing a great job with the engine. It is immaculately turned out and mechanically one of the very best. Thanks to Steam Dreams for going back to doing what they were always so good at, running proper steam hauled trains. There was a really good atmosphere on the train all day. Thanks to WCR for providing the stock in such good condition and for their excellent operational running of the train on the day. The drivers, Spike, Bill and Bob, firemen and Traction Inspectors (didn't get their names) were excellent and the guards had a great rapport with station staff and dispatchers everywhere we stopped. And of course we have to thank Network Rail for letting us play on their big railway. Despite slow running at times it was a really enjoyable day out.

The train restored our confidence in Steam Dreams and we look forward to travelling with them many more times in the future. The 'Cotswold Venturer' on the 15th looks seriously tempting if the 5 is going to be allowed to attack Sapperton unassisted.

 

nice write up - I don't know who the fireman was between Andover and Basingstoke on the return journey, however when I looked back at my photos I realized he/she waved at me as they went under the bridge near Freefolk. As such just in case they read this a slightly late online wave back

 

A couple of shots from me, filmed at Bapton and Upton Scudamore.

 

Thanks Shireman for the detailed write up of the tour yesterday with 45212. Seen from the lineside at Virginia Water and Twerton Tunnel it was a sparkling trip.
A couple of bits of information to fill in gaps -
There is a permanent speed restriction of 20mph between 19m02ch (Staines Station) and 19m50ch for the Thames River Bridge for all trains. Due to the curvature, there is also a flange lubricator there as well.
The return train was checked by late running 2F96 1711 Westbury to Warminster according to RTT.
( That was the unit which was sat in the other platform then you passed through Warminster.)

Cheers, Neil

 

Thanks for the report - good to see you again at Bristol and then Victoria. I waited until the 2040 unit went out of platform 3 and bingo, got a clear shot of the 5. Quite nice to venture out of BTM for once too; didn't realise how close the station is to the canal system.

 

For the record, Fraser Birrell was the fireman on the outward journey with Phil Akester doing the honours on the return.

 

Yes thanks Shireman for that super write up! It was indeed an enjoyable day, and in good company.

Here's my log of the outward run.

The 30 slack through Brookwood hinders the climb to MP 31, but I calculate the Five developed 1,036 edhp past Pirbright Jn.
We crossed over to the fast just before Basingstoke and I calculate 1,010 edhp on the climb to Worting Jn.
The whole of the four mile climb to MP 73 1/4 after Grateley was worth 974 edhp but the loco was clearly opened up on the upper part of the climb to produce a rather impressive 1,191 edhp on the last two and a half miles at 1:165, speed falling from 52 at Gollard Lane to a minimum of 50-51.

The gradual climb up the Wyle Valley is interrupted by the 50 slack at Wishford and the broken grades make horsepower calcs difficult. We passed through Warminster in 27m 59s from Salisbury, which compares with 27m 23s with Galatea on 11 in March 2017, and 25m 07s with Tornado on 13 earlier this year.

This rather overlooks the good work getting away from the various slacks in the suburban area, and I will see if I can add some analysis.

Return log to follow.

Sean

 

Here's my log of the return.

A good start from Bristol and I calculate 895 edhp for the acceleration from St Annes to Keynsham.

Another good restart from Bath, but checked almost to a stand before Westbury by the Westbury - Warminster unit running 9 Late. Checked down to 5 mph after Westbury South Jn and I could see the banner repeater on. But the signal cleared just in time. We crossed the avoiding line, already on the 1:77, at only 9 mph and slowly recovered to 21 through Dilton Marsh and 23 on the subsequent 1:70. I calculate 1,065 edhp on the upper part of the bank. We were 8 minutes late through Warminster, passing the culprit unit in the other platform, and regained a few minutes down to Salisbury within the constraints of the loco's 60 limit.

We were 5 1/2 minutes late away from the Salisbury water stop faced with the 10 mile climb to MP 73 1/4. There was some difficulty in the Five finding her feet but we soon got going on what proved to be a rousing climb past Porton. For the 6 or so miles to Hampshire gap (average 1:215) I calculate 1,169 edhp, but on the steeper section past Porton I calculate 1,278 edhp for the 3 3/4 miles of 1:169/140/245 (average 1:163). This is very fine indeed for a black five.

Downhill speeds were restrained in deference to the 60 limit and it was only on the level after Andover that the loco was opened out again to tackle the 3 or so miles of 1:178 past Enham, worth say 987 edhp.

As has been said there was some sprightly running in the suburban area, which got more folk than usual to look up from their mobile phones.

Sean