The Cornishman 29/05 with Bittern

The Cornishman 29/05 with Nunney Castle (prev Bittern!)

Had a very persuasive nudge from RTC and promptly booked on this which promises to be an excellent day out with the A4. Given that this was originally scheduled for 70000 I wonder if thought has been given to using Bittern's 2nd tender to cut out some of the water stops and allow for a bit longer at Par (currently forecasted at 2.5 hours)? I see Steam Dreams are using this on their London trip to the West Country a few weeks later. Whatever happens this should be a splendid day out and some good opportunities for her to show her muscle, though unlikely to see a repeat of number 9's exploits!

 

I think it's unlikely to run with the second tender. Will be restricted to 9 (or maybe 10?) coaches as it is, because of Dainton, Hemerdon and Rattery banks. Taking the extra tender will reduce that further and, as is often said, the profit is in the last coach.

 

Hope the recent lineside fires on the ECML and S&C do not lead to this tour being caped because of 60019's 'banning' by Network Rail.
If the cause was 60019's spark arrestor equipment then I hope it can be fixed, to NR's satisfaction, in time.

Reminds me of 60009 Union of South Africa's exploits, many years ago, which also needed lots and lots of fire fighters along long stretches of the S&C! Seem to recall it made national TV news and newspapers .

 

Was that when there was a fire risk and the driver was told to take it easy? Instead he decided that if he tried to get the sparks to go far enough into the sky they'd cool down before they hit the ground!

 

You might say that, I couldn't possibly comment !!

 

It is now confirmed on UK steam that Nunney Castle is now doing this trip no times as yet.

 

Pleased to hear that nunney castle has picked up more work sorry for bitten though she went well on the coronation trip last weekend.
hope she back on main line soon.

 

I guess ths means a reduced load, 8 maybe? Perhaps more appropriate motive power given GWR 175 though Bittern would've been nice. Sure Nunney will make a little more noise though !

 

Best news so far this year We get to see Bittern on the SD banks in September

 

And we get 5029 twice in a mth. as well as the king on the wall at dawlish.can't be bad.

 

yes this is great news for GWR fans I'll be out on the mainline two days running, and possibly on the SDR on the Monday pity about Bittern, but she is due down here later in the year.

 

While i appreciate it's all about bums on seats,
I hope it is a reduced load, rather than a box on wheels belching diesel fumes included in the train.

 

I think the only diesels we'll be seeing are HSTs and DMUs...

 

Edit: tour appears to be full.

 

So is nunney castle at barton hill till saturday or the marsh?

 

What happened to Bittern?

 

On the 20 May Bittern started a number of fires while out on the S&C, so probably under investigation regarding the spark arrestor.

 

I would suggest that the tour is now fully booked owing to the load being reduced from 9 to 8 vehicles which I believe is the maximum for a castle over the banks.

 

Anyone fancy seeing The Cornishman headboard and train numbers on this one?

 

Ben, Before sorting out headboard and train numbers may I respectfully suggest the spark arrestor and ashpan sprays/damper screens are checked, and checked again, as it doesn't look like there's an awful lot of the wet stuff forecast for the West Country before Saturday. Hope all goes well and everyone enjoys themselves!