'Tornado': Paddington to Worcester. 14th Feb. 2016

In the pouring rain too !

 

"We do not want diesel assistance so a route change is the only option available to us" What a breath of fresh air to hear that kind of statement !

 

Proper promoter!! Advertise steam hauled and that's what you get.

 

"We do not want diesel assistance so a route change is the only option available to us".
Absolutely! Literally chuffed to read this.
Problem with Sapperton is the 1:60 before the tunnel and I can't recall timing anything up there with 13 on before, and they'll mostly be MK1s on the heavier Commonwealths and of course there's the jenny. So a sensible change but strange it was not picked up by NR before.
Full marks to UKRT for persisting in trying to run a genuine steam hauled train.

P.S. I'm following the forecasts and a bit of the white stuff is not out of the question this weekend for those of you who want those wintry shots.

 

Absolutely "on message" with both the above posts. But it does raise the question now of whether there might be a similar issue looming with the Devon Belle on 2nd April, and, if so, what the possible outcome might be. How would roughly 4.5 miles at 1 in 80 up to the East portal of Honiton Tunnel be viewed in the light of the verdict on what's possible (with ease??) on Sapperton. I dread to contemplate how diminished this tour might be if the "nuclear option" of Route Change was to be invoked, so I hope that the plans for train formation and gross weight are going to be framed with this in mind.

 

According to the WR 1963 load book the max load up Sapperton eastbound is only 371 tons (for 10XX, 70XX, BR 70XXX and even BR 92XXX). Before my time, but I understand the Kings had gone by then and weren't passed for this route anyway?

The same load book gives the max load for a MN from Salisbury to Exeter as 435 tons (400 tons for WC/BB). Assuming 435 tons applies then this would allow 13 coaches @ 33.5 each or 12 @ 36.25 each. Provided Mk1s on B4s and/or a few Mk2 are in the formation 13 coaches is possible.

 

From the UKR website " This tour is being run by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, with UK Railtours acting as sole agents."

 

OK, many thanks for this background info. BTW, the August 2014 incarnation of this tour ran out at 427 tare/ 455 tons gross based on load 12 (various Mark 1 specs/ no Mark 2's) and surmounted the incline to the tunnel entrance at just over 25 mph in fairly appalling weather conditions. So we can just hope that the rules, however tightly applied, haven't changed.

 

More than happy to be corrected. They email I got concludes "Both we and the A1 Trust hope you have a thoroughly enjoyable day out aboard ‘The Red Rose’. Kind regards, John Farrow UK Railtours On behalf of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust "

So well done both?

 

Surely part of the equation (as was stated in the the more sensible part of the debate after Tangmere's Devonian stop) is not what load loco X can pull up up the slope but what load it can realistically restart on the slope should that be required. Perhaps prudence is now replacing optimism and crossed-fingers in the planning office.


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Return times on RTT
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U59859/2016/02/14/advanced
Looks like water at Bristol Parkway and a splash n dash at Wantage Road

 

This is great news. But, call me a sceptic, my I suspect someone, somewhere at the top, will insist on a diesel after all. We must never take things for granted in this hobby! Of course I hope I am wrong.

 

I don't recall many A1ST tours running with a diesel. I'd be well surprised to see one turn up on Sunday.

 

Available LE path - but will it be used?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U59855/2016/02/14/advanced

 

If the box was going along the train would be able to do Sapperton. Keep up.

 

Question of the day.

When was the last time that a steam charter travelled southbound between Gloucester and Bristol?

<BJ>

 

My opening bid would be 13th June 2015, when this section was traversed in both directions by VT's Tyesley-Minehead Whistling Ghost 3,. which featured Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on the main line segment of the tour and recorded at http://www.tyseleylocoworks.co.uk/photos_tours/2015/vt_gallery_2015_minehead.htm

Altogether a really excellent trip, and one that I'm pleased to see re-appears on this year's (provisional) schedule, but this time with 46233. Hopefully bookings will open in the not-too-distant future.

 

Think you're right, the Whistling Ghosts are the most recent. I think the first Wales Borders Express with Tangmere on 4th May 2013 was the first southbound Gloucester-Bristol for a number of years. Tangmere the Erratic sat down short of steam on the 1:281 to Wickwar Tunnel!!

 

Nothing on RTT for ECS departing Southall yet and P1 at Paddington still empty ( open trains)