10 December 2009. 34067 Tangmere climbs Gomshall bank with the 9.40 am Victoria to Oxford.
“I hope this chapter conveys the impression of what can still be enjoyed by the train timing enthusiast today”
14 July 2011. 70000 Britannia passing Willingdon Junction with the empty stock of the 9 am Lewes to Ely.
It is in my view remarkable that today steam hauled trains continue to run on the main line in such numbers. There have been problems of course, the most high profile being the suspension of operator West Coast Railways for some weeks in the Spring of 2015, but still the well filled specials continue often producing locomotive performances of the highest order to equal and in some cases surpassing those achieved in the real days of steam. Some locomotives stand out as being quite exceptional either due to what they are achieving, such as the BR Standard Class 7 Pacific No 70000 Britannia, or for their reliability, such as Bulleid Merchant Navy Class Pacific No 35028 Clan Line, or for both robustness and performance such as the superb Tyseley Castle Class 4-6-0 No 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Over the years since the return to steam other engines have also been outstanding and all of this has to be seen within the context of an ever busier railway system and the overall 75mph limit imposed on steam, with many engines restricted to a lower maximum which did not apply in the real days of steam. It would be nice to think that only line speed limits should apply but being realistic we have to remember that all steam engines now working on the main line are old by any measure and must be operated both safely and to minimise wear and tear. Nevertheless some enginemen, even in recent years, have taken the view that if the engine is running well and it feels right then the overall speed limit can take second place to allowing the engine to have its head. I have included two such runs in this chapter, both as it happens on the same stretch of railway, but there have been many others elsewhere. Details of the dates and enginemen concerned have of course had to remain anonymous. So here goes with a few recent very good runs with steam that I have been privileged to enjoy in recent years.
Each year on the 9 July, Steam Dreams run a special train to Weymouth to mark the anniversary of the end of Southern steam and each year a group of Southern steam enthusiasts make up a party and enjoy a day out together enjoying the steam haulage and reminiscing over the events of days gone by. One such event was on 9 July 2012 and it was appropriate that Bulleid Merchant Navy Class Pacific No 35028 Clan Line was our engine that day. Graeme Bunker, then of Steam Dreams, did us proud by arranging a good path for the up journey back to Waterloo. Although the schedule to Waterloo wasn’t very demanding at 93 minutes for the 73½ miles from Eastleigh we had high hopes of a good climb to Roundwood and some fast running afterwards assuming that the path we had been given worked as planned. We knew that first of all a Cross Country service had to pass us and make its Winchester call but that after that we should be clear as far as the London suburbs. I am not sure how many of us actually believed that this would happen but the doubters, myself amongst them, were proved wrong and what followed was the fastest long distance run on Southern metals since 1967.
The accompanying log shows the details but doesn’t tell the full story. After the Eastleigh restart we ran up the slow line to stop at the signal just on the country side of milepost 70½ to allow the Voyager to get past, and after we got underway again we were still being impeded with double yellow signals as far as Winchester. But then we got greens, amazingly all the way to Earlsfield, over 60 miles, which we ran at an average speed of over 70mph including getting up to speed after recovery from the checks. There had been talk in our group of a possible 70mph at the top of the 1 in 252 climb to Roundwood and though I was sceptical we actually got very close to this with 68.3mph achieved at the entrance to Litchfield tunnel despite only passing Winchester at 48mph. As we passed the site of Weston Box, speed was just over 60mph but the rate of acceleration was growing which made me think that Don Clarke had increased the cut off or regulator, or both. In fact he had lifted the regulator into the roof and set the cut off at 35 per cent at Winchester and the engine did the rest. So why the rapid rise in speed over the last 4 miles of the climb? Well my old friend from the days of steam, Tony Leaver, a Bluebell Railway driver and one of the group on the train, explained to me afterwards, ‘One of the problems with the steam tours is when the loco stops for water, the firebox tends to cool down (more so if the loco has been working fairly hard). From the water stop in the loop before Southampton, the loco would not be working particularly hard to Eastleigh where there was another stop and then a stroll up towards Shawford where there was another stop. So not really time to get the box hot again. When a loco is started (with a good fire) there is often an initial drop in pressure, but this quickly recovers, but this also depends on how hard the loco is being worked, which again relates to the gradients. On this trip the pressure continued to drop to 200 lb until the box and brick arch had warmed up. This might explain the increase in speed after Weston as with an increase in boiler pressure, with full regulator, there would be more pressure in the steam chest.’ So it was simply the good old Bulleid syndrome of the boiler pressure increasing the harder the engine was worked. I have calculated the power output during the later stages of the climb and although it didn’t set any records it was still excellent at 2,000 equivalent drawbar horsepower and 2,600 indicated horse power for the final mile to Litchfield tunnel.
11 September 2013. 35028 Clan Line on the late running 8.45 am Victoria to Bath VSOE passing Wyke, east of Andover.
What followed from Roundwood would not have needed much effort from the engine but was a joy to time and will live long in the memory. When was the last time that a steam train had got a clear road through both Basingstoke and Woking? There is a spine tingling video clip of us passing Woking at full speed on YouTube. And all achieved within the current overall speed limit for steam to give a flying average speed of just under 74mph from Wootton to Wimbledon. It was a superlative effort and a credit to all concerned. So from being nearly 8 minutes late at Winchester we passed Wimbledon 3 minutes early and with lots of time allowed for the finish to Waterloo we realised that signal checks would follow. In fact we very nearly got a second even time run of the day from the signal stop before Shawford to a signal stop before Queens Road despite the adverse signals before Winchester and a severe check before Clapham Junction plus creeping slowly up to the stop: we were just 13 seconds outside the 60mph mark. After another stop we ran into Waterloo just one minute late to stand at the buffer stops just as 35030 had done on the 2.11 pm from Weymouth exactly forty-five years before. It was a fitting that our driver for this wonderful run was Don Clarke, an ex Nine Elms fireman, and that his son Jim was producing the steam for him to work Clan Line as he did. I was told afterwards that there was still 3,000 gallons of water left in the tender, so incredibly Clan Line had used just 2,700 gallons of water to produce the superb run we had all just witnessed, hardly an excessive amount for a class of engine with a reputation for high water consumption and a tribute to the high standard of maintenance of this engine and to the father and son footplate pair on 9 July.
For my second run I have chosen an outstanding effort from Castle Class 4-6-0 No 5029 Nunney Castle which Tyseley had prepared specially for this anniversary special. On 9 May 1964 there took place an Ian Allan special train which commemorated the 60th anniversary of City of Truro’s high speed dash down Wellington bank. The superb running that day by all the engines involved (4079, 5054, 7025, 7029 and 6999) will forever be remembered by those who were there and has a permanent place in the history of the steam locomotive. So it was no surprise that two tour companies, Vintage and Pathfinder, decided to run trains to mark the 50th anniversary of 1Z48, the 1964 special, each in a different way. None of the engines used in 1964 could be used, so Vintage opted to use their star performer, 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Pathfinder 5029 Nunney Castle. As I had already had quite a few runs with 5043 and as the Pathfinder tour was on the exact 50th anniversary, plus it involved running both down to Plymouth and back to Bristol, with the final section from Exeter booked in even time, I opted for that trip, ‘The Anniversary Ltd’, rather than the Vintage Trains 1Z48 on the following day, though both engines carried that famous reporting number 5029 Nunney Castle was built at Swindon in 1934. It was initially allocated to Old Oak Common where it spent most of its working life. The engine moved to Worcester in 1958, then had spells at Newton Abbot and Laira before going to Cardiff East Dock in 1962, where it was to remain until being withdrawn in December 1963. Nunney Castle was sold to Woodham Brothers at Barry in 1964 where it was to stay for twelve years. 5029 was in fact the last steam loco delivered to Barry Scrap yard by rail. In 1976 it was sold to a consortium consisting of private individuals and the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre. In the mid 1990s, the private consortium took total control and the loco left Didcot for a life on the main line. It had recently had an intermediate repair at Tyseley, carried out by Bob Meanley and his team. This has seen all of the axleboxes repaired with new bearing steps, horns reground and liners refitted, tyres renewed, journals turned and a piston and valve overhaul. The valves have been reset to determined parameters by the same engineer who set the valves on 5043. It has the original single chimney and two-row low temperature superheater, and therefore performance on the main line, though good and well up to what would be expected of a standard Castle, is not as sparkling as its sister, 5043, which has the benefit of a double chimney and four-row superheater. In practice this difference shows more on the hills than on the level or downhill sections, due to the nominal 75mph speed limit imposed on both engines.
The Anniversary Ltd, 9 May 2014. 5029 Nunney Castle stands at Westbury prior to taking over the train.
The running all day was excellent but I have chosen to show the log of the non-stop return section from Exeter to Bristol. The HST to Paddington due to go in front of us left slightly late and we got the green signal in time to get us away just over four minutes late. This final section non-stop to Bristol Temple Meads was timed in just 75 minutes for the 75½ miles and I was looking forward to it greatly as the highlight of the day, as it had been back in 1964 when 7029 had run non-stop from Plymouth and, as 5043, would do the day after our run. Now in charge up front were driver Gareth Jones and fireman Dave Proctor helped by Vince Henderson until he took over driving again somewhere after Cogload, with Traction Inspector Jeff Ewans. The start was steady and it wasn’t until after Hele that speed got up to the mile-a-minute mark. Then we ran well up to Whiteball, speed dropping only from 65½ after Tiverton Junction to 54½ at the top of the two miles of 1 in 155 at Whiteball summit. Even from seven coaches back I could hear the superb roar of Nunney up front.
We dashed down Wellington bank at or around the legal limit and tore through Taunton whistle screaming at 77mph in just 2 seconds under the booked 33 minutes from Exeter. And so it continued across the Somerset Levels, mile after wonderful mile with speed not varying very much from the maximum allowed, though challenging this for some miles as if Nunney just wanted to really be given her head and allowed to run. Bridgwater, scene of the flooding devastation just three short months before, was passed three minutes late and such was the tightness of the schedule that despite the fine running right up to the speed limit the lateness was still the same at Worle Junction. A fine climb of the 1 in 334/200 to Flax Bourton saw a minimum of just over 69mph and our table covered with cinders from the engine, and then a final dash for home. At Bridgwater I had doubted very much if we could possibly make Bristol on time but we ran fast down past Long Ashton at just over 77mph and it wasn’t until Parson Street that the brakes came on.
And now for the usual checks I thought, but no, we ran quickly and fearlessly in past Bedminster and stopped at the London end of platform 3 half a minute early! I was delighted with this magnificent run, which is the fastest start to stop time with steam from Exeter to Bristol in the preservation era and the second fastest ever with steam, beaten only by none other than 3440 City of Truro on 9 May 1904, which did the stretch in 65 minutes 24 seconds!
The overall time was 70 minutes 22 seconds for the 75.49 miles, an average of 64.37mph. We had run in from Taunton in just 37 minutes 24 seconds for the 44.74 miles and had reeled off the 43 miles between mileposts 171 and 128 at an average of 76.4mph, a masterly piece of train running by all concerned. By comparison, the next day, 5043 during the course of its non-stop run from Plymouth had run in from Taunton in 37 minutes 11 seconds though this was to a stop at the country end of Platform 3 so the two times would probably have tied if the trains had stopped at the same place. Speeds across the Somerset levels were very similar with the Earl just 8 seconds faster from Taunton to Yatton, then edging slightly further ahead by dint of a faster climb to Flax Bourton (73mph minimum), to be 11 seconds ahead at Parson Street. Who could possibly have anticipated on that run in 1964 that in 2014 there would be not one, but two steam runs of such quality on consecutive days with steam? So it was a very happy ageing train timer who caught his FGW sprinter home that evening, still speeding across the Somerset levels in his mind and reflecting on what a great day it had been.
On 18 June 2011, 5043 storms past Hungerford with the 07.05 Solihull to Bristol.
On 12 July 2008, 34067 is just past Litchfield tunnel on the Dorset Coast Express.
St Cross, 8 April 2014. 44932 on the empty stock of the 09.15 Ashford to Winchester.
On 5 September 2015, with nice white smoke, 34067 passes Totton on the Royal Wessex.
The final two logs show the two runs I mentioned earlier where speed had been allowed to exceed the limits imposed. LMS Class 5s are limited to 60mph due to their driving wheel diameter being only 6 feet whereas Bulleids, albeit with only 2 inches more are allowed 75mph. Neither run needed much effort from the engine but both were very enjoyable and gave me speeds I thought I would never see again over one of my favourite stretches of railway.
I hope this chapter conveys the impression of what can still be enjoyed by the train timing enthusiast today, by careful selection of trip and engine to give runs as good as those enjoyed in the real days of steam. Long may it continue. The book concludes with a selection of photographs of steam working on the main line in recent years, mainly near to my home in Hampshire and a recent run on the mainline with No. 60103 Flying Scotsman.
23 November 2013. Horseshoe Bridge, St Denys, 34067 Tangmere on the 7.25 am Weymouth to Waterloo with 47580 on the rear.
On 10 December 2012, 60163 Tornado passes St Cross with the empty stock of the 08.22 Peterborough to Winchester.
15 November 2008. 35028 Clan Line near Reculver with a VSOE Pullman.
On 7 February 2015, 46233 Duchess of Sutherland stands at Carlisle with the southbound CME over the Settle and Carlisle.
On 14 March 2009, 70013 Oliver Cromwell passes Paddock Wood with the 08.40 Waterloo to Folkestone Harbour.
Carlisle 21 March 2015. 45690 Leander on the return Cumbrian Jubilee with 46115 Scots Guardsman on the return CME.
4 October 2010 sees 60019 Bittern at St Cross with the 16.35 Weymouth to Waterloo.
On 27 April 2014, 34046 Braunton passes under Battledown Flyover with Great Britain 7.
Running as 4492, Bittern passes Ashurst with the Bath Spa Express from Poole to Bristol on 14 September 2011.
On the lovely crisp morning of 30 November 2011, running as 4492, Bittern passes Bevois Park on the Bath Spa Express from Poole to Bristol.
1 November 2013. Standing in for 35028, 34046 Braunton at Worplesdon with the Surrey Hills VSOE Pullman.
46201 Princess Elizabeth storms out of the mist at Tilehurst with the 08.05 Paddington to Worcester.
35028 Clan Line passing Crofton with the Belmond Pullman to Bristol on 13 May 2015.
44871 and 45407 double head the 07.41 Ipswich to Winchester past Battledown on 9 December 2013.
On 25 February 2016. No. 60103 Flying Scotsman stands at Kings Cross on the 07.40 to York.
Flying Scotsman – 2016
The 25 February is quite a special day in my book, as that day in 1962 saw a valediction in the form of the final steam run around Kent, featuring a King Arthur and a Schools class on the main line sections. Fifty-four years later, on 25 February 2016, saw a new dawn for the iconic Flying Scotsman and its official return to the main line working after its troubled and very expensive ten-year long overhaul, which wasn’t finally completed until entrusted to the capable hands of Ian Riley. I was fortunate to have been given a media pass for this event, for which I am very grateful to the NRM and Mortons Media, in particular to the editor of Heritage Railway. So, I found myself on the first train up from Southampton Airport in order to ensure I was at Platform One at Kings Cross by 7 am to check in and collect my pass from the very helpful staff of the NRM. That gave me plenty of time to wander up the platform to see No.67.013 bring in the empty stock of the special train, with A3 4-6-2 No. 60103 Flying Scotsman at the head end. The media interest was intense, of course, though I managed to secure a couple of shots and even got close enough to the cab to talk to Dave Proctor, our fireman on the first leg. His driver was Paul Major and the traction was Inspector Sean Levell, all from DBC. The stock was a mixed set of two kitchen cars, a brake with a generator for electric train heating, seven open first-class coaches and the support coach, totalling 391 tons tare for the eleven coaches, probably about 420 tons full; a good test for Flying Scotsman. My seat was in coach D, six back from the front and my first task was to organise the table of the four of us media bods so that I had the window seat facing the front in order to set up my gps and its aerial.
There was a general air of expectancy as we left on time and soon plunged into the darkness of Gasworks tunnel, leaving the class 67 behind to follow us later. The organisers and all concerned can be highly praised for their trust in the capabilities of our steam locomotive, which wasn’t misplaced. My gps, which had found a good signal while still at the platform, promptly lost it in the tunnel and it wasn’t until Finsbury Park that normal service was resumed. The table sets out the running as far as Peterborough and this shows that the early stages were tortuously slow on a fine and dry, but very cold, morning. As far as I can see this was mainly due to extreme caution being shown by the engine crew (or maybe Network Rail), as the only definite reason for delay that I could identify was the check before Welwyn Garden City, where 2Y85 the 0817 to Kings Cross departed from the same platform that we used a few minutes later. By then we were nine minutes late, but with a fairly sedate schedule to the first booked stop at Holme I wasn’t unduly concerned.
We got going well by Stevenage and were up to 64.3mph before we were checked again through Hitchin, but then finally were allowed to run. And run we certainly did as by Three Counties the A3 was up to 72½mph, reaching a maximum of 74½mph after Arlesey down the 1-in-400 before the hump at 1-in-264 to Milepost 38 reduced this to 70½mph. Then, down the lovely downhill stretch past Biggleswade, Sandy and Tempsford, we raced away to an average of 75.13mph over the 12 miles between Mileposts 38 and 50, starting at 70½mph and with a maximum of 78mph at Biggleswade and a minimum of 74mph after Sandy. This is clearly a very free-running engine aided by the long travel valves and 6 foot 8 inch driving wheels making it a true racehorse, which in common with No. 60163 Tornado ought really to be 90mph certified. Unfortunately our little romp was short lived and we made a sudden stop just short of milepost 51, for a reason which was quite obvious from the train, as spectators were scattered about along the lineside, the wrong side of the fence at this point. This was a great shame as from being nearly 10 minutes down at Stevenage, we had recovered two minutes by Sandy and I am sure would have been on time by our water stop at Holme. As it was we were at a stand for a total of nearly thirteen minutes spread over two stops, the second being quite brief. We continued in a more subdued manner but still got up to 69mph at Offord before topping the 3 miles of 1-in-200 to Leys at 53mph and running down to the water stop at Holme (actually its Connington) where we 21 minutes late. Any attempt to estimate a net time for the 67.8 miles from Kings Cross to this point would be a bit meaningless, owing to the difficulty of attributing the various early delays. Here I was served the full English breakfast (but without the champagne as train timing and alcohol don’t mix) perfectly timed to coincide with the stop. We were ready to go after 16 minutes but were held at the outlet approaching Connington North for 1S09 the 0900 Kings Cross to Edinburgh to pass before regaining the main line and reaching Peterborough for a crew change over 27 minutes late.
From Peterborough crews we had Steve Hanczar in charge with fireman Jim Clarke and Traction Inspector Jim Smith. No doubt Jim Clarke’s father, Don, recently retired from driving for DBS, would have been proud but maybe a little envious of his son having such a prestigious duty! We were away, nearly half an hour late, on a slow line to Stoke Junction where we were timed to wait for a succession of down trains to pass, but I had worked out that our late running should enable us to avoid this stop and so it turned out. A steady but well judged climb of the bank, with speed mainly in the mid-fifties but falling to 49mph at the top, meant we just managed to avoid the pathing stop so the lateness was down to 20 minutes at Stoke Junction.
25 February 2016. No 60103 Flying Scotsman after arrival at York.
We were very close behind 1D08 the 0935 Kings Cross to Leeds, which was due to call at Grantham from 1039 to 1040, and so I wasn’t surprised that, having got up to 66½mph after Great Ponton, we caught adverse signals from the Leeds train, which we were booked to precede. I also knew that, having lost our path, we were unlikely to make it as far as the next pathing stop at Carlton and so after another good spell of 75mph running down past Barkstone and Hougham, Control looped us at Claypole where a very brief stop enabled the 0948 Kings Cross to Hull to get past. This slick piece of work meant we missed out the next stop and ran through to Babworth for water. On easy gradients now, until Crow Park, Flying Scotsman was again worked up into speed, reaching a maximum of 76 mph before the broken climb at 1-in-200/600/200 up past The Dukeries to the summit at Markham, just before Askham tunnel pulled speed back to a minimum of 52½mph, suggesting easy working of the engine. From 16 minutes late past Newark North Gate, where the platforms were particularly crowded, we were just seven minutes late at Carlton and 12 minutes late at Babworth after a stop in the platform at Retford. Net time for the 62.72 miles from Peterborough was about 70 minutes, assuming a non stop run. Without the extra stop at Retford we would have been close to time at Babworth, but as it was the stop was prolonged as we had again lost our path. I wondered what train Control would do on a very difficult morning for them and a queue of 125mph trains all expecting to be given precedence over our 75mph steam hauled excursion, albeit a very important one. We finally got the road at midday, 25 minutes late, and restarted on a nice sunny morning behind 1N12, the 1030 Kings Cross to Newcastle, but in front of the 1035 Kings Cross to Leeds, which was right behind us and which we delayed slightly. All in all good regulating, as Control knew that we would lose the Leeds train after Doncaster. I had high hopes of an even time run to York as the 49.24 miles were only allowed 50 minutes. We made a good start along the level stretch to Scrooby, passed at 66mph and then followed the best climb of the day to Pipers Wood where the minimum on the 1-in-198 was a credible 64mph. After, speed quickly rose to 75mph down past Rossington before the engine was eased until after Doncaster where we had kept the tight 18 minute booking for the 16.73 miles from the Babworth stop. When speed had regained the seventies by Moss, I thought we were home and dry, but sadly it was not to be as lineside trespass once again intervened, this time causing another 27 minutes of delay. Great caution was shown after the restart and indeed onwards to York where we arrived into platform 9 to be met by huge crowds, just over 53 minutes late; a somewhat deflating end to a very good first official, and first solo run, with Flying Scotsman. After arrival I spent the next hour or so taking in the atmosphere of this special day and getting some nice shots from platform 10, opposite the one where No. 60103 had arrived and where it was sitting, the centre of an admiring crowd. All credit to those concerned with keeping this platform free of arriving trains for the duration. Tribute must be paid to all those who have been involved in bringing this magnificent locomotive back to the main line, especially to Ian Riley and his team and, of course, to Alan Pegler, who saved her all those years ago. My sincere thanks to both train crews, to the NRM and to Virgin East Coast and Network Rail, particularly the guys in train Control, all of whom worked so hard to make this special day possible. I am sure that we are going to see some very good performances from No. 60103 in the future, hopefully without the lineside problems as the hype subsides somewhat.
After arrival at York on 25 February 2016. Train crew from left; Inspector Jim Smith, Fireman Jim Clarke and Driver Steve Hanczar on No. 60103 Flying Scotsman.
No. 60103 Flying Scotsman storms past Horseshoe Bridge, St Denys, in the rain with the afternoon circular trip from Salisbury on 21 May 2016.