The Border Raider with 60163 - 16/09/17

Where is the frantically backpedaling emoji when you need it....

 

Is it a bit inconvenient to the general narrative?

 

Tornado - Super Border Raider 16 September 2017

The last few days before this tour caused much nailbiting to all concerned. The timings were very late, then came the bombshell that our route for the return from the S&C to the WCML was closed between Clitheroe and Blackburn. What would this mean? Just a double Shap, or even cancellation?
The answer, when it came, was much better than this. Not only would we ride both main lines to the border at Carlisle, but we would return via Leeds, Huddersfield and Standedge Tunnel. Not only the Scottish border would be raided, but the historic one between the old West Riding of Yorkshire and County Palatine of Lancaster - a new War of the Roses for our time!

I joined at Stafford where the engine was already well warmed after several calls in the West Midlands. We got away smartly and after going through the new layout at Norton Bridge we were soon into the sixties, topping Whitmore at 64 and reaching the mid seventies on the descent from Madeley to Crewe. Swiftly away again, we passed Winsford at 69 but then dawdled a bit before sweeping down through Warrington at 75. Stopped for a Liverpool train south of Wigan, we recovered to 34 through the station and 59 at Coppull, with no more fireworks before Preston.

Watering took an age and we were 23 minutes late away, resulting in us being looped at Barton for a Pendolino. We loped along for a while then stormed down through Lancaster at 76 and speeding through Carnforth, we topped Yealand in the early 60s and were up to 74 at Bela viaduct. Once again the pressure of traffic behind us saw us looped at Oxenholme to let three trains pass. Then we forged up past the station to pass Birds Park at 36 and Docker at 43, dropping only to 40 at Grayrigg summit. We accelerated only gradually through the Lune Gorge, passing Tebay at 69 before hitting the climb to Shap. Speed only fell away slowly: 57 at Greenholme, 45 at Scout Green, 36 at Shap Wells and 34 at the summit - a creditable climb with 13 on. Then a rollicking ride in the mid 70s down to Penrith, where we slowed to 72 through the station, after which there was more fast running right down to the outskirts of Carlisle.

On the return, we were away only 18 minutes late, and reached 40 at Howe & Co, 50 at Low House, 55 at Armathwaite and 61 at Lazonby. We continued around 60 until just before Appleby, through which we accelerated at 59, a rare experience! In the dip at Ormside viaduct we touched 62 again, then up and down in the forties and thereabouts until we passed Kirkby Stephen at 42. We went into Birkett Tunnel at 38, emerged at 36 and reached 39 at Mallerstang. Then a spell in the 40s ensued until Angerholme, when we gradually slipped back to a minimum of 35 at Ais Gill summit in the wet conditions. The downhill run was around the line speed of 60 to the water stop at Long Preston.

At Hellifield we eschewed the right turn to Clitheroe and Blackburn, heading south through Skipton into industrial West Yorkshire. The running was unremarkable and subject to delays until we passed the western end of Leeds station and began a huge clockwise loop through Stourton, Normanton and Wakefield before regaining the Huddersfield line at Mirfield. After checks we slogged steadily up through Huddersfield and the tunnels beyond, reaching 43 at Slaithwaite against the gradient. Speed then fell away to 32 at Marsden then rose a little before the entry to Standedge tunnel. Down out of the tunnel we were soon into the 60s, before the long slow haul round the east of Manchester. Then we made a dash through Cheshire back towards the WCML: Wilmslow at 65, Alderley Edge at 68, 73 at Chelford, and 74 through Goostrey, Holmes Chapel and Sandbach. A fitting finale to an unexpectedly magnificent tour - truly Tornado was the Super Border Raider!

21 photos are at http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com/p252282831

Peter on a damp Manchester afternoon
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com

 

Rather than two paragraphs of nothing wouldn't it have been a lot easier to just say sorry?

 

The post of yours I was responding to did not have a question in it.

Dave B

 

While you're in such a chatty and informative mood James.......what colour are you going to paint "British India Line"?

 

For what exactly?

 

I know what colour I would like to paint but, as I'm not painting it, I couldn't possibly say.

You'll just have to wait......

JS

 

Once again, a mere "like" wouldn't do the contribution of this log and its imminent follow-up the recognition it deserves, so sincere thanks for devoting the time and effort to providing the detail behind the headline stuff. I've come to regard these logs as something akin to the Hansard of Main Line steam performance, and if its possible to maintain the level of detail that you usually provide, then that would be great. As a novice train timer, it helps to illustrate a standard of performance recording that I should be aspiring to. And there's a significant content of "route learning" in all of this too, not being a regular traveller over routes outside the London-Birmingham axis. I'll get there one day, but in the meantime looking forward to the second instalment of Border Raider.

 

Please explain your basis for that judgement, if you don't mind, just so I can be clear of what I am accused of and your evidence to back it up.

 

Busily typing up the return, but as an aside I'd like to know how Tornado compared with other 13+ coach trains up Shap? IIRC on 46229's final tour she took 11 plus a 47 diesel up Shap at a minimum of 41 mph, so significantly better than Tornado last Saturday. But that was a rather special trip all round...

For the Shap trials in 1995 the timing stretch was from MP 31 1/2 to MP 37 1/4, assuming 1 3/4 miles at 1 in 146 to MP 33 1/4 then 4 miles of 1:75 to MP 37 1/4 giving an average of 1 in 87.

Other info suggests the 1:146 doesn't start until 31m 45c. This grade extends to 33m 23c where the line steepens to 1:75 for over 4 miles to 37m 31c. So I make it an average of 1:89 not 1:87 for the timing stretch.

Last Saturday I was seated on the non-milepost side. Fortunately, there is an overbridge close to post 31 1/2 (at 31m 43c) and a footbridge close to MP 37 1/4 (at 37m 22c). So timing using the infrastructure rather than mileposts, from the OB at 31m 43c to the FB at 37m 22c gave 6m 57.4s pass to pass. The average grade between this points works out at 1:88.

Speed around post 31 1/2 was a reasonably constant 70 mph and had fallen to a steady 35mph at 37 1/4. So adding the time for 3 chains at 70mph (1.9 sec) then deducting the time for 2 chains at 35 mph (2.6 sec) gives an equivalent from posts MP 31 1/2 to MP 37 1/4 of 6m 56.7s. (Yes the maths is weird.)

So either way we're talking 6m 57s for the timing stretch. Is that what everyone else got?!

 

Just out of interest, what colour would you like to paint it Mr Shuttleworth?

 

A quick look at records of Preservation–era Shap climbs with Load 13+ suggest that the two main comparators to 46229’s run are going to be with DoG’s awesome performance on 21.10.2006, recorded by Sandy Smeaton (RPS Milepost 27 ¾ Jan. 2007); and Tornado’s 24.06.2010 run recorded by Mike Notley and published in SR 378/ 23.07.2010 pp.76-79.

Just re-looking at the reports of these runs, I’m assuming that Mike Notley’s record of Tornado’s Border Raider run in 2010 is based on an MP-to-MP record. Not sure whether Sandy Smeaton’s is MP to MP or O/B to F/B.

Of 71000’s run (Load 13/ 467.5/ 510) the commentary records….

“On Shap the maximum was probably about 2,700edbhp just before the Summit. So on the longer climb to Grayrigg, Walker did not press 71000 unduly, but clearly ‘had a go’ at Shap. The time from MP31½ to MP37¼ was 5m 35s, which when corrected to the time recorded from the second coach, is 5m 32s. (The correction is 2.75s)”

Shap Summit at 37m 20 c or 22c was cleared at a humungous 49 mph!!!!!

Tornado’s 2010 point-to-point run with 13/ 445/ 480 is declared at 5m 57s, with the summit breasted at 42.5 mph. As a matter of interest, Tornado’s Border Raider performance in July 2014 with a lesser Load 11/ 388/ 415 delivered a point-to-point of 5m 54s and a speed at MP 37 ¼ of 43 mph.

Mike Notley’s commentary at the time, which was mainly focussed on MP13 start of Grayrigg to MP37 ¼ Shap Summit times, suggested an average edhp of around 1850 over this whole section for Tornado and 1920 for DoG. Tornado’s claim to a record for this performance is based on the MP13-MP 37 ¼ overall time of 23m 37s versus DoG’s of 23m 56s.

Hope this may be useful perspective. Interesting to note that either side of Tornado's 2010 run, significant remedial work was required on Tornado's boiler stays. Not qualified to comment on "Cause" and "Effect", but looking back, contemporary "Fatigue" and "Usage" issues seem to have coincided with Tornado being pushed very very hard, including a spectacular 50 mph at Ais Gill (2250 edhp) later in the itinerary of the Border Raider on that day in 2010.

 

So red it is then!

 

CIE black and orange I reckon.

 

Past history, your reputation precedes you. How's that??

 

Do you really expect him to answer that?

 

Looking at the emoji's... no I suspect he didn't.

 

You got me banged to rights, fair cop, well done. How did you work it out? I thought I covered my tracks pretty well on this one but nothing gets past you does it Vic old boy? Perhaps a tad light on the motive aspect, if I may say?