61306 Mayflower - Cathedrals Express - 7th June 2015

Ambled through Reading on the new platform 12. No whistle. No noise from the chimney. And so despitge busy platforms, no one seemed to notice the passing of the B1. More interested in their Sunday papers I suspect. Here's my video.

 

Given that the general public view of railways is purely that they run when they want them, on time and that fares stop rising it is no surprise that few were excited at the passage of Mayflower.
I feel that it would be regarded just as some older junk than that they normally travel on.

 

Mayflower seen passing Iver this morning.http://stephenleek.smugmug.com/Railwayphotos-1/Mainline-Steam-2015/i-VPKgB5W

 

Cholsey - At some speed!

 

Great shot but as with my video at Reading, an absence of a blast on the whistle is disappointing. More than anything else it is what makes the hair stand up on the back of......................!

 

Not wasting steam then

 

Deleted, why should I bother with the immature school kid crowd on here.

 

Sounded absolutely brilliant at full chat through Iver tonight in the gloom, could hear her not long after she'd set off from Slough, definitely determined to make up time!

 

Mayflower thundering through Cholsey and Lyneham Road just near Ascott-Under-Wychwood.

 

The down run filmed at Combe, and the return seen climbing Campden Bank.

 

I was there next to the camera position to witness this, and what an impressive sight Mayflower made on the climb of Campden Bank!

The video indicates a speed passing under the Mickleton Road over-bridge (99m 51c) that crudely would be somewhere around about 45 mph at this point on the bank. This is just a guess, and it would be interesting to know if anyone on board can corroborate this, because quite clearly this was an exceptionally good run over the entire North Cotswold Main Line section between Norton Junction/ Worcester and Wolvercote Junction/ Oxford.

It looks like the 51 (slightly rounded) miles were covered point-to-point in just over 51 minutes (according to RTT) at a pass-to-pass time of just a smidgeon outside even time, and from this I would infer that Load 10 is an entirely appropriate trailing weight for this locomotive on this kind of route.....which conclusion more or less accords with the very favourable reviews of Mayflower's earlier Spring outings to Cardiff from Paddington and to Kingswear from Oxford.

5MT constraints notwithstanding, Mayflower looks like a very worthy addition to the 75mph-capable main line motive power stable at this time of relative 7P/ 8P drought in terms of locomotive availability. Over and above its visually appealing Apple Green livery, I would rate Mayflower somewhere on the performance spectrum between "purposeful" and "energetic", and I have to say on the strength of yesterday's excursion that this locomotive is an absolute delight to behold.

 

Hi Guys

Here is my video of mayflower climping campden bank. really impressed with this locomotive and its livery.



enjoy.

 

And the Tornado people thought they were the only one's with an A1

 

Plenty of common sense there Big Al. It seems that the market/quality of product balance has to be adjusted for a variety of reasons, not least the continued presence of steam hauled trains running amongst higher speed service trains and the need for an authentic "steam" experience, which, as you mentioned, VT seem to pull off very well.

Cheers

Alan

 

I have to say I stated I was a little fearful that Mayflower, being relatively untried on the main line, was going to be over optimistically overused and abused. However, eat my words, it has performed splendidly with all thrown at it, and done so with much fanfare, presence and gusto. Without it, this year steam in the south would have been a complete disaster. And while a Black 5 looks a little more like a pure breed, you have to admire the bulldog looks of the B1.

Hats off to Mr Thomson

 

I think what is nice to see is a loco running at design speed...The pacifics are only just getting going at 75 and the black 5s (pure breed my a***, they're just slimline halls with the copper bits knocked off ) have those diddy little wheels so they can't go at grown up speeds - sorry, couldn't resist it love black 5s really, but the point stands that the B1 at 75 has a similar excitement to Bittern at 90

 

She looks completely on top of the job - steam tight, nice even beat and no clag. I wonder how she'd do over the northern hills compared to a certain 'pure breed' loco of late?

 

Without knowing the actual measurements, I'd say the Black Five (boiler barrel) is fatter

A B1 will do just fine.... providing you don't start treating it as a class 7 with class 7 loads.