Dorset Coast Expresses 2015

For once std up front and can only say b1 noise overwelmed any 47 noise sounded good from where I was!!

 

S'ok if you are up front, the B1 was making all the appropriate noises, and managed to shower me with hot water and clinker as a good regulator cranked open loco should. At the back, not so - wasn't even the evil racket of a tractor.

 

Too much jerky zooming out for my liking, but that's just personal taste.

 

It would appear that that's not all she was emitting! Dorset Fire Brigade were called to Weymouth Avenue, Dorchester for a lineside fire. That's now two in two weeks as she managed to set light to Worgret Junction last week.

If it weren't for the impending deluge predicted to strike the area over the next couple of days, I could foresee the imminent annual "steam ban" being imposed on the route.

 

Listening to B1 with a bottle of ale and watching the Hampshire and Dorset country side go by seemed good to me! ! Didn't even know 47 was pushing!!!

 

A shame about the fires really because Mayflower is a welcome addition to the mainline scene this year. She is becoming quite handy at substituting for other locomotives when called upon to do so as well.

I'm very glad for the passenger experience mentioned above.

 

Quite inexcusable causing fires with an assisting diesel. Driver not showing much common sense is he?

 

Its called the Poole - Wool resignalling.....

 

They also demolished the signal box at Wool and I think have reinstated the crossover by the pub. Lifting barriers on the previously gated crossing just east too so more than just new signals. Been past commuting to Bmth by road many times this winter and over by train but not looked that closely at what may have changed.


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Thanks for posting the video. One question I have been asking myself (as I can't really ask RTC directly) is how well the DCEs have been loading. The front carriage looked pretty full as it went past you and there seemed a good few people in the others, as best as one could judge. While a few people may have responded to the RTC e-mail mentioning 60009 (I hope they weren't too disappointed), it has been apparent since earlier this year that these trains were going to include a substantial amount of diesel haulage and that the steam banker concept, which was the DCE's original USP, was off the agenda for this year. OK, we've had a chronic shortage of main line locos this year, but even the idea of just using a diesel from Weymouth to Southampton (as per the plans with 33012/D6515 last year) seems to have been dropped. The "minder" stays on the train all day. I wondered if this would put people off.

So I am pleased from RTC's point of view, your video shows that some people are still happy to travel on the train in its present format, even though, like others who have commented on this thread, I'm just not interested. I hope RTC gives some thought to re-vamping the product next year. Why does no one touch the LSWR routes in winter or spring? I'd much rather do a DCE in its original "steam banker" format on a Saturday in February than put up with a marathon trip from London to Carlisle with over 200 miles of electric haulage before you even get a whiff of steam. I'll admit that Weymouth on a cold winter's day probably isn't so much fun as in the summer time, but then Carlisle is hardly that wonderful a place in February either. While an all-steam "DCE" would need two locos, the winter CMEs often feature double-headed Black Fives.

I'm also a bit sad if all the effort to bring 60009 down south may see her do one WSE run on 22nd and nothing else. Still perhaps the Wool issue is not so much 60009 is out of gauge but rather that no one has had time to check whether or not 60009 is still in gauge following the work that has been done. We'll hav to see, but if the latter, we might yet see her in action on 26th August or 2nd September before she goes off to Scotland to christen the Waverley route.

 

All part of the P2W resignalling. All that has happened to the crossing is that it is now controlled from Basingstoke. The upside nearside barriers are being moved back a bit to allow the footpath across the crossing to be widened. The crossover was primarily installed so the the sand trains can run round rather than having to go all the way to Dorchester South to RR.

 

I think it is quite rare for the assisting diesel to cause lineside fires. Maybe they will ban them from working when on the back of a train in dry spells soon.

 

A thirsty Union of South Africa substitute arrives on a sunny day at Winchfield



...and leaves fully quenched and raring to go

 

Thought I'd add a picture of the DCE at the destination as it rarely gets shown. A bit of a cheat though as it's actually this evening's ECS movement as I didn't go over until quite late today. Loads of black clag out of the 47 and the B1 seemed to be giving a good shove as it left up the bank.

IMG_4736 Adj And Size by johnnew posted Aug 12, 2015 at 7:06 PM

 

Wow, hang on a minute!

Has there been an official notice issued to the WCRC crews about potential fire risk considering the whole area of Southampton and westwards towards Weymouth had significant rain on Monday and yesterday as well.

Looks as though your damned if you do and damned if you don't whether your on the front loco or the rear one!

 

As you can see from my photo of Weymouth lots of dead grass on the lineside. Discussed earlier in thread but dammed if do/don't exactly sums it up as you won't please someone whatever you do with summer steam.


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Looked excellent loading to me at the water stop today.

 

61306 was putting on a good show when I saw it. Even a bit of wheel slip leaving the water stop. Sounded and looked like it was really trying to please.

 

just like those complaining about those complaining about the diesel.