RTC End of Southern Steam: London to Weymouth 9th July 2016

So the route has been confirmed and as I expected, the return is via Laverstock.

 

In all the times it has been tried 4 1/2 hours is just not enough to get to Yeovil and back, turn and service, and then shunt the stock. I have only ever achieved it once. That is why the far more expensive option of having a second loco for the return was taken up. Sadly, there are just not enough steam locos to do this now, and the costs rise dramatically with the second loco hire, additional crew costs etc. Just not viable.
Last year we looked at running the 'other way round'. i.e. out via Andover, reverse at Soton, then Diesel to Weymouth. That would make the return Steam hauled all the way. Sadly it could just not be made to work because of pathing issues. As you all know, Pathing and Gauging are the biggest problem to running steam charters at the moment. (after the shortage of locos.)

 

Thinking back, it was about 5 hours with 5029 arriving 30 mins late. Your second proposition to Yeovil was the itinerary that 46115 did, so the SW mainline is clearly a different place nowadays for timing. I don't think much has done London area-Yeovil/Weymouth-Southampton-Waterloo since. It remains the only trip I have done where it was entirely steam between Weymouth and London.

 

Funny you should mention that as I was just thinking everyone complaining about the problems of turning when Weymouth bound, but nothing seems to progress with regard to helping the situation.

Hypothetically, if the Swanage put a turntable in near Wareham, would that be significantly quicker to use ?, even if it took 2 1/2 - 3 hours, that's certainly more viable.

 

Even with a turntable you would have to have short trains of 8+POB or a banking diesel given the loads outlined in earlier posts so as to avoid slipping to a stand if it is a wet day. The only advantage of a turntable to all steam to/from London is perhaps having two tours on the same day, a lighter loaded tour from Bristol with the engine off that banking out the London trip first. Returning from Dorchester to take its own one back.


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Also relies on two tours going to plan rather than one, what if your "banker" fails at Bristol prior to it's tour to Weymouth or some other issue see's it cancelled ?.

If it's a repeat itinery then you can shoulder the costs of shorter trains a bit better by using the same path/plan repeatedly unlike one off's.

 

I can assure you that lots of effort was put in to the Weymouth turntable. It fell into to a lack of will on some peoples part, and hard economics also made it a far from simple argument. The local council were in favour, but could not contribute financially. IIRC the York TT cost around £300k (and NR owned the TT already) If a similar amount was spent at Weymouth, for say 10 trains per year, costed over 10 years, that £3k per train, just to turn! Are punters prepared to pay all that additional cost?
The other big unknown is that with the way the mainstream ToC's fill up the railway, in three years time you may find that pathing steam to Weymouth becomes impossible. You have then spent a large amount of money with no guarantee of any viable return. Nobody knows what may happen in the next few years. If somebody would like to volunteer to provide the funding, then it could be looked at again. If not, then I am sorry, but it is just not realistically viable.
One of the other big concerns with the DCE is running steam through the New Forest in summertime. The only reason NR allow it is because a Diesel is included to keep the load off the steam loco through the high fire risk areas. One major fire would probably be the death knell of steam on the SWML.
Sadly, not the news that any of us like, but it is the reality none the less.

 

Now on board. Departed Woking. Now hammering along with an absolutely awesome Soundtrack from the Jubilee

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Water stop Winchfield:

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This is another reason why the Yeovil turn is now such an issue as SWT now operate Saturday services from Weymouth up through Yeovil Pen Mill so the number of paths have now been drastically reduced.

 

Sounds like a great idea except for the chance of losing the banker if the other tour befalls an issue and, should the weather prove to be typically British, the banker would probably be needed on Parkstone bank as well as Upwey so couldn't come off till at least Bournemouth.

 

Thank you to "The Man" for his informed explanation of the issues of running to Weymouth. It looks like Swanage may prove to be a more realistic destination, with less problems preventing the installation of a turntable and less formidable gradients to tackle. However, I am baffled as to why any TOC wants to run even more trains to Weymouth. I went there last month and the trains weren't exactly packed, shall we say.

Another puzzle, especially given the reluctance of NR to allow unassisted steam through the New Forest in the summer, is why there seems to be no interest in running train to Bournemouth/Weymouth/Swanage during the rest of the year. I have never understood why there is such demand for trains from London to Carlisle and back in the winter months featuring some 300-400 miles of diesel or electric haulage (much of it in the dark) and resulting in a very long day whereas a much shorter day with a much higher percentage of steam haulage could be had by running down the LSWR line. I for one would be happy to pay extra for the extra costs of a second steam loco if someone would run a winter or spring train down to the Dorset coast.

 

The first Jubilee Class Locomotive at Weymouth since the 1960's, 45699 Galatea rests at the buffer stops after a spirited run from London:

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Good to see Galatea arrive. Shame the 33 was in WCRC maroon not blue or green.


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The cost of installing a turntable to Weymouth or any other location should be viewed in the round, if you excuse the pun. Weymouth attracts a fair number of tours each year. Each tour disgorges 100's of passengers who then spend money in the town thus supporting the local economy. Would those people go to Weymouth otherwise? If they have been on a steam tour and like it would they go back for a short break say? So it is possibly in the better interests of the local economy to look at this. Same could be said of Blackpool.

 

And green five has given you the answer below Ralph, he won't if Galatea is singing away in the planned couple of places where we shall be going in a couple of hours! Not often we get a jube down here so it's worth the effort this evening.

 

Certainly sounds from Green Five like Galatea might be starting to perform more like expected now.

 

One place crying out for a turntable must be Mallaig, how many steam tours go to Blackpool?