Torbay Express 2016

Agreed. Another post elsewhere on this forum said the A1 seemed to be struggling on Whiteball. They've a strange idea of "struggling" is all I can say.

 

Obviously I was wrong , after seeing this footage , nice one .

 

Yes it was a fantastic performance by Tornado yesterday so no idea where anyone thought it may have struggled!

Outbound the crew were mindful about the exhaust steam ejector issues that had plagued them earlier in the week, so were naturally keeping an eye on that. Having left Taunton the train was slowed having caught up the HST in front. And yes the passing of the Duchess was rapid! :-D Having reached Paignton it's worth mentioning that the P&D crew that took over hadn't had Tornado on their metals for a couple of years, so just a little bit rusty perhaps.

Return wise it was certainly spectacular. Friends I were with were wondering when we were going to start the climb to Whiteball, so were caught by surprise when we entered the tunnel at circa 65mph! It's worth noting too that there was a 5mph restriction on a bridge just before the climb up Flax Bourton, that was once again a very impressive display of acceleration with 12 on!

Paul

 

TBX 7th August 2016 - not just the raw speeds if anyone wants to read it ...

Sunday was definitely a day when we weren't on the train we really wanted to be on. We'd only ever done the Duchess once on the South Devon Banks but the train was full at the beginning of July so we had to 'make do' with a TBX with Tornado. At least we didn't have to enviously watch the Duchess leaving BTM. Typical Sunday in August in Bristol, cloudy with light rain. The crew on the outward was Dave Proctor actually driving; Steve Mathews firing and Jeff Ewans, TI. We took the brake 'Staff Carriage' along as a bit of ballast. It always looks lonely left in the carriage siding. The start out of BTM was measured and 10 coaches back, quiet. We still topped Flax Bourton Summit at 43, then accelerated down the gentle grades passing Yatton at 70. There's not much opportunity for more fast running when the train has to pick up at Weston-super-Mare.

The run down to Taunton wasn't particularly exhilarating, maximum speed was 74 below Bridgwater, the big engine averaging 56 between WSM and Taunton. Speeds on the bottom of Whiteball looked promising, reaching 57 at Bradford-on-tone LX but that's as high as it got. We passed Wellington at 56 and then speed fell slowly from 54 at the start of the 1 in 90 to 42 at the start of the 1 in 86, then 34 at the start of the 3/4 mile 1 in 80 climb into the tunnel, speed 'in' was 31.2. Typically the big engine burst out of the tunnel and passed the summit on the lesser grades at 36. The footplate crew knew the Duchess would be in Tiverton Loop and we flew across the top through Tiverton Parkway at a generous 75, more so past the train in the loop.

We rolled through Exeter at 27 and things did get noisier, Exminster being passed at 66. We were slowed to 15 on the approach to Newton Abbot, passed at 26 and accelerated to 43 by Aller. We hit the bottom of the two miles + of 1 in 110 through Kinskerswell at 46 and passed MP 217 3/4, just below the summit at 39.5. Not sure if there is a bridge slack at MP 218 as we slowed to 32, as the Scot had.

The PDR crew did a decent job of Churston, though a slip was felt approaching Broadsands. Speed was 18 and fell to 13 after a second slip near Hookhills. We drifted into Churston with no trouble. The return was another story as is often the case. The PDR crew got us into Greenway Tunnel at 20 and we drifted into Churston at the regulation 10 mph.

Our DBC crew for the return was Driver Graham Ward, Fireman Matt Hunt and TI Tommy Rees. Right from the get go we knew we were in for a bit of entertainment as we passed MP 222 on the short 1 in 81 just outside Paignton at 14 mph. If anyone seriously thinks Tornado is a quiet engine, ask the residents and holidaymakers as they must have heard the sound from the front for miles. We accelerated up the half mile of 1 in 91 topping it at 34. We drifted into Torquay at around 41, then half way through the station Graham opened her up. The sound from the front was quite deafening as we left the station to tackle the mile of 1 in 56 to Torre. The big green engine almost dismissed it and blasted through the station at 33.6. Then Graham eased off and we coasted over the summit of the 1 in 73 under the bridge at 30.

Train accelerated away from Newton Abbott sharply and speed rose on the level to 63 three miles away at MP 211. We drifted through Teignmouth at 51 and Dawlish at 44. Things got very noisy again as we passed MP 206, and speed rose on the level track to 60 by the Warren, a mile and a half away, and continued to rise noisily to 70 through Starcross and 75 at Exminster, a speed held until the inevitable easing for the curve before St Thomas. We flashed through St Davids at 42 and things got very noisy as we crossed Red Cow LX. Cowley Bridge Jn was passed at almost 55 and speed increased to 59 up the gentle 1 in 620 grade; to 62 on the level through Stoke Canon to 62; then to 67 by the top of the 4 miles of gentle 1 in 343/435/343/219 grades.

Speed continued to rise and we passed Hele at 70, speed held up the next 3 miles of mixed grades, 1 in 292/523/306/824/333. Cullompton was passed at 72 and then we slowly lost speed on the 1 in 284 and then then to 64 over the mile and a half of 1 in 155, Graham took advantage of the short 324/207 down through the Junction to increase speed to 71 at the foot of the mile long 1 in 216. No speed was lost on this or the 1 in 405 through Tiverton Parkway, passed at 70, the speed held as the climb steepened over a mile of 1 in 242/162 to the foot the 2 miles of 1 in 115. To a deafening sound from the front, we only lost 8 mph to this section and passed the summit after the grade eased to around 1 in 200 at 62.3. Speed rose downgrade and we entered the tunnel at 65.5. Tornado was kept to a generous 75 down the bank and to Norton Fitzwarren before braking to drift into Taunton for our water stop. Certainly one of the better and noisier 12 coach train climbs of Whiteball, taking just over 18mins 36secs, with a total time of just under 29 minutes from Exeter to Taunton.

Unfortunately we were pathed behind an HST to BTM that stopped at both Bridgwater and Highbridge, so despite some entertaining acceleration with speeds rising to 70 by MP 155, Fordgate, we had to back off and passed Bridgwater at 61 and Highbridge at only 45 as by then we were too close to the HST in the signal block. Graham was still enjoying himself as were the passengers as we accelerated away noisily to 67 by MP 141 before easing for the approach to Uphill Jn.

This could well have been a record breaking run up to and over Flax Bourton Summit but for a 5 mph speed restriction over the bridge over the River Yeo. It's never been there before and appeared to Graham to be only for Tornado! The gauging train didn't like the clearance to the built up sections of the bridge trackside. We observed the 5 mph religiously and then Graham accelerated the train rapidly to 63 over the 4 miles of level track. Speed increased up the gentle grades of mainly 1 in 334 to 68 through Nailsea, and 69 where the grade eased to 1 in 387 and was 67 at the foot of the 1 1/2 miles of mainly 1 in 200. We roared through the short tunnel, the 'Flax Bourton Challenge' point (often passed in the dark, hence the exit of the tunnel being used) at 68 before braking, presumably because of adverse signals, to 59 at the summit.

All in all a train worth being on, particularly for the return climb of Whiteball, though as a lover of steam and performance against the banks I'd have much preferred to be on the Duchy.

Huge thanks to: the A1 Group for making the engine available, especially for their super quick response and repair after the FTR failure on Thursday; and to DBC for getting the engine down to Bristol on Saturday. It was certainly worth it. The engine's performance on the day was exemplary, as was that of the DBC crews in both directions.

Passing thought, wouldn't it be good to 'do the banks' with Tornado and 9 just to see how she'd compare to the Duke and the Duchess? Blue Peter was good but when she ran she had a superheater tube or two blanked off.

 

Excellent summary - many thanks. Also good to hear what an LNER "pop" whistle should sound like. I think somebody has had a go at 60163's!

 

A bit more interesting than the 66 I endured after Royal Scot failed its FTR...
Thanks for the report. Will need to check but best I have timed at Whiteball eastbound on 12 was Clan Line's 60 mph on a drizzly dank December day.

 

Easy at Wellington

 

Bet that sounded good.

 

Here is a video of that magnificent run.


I travelled on this run. Definitely one of the best Railtours I have ever been on. And yes it sounded bloody good



Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

Well you would expect that with Wayne being a Southern man

 

Definitely worthy of mention under the 'not active on the mainline' anymore is the recently retired Bill Warriner who did some of the best Plymouth-Bristols on the Duchys, and provided serious entertainment on the BTM-Weymouths. Would have loved to see Bill with a twelve coach train eastbound over Whiteball.

 

Oh dear - that's another great driver gone! I had several great trips on the mainline with Bill at the regulator. In my view he was quite underrated. Incidentally I read somewhere that he and Ray Churchill were born on the same day - I wonder is that true?

 

Here is a video of that awesome climb of Whiteball which I had also intended to post last night but had internet problems:


And just because the sound is so good here is another I found which shows the superb climb of Honiton Bank:

 

Yes Ray and Bill have the same birth date and both the same age as well and both have retired the same time, yes Bill another great engineman ,I had a few great trips with him driving and another driver greatly missed.

 

Yes its true. Ray Churchill told me that when I went to interview him for the piece in HR. That's probably where you read it. If time needed to be made up or if the road was clear and the loco running well he took a pragmatic view of the overall speed limit for steam. I had many good runs with him and he will be much missed.

 

Here's a clip from The Royal Duchy trip back in June 2014 when 45407 came down from Fort William to rescue the situation for RTC with Bill a the helm for the climb of Hemerdon. Just a shame my video doesn't quite do the climb justice but it was certainly memorable!



If you check out parts 1 & 2 then you'll also see Ray Churchill in action too.

 

Just noticed that this weekend's Torbay Express is cancelled and so is the Pembroke Coast special both due to lack of locomotives. Hoping to see two steam trains at Temple Meads on Sunday, but no need to bother now. Such a shame but highlights how few mainline steam locomotives are available just now.