Steam Dreams to Worcester: 23/05/19

Definitely worth a report on the part of the tour I did, Reading-Worcester and return to Kemble.

44871 to Worcester 23rd May 2019

Weird after so many years of the Cathedrals Express we now have no-name trains from Steam Dreams. Booked this one just over a week ago when the timings for the train appeared on RTT and showed paths for the diesel from Grosvenor Bridge Jn back to Southall and from Southall to Victoria at the end of the return journey. I decided to restrict my day to running on the Great Western and a bit of the Midland. Consequently I was to join the outward at Reading to do a bit of running on the GWML, then leave the train at Kemble to get an earlier connection back to South Wales.

Bit mad we enthusiasts as we're quite prepared to spend £220 on 2 Standard Class tickets to travel from Kemble to Worcester and return to get both eastbound and westbound climbs of Sapperton, as my friend John was actually doing. Westbound isn't done that often and it's a first for me to do it from a restart at Kemble.

Service trains from Abergavenny to Reading via Newport were on time and so at 1040 I wandered into The Three Guineas behind Reading Station and had a bacon roll and a couple of pints of Dark Star American Pale Ale. Too early for 5.9abv ESB! Wandered back to the station and met Don (Benn) and his son. Good to meet them again. We were off Platform 8 and right time '871 drifted in to the station with its 9 coach train. We were in coach 9 which we liked as we'd be behind the POB for the attack on the steep side of Sapperton on the return.

I like Platform 8 because on previous occasions we've had to tackle the steeply graded, 1in82 has been mentioned, flyover built to carry the mainline over the B&H lines into the station. RTT is calling it Reading High Level. Hard to believe that in 817 runs behind 'solo' steam on the mainline since August 1984 this was only the 2nd time I'd travelled behind 44871. Had booked '871's solo runs in December last but Mrs S's broken ankle meant I was unable to travel on them.

I joined the train and found my seat was on the milepost side for all but the mileage from Standish Junction to Norton Junction. We were away right time and made a brisk start to pass mp36 at 23.2 and then storm up the flyover, passing mp36 1/4, the 'summit', at 25.7 before dropping down to pass mp37 alongside the depot at 41.7. one thing about Black 5's is they are noisy beasties and we heard Ray crack the regulator open and charge down the GWML on the down main. We were up to 60 as we passed mp 39 1/4 on the gentle 1320 gradient; 62 as we passed mp40, and then the first indication that the revised 65 mph max for a Black 5 was possibly being applied as '871 wasn't eased back and we touched 64.7 at mp41 1/4, just before Pangbourne. Gorgeous sound even back in Coach 9.

Our speed remained close to 64 through Goring and Streatley, Cholsey on the 1in1508 and basically all the way to Moreton Cutting just east of Didcot Parkway. After clattering over Didcot east Ray accelerated '871 a little to storm through Didcot Parkway Station at exactly 65 as the 5 miles + of 1in754 beckoned. We were blasting along nicely at 65 but the brake was touched as we passed mp54 1/4 and '871's speed fell to 55 as we passed Milton Jn. As we passed under the A34 the regulator was cracked open and the sound level rose with speed as we reached 60 as we passed Steventon and 62.3 as we passed mp59. A gentle easing as we approached the down Challow Loop East and we eased over into the loop at 55. Ray eased back as we drifted the 3 miles + to our water stop close to mp63 3/4.

Tender duly filled, hooter from up front, and we eased out of the loop 3/4 mile away at 24.5. Out on the mainline we were treated to a cacophony of sound from up front as we roared up the 1in880. We passed mp65 at 46.2; mp66 at 52.5; Uffington mp66 1/2 at 57, and on the 1in754 reached 61 by mp68 on the short 1in660. Built a good railway did Mr Brunel. Lovely sound up front as speed was held at 62 over the mile and a half of 1in754 and rose to 64 at mp71 as the track levelled off for a mile or so. Pretty much a gentle 1in834 for the 6 miles or so to Swindon. We passed under the bridge at Shrivenham at 63; Bourton at 62 and 58 at Moreton Crossing. 871 was eased down to 50 by mp76 and we must have had an adverse signal as we passed mp77 at 20 before making a 2 minute stop in Swindon Station.

The redoubled section from Swindon Loco Yard to Kemble is a seriously quality section of track. Westbound it's down grade for the first 2 miles, 1in880/260/308&597, and didn't Ray take advantage of it. The noise level rose down the 1in260, a pick up to 48; then to 63.3 as we passed mp79 1/2. The sound was superb to hear as speed rose to 66.6 (GPS and Speedometers aren't 100% accurate) on the level mile as we. Down the 3/4 mile 1in404 to cross Purton, close to mp81, at 67.8 and a gentle easing back to 65 on the level mile and a quarter to mp82 1/2. Then on the gentle almost 2 miles of 1in330, the noise level rose but speed slowly fell to 62 at mp83; 60 at mp82 1/2; 61.6 at mp83; 59.7 at mp 84 and finally 60 at the end of section, mp84 1/2. Good fun that bit.

Down at 1in406 to mp85 saw a rise in speed to 65; back to 63 over 1/2 mile of 1in400; back to 65 over Minety LX and passed mp87. Still noisy over 1 1/4 mile of level track to take 64 onto the 3 miles of 1in330 to Kemble. Again lovely to hear the sound from '871 even on a gentle climb. Speed had fallen to 58.5 a mile in at mp89 when the brakes were kicked in as it was only 2 miles to Kemble. Shame we were stopping there as it's good to get to an engine's max as it's only 2 miles from where the 1in100 starts.

We set down the folk going to some stately home or other and my friend John joined us. Long blast on the hooter and we were away RT. Lovely crisp bark from the chimney as we hit the short 1/2 mile of 1in143 at 23 and left it close to 41. Mixed gradients, short bits of level/400/200 and very noisily up to 46.2 at mp93 3/4, the start of the mile of 1in100. Cracking performance to actually leave the section passed mp93 3/4 45.7. Now there's almost a mile of 1in94 into Sapperton Short Tunnel and the noise level was seriously up a few notches. Typically mp92 1/4, which should have been just east of Short Tunnel wasn't there to record as '871 gave little to the gradient, charging up into the tunnel at 44. We flashed out at 43.5 and into Long Tunnel close to 44. The summit is a few chains into Long Tunnel and obviously impossible to time. An excellent climb by 44871.

Down to Stroud I spent my time concentrating on finding the mileposts as frustratingly the Stroud Side hasn't been that good leading to a lack of opportunity to properly time the upper reaches of the climb, the 1in75/60. It's far easier to spot them when you're on the line furthest away from them. Thought we'd identified mp 96, closest to the tunnel - but hadn't - though more of that one on the return. Network Rail had been doing some lineside clearance and other work and there were 2 new posts on the bank in former gaps. 96 3/4 was covered in ivy and behind a solar panel; 97 1/2 was an old concrete post; 98 3/4 was taking a rest and lying on the ground just before St. Mary's Crossing; 101 1/4 was really low down, hard to spot on the return as we'd be close to it; 101 3/4 was at the end of Capels Viaduct; 102 was at the bottom of its post, close to another solar panel but they were all there down to and past Stroud! Bit of a surprise that.

We'd trundled down the bank, brakes on, mainly in the mid to high 40s with a pick up to 50 through Stroud. Undulating down to Stonehouse, 59.2 then down to Standish Jn, braking down to 41. Mileposts switch to the Midland Side so none to use all the way to Norton Jn. We passed over Haresfield Crossing down the 1in299at 58; Brookethorpe Crossing at 67, close to mp97, down the 1in104 to mp96 1/2, passed at 66. Then the brakes kicked in and we drifted to our water stop in Gloucester Yard. We'd averaged 43.6 mph from Kemble.

Bit of a 'black hole' milepost wise from Gloucester Yard to Barnwood Jn. John spotted mp92 north of Barnwood for me so I had a reference point to time from using the GPS odometer. Not the best way. Not a flat start as the yard and junctions are on a 1in344/304 climb, the latter rising for over 4 miles. Needless to say the 5 barked it's away from the stop in fine style. We passed the positions(?) of mp92 at 31; mp91 at 44; mp90 at 49; mp89 at 51, our max, before falling back to 42 as we passed mp88. Reason was we were only a mile and a half from Cheltenham Spa Station. After a set down we left a little late downgrade. Lovely and noisy as speed rose to 59 by Morris Hill, a mile and a half out; 63 at Swindon Road, 2 3/4 miles out and to our max of 65 down the 1in285 at mp82 1/2. Not much change in speed to Ashchurch, 63.5, close to mp79 1/2, almost 7 miles out.

On the level at Eckington, speed had drifted down to 59 and we crossed the infant River Avon, mp73 3/4ish, at 61.2. this is the fun bit, 2 miles of 1in385; 1/2 mile at 1in848; 1/4 on the level; then 2 miles + at 1in301 to Abbotswood Jn. 871 barked its way up the 1in385 past mp73 at 61; mp72 at 60.4; mp71 after the 1in848 bit on the level at 62; noisily down to 57 by mp70 1/4, 3/4 mile into the 1in301, before the brakes were applied to slow us down for Abbotswood Jn, crossed at 31. Not got the gradients down to Worcester but we hit a max of 49 at mp118 1/4. We rolled into Shrub Hill almost 5 early. An excellent outward journey.

We went to Brown at the Quay down on the Severn for lunch. Disappointing menu but the rib-eye was good accompanied by a couple of pints of Sharp's Atlantic Pale.

Back to the station and a bit of chaos with late running trains. 44871 brought ours in late. We were now 3 rows back in the coach behind the POB. We left RT after a bit of a rush for me to reset and fix the GPS and get the timing sheets out. A slow start as we were due to be held at Abbotswood Jn. Ray tried to creep along but Cross County Services were running late so we were at a stand for 5 minutes. Never mind. We love the noisy restarts and acceleration to our max speed. John spotted mp69 1/4 so I had a reference point to time. We passed that point at 39. Its downgrade, 1in301, for 2 miles+ miles. We hit 61 by mp70 3/4, end of section. Then down the 1in848 we hit 65, noise levels rising. Down the 1in385 speed peaked at 66.6at mp73 1/4 and we came off section across the Avon Viaduct at 66. Still noisy across the 2 1/2 miles on the level, left at 62; only falling to 60.7 up the mile at 1in319.

Down the 1in311 through Ashchurch and distinctly noisier up the mile+ at 1in297, left at 61.5. 1/2 mile down at 1in719, and 62 onto the almost 2 miles at 1in285, left past mp83 1/4 at 60.6. We hit the 2 miles+ of 1in305 at 62; crossed Swindon Road, 3/4 in, at 62; and then as we approached Morris Hill Ray gently applied the brakes so we passed it at 52.4. We drifted down into Cheltenham Spa Station for to collect passengers who's spent their afternoon there.

Away 3 late which might be to our advantage as were due to be held at Gloucester Yard Jn for 6 minutes. A downgrade, 1in368/304 all the way. Plenty of noise and smuts hitting us as we charged down the bank. Speeds past mileposts were: mp87, 1/2 mile out, 22.3; then start of the 1in304, mp88, 47.4; mp89, 60; mp90, 66.7; mp91, 65.3. then Ray braked on Barnwood then Gloucester Yard approach. Speed fell to 14 and we weren't held despite only being 2 mins behind the Cheltenham Spa-Paddington. We paid for it later.

Speed rose noisily to pass Tuffley or thereabouts at 40 and come off the level at mp96 1/4 at 40 onto the fun bit usually, a mile and a half of 1in104. Not too noisy as Ray knew we were close to the service ahead. 871 barked up the bank, increasing speed to 44. Then the brakes came on and we drifted to Standish Jn and went left onto the Golden Valley Line and the return of mileposts on our side of the train. We passed mp106 3/4 at 32.4 but then slowed to 8.6 as we passed mp106 1/4 before coming to a stand at a red signal. The blocks are long and were too close to the Paddington Service that was picking up at both Stonehouse and Stroud. 4 mins later 871 barked away up the mile at 1in347, passing mp105 1/4 at the end of section at 37.5. through Stonehouse on the 1in300 at 41 then downgrade/level to mp104, 47.2.

Plenty of noise and smuts as 871 charged up the 1/2 mile of 1in276, mp103 1/2, 46.9; up the 1/2 mile 1in620 to mp103, 44.5. Despite a bit of downgrade/level, we only passed through Stroud Station at 46.5 to take onto the 2 1/2 miles of 1in250. No issues with the service now 8 mins ahead of us. Concentrating on mileposts so ignored timing on the viaducts. Tricky in places due to the awkward low sun and corresponding window reflections.

We passed mp101 1/2 at 48.4; mp100 1/2 at 46.3; and came off the section at mp100 at 47.3. Loved the sound from up front as we picked up to 49.3 over the short 100d. We passed mp99 1/2 on a level bit at 49 and peaked at 50 at mp99 1/4 on the 1in310. Onto the 1in103 and across St May's Crossing at 48.9; too soon to pick up mp98 3/4 which was flat on the ground. We climbed past mp98 1/2 where the serious climb starts at 47.6. Sound echoed around the valley but the bank was starting to take a toll and we dropped to 45.6 as we passed mp96 1/4.

The 1/2 mile of 1in70 saw speed fall across Chalford Viaduct to pass mp97 3/4, the start of the mile of 1in74, at 42.9. 44871 still sounded superb up front. Speeds on the 1in74 were: mp97 1/2, 42.5; 97 1/4, 41.8; end at mp97, 41.2. the next quarter at a bit of level/back to 1in75 saw a speed of 42.7 across Frampton Viaduct. Between the quarters the gradient changes from 1in75 to 1in60. Noise level rose as 871 dug in, full regulator and 60% cut-off(thanks to Don for the info). We passed mp96 1/4 at 38, and around the curve to pass mp96, no face on the Stroud side, but an obvious upright, at 36. The gentleman opposite confirmed there was a 96 on the face tunnel side. Over the 6 chains to the tunnel mouth the GPS 'wobbled' going from 35.2 to 33.9 as the tunnel wall had an effect on the signal. A manual calculation suggested the actual speed was closer to 35.

The gradient eases to 1in90 inside Long Tunnel but the engine was still being worked hard. The summit is near the end of Long Tunnel, so impossible to time. What you can do is calculate the average speed through the tunnel. According to Quail Track Diagrams the tunnel is 1m 4c long. Using the old method, you divide the time elapsed, which was 1m 15.12s on my stopwatch, into 3780, not 3600 as the distance is over a mile. This gave an average speed of 35.96, close to Don's calculation. A mighty climb for a Black 5 with 9.

The GPS recovered by mp94 1/2 down the 1in94 and showed a speed of 45. Down the 1in94 speed rose to 54.7 as we passed mp94; and to 60 at mp93 1/2. After that we eased down to Kemble for a right time arrival. We left the train there. An excellent day out with the Master, Ray Poole, ably supported by the fireman/firemen - didn't have time to find out who they were. Edit: from Don's post below, Matthew Earnshaw on the outward and Chris Birmingham on the return.

Thanks to David Buck for running a proper steam excursion; to Ian Riley and his team for the superb Black 5; to WCR for the train, their footplate and support crews, and operation on the day; and to Network Rail for good train regulation. The Gloucester Yard Jn to just past Standish Jn is a difficult long block section to run through and the signalling centre prefer to get us off the main onto the Golden Valley Road. That usually causes a slowing or stop before Stonehouse due to the proximity of the preceding service.

My view of the Class 800 IETs isn't mellowing. We had a set with the patterned grey covers from Kemble and that was OK apart from the lack of lumbar support. But then we had an older set with the plain grey seats from Bristol Parkway to Newport. The seats look shabby already, and the backrest(?) and seat cushion moved as I sat down. That's not good for a train less than a year old. It also seems that the Traincare Centres can't be bothered to clean the trains. The exteriors and windows were quite dirty on all 3 I travelled on. The old seats on the 165 we had from Gloucester were far more comfortable and looked better too. The unit also had a decently clean exterior and windows you could see out of properly.

I'll post the pdf timing sheets later.

 

Excellent report Graham which will be a great help filling some of the gaps in my record. We agreed on all the key readings except my gps didn’t show anything less than 36.1 at Long Tunnel and our averages suggest 35 minimum. The firemen going down was young Matthew Earnshaw and Chris Birmingham coming back. What a big difference the 65 mph limit makes especially when the engine was driven the way Ray did. The start to stop time from Swindon to Milton was quite extraordinary and would have been very fast with a 75 mph loco let alone 4487. This was main line steam at its best and maybe my years of boycotting Steam Dreams are over.

 

Wouldn't be right if we timers ever actually agreed to the second or half mile an hour Don!! I'm distrusting of GPS reading for the half mile to the tunnel which is why I made every effort to find the posts. Couldn't agree more about the run and the Black 5s ease at attaining and maintaining 65. I dithered about going back to Reading and no doubt when I read your report in HR will wish I had. C'est la vie as they say in the valleys!!!

 

Could you not have got the 2143 back to the Valleys? It was on time. Shame you can no longer catch a 'tram' back. That's what they were known as in the late 1970s. When I was in Traffic Costing on God's Wonderful Railway doing input for the 1968 Grant claims (the railways knew what things cost then!) I used to deal with my opposite number in Cardiff office and when we needed clarification I would sometimes say 'OK Roger I will jump on a tram and see you in a couple of hours'. Sorry massive thread drift. Back to working on the garage railway...…….

 

Think these are pretty much OK. Sacrificed some 'landmarks' in the search for mileposts and disappointedly there seem to be some posts missing on the GWML, probably due to the electrification and associated work. Still it's Brunel's Billiard Table so not that relevant to performance. Edited as Graham @Where's Mazeppa? informed me my colleague got it wrong and the viaduct close to mp73 3/4 is the infant River Avon. Thanks Graham.

There are only 2 'late' trains off Newport to Abergavenny; the 2212 and the 0100!!! After 44871 arrived in Reading, the next Swansea was the 2140, not due into Newport until 2309. Trying not to push 'er indoors into driving too much. Her ankle isn't 100% and I've always had too many ales to drive back. Abergavenny is less that 20 mins driving away. Like the reminiscences but life's not like that on the modern railway!!

 

I'm in the same mind if Steam Dreams keep up the good work. I'm always impressed by the quality of maintenance and how the Riley Fives perform, especially 44871. Damn good crew as well.

 

Hi Don and Graham,

I have been revelling in the reports of your recent exciting runs, but have become increasingly baffled about the abbreviations to Black Five numbers in recent posts. I had been able to work out, after a little thought, which of the Stanier Fives Graham was referring to when using 871 and 212, but when I saw Don calling yesterday's performer 4487, it sounded like an A4!

The LMS sheds I bunked in the fifties didn't recognise the initial '4' of the nationalised LMS engines, so our Ivatt 4 from Millhouses was Thirty thirty-two and the Ivatt 2 tanks which were the station pilots at Sheffield Midland were Twelve forty-five and Twelve fortysix. So I would instantly recognise our current pace-setters as Forty-eight seventy-one and Fifty-two twelve; not so quickly with the abbreviations Graham and Don have used.

But what do I know? Others may know different.

Peter at the end of a cool grey day in Manchester

 

Just being lazy Peter.

 

Ha ha, no problem! Glad you're getting some great runs, Graham.

Peter in Manchester

 

A few shots of this tour plus "Clun's" two runs on 18th and 23rd May