2019 British Pullman steam

And well up to speed on the fast through Twyford. Wonderful sight. Hopefully the Gt Malvern 8 mins behind didn't get held up.

 

My footage of Clan Line at speed whistling past Kings Sutton on the outward leg. I've added a bonus of British India Line and her run to Yeovil and Weymouth yesterday to celebrate Bulleid's greatest assets both in such top notch condition. Enjoy.

 

Faultless from Clan Line, Great sound over the top of Wilmcote and plenty of great run pasts with the the footplate crew playing to the crowd.

 

A few shots at Black Bridge Whitnash Warks and Bishops Itchington Warks on the return leg................... http://rickeborall.zenfolio.com/p39381849

Regards to all........Rick

 

The return on the approach to Bearley Junction with Clan Line working hard with the heavy load

 

Caught the return leg at Wilmcote and then the foot crossing at King's Sutton.

 

Wow! Must of been exhilarating having climbed to the high level junction and used the gradient on the other side to build up momentum. Must be close to the max speed for the station as I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything pass through the new Reading station at that speed before. Wonder if Wayne was driving or was onboard somewhere?

 

What a fantastic performance! And we can count ourselves lucky that Big Al was on hand to observe and record this magnificent achievement for posterity, given that (perhaps not surprisingly) we usually see so little detail of running of the British Pullman.

Touching on the matter of steam-hauled passing speeds at Reading, and spurred on by the always tantalising mention of the iconic 5.30 pm Oxford-Paddington, my best guess would be that the last time Reading saw the passage of a steam locomotive at the sort of speed Clan Line was achieving yesterday - or even higher - would have been the returning 1Z48 on the 9th May 1964 with 5054 Earl Ducie. Logs put the passing speed variously at between 80 and 82 mph, but worth bearing in mind that, however epic the performance (and it certainly was - sub 96 minutes Bristol Temple Meads-Paddington via Badminton) this was a featherweight load of seven coaches/around 265 tons, so not strictly comparable.

As far as the venerable 5.30 pm goes, by the time of the summer timetable in 1963, this service had been turned over to diesel traction - my first recollection of this from my later spotting days at Oxford in June 1963 being that of Western rather than Hymek haulage. Certainly during 1962 Castles were still turning in some fairly epic speeds on this service, but beyond that time, it was the life-extension that Castles enjoyed on the Worcester-Hereford services through 1963 and roughly until May 1964 that delivered the likelihood of 70 mph + speeds through Reading - the 8.52 Up (6.20 ex-Hereford) and 5.15 pm down (Cathedrals Express) services being the only non-stop Oxford Paddington services by that time. The RPS database has all the evidence!!

 

The usual Bulleid Brilliance from 35028, hard to pick a favourite from yesterday. The sound in the going away shot at Kennington ended our day well ! Be nice to see some footage from Reading.

 

Also one from Whitnash.

https://flic.kr/p/2gwoDh4

Chris

 

You're right, the sound in that going away shot is excellent, really captures that bass thump that I always think of as the signature of a Merchant working hard.

 

Other people filmed this, but not on here yet.

 

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Some images from that 76mph moment (I really, really wish I had been using video) - Chapeau/Hats off to the crew (both on train and those that maintain her)
Ohh and I have no idea how I got her nameplate in focus with a blurred smokebox at that speed from about 6' away

 

A few shots from Wednesday, with 35028 giving us another masterclass in power, performance and elegance.








James

 

And there's no video anywhere of this unfortunately! Well, currently at the time of posting this.....​

 

I really regret not taking video, but my skills in this respect aren't good. It was only me and a teenager on the London end of Platform 10 and both of us were taking stills. No one was on London end of Platform 9 and no idea if anyone was on Swindon ends of either platform (although when I was deciding where to stand maybe 45minutes before, there were no other railway togs around).

If a commuter was quick enough with their phone they may have something, but probably don't know exactly what they have captured and they will only have realized what was coming when they heard her whistle.