UKRT The Palatine 24/08/19

This trip, which includes Copy Pit and the Todmorden Curve, is only five days away but I can't find a thread for it, so I'm starting this one.

Despite the interest in the Copy Pit line I can't find a gradient profile for it. Anybody have one?

Unconfirmed times on the UKRT website show it picking up at Watford Junction at 08:10. However RTT shows 1F12 Euston-Lime St passing through at 08:10 on the down fast and 9K16 Euston-Crewe arriving at 08:09 and leaving at 08:10 on the down slow, having left Euston two minutes behind the railtour train and due at Milton Keynes two minutes earlier.

I await the confirmed timings with interest.

 

The confirmed times sent with the tickets show a 0720 departure from Euston. Sorry I didn't notice what time Watford was. The return is also in slightly earlier than the outline times.

Andrew

 

Well I'm blowed. It was in the book, BR Main Line Gradient Profiles, all along, but I didn't realise because it's missing from the map at the beginning of the LMR section.

 

Times up;

Euston - Crewe
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U52342/2019/08/24/advanced

Circular
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U52346/2019/08/24/advanced

Crewe - Euston
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U52349/2019/08/24/advanced

Diesel shadow
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U52344/2019/08/24/advanced

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U52348/2019/08/24/advanced

 

It does look like it. The original write-up on the UKRT website stated that there would be a opportunity to alight from the train for a while sometime during the steam sector - that sentence has now disappeared from the website.

Impressive however that LSL have gone to the trouble and additional expense of "shadow" paths for the diesel rather than just sticking it on the back.

 

Nigh on 4 hours Euston - Crewe! What's on the front, a Class 08 shunter?

 

Timed for 95 mph max, but section times around 50 mph, apart from Euston-Watford (start to stop) and Stafford-Crewe (pass to stop), both around 32 mph.

There's a WM train http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P46016/2019/08/24/advanced timed to leave Euston at 07:21, one minute behind, already 11 minutes ahead by the time it passes Wembley Central and 13 minutes ahead by the time they stop at Watford Junction, despite the WM having stopped at Harrow and Bushey. The WM stops at all stations, yet is still 13 minutes ahead at Rugby. It continues via Birmingham, still stopping at all stations, while the railtour train goes non-stop via the Trent Valley line, yet the WM gains a bit more, reaching Crewe 22 minutes ahead of the railtour.

It's very hard to make any sense at all of that.

 

A 95mph mainly slow line path with 63 mins of allowances on top! It certainly shows the value of Les Ross.

Surely three hours would be plenty to serve breakfast and dinner, I don't think it's that, just not easy to path a 95mph train in amongst the 110s and 125s

 

Difference in acceleration is another issue. Andy Taylor of West Coast advised on here many years ago that Les Ross would reach 100 mph by Wembley, but it would take a 47 until Tring.
Breakfast has been done in under 2 hours like on the trip to Salisbury about 5years ago. Dinner could be tight in 3 hours.

 

Does anyone know what steam loco is doing this run please?

 

Britannia.

 

Although somewhat less than the 16 hours 15 minutes Euston passengers once had to endure on a CCE on a day we were not allowed into Carlisle due to ECML diversions, and water was taken in the yard at Sellafield.
Interesting to see that there is a Watford Junction pick up when the CME/CCE is no longer allow to call even when using Les Ross and its fast acceleration.

 

Excellent thanks for that.

 

Perhaps after the last pickup at Rugby it might be allowed to take a bit less than an hour and three quarters for the 75½ miles to Crewe.