Royal Windsor and Sunset Steam Express trips June-September 2021

The undergrowth is still damp, after the wettest coldest April & may for yonks. I doubt its an issue

 

Let's hope not...

 

Strange then. I guess we'll see how the following weeks runs go

 

I’ll be on it so I hope not too!

 

No DL assistance is booked for Clan Line on Friday apart from the normal DL assistance up to Grosvenor Bridge.
(1Y82 & 1Y84 only have DL assistance for leaf fall and in cold weather.)

Cheers, Neil

 

Thanks Neil I didn’t think there would be, it was just a possibility if the route was declared a fire risk

 

61306 across Battersea Bridge around 13 mins late with the first Windsor trip of the day. Crompton on the rear again.

 

Meanwhile the Surrey hills route is train-less at the moment owing to a signal failure. Should be OK well in time for this evening...

 

Given the vast amount of vegetation clearance undertaken on the route over the last two years, I would really hope that a few days of warm weather wouldn't need panic measures. In any case, the remaining stuff is far from dry, as there have been the odd showers mixed in with the sunshine. This is not a drought/heat-wave by a long chalk!

 

Not sure where the vegetation clearance has taken place, it’s certainly not on the Surrey Hills route

 

The second ECS from today's shuttles, taken at Barnes Bridge level crossing, another great day in the sunshine:

 

Not that it was anything major, but Mayflower did cause a tiny fire (if it can even be called that) at the loop at Staines today. After she departed on the first shuttle, the points out of the loop was smoking. Certainly nothing major or to panic about, no visible flames, probably just a spark that went onto the track as she started up again. Thankfully, the stops in the Staines loops are water stops, so there was already a fire tanker there and soon after the smoke disappeared a man sprayed the area with water.

 

In my area (Betchworth - Dorking) huge swathes of line-side shrubs and trees have been cleared/hacked back, and new fencing has been installed for miles.

 

I didn’t notice that on Friday, they have certainly done nothing elsewhere, in the London area the close proximity of the bushes which are not doing Clan Line’s new coat of varnish any good

 

Running 9 minutes early from Betchworth which meant it caught the evening sun. You could hear it for 5 minutes before it came to view as it accelerated from Betchworth.

 

After the early running last week, I decided not to chance it and instead head for Redhill where it would have to be held regardless of how early it was for service trains. This location always gets good power from the engines, but the performance I got as it accelerated away from Redhill was one that I was not expecting.


The photos speak for themselves, really.

 

Working hard at Gomshall in the still evening air. Video to follow.

 

Three from yesterday. A rather hot day for photographing steam.

2021-06-08 61306 KENSINGTON OLYMPIA by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2021-06-08 61306 PUTNEY by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2021-06-08 61306 WANDSWORTH TOWN by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

 

Caught me at Wandsworth Town! A fine selection of photographs.