35028 Clan Line returns: 27/04/24

Traksy is showing the Addlestone line now closed owing to a land slip! 35028 is well past the site, but it looks to have been a close thing. Amazing. The screenshot shows the closure and 35028 near Ashford.

 

My clip from this morning:

 

Having missed the outward run this morning I was determined to head out for the return leg of Clan Line's special 50th Anniversary Pullman even though the weather was pretty foul. Quite a good turnout at Winchfield this evening.
A few minutes early smoke and steam appeared in the distance and 35028 raced into view before flying through the station, Clan Line fresh from overhaul and running like a sewing machine.
Congratulations to the MNLPS and 35028 for 50 years of excellence on the main line. Here is to the next 50!
Below a couple of shots taken through the heavy downpour (low res versions). Wasn't sure I would get much but pretty pleased with the results.
Video will follow later.

 

Great words about a truly great Steam Railway locomotive and a great professional team Al.

And, so far as your words -"heading again towards Basingstoke. It's a route it has worked hundreds of times under BR and MNLPS ownership" are concerned, I can help out there I think.

Today I was on the Pirbright overbridge, right by MP 30 1/4, that big brother Don and I used to visit in 1962/1963. And I photographed the most magnificent sight (with wonderful sound) of Clan Line roaring up the climb to the MP 31 summit. Looking at RTT I think that loco passed me at exactly 10.10 this morning. That covers the MNLPS ownership. Re BR ownership I have a photo of Clan Line I took from the same side of the same bridge as today on a down Bournemouth train, but on the down local line and not the down fast line as today. I must have taken that photo in 1962 or 1963 - if Don was with me that day he will have the details.

I'll post both photos here side by side tomorrow as I'm a bit tired to sort them tonight as I then went to the Mid Hants gala and then came back to the Pirbright bridge to photograph Clan Line on the Pullmans on the up fast this evening.

And tonight's photo is a near miss in comparison with a Merchant Navy on the up all-Pullman Bournemouth Belle I photographed on 2 September 1962 from just about the exactly the same location as I photographed Clan Line this evening. The near miss being it was 35028 tonight and nearly 62 years ago it was 35029! And the weather was different. Late evening sunshine in 1962; tonight heavy rain and dull enough for 1/640th of a second and 16,000 ISO.

Bryan B

 

Here is my video from a very wet Winchfield this evening:

 

A simply breathtaking performance on Upton Scudamore, shows what a real credit the engine is to the MNLPS. Fresh from overhaul and certainly looking the part. Captured at Winchfield, Upton Scudamore, Andover and Virginia Water:

 

As I mentioned earlier the sound was terrific and personally I can't say I've heard 35028 in that voice before, she even had the temerity to blow off at the summit. The full soundtrack was about three minutes long but I have trimmed it down a touch, stirring stuff !

 

Astonishing climb there from '28.

 

A special day all round, and proof that steam-only runs are still completely viable. The weather was pretty grim but I hope the passengers enjoyed the day as much as (some!) line-siders. I say"some" as my attempt to see the evening run was thwarted by two separate police/railway incidents - a Saturday evening in Surrey!

'Clan Line' is a superb ambassador for main line steam. To the volunteers who make it possible, congratulations, and you can surely be very content that your output is repeatedly described as "professional" - a powerful accolade.

The climb to Upton Scudamore looked excellent in the videos - are we sure the generator car hasn't been fitted with traction motors...?

 

The last time it was on this route was The Atlantic Coast Express in 2022. It was is similar weather conditions and I was privileged to be on the footplate where there was a lot of noise. it was a lighter load and if I remember the fireman, Craig Stinchcombe, put on the front injector to keep the safety valves quiet.

 

How good it was to see and hear a train yesterday working without a diesel. Thank you Clan Line / Belmond in proving the point that with the help of a generator coach, a diesel is not a necessity in the consist when a train terminates at Bristol. <BJ>

 

Mine from a very memorable day yesterday. Taken at Sheerwater Bridge between West byfleet and Woking, Bapton between Warminster and Westbury where I made a mistake about the direction of the exhaust. On the way back at Upton Scudamore and leaving Salisbury in some desperate lighting conditions.

 

Fine shots. Of course, yesterday's raw weather at least had the advantage of allowing plenty of visible exhaust. The West Byfleet location is great for photos but terrible for video with the busy road. These (and other) shots also bring up a question of mine to which I have never gleaned an answer - why is 35028 able to run on the main line without the high-intensity headlight that all other steam locos seem to require? The fitted lamps are completely adequate in my view, but I am surprised the authorities permit it. Long may it continue, but I'm just curious.

 

My experience yesterday echoes much of what Big Al has said.

If Belmond and the MNLPS can do it, why can’t others? As the Belmond rep, whom I collared, said – Some companies sell train journeys, we do it properly and sell an experience! The whole train looked superb and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The food was some of the best I have ever had, washed down with Bellini, a bottle of champagne and a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon

The whole day, in fact, was superb spoiled only by the cold weather in Bath. I praise the openness of Belmond in my comms with them over spending so much on a day out. None of the mushroom syndrome I have found elsewhere, terminating disappointingly in a show pony on the front of a diesel shoved train. Even a guarantee of a refund if Clan Line had not been ready was offered.

As we approached Victoria on the service from Dover, to see 35028 coming out of Stewarts Lane lit up the morning. I have never seen so many line-siders on one of these journeys, crowds in some places!

I’m no timings expert, but a few comments on the journey. The diesel was not attached but gave us a shove up the bank out of Victoria and then went home. We were in Cygnus, the Wes Anderson coach that was the rear of the passenger part of the consist outbound. The diesel could be heard as we left but joy! as the diesel went quiet. Benefit did not last long as we were held almost immediately. The slow run out of London speeded up in the suburbs and we were cruising at 65 – 70 by Weybridge. My uneducated impression was she was being treated a little tenderly as we rarely went over 70, topping 75.4 near Andover.

Warminster provided a sharp jolting brake to a halt, don’t know why, but it was enough to upend a champagne glass on a neighbouring table, but that was the worst occurrence. We arrived in bath bang on time.

The consist remained in the same order with just 35028 turning at Bristol. The return was even more leisurely with us at the front of the passenger coaches. We rarely went above 65 and after Byfleet, rarely above 30 mph. Much of the latter part of the return was even slower with several holds but we got in more or less on time. The highlight was certainly the climb near Warminster which I assume was Upton Scudamore, a steady 38mph maintained with Clan Line sounding glorious.

Full marks to Belmond and the MNLPS (to which I belong) and the TOC. A day I will not forget in a long time and Gill really enjoyed her birthday a day early (so did i).

 

My contribution (very low res images, is below) to the truly wonderful photos and videos many are posting here at present - fabulous stuff one and all, a truly memorable way to celebrate such a day.

One thing not yet mentioned is who the loco crews were yesterday, if anyone has that I'd like to know please.

Now my photos.

35028 at Pirbright bridge less than a mile from the summit at Milepost 31, 27 April 2024 at 10.10 - that time is not only broadly supported by RTT, but it's also the time on all the images I took - so I think the shot counts as 35028 at near enough exactly 50 years after returning to main line service. A total coincidence by me choosing that location, I had no idea that was the time 50 years ago! I chose that location because the only 1960s photo I took of Clan line was there. And that is the B & W photo, probably taken in 1962, although it could have been in 1963.

Quite a job lining them up to look ok, and of course I couldn't stand where I stood over 60 years a go due to all the lineside vegetation now blocking the view.

I'll post my photo comparison of Clan line on the return later - that will take a fair bit of time due to the atrocious weather at Pirbright bridge 19.22 hrs last night.

Bryan B

 

A fascinating comparison, and how ironic that the 1962 shot has her on the slow line! Nice work.

 

Driver, I think, was the same one as I saw on Monday at DVP. I did not see if he was still driving when we arrived back inm London

 

I wonder if the cost of yesterday's run had an impact - I have no idea of the fares comparison, but if the ticket prices were higher yesterday than the average, perhaps that reflects in how much effort was taken in the planning. Another major element, of course, is the generator coach - having that allows no diesel for hotel power. Then there is the scheduling - a special dispensation from NR for a fast line run perhaps in recognition of the sheer quality of '28 and its low risk of failure (and the occasion). As mentioned in earlier posts, the runs were timed as 60mph schedules so perhaps that helps to explain the lack of high speed running. The train was certainly doing well past me at Byfleet and New Haw, at between 72 and 75 I would guess.

In short - yes, it can be done diesel-free but only if a number of factors come together. BTW, has anyone heard anything more about the 'land slip' shown on Traksy at Addlestone after the return run passed? It may just have been a cover-all code for line issues, of course, rather than '28 shaking stuff loose!

Here is another video frame from yesterday - I quite like it as it conveys speed with a green signal on the fast line and it reminds me of a painting I did years ago of 35023.

 

The Addlestone issue (shown as severe flooding in RTT, but not sure if they have a landslip category) only caused 4 trains to be cancelled between Virginia Water and Weybridge. So could not have been that much of an issue.