The Varsity Explorer - 25/10/25

I don't get why people think the stock should all be the same colour. There were many trains, well over 50% from the memory of my spotting days that had mixed colour stock.

 

Yes ,there were very few routes approved for steam then .Special permission was needed.

 

There is nothing new in this Alan. Diesels have assisted to eek out coal and water supplies for as long as they have been utilised on the rear of steam charters. You surely know that Bulleid tenders have a limited coal capacity and any trip over about 150 miles is likely to need to be assisted. I cant believe that you are surprised by that. It is all part of the logistic planning that goes into organising these trains. You can rest assured that assistance is not given for the fun of it but only when it is deemed necessary for any number of operational situations. This is 2025 after all, not 1965.

Peter

 

Did I say that the stock should all be the same colour?

''Considering that the stock is a combination of maroon coaches interspersed with blue and greys, it just makes the train a little more colourful''. <BJ>

 

There is clearly an awful lot that you don't see going on "behind the scenes". Much as you seem to love to contrast your imaginary differences in operating practicies between the different steam TOCs the problems they face are remarkably similar and are managed in a very similar fashion. Fortunately the people involved, the planners, operators, train crew and the like are largely old school railwaymen who know how to get the best out of a given situation. You seem to forget, with your blinkered 1960s steam vision, what a hostile environment the modern network is to steam locomotive operating these days.

I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed Saturdays trip. The cynic in me wonders if part of that enjoyment is related to the fact that it allowed you to have yet another moan here on NP about "diesels on the back". Like it or not we are living in the 21st century so why not learn to enjoy it.

Peter

 

Like it or not unassisted steam hauled days out are going to get increasingly rare. A rail enthusiast should be able to recognise that and accept it.The modern day railway has no room for delays however caused, (delays can prove to be financially ruinous). Get enough steam only incidents and NR will get the hump and maybe think about banning steam. And that's the last thing anybody wants.

 

Had the Varsity Explorer been hauled by a LMS class 5, 9 tonnes of coal would have been sufficient, but it would have been really tight for water on the Southall - Slough- Steeple Claydon leg.
The train would have been timed for maximum 60mph, and the steam driver may well have requested assistance from the rear loco, for performance reasons.

 

And Victor, those of us who don't like assisted steam, plus being sealed up in a MKII, and the long hours of charters can say good bye to the main line. As I have now done unless something incredible arises.

I'm very happy to have been able to record running right up with the 1960s on the SR with 35028 so far into the 21st century. And now I satisfy my BR SR 1960s steam fetish with photography and a run or two behind such as 30506, 34053, 80078, 34070, 34072, and even 80151, 73082 and 34059 when they are not hauling circa Victorian era carriages!

Such is life. 'Nothing stays the same for ever' is a well known dinosaur saying.

Bryan - a 1960s dinosaur - B

 

Bryan, you may be a 1960's dinosaur but at least you are a dinosaur who still knows how to enjoy himself. You keep chasing those BR SR 1960s steam moments - they are still there to be found if you know where to look. I thought of you on Wednesday afternoon when I had a fix of pure Gricing Owl nostalgia myself. I was the fireman on the 16.40 ex-Grosmont train with 80078 making its last run to Pickering before heading off back to the Spa Valley. As we snaked our way in the fading light south from Levisham I looked back at the four uniform Maroon Mark 1s we had in tow and saw a world that was just as God intended it to be - a pure 1960s secondary line scene. What was not to like (apart from possibly the light 1960s passenger loading) about that?

Peter

 

Peter, wonderful indeed, that would have been an emotional tear moment for me. This winter 80078 is only working the Polar Express down here, so I shall be using side on pan type shots of just the one side that isn't set up for the very many thousands who will be enjoying all the great fun inside.

Many thanks for your post.

Bryan

 

Could you please inform Thameslink/Great Northern of that? They seem to delay their passengers just for fun.

 

Give it a rest. You’ve had a full explanation as to why things were as they were so why keep banging on about it?

 

I can tell you one (14/02/15) where the failure of the diesel (57313) at Kings Cross moments before departure meant the diesel was left on a White Rose trip & Tangmere had effectively used all the coal by Doncaster. The loco had to be removed into the yard away from the wires and what was left at the back of the tender bought forward. Maybe if there was any in the support coach that was added as well. Either way we made York although the plan had obviously been that with some diesel usage that York would not be too far! 57315 was attached for the trip back, which may have been a Thunderbird or sent from 10A, cannot remember now.
So hardly a new occurrence, and not helped by Tangmere replacing No 9, although I regarded the replacement as a bonus.

 

On this trip the diesel was presumably needed for power to the aircon coaches, so it probably seemed less bother for the diesel to push for some of the time rather than to arrange to collect more coal along the way. I can't see from the times on RTT that there was a water stop anywhere before Rugby, but could they not have stopped somewhere between Oxford and Bletchley for both water and coal?

 

Cannot say I can remember any tour I have been on where coal was added at any water stop. Always only done from my memory at the destination.