The Midlander, Sat 17th July, with 6201.

There's an announcement on VT's website about a possible 'very interesting' tour on Sat July 10 using 6201. http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/vt_trains.htm

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Not giving much away are they ! A magical mystery tour?

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Vintage Trains website and uksteam.info gives the date as 17th July not the 10th. There are already 4 other steam charters booked for this date, onto which many punters will already be booked. It is also the start of the main holiday season. The 10th fairs little better with 3 steam charters. If this tour is to be "ground breaking" I think the July date should be reconsidered so as planning is not wasted.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Think a little more info may help produce a bit more interest 'somewhere in the south' doesn't sound as appealing as 'up Camden Bank' for example.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

I will be chasing 6024 around on The Royal Oak on the 10th, hope it's the 17th and that it does materialise. It looks as if 6201 leaves for Crewe after that date, judging by her schedule on UK Steam. So it could be a case of "now or never".

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

If it goes through Salisbury that'll make four big engines in a day, 60163, 30777, 34067 and 6201.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

777 & 34067 (or a deputy) are not due through Salisbury until Sunday 18th ;-) david1984's hint suggests an LNWR route, rather than LSWR.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Oops! :doh:

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

It is rumoured to be Birmingham New Street to Euston, steam all the way.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Euston's one thing, but surely steam won't go out of New Street, unless the engine will stay outside the roof - but it can't arrive back at New Street again without going under the roof.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Don't forget that the platforms at New St. have large areas outside the roof so the engine wouldn't come to a stop under it in either direction.
Also Tornado is due to go under the roof at Euston, which in the past has been a big no no.
So as a certain Mr. Bob Dylan once sang "The Times They Are A Changin'"

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Despite having done 6201 on the WCML so recently, i think i will be compelled to book if steam from New St produces.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Read somewhere that Euston's platform(s?) that had HST's exhaust to deal with should be able to cope with steam too (- as long as firemen don't 'charge' the fire too much apparently).
With BNS coping with HSTs, and loads of different types of DMUs, stopping/starting I would have thought steam shouldn't prove too much of a problem.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

steam from from birmingham new street, that would be awsesome, when was the last steam train out of their? and would it take the route via northampton?

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Certain platforms do have an extract system according to Graeme Bunker - 13,14 & 15 plus some on the other side of the Station

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

Did Princess Royal class locos ever use BNS back in the day? I've got a dim and distant memory of reading somewhere that the largest LMS passenger locos were banned from there due to clearance issues in the surrounding tunnels, but I'm damned if I can find the book I think I read it in!

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

What about headroom? The overhead wires have always looked lower to me in the "covered" part than they are outside.

 

Re: Possible Tour With 6201

I've definetly seen archive film of Coronation class loco's at New St, i suspect if there was a tunnel restriction, it's likely to be the Cheltenham bound route(via Bourneville than Camp Hill) which starts with a nasty curve away through the Tunnel, but in normal use the biggest thing to use this route was Jubilee's, 6201 (or anything on the WCML) shoulden't touch that bit in theory.