'Torbay Express' 2013

I understand that DBS have a newly qualified/passed out driver after yesterday's return run to Bristol. Congratulations to him.
Does anyone know the driver's name or which depot he is based at. <BJ>?

 

My footage from yesterday's run, seen at Cogload Junction, Beam Bridge, Goodrington, Paignton, Dawlish and Yatton. Because of all the traffic on the M5 we didn't think we'd be able to make Yatton, but we actually made it with 15 minutes to spare, 5 minutes if Braunton had been on time.

 

Wonderful stuff! Many thanks for sharing

 

Caught her at Bristol after coming in from Weymouth on a service train, Cromwell held us up a bit

 

Does the slight difference in colour really matter at this moment? 34046 will get a rub down and repaint at somepoint so all will be rectified eventually.

Even though 34046 is finally up and running, people are still nit picking and moaning. Let's just be thankful that she's now finally doing what she was rebuilt to do!

 

They should have seen some of the varied shades of green in BR days. We have a pic of 34081 after a lagging fire in the early 60s. The affected panel had been repainted in an odd shade of green and not lined out. Very strange.

 

A shot of Braunton on the return Torbay Express at East Brent nice to have a different engine on the Torbay Express.

 

Yes I agree it's great that we now have 34046 (and 5029) back on the mainline, and I'm looking forward to being hauled by them soon!

 

All well and good, but can you be certain that the two different shades of green didn't have something to do with the problem of getting her ready for the mainline?
And can we be certain that the colour discrepancy will not affect her performance on the mainline?

 

Yes, you are right there Salty. I've gone back through all my old log books from the 1960s, and can't find any notes on the lines of, "slow running after Worting Junction due to the tender being the wrong colour".

I did find a couple of notes, "slowed near Poole Harbour as loco driver spotted some scantily clad serving wenches on the beach." Around the same location I see I missed a couple of passing times and even when I started taking them down again my writing was quite shaky until after Wareham.

 

Here is a picture of Braunton running in on the East Lancs railway in April this year.
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com/p720556904/h5d242882#h5d242882

Pretty clear differnce betwen the shades of Brunswick Green, but both look lovely!

More pictures on the same day at
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com/p720556904

Peter on a Manchester morning with the sun trying to break through
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com

 

Certainly DBS believed a repaint could turn a pile of scrap into a loco fresh from a Doncaster overhaul judging by their antics in the last couple of years they used 37's.

Got found out when the "newly overhauled" loco went bang 50 miles up the line...

 

Very true, too much attention to the wrong kind of detail it would seem

 

The driver was Vince Henderson, a Bristol man. Bob Hart (Crewe) was the tester. The driver's test section was from Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads. It wasn't that straightforward as we were signal checked from 70+ approaching Highbridge as we'd got close to the London HST; then we were stopped prior to leaving Weston-Super-Mare loop. He handled everything very well. We understand it was his first time on a rebuilt West Country too. Good to see DBS passing out another driver. They really need them.

 

Here is my shot of Braunton climbing away from Goodrington. This was my first chance to get out with camera since breaking my ankle back in March!

 

According to Steam Railway mag Gareth Jones is retiring this year as well.

Good to see younger men taking over but they have lost so many through retirement in the last couple of years that it's easy to see why they sometimes have difficulties crewing trains.

 

Strolling past Barton Hill earlier this evening, I noticed that 34046 was in steam.

 

DBS have difficulty providing crews for diesel hauled charters. What a way to run a company. <BJ>