Cathedrals Express to Cardiff 1st March

Not for another 3 months yet

 

Yesterday's outing to see 44932 on 'The Cathedrals Express', also featuring 35028 'Clan Line' on the VSOE.

 

Here's my video of 44932 from Saturday:

 

Hello Dave,

That's correct - and I'm still not 100% over the cold! I hope that I didn't pass it on to anyone. Glad you had a good trip up and down the M4. I opted for staying in Hampshire, giving myself the option to see 35028 after a brief incursion to the Mid Hants. 31806 was utterly brilliant with volcanic exahust and full sun, but I decided against seeing 35028 as it looked to be clouding over. It proved the right decision, as I've seen clips at both the two possible spots I considered (yours being one of them), and the sun was not shining at either location.

 

Apropos the absence of heating: with a diesel on the back all the way, they surely ought to have been able to provide electric heating if the steam heating wasn't working.

 

Not if some of the carriages are steam-heat only.

 

44932 did seem to have more than just the traditional stuck drain-cock leaking steam on Saturday, including from the back of the tender, possibly the steam-heat pipe? On the other hand, the speed of acceleration from the Winchfield water stop, and the sound there and at Wylye, suggest that the DL was not giving much, if any, assistance. All things considered, I think they did well to be only 5 mins late approaching Bathampton on a class 7, 75 mph schedule with a class 5, 60 mph loco.

 

Quite, which TOC was operating this tour ?

 

WCRC, they are the main TOC for most tours now except for the Torbay Express and Pathfinders that still use DBS. and any tours that Tornado will do will also be DBS operated

 

& VSOE are DBS

 

Steam Tours are between a rock and a hard place with TOC's currently, you can have WCRC, who seem to have issues with certain loco's or stock, or DBS who often don't turn up at all.

 

Thanks to all for some great photos and videos on this thread. My friend Jon Perry was standing beside me on the bridge at Chiswick station. Here's his shot:

Chiswick Full Steam

 

Funny how they are alright but, SD, Pathfinder and others regularly got the two fingered salute...

 

The squeaky drain cock is evident from about 35 seconds (sorry for the crap video quality)

 

The drain cock issue definitely got worse through the day - note my video from Grateley in the morning and Whitchurch in the evening. Dad was manning the Whitchurch camera, and he said he had never heard anything like it. When I got the footage onto my computer, I noticed that the clip was "red-lining" on the audio from the second 44932 appeared from behind the station canopy, and it only returned to normal once the 4th coach had passed... some slight audio adjustments were required!



James

 

The same engine on the same journey in 2011 (without diesel) had the same draincock noise with the addition of a tremendous regular mechanical hammering noise , audible from over half a mile as recorded south of Warminster.