CATHEDRALS EXPRESS: MHR TO BLUEBELL WITH 34046: 2ND OCTOBER 2014

Only when looking at RTT today did I realise I would like to have done just the stretch from South Croydon to East Grinstead! For old times sake: I did East Croydon to Oxted a couple of times in 1962 behind BR Class 4 tanks. Oh well, have to wait until next time.

But I did get a photo of a Bulleid on that route. 34027 on the 18.10 London - Brighton. At Woldingham. 26th April 1962.



And almost 47 years to the day later, (25th April 2009), I got a photo of a Bulleid on the Bluebell!




So I can sort of remember todays event from my past experiences.

 

Nice photos.

 

Cracking picture of 34059!

 

Braunton just arrived back at Alresford, gathering by the steam at the bottom of my garden

 

And Lingfield on the down

 

Bit of a mixed day today.
Good bits :
- The performance of 34046 and her crews did not disappoint. Terrible stop, start schedule on the outward run which really became tedious but 34046 was managed well. She was even allowed to climb up from East Grinstead unassisted. The return run was far better after South Croydon. Braunton absolutely flew along at high speed after the stop between Redhill and Reigate with speed only dropping off as she was approaching the 1st summit of Gomshall bank. Best part of the ML trip was the superb climb out of Guildford. Wonderful soundtrack from 34046 which we could hear even right at the rear of the train. And NO DIESEL ASSISTANCE!

- The 16.00 trip on the Bluebell train with 847 in charge. One of the best runs I have had on the Bluebell. She sounded great pounding up the banks with eight carriages & 34046 hanging on the drawbar.
- The delicious Fish & Chips from the SP restaurant. The food on the CE train can't have been very good as there were a lot of people from the dining classes queuing up for lunch at Sheffield Park!

The bad bits:
The SD carriages are still sh*t. The coach we were in had lights which didn't want to work. When someone asked if they could be fixed the reply from the WCRC member of staff wasn't very polite. He also added that the carriages should have been scrapped long ago!
- On the return run the "free drinks" stopped coming (probably because the lights packed up).
- The terrible schedule for the outward run. I don't think we went over 40mph once.

 

@green five - glad you liked the 16:00 departure! I was fireman on the S15 for the day. We were told Braunton wanted to conserve water and wouldn't be working on the way up to Kingscote. So that gave a load of about 420 tons tare, probably 450 gross, but the S15 coped admirably, except for a slip in the tunnel (and a sheep on the line going up
Freshfield Bank). That loco is a beast - I don't think she went below 180psi all the way up to the tunnel! It's certainly far and away the biggest load I've ever had behind a loco. Big grins all round when we got to Kingscote!

Tom

 

Superb job Tom. Best part of the day for me. We were right behind the loco and it was an impressive show. Didn't realise there was a sheep on the line, we thought there was a TSR.
We also rather liked the effort from 847 on the outward run when she tried to push the train and 34046 out of Kingscote!

 

I was in dining on VT's 1Z48 earlier this year and the father and son opposite me had a lunch in Plymouth after having a large breakfast. All I had during the break was an ice cream.

 

Indeed and it's the little bits like that that really complete the job and add the icing on the cake! It shows the Braunton support crew really do take pride in what they do on the mainline so well done! Let's hope 34046 isn't away for too long.

 

ECS returned through Aldershot 1 minute early. From my bedroom window I heard the Class 47 working up the hill with 34046 running like a sewing machine at the rear.

 

My video:
Filmed at Lingfield, West Hoathley, Cook's Pond Viaduct (near Dormans) and Dorking Deepdene.

 

There was a sheep and a TSR. The sheep made a couple of attempts at becoming lunch for someone towards the bottom of the bank, which caused us to slow to walking pace; then when it got out of the way, we recovered a bit before having to slow for the TSR, then accelerated again once past that.

Sounded like it was a successful day at our end. Someone from Steam Dreams mentioned to us at Kingscote that the loadings were very good (over 400) and certainly the train looked full when it arrived. Everything ran to time so the special met its path for leaving the railway. I wonder what the passengers on the Autumn Tints service, out for a quiet day on the railway, thought about Sheffield Park being heaving and the linesides having swathes of people in orange jackets!

Tom

 

Ah! I was wondering what that shot would look like at cooks pond, and I tried to get to Dorking Deepdene lat night but the traffic from my place was horrific, just enough light.

 

Crowhurst, East Grinstead, West Hoathly, Sheffield Park and Reigate in photo and video form...



https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts1985/sets/72157643024695435/

 

I do hope the trip is repeated. Perhaps they might operate trips to other Preserved lines from the MHR as this one filled up well. The WSR used to be feasible when the MHR ran railtours with decent timings being issued. Times have changed though.
My Father and I spoke to one of the SD stewards we know well at Sheffield Park. He said that the outward schedule was one of the worst they had been given by NR in recent years. The outward and return runs both ran through very busy areas at peak times. Very large amounts of activity on the Network; we encountered problems on the return around South Croydon. Services were coming one after the other from all directions whilst our train sat in the middle of it all.

 

I hope so but from the Bluebell to the Midhants this time, out via London and return via the Surrey Hills.

 

Funnily enough I was about to post about the incongruity of seeing a steam engine stopped and watering, blocking a busy line, on one of the busiest periods of the day on one of the busiest railways in the world. Only in the UK, I thought to myself, could you ever think of doing this. NR get a lot of stick, rightly in a lot of cases, but you have to take your hat off to them at times. We should pinch ourselves that such stuff is allowed to happen, frankly bad path or not, this was an event to savour.