The Golden Arrow, 9th-11th October.

Great vid. With such a small load for a Class 7 loco, why was the diesel pushing at Shepherds Well? Puzzling. Unless of course the diesel driver was bored to tears and just wanted to get in on the action. I just hate these unnecessary contributions from the back.

 

Did the train have a diesel on the back at the time?





PS. If true a very sad day for those who spent a great deal of money on travelling, along with those who planned it all etc. But..."running 19th century technology . . . . etc . . . . "

 

Wasn't it an ECS by then?

 

From what I can gather, a diesel was sent from Boulogne, possibly after being taken off an intercity service. 02.45 arrival in Paris was quoted as well! Diesel hauled on the return to Calais today, they should be at the Baie de Somme railway at the moment.

What I can't work out is the departure time from Calais on Friday. Considering the early start from Victoria, around 10am at Dover would mean a sailing about 12pm, 2.30pm at Calais, 4pm departure. But it looks like departure from Calais wasn't much before sunset going by a couple of photos I've seen, so around 6pm. Even without the loco failure, it was a long day, made far worse when you add in what looks like a four hour wait for a replacement loco.

 

It's France. A long lunch then a few hours putting the world to rights over a bottle or two of red wine.

An 02.45 arrival in Paris after such an early start ex London must have been appalling for those on board.

 

23.11 into Vic on a Sunday night after all that has happened on this trip.

Some sort of medal should be awarded to all those on board?

 

I expect they all wanted to get home asap, with the diesel doing most of the work they may have been able to cut out a water stop and as there were no passengers on board it didn't matter. As for the 231K dropping plug, this was a cardinal sin in steam days and there could be repercussions from this. Unlike the UK steam is not a regular thing in France and it would be interesting to know how they keep the crews up to scratch over there.

 

I wasn't being critical about the diesel doing all the work, merely responding to Liam's comment. Makes a lot of sense to me to let the diesel take the strain and get Britannia back to Southall in one piece.
At Shepherds Well the station building was covered in scaffolding and there was a crew giving it a nice coat of white paint. All of a sudden a steam locomotive appeared, threatening to cover their wet paint with a layer of soot. Probably a good job the diesel was doing all the work.

 

Just seen it go past in the distance from the back window over Sandwich marshes, too dark to be able to tell whether the diesel was leading, but no firebox glow.

 

Légion d’honneur?

Képi Blanc de Flèche d’Or?

 

Went past Deal web cam at 20-25

 

That's more like it on the return journey, could hear the Brit and see the firebox glow from about three miles, going well towards sandwich

 

New one on me, could I have the URL for that please?

 

The train went past behind my house between Paddock Wood and Tonbridge about 2155, Britannia barely working, diesel on the back could be heard thrashing away for some time afterwards.

 

A few photos from this evening's journey taken during the water stop at Paddock Wood: -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/n_burgess/albums/72157659320564298

Britannia barely working as it departed - you could hear the class 47 for miles!

 

There we are, duly corrected for you.