Christmas Sussex Belle, 6 December.

Tickets received. Off Victoria at 10:43, Eastbourne 13:01. Return at 17:18. Full timings are on RTT. Having booked on the no-show last year for £39, let's hope it runs as planned now I paid £74 (£25 pre-Black Friday discount). Very much a track ticking exercise, as there's over 80 miles of steam-hauled mileage I've yet to do. Probably the Class 33 between Eastbourne and Hastings.

 

....and let's hope the weather next Tuesday will be as fine as it was yesterday!

 

Was that the Cuckoo Line closure commemorative trip in 1965? If it was still open, the Cuckoo Line would be my "local" - nearest station about 30 minutes' walk and one of the prettiest lines in Sussex (Don't worry, anyone, I'm not going to start a facebook page to suggest reopening it!) Oh for a time machine....

Hastings to Eastbourne has been covered by steam in the preservation era. Bodmin arrived in Eastbourne via Ashford and Hastings in about 2002 as did 45231 on a very hot day in 2005, but I can't think of any steam out of Eastbourne in the Hastings direction post-1967. I'm open to correction, however. None of us are infallible!

 

Didn't some shuttles run with (34027 and 75029?) in the early 1990s? Seem to remember going to watch with my Dad at Hastings as a young kid

 

34027 and 75069 ran shuttles between Ashford and Hastings in May 1992. In those days, steam was not permitted to run over the third rail system, so running from Eastbourne would have been out of the question. Even running into Ashford station and between Hastings and Ore was quite a radical move at the time. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that the locos ran round at each end and the trains ran tender first in one direction rather than relying on a diesel (Again open to correction here, but I certainly remember seeing 34027 running t/f on the test run - I've got a picture of it.)

 

Makes one wish there were more Q1s preserved...

 

Now I'm on the computer rather than my phone, I can easily copy and paste things! Anyway, here are the timings on RTT:

Out:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50711/2016/12/06/advanced

Back:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50713/2016/12/06/advanced

I feel for those who wanted to spend yesterday shopping in Lincoln after a run with 46233, so here's hoping that:

a) the train stays in one piece and safely runs as planned.
b) no 'carriage shortage' has resulted from yesterday's incident, which was what spiked last year's trip to Eastbourne.

 

I hope that too. The day will be difficult enough for those of us travelling and having to get to and from Victoria without any trains on Southern!

 

No timings on UKSteam yet - is there a problem there? A similar thing happened last week with the 29.11 run.

 

The steam will be one of a few trains to use Clapham Junction's Victoria side tomorrow! A shame in a way because this routeing traditionally produces an all-out effort to clear Pouparts Junction during the busy normal schedule!

 

No problem. The chap updates that site as a hobby, not a job, so don't read anything into it. RTC has not been in touch.

 

On RTT ecs arr P2 10-13 dep 10-43 Eastbourne arr 13-01 dep 14-26 Victoria 17-18

 

ECS already 37L at Acton. A late departure from Victoria seems inevitable - but pathing should be easier today with fewer Southern movements.

 

ECS disappeared from RTT after Acton, where 37L at 1006. Has anyone any ideas what's happening?

 

Train fault announced. More info at 11:10

 

69L at Acton now. Major issue?

 

fault rectified and consist on the move

 

They did run round and at the end of the day two trains were run to London Bridge without David Ward's knowledge as I understand. This broke the ban on third rail running and the rest is history. The shuttles were authorised as running over non electrified track completely overlooking the fact that there is third rail at both ends on the line.
This is the two locos at London Bridge after the history making runs from Ashford

 

Allegedly brake issues on one of the fives, but not confirmed.