Cath Ex to Salisbury, Bath and Bristol 7/3/18

Cracking pictures, perfect setting and capture

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think it's possible to come from Victoria via Longhedge Junction and get onto the LSW main line. There are occasional specials starting from Waterloo that do go down the main line.

 

The earliest you can join the SW main line ex Victoria is at Wimbledon - either via Wandsworth Town and Southfields, or via Tooting.

The former gains the down main before Wimbledon station, the latter afterwards.

 

Thanks Anthony - as I hadn't seen Mayflower before was kind of glad how those turned out

 

Why not start at Waterloo?

 

Paths out of Waterloo at that time are very few and far between.

 

The route via East Putney is fully used with District line services with a few National Network ECS workings to and from Wimbledon Park CSD. Joining the mainline at the site of Wimbledon A SB requires a gap in the mainline services on the Up Slow, Up Fast and Down Fast at the same time and to fit into the three minute headways on the Down Fast. It wasn't easy timing special traffic movements out of Wimbledon Park depot 25 years ago and will be harder now with more frequent services. The permitted route availability is RA6 which precludes most steam locos. (See PSUL for the probable passenger workings in the small hours.)

There are severe gauging restrictions via Tooting, with some locos prohibited (certainly 35028) in the up direction. Also, the route from Victoria (Platform 2) to Wimbledon West Jn is rather convoluted with six flat junctions with conflicting movements to reach Wimbledon West Jn. Joining the Wessex mainline means finding a suitable gap in the Down Slow service which also doesn't delay the Thameslink half hourly service on the "Wall of Death" (St Helier Loop).

Before anyone starts on "why can't we use Waterloo", MNLPS and DB Cargo spent three years negotiating the paths for the Bournemouth Belle recreation in 2017. When there is a chance of spare capacity availability on a Sunday, there is a high probability that part of the station or at least two lines are blocked between Waterloo and Clapham Jn will be blocked for engineering works.

Driver route knowledge also comes into the equation for each individual section of the proposed route.

So there are good reasons for taking a gentle trundle via Longhedge Jn and the Windsor Lines. (Apologies if this seems a bit like teaching granny to suck eggs to the Railway Ops staff on here, but sometimes operational factors need to be spelt out.)

Cheers, Neil

 

Correct , there is no route from Longhedge Jn to the Wessex Mainline at Clapham Jn. There is a route from the Up Main Loop at Clapham Jn to the Up Ludgate lines, but it is not approved for passenger operations and requires agreement of South Western Railways to cross their infrastructure in Clapham Yard.

Cheers, Neil

 

Thanks Neil. Good to have the details. "Pathing difficulties" is used for a very wide range of issues, some that can be overcome at different times of year or with longer planning; others, like this, really are permanent obstacles. On the plus side, we are very lucky to have a well-established set of routes and paths from/to Victoria that allow charters (steam and otherwise) to reach most of the southern and western main lines

 

Is there a chance that things might improve if/when the former Eurostar platforms are brought back into use?

 

It could do, but it really needs SWR to agree to the platforming changes to keep platform 19 clear for the charter workings. Platform 19 is the only one long enough to take DL, 12 coaches and steam loco and even then it needs special working instructions for starting the train as the loco is beyond the platform starting signal. From memory it may affect train routing into platforms 16 to 18 as well.

Certainly platforms 20, 21 and 22 are open on weekdays. The former Eurostar platforms are closed on weekends and Bank Holidays, probably to save platform staff. All former Eurostar platforms have been cut back to 12 car length.

Changing platform allocations without creating delays is quite skilled and not undertaken lightly for a busy terminal like Waterloo or Liverpool Street.

Cheers, Neil

 

Thanks Neil. Much appreciated. Reading your well-informed and detailed answer suggests that there is perhaps some hope of using Waterloo in the future (And thus sparing passengers the crawl round the Windsor Lines) , but it's not as straightforward as the layman might think.

 

Using congested terminals like Waterloo, Liverpool St or Glasgow Central really depends on the charter company and their operating company starting discussions with Network Rail and the incumbent passenger operators long before the public adverts appear.
Looking at the Engineering Access Statement and avoiding engineering works dates is always good starting point before asking "any chance of..."

Cheers, Neil