CME 2023

A few shots from us on Saturday, 35018 seen passing Docker, Lambrigg, Cotehill, Smardale and Wilpshire.

Video Available Here

 

watched it on railcam garsdale where it was stopped by an adverse signal but after a few minutes set off past the signal presumably having obtained permission to pass it.

 

I was. Report to follow later today and logs probably Wednesday.

 

Hmm usual waffle

 

Indeed..."you can't please all of the people all of the time"...

 

Always something to write about on CMEs. Apologies for any typos or things that don't make sense from Appleby. Blame the Copperopolis Hammer Head Strong Pale Ale (6 per cent) one was drinking in the John Wallace Linton in Newport. Gorgeous beer. Not driving so had to have the third.

UK Steam Hauled Tour 936; 2023 tour 4.

Cumbrian Mountain Express 13th May 2023

Didn't know what to expect from this CME after we got the tickets listing 35018 as the motive power. We knew the Merchant went into the workshops for the intermediate boiler retube in October last to extend the Main Line Certificate for a further 5 years; and that sadly for those who had booked, it was a no-show on GBXV. As far as we knew the big Bulleid hasn't turned a wheel in anger this year. We'd hoped to have one of the Jubilees but not to be. Best guess was it would likely be treated as a 'running in turn' so we weren't expecting any fireworks, though who knows as the load was only likely to be 10+POB..

A rarity for us was we were being joined in our 4+4 Safe Space by John and Mary. John's a timer of long standing though he doesn't do many tours these days.

A lovely morning for our drive to Crewe. As usual we stopped at the Brocklebank first for an excellent big Full English Breakfast, black pudding available again, with a couple of American Pancakes with Golden Syrup with coffee. Really is a splendid start to the day and the price is still £9.99 'all you can eat'.

86259 hauling 10 maroon carriages rolled into P6 on time. Our luck had run out as the Standards were on the rear so we were going to be Carriage 10 all day. Hardly any trains running on the WCML and we got to Carnforth right time.

RTC's MD Kelly was on the train and came down for a chat. Always nice to see her on RTC trains. Kelly confirmed the ACE was running 'sans diesel', but with a reduced load of 9 due to 'loco unfamiliarity'. Madness that 45596 with its double chimney wasn't allowed to run with 10.

Back to the CME. Our friendly coach steward had come back with the information that our driver was Mick Rawling; our fireman Craig Todd. For some reason Mick doesn't get the best out of BIL. Perhaps today will see that change.

Couldn't see the loco backing on in the loop but well before our booked departure time we heard the distinctive Bullied 'Whistle' as 35018 drew forward to the signal.

10 back so not much chance of hearing a lot from up front. Said it in the past and it's a truism, you never know what you're going to get with BIL. Further whistling and as there were no trains around going north so we were allowed out 9 early. As happens most time with BIL the start wasn't anything to write home about and we met the foot of Yealand Bank, MP7, at only 33.0 and immediately lost a bit of speed on the 134r. No noise heard back in 10. Not a good climb. A mile in, mp8, 31.2; further mile in, mp9, after a bit of acceleration 32.9, held over the summit, with some chatter drifting back. Wouldn't have been bad if we'd had 12 up.

Big Class 8 Bulleid with only 11 and almost 4 miles of favourable gradients to mp13, the foot of the 13 mile long Grayrigg Bank. Should be able to get into the high 60s surely? Surprisingly Mick made little use of the mile+ of 293f, Mp10 3/4 passed at only 54.3. It was beginning to look like a 'running in' turn for the retubed boiler. Couple of miles on the level and steady acceleration took us to mp13, the start of the 3 miles of 173r, at 63.2. Below par. It was a beautiful day with bright blue sky everywhere. The views left towards the lakes were stunning. We were seeing views in detail rarely seen on trains over the fells. Stunning. What was I writing about? Oh yes, gradients and speeds. No storming run this. 2 miles in we passed mp15 57.1 and mp16 on the 153r at 55. Bit of respite but no pick up on the 3/4m of 392r.

Onto the steeper mile of 111r saw us pass mp18 1/4 at 50. Up the mile of 176r to Oxenholme lost us nothing really, mod station 49.4. Another 1/2 mile of 176r only lost us a mile an hour. Little or no noise back in Carriage 10 though the loco looked steam tight and in fine fettle when I saw it on the long left hand curves. You need to dig in a bit on the 3/4 mile of 104r but speed fell to 44 at mp20. Not good and past experience suggested we'd be lucky to pass the summit at 30.

35018 wasn't really showing its Class 8 pedigree. On the 3/4m of 124r speed fell to 42.4; then fell over the 2 miles + of 131r to pass mp23 1/2 at 40. Steeper bit then, and we crossed Docker Garth's Viaduct, mp24, at 40 on the start of the 2 miles of 106r to the summit. Not much like a Class 8 as we only passed mp25 at 34.4 and then lost further speed to pass the summit, mp26 at a poor 30.2. In context, on 8th August last with a lightly loaded 12, 35018 passed mp26 at 33.2. Time from mp13 to mp26 was 16m 57s; 8/8 16m 41s. Interestingly no lifting of the safety valves when power came off. Come to think of it we hadn't heard them since Carnforth.

Not much life up front, probably preparing the fire for the climb of Shap. We got a bit concerned as we ran down the 204f/777f and only passed Low Gill, mp28 at 52. Bit of noise in the cutting and some speed increase over the mile of lev/425f to pass mp29 at 56.6 and a bit of decent acceleration down the 425t to pass mp30 at 63. Still 5/6 mph below what we expected. The final charge across the level wasn't great and we passed Tebay South, mp31 1/4 at 67.2, quite a bit below last August's 74.1. We were on the mile and a quarter of 146r, the lower slope of the mighty Shap and speed began to fall; mp32, 66.4; mp32 1/2, 63.8. We passed mp33, the start of the 75r, newly reappeared, at 61.3; then mp33 1/4 at 60.2; missed the next quarter but the bank started to bite and by mp34 we'd dropped 10 mph to 51.9. On the left hand curves the smoke looked a bit dusty. Over the next mile to mp35 we lost another 10 mph as we passed mp35 at 40.8. 2 1/4 miles to go; not good. Red Bear had lost his 50p with a summit prediction speed of 38 ish. His minder's 33.4 was still possible - but only for a short time as by mp36 speed had fallen to 31.7. Sometimes speed stabilises at around mp36 but not this time. We heard more sound drifting back but not deafening by any means. We passed mp36 1/4 at 30.6; mp36 1/2 at 29.3; and stabilised a bit to pass mp37 at 28.6 and the climbing summit at a disappointing 27.8. Slowest Class 8 summit speed I can remember without a slip on the flange lubricators. We passed the plateau Summit Board, mp37 1/2, at 29.7.

Time from mp31 1/2 to mp37 1/4 was 7m 4s (8/8 6m 45s). Time to the Summit Board was 44m 2s (8/8 42m 3s) from our Carnforth start. Mp13 to mp37 1/4 had taken 31m 11s (8/8 29m 17s). No trains behind us so the elapsed time was unimportant.

No rapid descent. Mp39 52 and braking. Don't know why; 35 at the site of the old Shap station; Thrimby Grange, mp43, 125f, 65; mp46 71; Eden Valley UGL, mp48, 125f, 62; Penrith North Lakes 616f, just after mp51, 63; Plumpton, mp56, level, 60; Calthwaite, mp58 1/4, 172f, 51; Southwaite, mp61 and a bit, 228f, 56; and mp66, 131f, 40 braking for Upperby approach. We crossed over into the DGL through road. Elapsed time from Carnforth 83m 38s. Note: there was a tsr 20 between mp59 3/4 and 59 1/2 that slowed our progress somewhat. The only one of the route we saw 'on the milepost', i.e driver's side.

Boring place for a water stop. We had a packed lunch, an excellent Melton Mowbray Pork Pie with salad as it was a very warm day. John brought a bottle of Lancaster Amber, very pleasant with the pie. We were ready to leave Right time and did; then like 18th March, Stopped. Surely not a Stop Board again? After 10 minutes we were told there'd been a points failure and the MOM had been called. He's Carlisle based and fortunately as there was little of the infrastructure being used, arrived quickly. We were on the move 30 mins late. The failure was at Petteril Bridge. We were probably the first train of the day through them.

Runs on the 7 miles of 132r to Low House vary enormously. With a Class 8 and 11, high 40s should be achieved. But would it be?

From the standing start at Petterill Jn, nothing much was happening up front. We only passed mp306, a mile into the 'climb' at only 22. Hmmm. Not encouraging. The extra 30 mins at the points failure wouldn't have done the fire much good but it's a big firebox. Bit of noise drifted back then but still nothing like a Class 8 as we only passed Cumwhinton, mp304, at 30. We were expecting closer to 40 by then. Better pick up and by mp303, Howe and Co, we were up to 40.4. No idea why but that was our maximum as speed slowly fell 33.5 at Eden Brows with only a bit of an increase to 35 at the summit. Once the gradient changed to 132f speed rose and we crossed Low House Crossing at 47. Pretty poor. Down the 132f to mp299, 57 with a fall to 55 on the 132r to Armathwaite. Down the 176f to the tunnel, 60, then we charged the 220r to Baron's Wood Tunnels, 55. There was a distinctly better feel to the run now and Mick used the 165f to hit 69 at mp293 1/4 before charging the 265r to blast through Lazonby and Kirkoswald, 292 1/2ish, lev, at 65.

We ran in the mid/low 60s over the undulating 2 miles to Long Meg, mp291, lev/264r, 62.4. Over the 264r /132r to Little Salkeld, 54; then a couple of miles of 132r/110r saw speed drop51. A decent 52 through Langwathby on a bit of 195f, then recovered to 58 before mp287 after some lev/264r/264d. Held our own on the 1 1/2m of 330r, into Waste Bank Tunnel, 58; over Culgaith Crossing on the level at 59. Speed fell to 54 over the 3/4m 132f/3/4m 220r and barely picked up to 55 by Kirby Thore, mp282, 490r. Recovered a bit; Long Marton, 300f, 59. We drifted up the 120r in the mid 50s as we were stopping at Appleby for what now would be 50 minutes. We'd pulled back 4 minutes between Petteril Bridge and Appleby.

Too short a time to go down into town so we wandered off for an ice cream, or two in my case, Excellent Jersey Cream variety. The big Bulleid looked superb in the sunlight - sunlight? Appleby? What next...

We wandered part way down the hill and had to smile at the folk struggling back up just before three o'clock. No fun hurrying in the sunshine. No breeze either.

So, looking at the first part of the CME, it really did have the feel of a 'running in' turn. Still, they'd had 98 miles or so 'on the clock' and 35018 looked steam tight so perhaps the shackles would be taken off for the rest of the day.

Blasts on the whistle and we were off Right Time. Languid is a good word for our progress from the start. We passed mp277 on the 440r at 18. Down the 176f we only passed mp276 at 43.6. We left the 176f at only 48 and over the 1/4m level, only got to 52. Hmmm, way below what we'd need for a good climb to Ais Gill. We were running 14 mph slower than 8/8/22. We crossed Ormside Viaduct at 53 and with not too much noise we passed mp275, 100r, Mike Notley's start of the 'Blue Riband' section to Ais Gill Summit at a poor 52.7. Not Class 8 like at all. More like Class 5. Our guess was now low 30s at mp260 at best.

The first few miles of 100r never used to see a significant fall in speed from that carried on at mp275. This time we'd shed almost 5 mph in a mile as we passed mp274 at only 47.2. Worryingly we were down to 42.8 as we left Helm Tunnel and 42.4 as we passed mp273. Really surprised at such a drop in speed with a Class 8 and only 11. Even 30 Ais Gill wasn't really likely.

We passed mp272 at 40 and over the respite mile and 1/4 of 166r only got to 42.6 though we did better on the 3/4m of 220r and passed mp269 1/2 at 47.8 on Crosby Garrett Viaduct. We came out of the short tunnel 48 and got up to 50 at mp269, the end of the level stretch. Back on the 100r and surprisingly a sharp drop to 41.7 as we passed mp268. Like the last couple of times behind 35018, we seemed to hit an invisible wall as over the next mile speed fell badly to 30.4 at mp267. Through Waitby Cutting just about holding 29, then through Kirkby Stephen 'whistle' blaring at a worrying 28.6. Long time since we went through KS that slowly. We lost speed on the short 264r to pass mp266 1/2 alongside the Signal Box, back on the 100r, at only 26.2. Don't think we were checked there. The exhaust was 'thin' that suggested the coal wasn't really up to the job. Not good with 6 1/2 miles to the climbing summit, 90+% of it at 100r. We were beginning to have thoughts about the possibility of having to stop for a 'blow up' before much longer.

This didn't go away as we struggled past mp 266 at 27, then mp265 at only 24.5 and one of the slowest ever speeds into Birkett Tunnel, 22.4. BIL rallied after we left the tunnel and we passed mp264 at 28.9. Mick used the 3/4m of easing 330r to get to a dizzying 41.4 at mp263. 3 miles to go. Back to that steady fall in speed. We passed mp262 at 36.5; mp261 at 32.2 at a struggle, thin exhaust, not much noise drifting back. We crossed Ais Gill viaduct at just under 31 and then it went: mp260 1/2, 30.1; mp260 1/4, 29.3 and mp260, the climbing summit, the end of the 100r, at 27.8. The observant may remember that was the exact speed at mp37 1/4, Shap Climbing Summit.

We'd taken a really disappointing 25m 12s for the Blue Riband Section. Time elapsed to the Summit board was 25m 44s from mp275. Definitely not a Class 8P level of performance.

Away from the summit board - hardly readable and getting worse by the month - perhaps the Friends will get around to the board after finishing painting the Signal Boxes and Stations. Hope so as it's a bit of an icon from the steam age. Bit of a trundle, Shotlock Hill Tunnel, 52 and just after mp257 3/4, passed at 48.6, the brakes kicked in. We ran into Moorcock Tunnel at 42 and then the brakes came in hard and we crossed Dandry Mire Viaduct at 7 before coming to a short stand when BIL was probably opposite Garsdale Box. 3 1/2 minutes later we were away but not at any significant speed. Our train manager, who's name I didn't catch, came through the train - no ontrain intercom on the day - to tell us there was a signalling problem between Garsdale and Ribblehead. Nothing that affected Kirby Stephen as some posts have implied, and nothing that affected the climb to Ais Gill.

We were told we were going Box to Box under caution, the next box being Ribblehead so a gentle run across the top to Rise Hill tunnel, 16.5 in/18.2 out. We drifted through Dent Station at 19; then accelerated to Arten Gill, 29.7; braked again and crossed Dent Head at 24 and drifted into Blea Moor Tunnel at 28. We slowed for the box, 11.3, and were given the 'all clear'. Bit ironic as there's the restriction across Batty Moss Viaduct. Once off the viaduct normal service was resumed. We passed through Ribblehead Station, mp247 1/4, 176f, at 33.4 and ran down the 100f at line speed. We passed through Horton-in-Ribblesdale, mp242 1/2, 100f, at 63.7, gently braking down to 60.4 as we passed the link to Arcow Quarry. We passed Helwith Bridge, mp241, at 60.4 and ran at line speed, 60, to the cutting down to Taitland's Tunnel, mp238 1/4 ish, braking gently, 58.5.

The brakes were still in through Settle Station, mp236 1/1, 200f, 49.5 before they came off and we freewheeled down to the junction. Power on we passed Settle Junction Signal Box, mp234 44c, at 57.6 and we heard a bit of noise from the front as we hit the 181r of Bell Busk. Fun for a while and we passed mp234 at 53.2; mp233 1/2 at 49.1 and mp233 1/4 at 46 before the brakes came in bizarrely early for Hellifield Goods, 2 miles of 181r/114r away. We know it's a slow run in but seriously? We drifted through Long Preston, mp232 1/2 at 23.3; passed mp232 at 11.8 and took a further 5 minutes to crawl into the loop and come to rest. You'd never have thought we were over 30 minutes down. We actually came to rest some 38 minutes late. Not an issue today as there were no Rochdale Flyers running. For the record it had taken us 95m 18s to get from Appleby to Hellifield. The signalling issues cost well over 30 minutes so in all probability we'd be back to the normal CME timings from Hellifield, arriving in Preston close to 1800.

The water stop only took 11 minutes and we were away at 1703, the time we were due through Whalley!! We had a very generous time allowance of 29 minutes to cover the 13 miles to Horrocksford Jn on the unremarkable 'freight only' gently undulating section. Nothing much to report with a max of 52 at mp26 on the 101f. We passed Horrocksford Jn Box, just before mp21 3/4, 170f, at a decent 36 with the signal off. No Rochdale Flyer so a straight run through Clitheroe, 104f, 43.1; still 27 down. The brakes came in at mp18 3/4, 42.3, and we passed through Whalley Station, braking gently, level, at 28.2. Sadly the speed restriction for steam is still in place and we ran onto the Arches at 27.5, falling to 25 past the site of mp17 1/2. We left the Arches at 25.2 and passed mp17 1/4, 81 1/2r, at 25.4.

Mick seemed to find a sweet spot on the cut off and we settled into a steady 25+. We passed mp16 at 25.2 and Langho Station at 25.9. We could hear the big Bulleid but it did sound 'off beat' as we picked up speed and passed mp15 at 28.5. Better was to follow and we passed mp14 3/4 at 29.2, our max on the climb. Still sounded a bit off beat in the cutting but speed loss was low as we dived into Wilpshire Tunnel at 28. The gradient supposedly eased to 88r but we lost a bit of speed and left at 26.4. the GPS is a tad unreliable in the cutting but settled down and we passed mp13 1/2, 86r, at 27.3; Ramsgreave and Wilpshire Station, mp13 1/4, 86r, at 28.2 and spotting front and back we saw the old Summit Gradient Marker in the long grass, passed at 32.5 as BIL was well over the summit and we were 10 back. An excellent climb with the big pacific.

We passed mp13, 73f, at 36.5 and slowly ran down to Daisyfield Jn, 13.2. We ran through Blackburn at 28 and then ran down to Preston with clear rails and green signals. We passed: Mill Hill, 105f, at 43; Cherry Tree, lev, at 45; Pleasington lev, at 49; Hoghton Tower river bridge, 210f, 54; Houghton LC, 101f, 60; Mintholme LC, 101f, 64.3, our max. The brakes came in gently and we ran through Bamber Bridge, 99f, at 41; Lostock Hall Jn, 224f, 38; Station, 224f, 37 and had an uninterrupted run around Farington Curve Jn, 340f, 29; Ribble Jn, 397r, 18; and into Preston Station where we arrived at 1808, 21 down. Usual comments from the footplate that the coal was all they had to use and could have been better. There was little doubt that BIL had performed below par for a Merchant with load 11.

Personally I can't remember a day behind a Bulleid with so few occasions of safety valve lifting and no 75 mph running. Definitely seemed to us that it was a 'running in turn' after the retube. BIL should be out next week so hope it goes well.

86259 was south of the station when we rolled in. After pulling the cords to change the brakes to air 86259 was on the front ready to leave by 1830. Oddly we were held for the 'old' 1840 departure slot and got to Crewe at 1920. Quiet night on the roads and we were home at 2130 in time to enjoy watching Stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia 'on demand' on Eurosport.

Good to have a proper steam hauled day out even if the performance was sub Class 8.

Thanks to: Kelly and RTC for running the train; and to the Train Manager and the stewards; WCR for providing the stock and the ever interesting 35018; the crew, Mick Rawling our driver and Craig Todd, our fireman, and the guard and Support Crew; Les Ross for providing his immaculate namesake for the non-steam sections; and to Network Rail for allowing us to run on the big railway. Special thanks to the Carlisle MOM for turning up so quickly and for his crew who sorted out the troublesome points.

Bit like the old days as we're out on the next 3 Saturdays, The ACE next week; The South Devon Explorer on the 27th and the CME on the 3rd June. Hope the latter goes back to the normal path into Carlisle as I miss the 301.

Everyone Stay Safe out there.

 

Thanks for the report. It may be that they were treating the loco a little gently as a running in turn. For the initial climbs from Carnforth to Shap, given the slightly early start and the lack of anything behind, an additional reason could have been to give the fireman a slightly easier time.

The restrained run down from Shap remains unexplained. With very little other traffic to worry about, and with the points problem not yet known about, an early arrival at Upperby would have given the prospect of an early start up the hill and a bit more time at Appleby.

The above report doesn't mention a sudden slowing at one point on the climb to Ais Gill. I thought that was just before Kirby Stephen but I may have misremembered.

 

Guilty as charged! It was me skulking in the corner by the tripod. Like the Tour of the Capital Cities of Europe - "if it's Thursday then it must be Paris" in this case "if it's Ramsgreave & Wilpshire then it must be Oswald."

 

Besides locomotive and load there are many other factors that can affect the performance on Wilpshire, perhaps most notably adverse rail conditions (especially around the site of the old Wilpshire station). In recent years the speed restriction (20mph?) has been re-imposed across Whalley Arches, so instead of a charge at the bank at line speed 45mph (plus a bit for luck) we now have an out and out slog straining for every mph. Although still not as bad as been brought to a stand at the signal at Whalley - but bad enough.

Watching from R&W, for BIL + 11 and with the perfect track conditions, I would rate the climb as good without being exceptional (especially with a 25mph start from Whalley).

 

Hi,

I did drop this in for that reason:

We came out of the short tunnel 48 and got up to 50 at mp269, the end of the level stretch. Back on the 100r and surprisingly a sharp drop to 41.7 as we passed mp268. Like the last couple of times behind 35018, we seemed to hit an invisible wall as over the next mile speed fell badly to 30.4 at mp267. Found that a few times now just before we run through Waitby, the speed drop continuing to Birkett.

 

Anyone know who the fireman was on Saturday?

 

Shep Woolley #497 gives Craig Todd.

 

Detailed Timings for Carnforth to Shap Summit here.

Thanks David. Missed that.

 

Ooops. Meant to drop the timings into one post. Amended sheets here now.

 

Craig Todd young Whistle and I also understand there was an additional trainee fireman on assessment

 

Thanks for your usual excellent report. Sorry to hear 35018 didn't run like an 8P, but it was a glorious day and there was no diesel. BIL remains a bit of an enigma; can sparkle - but not often enough. First time out after the re-tube (well done to all at 10A) so let's give her the benefit of the doubt.

If the reference to the load for Bahamas "with her double chimney" stands alone then fair enough but if it is a comparison to the other Jubilees then maybe it is no longer as true as it once was.

Jubilees always had a reputation for poor steaming, various boiler modifications were carried out in attempts to produce reliable day to day steaming. Even in preservation performance could be spectacular or poor. One of the WCRC drivers told me that if you try to work them too hard the fire can die.

Throughout their life there was (amongst other things) a draughting issue. One of the solutions tried in BR days was a double chimney and it improved both maximum steam output and the reliability of steaming. For economic reasons, the double chimney was not "rolled out". BR's Sam Ell became heavily involved in testing and developing blastpipe and chimney designs for a variety of locos. A modified single chimney was designed for the Jubilees and this closely matched the performance of the double chimney. At a time when expenditure on steam was being cut the change was not implemented.

[In Chronicles of Steam, E S Cox includes the following test results for single(S)/modified single(M)/double chimney(D)

Max steam rate (lbs/hr) - 20,760S/25,000M/25,000D
Firing rate (Coal lbs/hr) - 3.324S/4,435M/4,435D
Recorded IHP (HP) - 1350S/1620S/1620S

At the benchmark maximum firing rate of 3,000 lbs of coal per hour, all three types of draughting had a steaming rate of 19,000 lbs/hr and an IHP of 1260.]

In service it was only with poor coal or at the higher outputs that the single chimney was found lacking.

Leander now has the "Sam Ell" blastpipe and chimney whilst Galatea achieves a similar improvement by reducing the size of the blastpipe with carbon deposits (similar to the old "Jimmy"). In an article in Steam Railway, Chris Beet said that Leander's steaming had been transformed.

In preservation medium sized locomotives are often called upon to produce high outputs. Bahamas used to have an advantage but not anymore. Another of WCRC's drivers declared that in terms of performance there was now little to choose between the three. I guess Jubilees were "only just" a class 6 loco; the three current runners now sit comfortably in class 6.

(A bored Oswald waiting for a delivery to arrive and on a sunny day)

 

Brain fade!