The Welsh Marches - 16th May 2009

Sorry its a bit late but passed Moreton on Lugg 1104. FC there with the video.

 

One photo from me from earlier on. Myself & Phil travelled to Bayston Hill, outside of Shrewsbury and managed to get this shot of both engines working hard and on time too.

5043 looks an stunning loco and looking forward to riding behind it over Shap in 5 weeks time.

 

how many's it got behind it? looks a decent length from the shot above...

 

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http://railways.mjspencer.com/gallery/m ... temId=1069
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Two shots from Coton Hill yard

http://railways.mjspencer.com/gallery/m ... temId=1073

Another shot at Bayston Hill

 

Your daytime job a politician Alex? Or a mind reader? Spot on!

 

Just a logical thinking guess

Alex

 

Photos taken at the Shrewsbury departure
http://lewis-maddox.fotopic.net/c1698276.html

 

Passed LLanvihangel 13.45 looking good.FCs video up later. \/

 

I just got back from the water stop at magor and its got to be said 5043 was looking absolutely stunning, the sun even managed to stay out! \/

Well done to all the support crews that make main line steam possible.

Helix

 

Thru Kidderminster 1817 - fantastic sight (and sound!)

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

 

You've beat me to it Mike! I was about a mile south of Hartlebury (near mountpleasant farm @ 16:12). Not the best location - but, you live & learn.

Surprised to see someone else there (in a red car - maybe someone on here?).

 

You can't beat a bit of Castle chimney music........ unless its two Castles!!
Well done to the support crews and to concur with comments above, the Earl looks fantastic.
Here's the Dynamic Duo leaving Hereford - they were opened up after crossing the bridge and you could hear them for ages!

 

Topping Old Hill Bank under gathering storm clouds (1600ISO) at Rowley Regis: http://david1984.fotopic.net/p58252591.html

If he's reading this, thankyou to the London Midland Driver for holding back for 10 seconds to enable us to get the shot, much appreciated.

 

5043 & 5029 near Tredington

 

Caught the pair at Onibury level crossing, they certainly wouldn't have been holding any service trains up as they stormed past at good 60-70mph. First time i'd seen 5043 and from the brief glimpse I caught of her she looked fantastic. I was talking to a guy while waiting for the them to turn up he seemed to think it was ok to wait for the locos the other side of the barriers, even when they started to come down-I had to point out he would be trapped.. Once the barriers were down I had to persuade him it wasn't a good idea to dodge back under the barriers and cross the line to the other side because he didn't like the restricted view...it was apparently the first time he'd seen steam on the mainline for a number of years, I hope he doesn't appear back out for a while yet. He was apparently going to see them at Old Hill so hope he didn't try and cause chaos there.
Incidently the sun was shining about 5 mins before they arrived, as the barriers went down it disappeared and rain started falling..always the way! ](*,)

 

It is actually quite simple. There were two issues to this, servicing and crews. Had the steam worked all the way through, it would have involved an additional on train water stop somewhere around Salop which would have increased the running hours on the train, and consequent length of day for the passengers. It has to be borne in mind that these stops can be quite lengthy with two engines. Whilst tankers can speed up the process they can prove to be expensive and anyway the world supply of tankers appeared to be tied up with the Coronation. Additionally we were not confident that the coal capacity of the two locos was sufficient to go all the way round without re-coaling en route, which again adds time to the length of day and expense. The stops specified do not have any spectacularly good access for coal lorries and there is a significant extra cost to do this anyway. The remaining coal in the tenders last night proved the point. In particular it is worth noting that despite its size 5043's tender fully coaled holds significantly less coal than 4965's older type Churchward 3500 gallons tender. The 4000 gals tenders were only ever really intended for 250 miles max and that with Welsh coal with its higher calorific value, and in practice mostly used for far lowere milage before re-coaling. The start for the light loco's was somewhat earlier than we requested but they were watered in Cosford down goods loop en route to Salop and were thus ready when attached to the train. We had included some stops at Salop Hereford and Gloucester during the journey to allow non rail enthusiast passengers the opportunity to look around the town/city centres, but as always with mid May we had no control over the weather. It also gave the enthusiast passengers some opportunity to get photos of movements at the various stopping points rather than being held captive on the train which is unfortunately sometimes necessary due to itinerary. Water supplies worked out well apart from the stop at Magor where some kindly soul had parked a fully loaded skip on top of the hydrant. The situation was rescued by a very generous local who turned out with a variety of 4x4's and towed it out of the way! Anyway it provided some entertainment for the specatators on the footbridge. The final issue was that the arrangements allowed more economic rostering of available crews, particularly the steam men who were at a premium this weekend.
Hopefully this makes it all clear.

Bob

 

Absolutely cracking day, thanks to all involved. 200 miles with a pair of Castles was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday. Time keeping was excellent and the loco's appeared to be on top form. Rather sad that I can't make the run over Shap with 5043 as it clashes with our own loco, D1015, going to Inverness & Kyle.

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation Bob.

It would be nice if a future 'Castle' tour could include that rare section of track between Wolves & Salop though! (& perhaps Abbey Foregate curve [-o< )

 

Are Castles out of gauge via Chirk ?, would be nice to go to Chester via the GW route for a change.

Looking at the light engine times that was some effort by the Tyseley & 5029 mob yesturday, much appreciated.

 

Pathing is at least part of the problem to Chester via Shrewsbury these days. With Wrexham and Shropshire and goods operations as far as Wrexham and a troublesome section of single line between Wrexham and Saltney Junction there is very little flexibility.