Watercress Line Spring Steam Gala: 25th - 27th April 2025

Maybe they're waiting for 35005 to actually enter service and bed in before advertising it? An introduction to service weekend is easily moved about

 

Well, you know better than I do.

 

Hopefully 34072's swan song in Hampshire will be with 35005 when Can Pac is back and running later in March. As that seems my last chance of only a moderate drive for my much needed regular unrebuilt Bulleid fix.

And I wonder if 35005 will be in service on 15th May, the 60th anniversary of the fastest ever steam start to stop Waterloo-Basingstoke run, which then saw 105 mph on the Basingstoke -Winchester section. The Mid-Hants may still have an electronic copy of a presentation folder covering that night and 35005, that I put together to give to driver Gordon Hooper at the Bluebell Nine Elms reunion in 2008.

From the seven of us 'involved' in that evening, four still have valid boiler certificates. From the footpate is fireman Dave Wilson, with whom I am in regular contact, but he is in the far north of England. And three out of the four of us asked to attend to time what was most certainly a very unofficial speed fest are still in use, with big brother @gricerdon and myself still using valid SR route knowledge to time SR steam. Although Don is on very light duties at present following a derailment in his loco shed.

Bryan

Photo below of a rather important part of the presentation. A photo I took when kindly and briefly allowed on the footplate of 35005 on 15 May 2008 at Alresford. Photoshop Elements helped me get Can Pac up to 105 mph!

 

105mph on a cautionary aspect, with the brake at 15 inches on both side of the gauge....Sorry I'm a nerd.

 

No problem, there's a limit to my Photoshop Elements expertise! But thankfully no limit was applied to CanPac on the wonderful evening in May 1965.

Bryan

 

L&YR A Class 52322 added to the line-up.

 

Does anyone know if 52322 has ever been to the south coast before.

thanks

 

The Bluebell in 2023 https://flic.kr/p/2ouVmAL

 

It has also visited Spa Valley

Sent from my SM-A137F using Tapatalk

 

With any luck both visiting locos will increase footfall at the gala.

 

Now I'm buzzing!
Two Victorian engines - That's worth £40!

 

I guess Douglas couldn’t make it, so his brother Donald is going instead.

 

Just wandering if 52322 will be used on a freight charter. Should get a bit of interest from photographers and bring some extra money to the railway,

 

I'm disappointed.....

 

I recall 52322 putting in some stellar runs at the Bluebell a couple of years back so looking forward to seeing / hearing her tackle the Alps

 

There were four in our compartment for the dash down the bank and I believe two got off at Basingstoke to go to work at Swindon. The 105 was a deliberate attempt and Gordon had swapped the booked loco 35019 for 35005 as he said it was a better engine. Load was 10 for 360 tons. The previous night 34006 had got 95 with 400 tons on the 1035. Gordon Porter with Dave Wilson

 

Just out of curiosity were there many other rail enthusiasts aboard this service hoping to get the magic ton or was it you had to be in the know about these special runs.

thanks

 

Big brother Don will also reply no doubt about CanPac's 105 mph on 15 May 1965. The four in our compartment, we often timed together, had been asked to join the train to time events. And we stayed together down and back. The return was behind 34089 with the same loco crew on the up Mail.

I only recall one other gricer on the train and he got off at Basingstoke saying he would otherwise not get home that night!

It wasn't widely known about in advance for obvious reasons, those days were yet to come. Don was working then but I wasn't, so he paid for my ticket because of being asked to be on the train with the other two for a 'special event'. Thank you @gricerdon Don!

Of interest were the two business gents who walked up to the loco at Winchester after the 105 mph run to give the loco and crew a long look. I think the crew kept out of the way on the loco as they didn't want to talk about the run! I know at some stage later that night, Gordon Hooper, the driver, said "damn, I forgot to unscrew the speedo cable and put 'speedo not working' in the loco fault repair notes". I guess that was said at Southampton.

I'm in touch with Dave Wilson, the fireman quite often, and it happens that I have just done the section in my SR Steam loco memoirs book about this run, and checked a few things with Dave this week.

It may be of interest to see the last part of what I have drafted. Brian Smith, from the Brighton Loco testing section was on the footplate all night with driver Gordon Hooper and fireman Dave Wilson. As we were due back into Waterloo at 03.48 on a Sunday morning Brian had parked his car at the station. I think he first dropped Gordon off in South London (Brixton?), not far from Nine Elms and then headed to Croydon with Dave, Don and myself. Possibly dropping off John Evans, one of the four in the timing group, on the way, I can't quite remember that. The last part of my draft:-

It was always going to be a hard act to follow after that incredible 35005 run on 15 May, and not forgetting 34089’s sprint from Basingstoke to Woking returning with the same crew on the up Mail. Plus memories of Brian Smith driving some of us home from Waterloo in his large American car. I can still remember the surprise on mum’s face as she came down stairs still quite early on the Sunday morning, to find coal dust faced Brian Smith and Dave Wilson, plus Don and I having a cuppa in the back room. Added to which was Dave’s comment that the loud purring of our cat was like a spin drier, otherwise known as a diesel loco!

I am still clarifying the spin drier comment with Dave, ie I am fairly sure it wasn't a general comment about diesels but a specific comparison with the Warship diesels that had started to infest the SR West of England main line nearly a year earlier!

Wonderful, wonderful days.

Bryan

 

Lovely reading, Bryan. It makes one feel as if they were there on the day!

 

11456/752 announced as visiting from ELR and 35005 "Canadian Pacific" finally added to the gala line up