34092 City of Wells

I can believe that, 33's are crap

 

I believe so. Must dig it out & find a working VCR!

 

The video of City of Wells and the 33 is available at . File size 368 MB. It may also be on YouTube but I haven't checked.
Cheers,
Steve

 

Ah, that's interesting! I posted a web address and it inserted the video directly. http:// "vimeo.com/69190232". Hopefully this will fool it. Delete the spaces and the quotation marks for the original web address.
Steve

 

The VHS tape I have of that event is called "Salisbury Steam Finale", filmed by the BR Southern Region Route Filming Unit, and runs to 20 mins. The cameraman was Mike MacMillan and it was released by Spa Films Ltd of Rayleigh, Essex. I believe there were cameras from other video makers on board, too, so there are probably similar sequences on other productions. My copy has a very faded KWVR price sticker on the back (£9.99) but I picked it up second-hand for a couple of quid a few years ago, probably from the Urie Loco Society stall at Ropley.

Footage from 92's footplate (filmed on a different run?) is intercut with the view from the observation saloon, where you can hear someone talking to a radio or intercom, saying things like "increase slightly... yeah, bit more... faster..." and then you hear the 33 working a little harder. Passing the site of Milborne Port station, 92 is definitely gaining, but then the diesel pulls ahead again. Once the gap is built up, the "controller" says "maintain that speed" and City Of Wells comes bowling past, with steam on, down the 1-in-80 at Oborne. The diesel re-passes through Sherborne station, and they carry on like that for a few miles beyond Sherborne. The only shots of a speedo are in the Bulleid's cab, as the driver brakes approaching Yeovil Jn, and anyway, I think that's from a different occassion.

The section from Templecombe to Yeovil Jn is still bi-directionally signalled and although the route is rather busier now than it was in 1988, it would be nice to see something similar happen in 2018... (*sigh*)

 

Very interesting. That's basically the same video I have, slightly re-edited, with an interview with Fireman Tom Doel in 1999 at the beginning and end.

 

A railtour that I'll never forget. I can only imagine that the speedometer of 34092
had broken on the return leg and the crew were forced to guess the speed ..... <BJ>

 

I think the problem lay in the fact that Class 33's were rated at 85mph maximum and, with only one coach attached, the brake force would not be high in an emergency. Even so, I think it's Driver might well have exceeded 85 in the 10.5 miles to Yeovil Jct. (after starting from rest near Templecombe) but didn't want to burst the traction motor windings by going even faster. As we now know, steam locomotives can do 90+ Ooops, what a give away!

 

Some 33's were limited to only 60mph, so it may have even been one of those

 

34092 in steam today, moved for the the first time, seen up the loop at 5.45pm. Any video taken ?

 

Seeing the rather gorgeous Braunton on the turntable at Rowsley on Saturday set my poor old grey cells going - if City of Wells did go mainline, would a Keighley - Rowsley - Keighley trip be viable, and if so what would be a good/interesting route to get it facing the right way to access the Matlock branch at Ambergate? Possibly using the new chord at Todmorden?

Dave

 

Could always reinstate the northern chord at Ambergate.

 

Might as well do the Ambergate - Butterley line at the same time - even more options!

Dave

 

What about the Ecclesbourne whilst you're at it?

 

Most 33/1s were limited to 85mph sometime in the 1980s.
Someone who was actually on the 33 when it was propelling the saloon on that CoW filming job told me that the 33 did indeed revert to idle when it got to 85.

The 60mph restriction was in the 90s, in attempt to stop NSE borrowing Departmental and Freight allocated 33s for Waterloo-Exeter work.......

 

its not physically connected to the national network

 

Just a bit of lighthearted speculation really, as with the Ambergate north curve. Of course it would have to head south from Wirksworth tender first, not sure what the rules are on this, a speed limit?

Dave