34046 - The Welsh Borders - 17/05/14

And here is said video....

 

Very nice. Braunton certainly makes a impressive noise.

STEVE

 

Thank you She seemed to get louder throughout the day!

 

Superb filming as usual. Good to see you at Frampton Mansell. <BJ>

 

Thanks for the stills and videos, everyone. Like Big Al, I was on this trip and it was a most impressive performance by Braunton. The Section between Worcester and the outskirts of Newport was for me the highlight of the day. Some one seems to have forgotten to have told Braunton about the 1 in 100 of Llanvihangel! Yes, as Al said , speed did fall away but not by much. Sapperton was also dismissed in superb style.

I hope that RTC make this a regular fixture. This trip ticks all the right boxes - an interesting destination, superb scenery (especially the Golden Valley and the Malvern-Hereford- Abergavenny section) and a good chance for the loco to show its paces, with plenty of hill-climbing and fast running. The GWR semaphore signals in the Worcester/Malvern area are also a most delightful feature.

It's a shame that more appropriate motive power for the route isn't possible. Being a Southern man at heart, I personally have absolutely no complaints about a fine run behind a rebuild Bulleid clearly in top form! However, I do gather (I think it was Bob Meanley who posted to this effect) that tight platform clearances at Malvern Link preclude anything with a copper cap from running between Worcester and Hereford, which is a pity, as a Castle on this section would be rather fun.

If RTC were to make a regular feature, as I hpe they will, there are two improvements that need to be made. Firstly, the hour-long stop outside Oxford needs to be reviewed. It did get rather tedious. We were then stuck behind a Great-Malvern bound Class 165 which stopped at the main stations on the Cotswold line and we kept catching it up. Worse still (and Big Al mentions this on the RTC thread) was the crawling after Maindee East Junction. There really was no excuse for this. We were held for ages outside Severn Tunnel Junction after having left the Magor water stop early and nothing passed us for ages. A bit of initiative by the signalmen concerned could have had the train back in Bristol by the time we finally arrived at STJ.

Still, these moans don't detract from what was otherwise an excellent day out. Thanks to all involved.

 

I'll second that on both counts Kris and good to see you again F2G.

 

Thank you, squires Yes, good to see you both again.

 

Very enjoyable and a loco looking it's best in a very green and pleasant looking land. Thanks for letting us see it.

 

According to my GPS it was 261 miles. I did have to convert the Bristol to Worcester section from km to miles so could a little out. Reset it to miles for the return leg.

 

Last year's was around 323 miles including the return via Gloucester, but it was a bit of a mission after the blow-ups, and the departure of the last train from Bristol to Cardiff meant that I had to bail out at Parkway. It was a cracking day out, though, and 34067 certainly showed Sapperton what could be done. It seems you were blessed with similar weather to last year, too.

 

Finally got around to uploading my two efforts at Sapperton (yes its that foot crossing again ) and south of Kemble. I have had to edit the soundtrack a little as she heads away in the latter clip to remove a very loud expletive volley from another "gricer" who's camera sadly failed to operate.... Thanks to everyone for posting such good stuff already.

 

I was at Wickwar tunnel, to the north of Bristol, for both outward runs. I can assure you that compared to the run on
Saturday, the weather last year was very damp as the train set off from Bristol. The rest of the day was superb. <BJ>

 

Both good clips, one of them of particular interest as being at just the point where redoubling has reached, and showing the new concrete piling retaining the side of the cutting.

 

Thanks.
Yes - its one of those "caught in time" clips and I had similar thoughts on arriving at the spot - somewhat breathless after the dash along the lanes from Sapperton

 

How random is Network Rails maintenance of the infrastructure that locos fit one month but mot the next (think A4s at Carlisle) and a GWR loco can't fit through a simple double track station on a line they used to frequent daily? Is there any advantage in making clearances tighter than they used to be or is it just less adherence to previous standards?

 

It's a complex issue - I'd suggest reading the following Rail Engineer article, Predictive and Probalistic Gauging, which should help give an overview.

Chris

 

A little something I've cobbled together from one of my clips of this run....