The Atlantic Coast Express 5th-8th September 2014

Missed opportunity to have 3 steam engines on shed at st.blazey this weekend I think!!

 

True, but isn't it the case that the 'table has been cleared for turning only, & not for aligning with the shed roads?

 

60163 Tornado too 12 up Honiton last week without assistance as you know
- a class 8 loco but Tangmere as Don reminded is class 7 - could she still do 11 up unaided though?

In the old days we saw WC/BB sometimes on the heavy Devon Belle without assistance i believe

 

Yes, as I mentioned elsewhere unrebuilt Light pacifics used to work 11 and 12 car trains over that route in normal steam days. Including the up ACE sometimes, and 12 car Saturday reliefs to the ACE in both directions. But loco sheds, especially Exmouth Junction, had them around 24/7 as did the crews, so had a distinct advantage over todays steam operations.

 

Travelled on the Saturday Padstow/Bude section of the ACE in summer 1960 in both directions behind 34060/64/75 plus down from Exeter--Padstow 31842! Surely that will have been a fairly heavy train.

 

Oops, thought I had posted some of this already, but evidently I hadn't.

On Friday I was near the back from London and never heard the diesel working, so I think Tangmere was doing a fair amount of the work. But she was making blackish smoke a lot of the time so I did suspect poor coal. (And she was making black smoke leaving Plymouth this afternoon on the Royal Duchy too.)

On Saturday morning I happened to catch Braunton and Nunney pottering from the yard into Penzance station before setting off to St Blazey to turn. Both tenders were not far off empty, and what coal was left included a lot of slack, but they presumably had had some reasonable stuff to burn on Friday.

 

The coal was ok but an awful lot of dust as seems to be normal with the Welsh we get now.

Re St Blazey tt, it gets to be hard work when there's a bit of Buddlea between the tt wheels and rail...

The things have been put to bed at Long Rock now, early start tomorrow and we'll do it all again.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robinpengilley/14985602759/in/set-72157646938599150

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robinpengilley/15172343595/in/set-72157646938599150/

34046 on shed at Longrock depot being prepped for tomorrow.

 

Anyone who wants to see and hear an original Bulleid close to their best, read the Royal Duchy thread from yesterday.

The videos from posts #158 and #173 are really worth watching, especially #158 which is the one just at the start of sounding like "Boy" Gaffney's 100 mph run with 34102 in 1967. (Basingstoke to Woking start to stop run). Lapford was a lot louder back in the day partly because it was totally knackered and valve timing etc was probably all over the place, and was having to be totally thrashed because of it's poor condition, specifically to get to the 100 mark. And on the run there were rockets flying out all over the place: it would have been highly dangerous to have had your head out of the window, but we were all bent over our stopwatches!

But #158 especially does show these locos do not always have the soft exhaust mentioned on Nat Pres.

It's great that after what seemed to be a very sad run down to Exeter behind 34067 on Friday, (from a route, diesel on the back and performance point of view etc), the anniversary of the final ACE weekend has seen wonderful running by a Bulleid pacific out West somewhere. I believe the crews were Ray Churchill and Bill Wariner. 9 cars not 12 I know, but a much more steeply graded route than that from London to Exeter in places. Great credit to the Railway Touring Club. In raise my hat to all concerned and thank you so very much for that, even though I was in Kent and not out West.

A day I should have gone down for, but I am so disillusioned by recent main line steam events I just didn't expect such as yesterday to happen. And I am still working very hard indeed on my Short-eared Owl book. At home for a while now with a vast amount of work to do before any more trips to observe those lovely creatures.

For all those interested in steam locomotive performance I really hope that todays return from Exeter has a least some sections where Tangy on her own shows what she can do, but with a 15/16 equiv train that is going to be so very hard. And as someone said so rightly on the Royal Duchy thread, Tangy can be a right Jekyll and Hyde of a loco. One of the joys of the Flat Tops!

 

Running a steady 6 late today. I wonder how this one will do over Hemerdon.

Oops, no sooner posted than it's 1 early! LOL.

 

RTT reports 11 early into Plymouth.

Any reports from the train much appreciated as always.

 

Braunton working hard but castle making all the noise! Does anybody know if Braunton will bank us up to central or will it just be 47?

 

Just got off footplate at Plymouth...all being well it will be 34046.

 

Bill Warriner was obviously working Tangmere much harder than Ray Churchill

Don

 

Does that mean there will be no DL on the back? There certainly doesn't need to be

Don

 

there's a light loco move into Victoria tonight to collect the ACE

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U63329/2014/09/08/advanced

hopefully those on board will get an unassisted run home

 

Fingers crossed for all onboard.

But, if that happens we will all have to fervently hope that Tangy is Dr Jekyll today and not Mr Hyde. Oh, the joys of Bulleid's wonderful pacifics into the 21st Century! LOL.

 

Here’s my video from the 8th, taken at Angarrack and Hemerdon. I thought that the bridge at Hemerdon may be a bit quiet as this was a working day but it was packed there.

 

Currently nothing on the back. 34046 was left at Central leaving 34067 to go it alone.... we got down to 4mph on the climb up from St Davids.

Andrew