35003, the Fastest Merchant Navy

This is a spin off from the Bulleid thread, but I felt 35003 dserved it's own space!

I recently recovered a whole load of my missing timing note books from the 1960s. And am going through slowly typing up the nearly 1,500 steam logs I timed back in those days.

One loco stands above all others from those days. Merchant Navy 35003, "Royal Mail". It must have been a very free running loco as I had a number of very fast runs behind it. The one below, during a week when it reached 105 mph two days later. Plus an April 1967 run when it is still felt to be the only UK instance of a steam loco reaching 100 mph twice on one section of a normal, scheduled service train. Also my fastest ever net time on the up ACE: 72 minutes for the 83.7 miles from Salisbury to Waterloo. Plus an astonishing run on the 11.30 ex Waterloo. A light 7 car load, but 86 mph approaching the Christchurch stop after starting from New Milton was just one of the highlights!

But this is the one I will never forget.

The story goes thus:


This is an historic document. Fastest ever properly recorded speed behind a Bulleid Merchant Navy pacific. 106 mph on near level track. It's also one of the fastest short distance start to stop runs ever run by a steam loco anywhere if the effect of the temporary speed restriction is allowed for.

And yep, I was on the footplate, standing right behind the late Fred Burridge who decided, that inky black Monday night just before steam traction ended, to stretch that loco's legs a bit.

I was in a group of about 20 guys subsequently called " the cream of the steam loco timing fraternity". At 19 I was the youngest and was usually at the bottom of the list for the many, (totally unoffical), footplate rides our group used to organise with the loco crews, (although thanks to a spell of training in the S&T Dept at that time I did actually have a "bearer" foootplate pass in my pocket at the time, but had been told by the kindly guys in the S&T Department who had discovered my interest not to over use it!)

The speed limit on the region was 85 mph and Fred had never been timed at over that before. So that Monday, (first day he was driving that train that week), it was said by Les, our group's footplate rides organiser, "Fred's never gone over 85 mph so Bryan can go up on the footplate at Basingstoke."

The rest is history, as they say!

Note he never worked the loco flat out. Partly because of the very light load and partly because that particular loco was a very free running machine. And he eased back for short while on the regulator, when he got to 106 mph. On full regulator all the way I feel the loco had the capability to equal or even beat the post WWII steam speed record of 112 mph. Maybe Fred was concerned that two of the vehicles on the train were two axle baggage cars with a speed limit of 75 mph!

A night I shall never forget. The clearest memory is of the fireman coming over from his side of the cab at our max speed and having a long stare at the speedo needle which was way off the clock!

Lightweight load, yes. But look how the Bulleid boiler coped. Safety valves open at 106 mph!



I would add for Wayne and other crews of 35028 that Clan Line had it's turn on the day after this run! But one of the group who were about to buy the loco asked Fred to take it a bit easier so as not to risk causing any damage. So on a damp night we just got to 95 mph with 35028: my notes say we were slipping a bit at speed so perhaps even if Fred had decided to go for another "ton" the weather would have conspired against him.

 

Fantastic stuff Bryan. Thanks for sharing that story and the log, it makes great reading.
As an aside I knew the late John Evans in the late 70's early 80's, I think he may have been one of your group from those days.

Regards,

Paul

 

Paul. Yes John Evans was one of our group. Sad that he should have left us at what must have been a still young age. When steam ended John used to drive a few of us who were founder members of the group who got hold of 34023, down to Hampshire most weekends to start work on that loco. I think he had an A35 van.

John had a habit of banging his fist against the carriage window back in the 1960s. Not often, just as some sort of stretching exercise. He did it going though Farnborough on a down train once, and the window cracked! John, being John, went and reported it to the guard. He was a decent guy. The guard obviously didn't listen to what John said as his reply was, "Oh, Farnborough, happens more than you think there, Yobbos with air rifles more than likely". So John just shrugged his shoulders and told the rest of us, "Well at least I tried to tell him it was my fault!".

Interesting that the power of the Internet has got more and more of us from those steam days back together now. We have an email group going, we meet up at the annual Nine Elms re-union at the Bluebell every year and we had a great day out behind 35028 last Autumn. The day Wayne and Butch made that incredible re start from Westbury and up the bank with a load that was equivalent to more than 16 cars from the 1960s! And some of that group are getting together again for 35028's May efforts on the main line.