5043 - The Welsh Marches - 13/08/16

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sea...16/08/13/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

 

Tickets are on their way. Confirmed for 5043. The train is completely full.

 

What's the load Ben ?

 

100% full.

 

8 + Reg??

 

Ah, I'll be at Highley when this goes through Kiddy. Oh well, just have to hope the times for the run on the 27th are similar.

 

So glad that 5043 is BACK.

 

A bit muted up Llanvihangel compared to its recent runs. I wonder if the crew are taking it easy due to fire risk. Looked in the low 20s over the summit. Load 10 for today.

 

Moving Well through AGV.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10205357142523067

 

You were a little bit deceived. We came off the 1 in 82 at 40 and I was told by a colleague on the right side that the Llanvihangel Intermediate Signal was yellow. 35 at MP20 turned into just over 28 at the summit.

 

Thanks for clarification I was only guessing. Not sure why there was a yellow, there was nothing in front.

 

My footage of her at Ashchurch Crossing and a public foot crossing near the top of Llanvihangel Bank. Enjoy.

 

Thundering along this morning near Bredon.

 

It's 18:17 and 5043 successfully avoids the few sunny patches with an 8 minute early passage through Shrewsbury !

 

Footage of 5043 flying past the fine array of Semaphores at Craven Arms yesterday evening.

 

I don't think "flying past" is what we see. Trundling, I would say. That said, as a former WR signalman, to see steam passing that array of semaphore signals brings it all back.

 

Telephoto foreshortening does that. We were actually doing 56 though CA.

 

5043 makes light work of the Welsh Marches on it's proper outing since December 2015 ! Locations for the video were, Droitwich, Llantilio Pertholey, Llanfihangel Summit, Ludlow Racecourse, Onibury and Washwood Heath. Enjoy

 

OK. This was a really good train but I didn't intend to do a full report, but as no-one else has provided any info and it's an unusual train in that there aren't that many 'flat bits', it turned into a bit of a short story!! Try to stay awake at the back as it really is always one of the highlights of the year and rightly so.

The crew at Warwick Road was Driver Ray Poole, who would take the regulator for the whole journey, with Alistair Meanley firing on the outward and Dean Morris on the return, both excellent firemen on GWR engines.

For those who haven't ever done this train, which must be most contributors to this site, the first hour or so drifted by as we climbed through the Jewellery Quarter(29), descended Old Hill Bank, and ran down to Stourbridge Jn(28). It got entertaining then and even 8 coaches back we heard plenty of noise, always the case with a Castle up front. Kidderminster was passed at 62.5 - I was told in post #22 that I in fact missed a busy scene at the SVR station as I recorded the time and speed. Hartlebury was also passed at 62.5. We stopped in Droitwich loop 28 miles and an hour and a quarter out.

After the restart there's the prospect of over 120 miles and more than 2 1/2 half hours of non-stop running to test Alistair's firing skills and stamina. We passed through Worcester Shrub Hill at 24; Norton Jn at 30. At Abbotswood Jn the real journey starts and we joined the mainline at 32. Ray made use of the 1 in 301/845/385 downgrades to reach 75 in 4 miles. Speed was held around 74/5 for 12 miles through Eckington and Ashchurch to the approach of Cheltenham, with no speed lost over the gentle four miles of 1 in 297/285/305 to Morris Hill. We drifted through Cheltenham Spa at 24 and reached 73 on the gentle downhill sections to Gloucester Barnwood Jn approach.

Gloucester signalling was good and we drifted through the station at 26 before getting very noisy on the short climb away from the station. Our maximum speed of 75 was quickly reached and was still 72 at the foot of the 1.5miles of 1 in 264 into Newnham Tunnel, entered at 64. Speed fell to 61 on the 1 in 311. It's pretty much a 60 mph run to Lydney, passed at 61. Speed rose to 69, held over the short mile of 1 in 317 to Woolaston after which we bowled along in the low seventies and the foot of the 2 miles+ 1 in 186 into Chepstow Tunnel was met at 75. Speed fell to 36 into the tunnel as much due to the 30 mph through Chepstow Station as anything else.

After clearing the station the Earl was opened up and speed rose noisily to 70 around the scenic Severn Estuary; Portskewett was past at 70 before we braked on the approach to Caldicot(22) and drifted through Severn Tunnel Junction at 42. We were on the relief to Newport and trundled along at around 40. We slowed to 15 as we crossed over both relief and main lines to take Maindee Junction East to access the North and West. Here we ran into what seemed like poor Train Regulation. We were pathed behind the Manchester Service that had left Newport 9mins late and lost more time to Cwmbran. We were 5 down ourselves and were almost 14 minutes behind it so the adverse signal was a bit of a mystery.

We drifted over the river bridge and up the 1 in 122 to Caerleon(28) and then came to a stop after a false restart on the level stretch in sight of the 5.5 mile climb through Cwmbran to Pontypool Road. When we got the green, Ray really opened 5043 up and the sound was superb as we met the foot of the 1.25mile 1 in 120 at Ponthir at 24 and topped it at 37. After the short level section, we hit the foot of the 2 miles of 1 in 106 at 39. Speed was held at 39/40 for half a mile or so until we braked for the annoying speed restriction(15) through Cwmbran Station. We got away noisily on the I in 106 and met the start of the 2.5 miles of 1 in 95 at 25. Speed rose on the climb to 33 just over a mile in where Ray shut off due both to a slip and the speed restriction of 15 through Pontypol Road Station.

Once the station was cleared speed rose rapidly to 65 at Little Mill Box, then fell to 62 over the mile of 1 in 141 before it picked up rapidly down the 1 in 119 to Nantyderry, passed at 68, and to a generous 75 half way down the 1 in 80 towards Penpergwm, passed at 70. There's a steady 2 mile climb (end speeds in brackets) of 1 in 154 (68)/181(66)/153(64) before a short level section past Abergavenny Yard. We roared through Abergavenny Station and passed MP22 3/4 at 61, just before the start of the half mile of 1 in 85 that took us onto the almost 2 miles of 1 in 82 at 56. Our speed fell to 40 at the start of the final 1.75 miles of 1 in 95 to the summit and continued to fall slowly to 35 half way in and it didn't sound like the engine was being worked that hard. Llanvihangel Summit was passed at just over 28. In the Wetherspoons in Hereford one of our friends from West Wales told us the Llanvihangel Intermediate Colour Light Signal was at amber. Why that was we couldn't imagine as by then we were over 25 minutes behind the late running Manchester.

We sped through Pandy at 69 and hit a max of 75 at MP13, 6 miles after the summit. We braked for the curve and passed Pontrilas Box at 65. Speed stayed around 70 most of the way, St Devereux passed at 71; Tram Inn at 71. The climb to Red Hill was good and noisy, 71 at the bottom and 65 into the tunnel at the top of the mile+ of 1 in 301. We drifted into Hereford 8 minutes late. All in all a very good run, only spoiled by some odd signalling decisions.

The second leg of 80 miles from Hereford to Wolverhampton is as arduous for the crew and locomotive. Dean will have to fire for almost two hours over the 80 miles of undulating track to Wolverhampton. The departure from Hereford was swift, noisy and very smoky. Shelwick Jn was passed at 49 and speed rose to 70 up the 4 miles of 1 in 1110. We started the 2 miles of 1 in 100 climb to Dinmore tunnel at 64 and entered the tunnel at a decent 58, just below the 'Dinmore Challenge' target of 60, then exited at 55. It's undulating from Dinmore to Wooferton and beyond. Speed rose to a max of 65, then fell to 56 up the short 1 in 100/283/154. We lost no speed on the first part of the 3/4 miles of 1 in 112(56), and only fell to 53 at the top of the 3/4 mile 1 in 134. Ludlow was passed at 60.

The 12 1/2 mile long climb to Stretton Summit was commenced at 61. There are a number of gradient changes so I thought I'd put 'top of section' speeds in brackets: 3/4mile 1 in 160(57); 3/4mile of 1 in 425 including Bromfield LC(57); 1mile 1 in 870(58); 3/4mile 1 in 420(60); 1mile 1 in 286 including Onibury LC(59); 1.5mile 1 in 112(49); 3/4mile 'recovery' 245d/207d(53); 1/2mile 1 in 406 to Craven Arms(56); 3/4mile 1 in 403/150(50); 1/2mile 1 in 130(44); 3/4 mile 1 in 105(44.5); 1/2 mile level(46); 1 mile 1 in 164/180 (50); 1/2mile 125d(50); 3/4mile 1 in 110/278(47); Marshbrook LC 46; 1.75miles 1 in 112 topped at 44. This is always taken as the summit speed despite there being a further 1/2mile of 1 in 150, topped at 53.

Signalling was good around Shrewsbury and we drifted around onto the Wolverhampton line passing Abbey Foregate Jn at 20. It got very noisy at the front again and over the short climb to Belvedere Viaduct speed rose to 51. Across the top to Wolverhampton there are a series of gentle climbs for some 10 miles from MP167, near the River Tern Viaduct. Despite not being that steep, 8 back we could hear the superb sound of a Castle in full cry at the front of our train. Speed was 62 on the foot of the first 2 miles of 1 in 185(55); half a mile of level track/mile of 1 in 200(53); Allscott 49, half way up 2 miles + of 1 in 120(41). Speed picked up to 47 over half a mile of level track and was held over the next half mile of 1 in 400 and the 1.5 miles of 1 in 165 through Wellington that took us onto the 1.5 miles of 1 in 132(45); short 1 in 150(46); then onto the 3 miles of 1 in 200 through Telford Central (47), then the short 1 in 280 section was topped at 53.

There's a long 1 in 150 down through Shifnal(58) that took us to the foot of the climb through Cosford. Half a mile of 1 in 407(56) led us onto almost 4 miles of 1 in 137. The Earl thundered up the bank and passed Cosford, a mile in, at 53; Albrighton 2.5 miles further in at 52 before our speed dipped to 50 at the summit. The sound 8 back was really superb. As a finale 5043 barked up the 3/4 mile of 1 in 100(37) and into Wolverhampton, our first set down point.

There was a noisy departure and we crossed Darleston Jn at 50, our max on the journey into Walsall, our final set down point. I have no idea what the grade is out of Walsall but 5043 made a noisy departure. Speed rose to 31 then dropped steadily to 24 at a 'summit' just over half a mile from Aldridge, passed at 31. All that remained of significance then was the mile of 1 in 85 between St Andrew's Jn to Bordesely Jn where speed only fell from 19 to 18.

A Castle on the North and West is always welcome and this was a really good day out with 5043. Thanks to VT for running the train and to Bob and the team at Tyseley Works for turning out such an immaculate engine in perfect mechanical condition, shown by the excellent performance all day with the redoubtable Ray Poole on the regulator. The brown smoke looked odd from the chimney of a Castle but it obviously burned really well and produced all the steam needed thanks to Alistair and Dean's excellent firing, not to mention stamina.

It is a real shame that 5043 isn't available for Royal Duchy turns as we'd really love to see her in full cry on the South Devon and Cornish Banks. There's nothing like the sound of a Castle over the banks and the GWR has been seriously and sadly under represented in the West Country the last few years.

 

Brilliant!! Thank you for taking the time to give such a thorough account of the day's running. Having myself done this train twice with 5043 (2013-simply outstanding performance/ 2014-not quite but nearly so), I can relate to pretty much everything that you describe here. Volunteering commitments meant I couldn't do this one, but I hope to catch up with E0ME on its 22nd October outing to Chester instead.

And just to prove that reading something this absorbing doesn't require any effort to stay awake at the back, I just wondered whether there might have been a small typo in the account of the return run on the Marches section?? (Not trying to be a smart a**e here, I promise!!)