CATHEDRALS EXPRESS LONDON - YEOVIL - WEYMOUTH 9 JULY

34046 would be very nice for next July. Perhaps two steam loco's could be used? 34046 Waterloo - Yeovil with 35028 then working top and tail with 34046 to Yeovil PM and then on to Weymouth with 34046 banking 35028 out of Weymouth?

 

That sounds a great idea, and I like the journey to YJ on the down run as it gives mileage on both the classic routes out of Waterloo. The other possibility could be to split the train at YJ with one portion going to Exeter and another to Weymouth. The two portions could then be joined up again at Salisbury with one of the two taking the whole train back to Waterloo. The YJ to Weymouth section might have to be diesel hauled of course to save time but it would still provide a twist on the usual itinerary and probably capture the renewed interest of enthusiasts due to choice of destinations. I guess the fly in the appointment would be finding a path west of Yeovil J but food for thought none the less ?

 

Well doesn't next year offer us 3 Bulleids. 34067, 34046 and 35028 so maybe a tour that could make use of all 3.

Or maybe someday I'd quite like to see 35028 on a VSOE down to say Bournemouth (complete with Bournemouth Belle headboard although sadly not being able to do a full recreation) and maybe 34046 taking a SD tour from Weymouth to London passing 35028 on the way with 34067 taking over at Waterloo and passing 35028 again on the way back to Weymouth.

 

As has been mentioned previously 34067 is no longer operated by DBS so that loco is unlikely to feature in any Steam Dreams plans, although things do change!

 

Maybe leave the 3 Bulleid idea for the 50th anniversary in 2017 then. Shouldn't there be some more Bulleids around by then ? I guess 35028 may have gone for a lie down by then though ?

 

Whilst taking breaks from Owls I've worked out some "net" times for last Mondays run.

Taken some liberties as I've looked at the runs as if they were fast trips Waterloo - Salisbury, and Southampton- Waterloo.

Waterloo-Salisbury works out at 83mins 15 seconds. 83.7 miles. After just being under the ACE schedule of 50 minutes to pass Worting Junction. The very easy running after Hurstborne, when I was told there were some steaming issues, was what made it a long time down from Worting to Salisbury. Very detailed work I have just done shows it is still just possible to run Waterloo to Salisbury in 80 minutes with a 75 mph limit. That includes the new steam restrictions at Clapham and Earlsfied and at the acqueduct around MP 31.5. That would be with 35028 and ten cars: almost the equivalent of 11 in the 1960s. Plus a good exit from platform 16 at Waterloo. Not much to spare on that timing though. Would need a clear road all the way down.

The running in the evening was at around the 77 minute mark up from Southampton, 79.25 miles. Old days schedule 84 minutes. Had to assume ten minutes to passing Eastleigh, which was about normal for an up two hour express in the old days. Good stuff indeed with a 75 mph limit. I also allowed the extra in from Vauxhall these days for a platform 16 arrival. No point working on a platform 19 arrival as that makes no comparison with running in the 1960s. In reality I suspect Don Clarke would have been somewhat faster than ten minutes to Eastleigh if he had been driving all the way and with no stop at Eastleigh etc. And with a 1960s finish into Waterloo, the running was around the 76 minute mark.

Sadly with too many checks it is just not possible to work out a Salisbury - Yeovil Junction net time with Wayne at the controls. Apart from saying with a clear road thoughout and with the great running we did get in between checks I would be surprised if it wasn't inside even time start to stop.

I will try to work out an equivalent Bournemouth to Southampton net time. Probably be amongst my fastest.

Cheers,

Bryan

 

Just a thought but after today's announcement of OHLE from Basingstoke to Southampton, will we still have steam as we know it down there in 2017 ?

 

Interesting thought, but we still have steam where OHLE already exists on the network so hopefully the above will be no different. There may be less paths available I guess, and there's a lot of freight on that route. There might be less steam I guess, but when it does run it should be much the same as now I would hope.

 

I'd hope for that too.

Maybe the incentive to give steam a faster schedule up from Bournemouth to fit in better!

Cheers,

Bryan

 

I was lucky to see this one go through Whitchurch - could anyone tell me what speed she was at at that point?

 

Much obliged!

 

It's no fun anymore now that we all get speeds off a GPS. We all end up with the same speed. Mostly! LOL

 

I'm moving away from showing ½mphs for the higher speeds as well Al. It means I've got to go back and change a lot of my typed up logs, but like you I feel it shows an accuracy that often isn't there, especially at the higher speeds.

I also stick to the 1960s published distances. I've used those consistently for 50 years and am not going back to change them because someone's GPS shows a different distance or because someone has found that there is an error from the 19th century. I have heard that some go to enormous lengths over close even time runs to determine all such possible milepost errors etc. To me that is a waste of effort. I want my 2012 even times to be on the same basis as those I timed from 1962.

The most I'll do is what I did on the 9th. We stopped at Overton very slightly closer to MP 55.5 than we did to MP 5.5 at Earlsfield. So I may put the mileage down as 49.95. But I'll probably end up using 50.00! An even time either way.

Cheers,

Bryan

PS. Al, most others here really will put us timers down as total geeks now! With good reason. LOL!

 

It does all sound rather obsessive I have to say, lol. Very interesting reading all the same.

 

Only obsessive? (Shock).

Good heavens No. We are all at an advanced stage of OCD.

And for me that extends to BSWs as well. (Enormous smile).


Cheers,

Bryan

 

I think we're all a bit OCD in some shape or form to be honest. All good fun !

As for BSWs, you've lost me there I'm afraid. Does the below explain them by any chance ?

British Standard Whitworth (BSW) is one of a number of imperial unit based screw thread standards which use the same bolt heads and nut hexagonal sizes, the others being British Standard Fine thread (BSF) and British Standard Cycle. These three are collectively called Whitworth threads.

 

Well Bryan, Steam Railway no. 404 received today has quite a write up from Tony Streeter about you and your timer friends. Fame at last eh ?

 

Not seen it. They do publish some of my bits from time to time via Tony Streeter, a good guy who understands the timing fraternity very well. The best thing that was ever published, (last year?), was my footplate log of the 106 mph run with 35003 in June 1967. Due recognition of a superbly fast steam locomotive in her very last days. I still gaze up at the speedo every time I get next to 35028. Remembering that night when I stood behind Fred Burridge and watched the speedo needle on a Merchant Navy wind itself way past the 100 mph mark. With "Royal Mail" totally untroubled by it.

I do agree with Wayne when he said earlier here, "And for those who wish to think about it, we could easily got into the 90's without any effort. 150 psi in the steam chest at 25% cut-off would have got us there no trouble".

No trouble at all. Such free running locos.

But of course he stuck to todays limit.

Cheers,

Bryan