CATHEDRALS EXPRESS LONDON - YEOVIL - WEYMOUTH 9 JULY

I'm sure all that's possible if necessary though I'd prefer an outward run via Winchester with 35028 coming off at Eastleigh / Ston for servicing, turning etc. She could still run to Yeovil that way and I'm guessing the diesel due to take over at Yeovil will be coming from Eastleigh anyway ? All speculation of course, and the booked route will be clear I suspect but its all good fun.

 

Latest tweet from NR is that YJ is inaccessible due to flooding. Passengers being bussed to Sherborne !

 

Perhaps I should wear my Magical Mystery Tour t-shirt instead on Monday! Or dare I suggest The Yellow Submarine one ?


Bloody weather goes from one extreme to the next.

 

Well tomorrow is looking like a much drier day so hopefully it will be business as usual by Monday. I think most of us rather relish a bit of mystery if the truth be known.

 

As long as the mystery doesn't involve too much of a word beginning with D and ending in iesel................

 

Hear hear to that ! All being well it'll be alright on the day. I'd be more concerned if travelling on tomorrow's Weymouth trip from Bristol which is booked via Yeovil PM and Maiden Newton.

 

That line is closed between Yeovil and Dorchester due to flooding in the Maiden Newton area. Wont be open until after a river bridge is inspected tomorrow...

 

Sounds like good sense to check it before hopefully re-opening the line sometime tomorrow.

Just have to keep fingers crossed. But in view of the devastation caused to some areas in the SW today, the loss of a steam trip, if it happens, is rather small by comparison. One report states 5 inches of rain near Ottery St Mary in 24 hours.

 

Indeed. Just shows how fragile we humans are when pitted against Mother Nature. Whatever happens on Monday, most of us will make the most of it I'm sure.

 

Termination short of designated spot or not. Hopefully not.

 

Well at best it's more drinking time somewhere TBA. I guess they could always offer multiple circuits of the VSOE Surrey Hills route if all else fails ?

 

If there is still chaos in the "far west" on Monday I personally will be quite happy with the current schedule to Salisbury and a return from there to pick up the evening schedule at Southampton.

Even with the complexity of todays railway operations I am assuming that may perhaps be the easiest option to work to. It gives the two key routes from the last days of SR steam, and even means a box doesn't have to be used for part of the day, saving a pathway out and back somewhere.

But is there anywhere to berth the rolling stock and service a loco at Salisbury or nearby these days? I think the time when an M7 used to shunt up and down through the station, (see below), have perhaps ended?

That Doctor Beeching bloke has a lot to answer for!

Maybe the waters will go down once the rains stops. And all but the landslip at Honiton will become but a mamory so far as railway operations are concerned.

 

There is space in Salisbury East RCL to stable a charter set. It's been used a few times recently. Locos are turned via Laverstock Triangle and there is space to service, water and coal a loco in the "Loco Siding" next to platform 5 at Salisbury. There is good road access through the station car park for the "blues and two tones" tanker and any lorry delivering coal.

Cheers, Neil

 

Yes, that "edited version" sounds fine if it turns out to be necessary. It also provides time in one of the best real ale havens in the SW in the shape of Salisbury where anyone feeling the need to drown sorrows will find an array of suitable venues.

If there is a problem of where to put the stock at Salisbury, an alternative could always be to go to Bath / Bristol instead of Yeovil / Weymouth. No problem with gauging / route knowledge, and although its not SR territory proper its still a very good steam route, and again, the booked return path from Southampton in the evening could still be picked up I suspect.

 

I'd rather stick with Salisbury, and not Bath/Bristol. I only ever got the M7 shot in black and white and would like the chance to do it in colour.

PS. Nothing like an evening of good old Nat Pres debate on something most of us can't control and/or know very little about, (me more than most, " I know nothing").

Especially as I've got stuck on my Owl research. I know Short-Eared Owls have asymmetrical ears, but is it their left or right ear that is the largest? And does that extend to one being higher than the other on their heads as it does with some other Owls in the nine genera that have these amazing ears? I'd know the anwser with symmetrically designed Bavarian Serving Wenches. And it would not be their ears I'd be talking about!

 

I wish I could help with the owl situation but if you did end up in Bath / Bristol you might get a clue from the serving wenches there, albeit they'd be Bristolian rather than Bavarian. Similar measurements though ! I suppose another option could be the Ludgershall branch with box haulage back to Salisbury ? Or is that really daydream territory ?

 

The more I think about it, the more I see that as a distinct possibilty if the dreadful problems out west continue.

I guess it depends on what else is booked to sit in the Up Goods Loop at Southampton around the time we are due there. Surely a pathway can be sorted at short notice from Salisbury to the Goods Loop at some time approaching our scheduled time to be there. That plus the shunting around Salisbury to turn the loco and berth the stock would be the only other changes I can think of. Surely even the modern railway can do that at short notice? Provided 35028 is cleared for all of that.

What happens to those expecting a long and sumptuous meal on the train at times we should have been travelling is another matter of course. Maybe GB will dress as Basil Fawlty and march up an down the dining cars, "Come on, eat it up, we haven't got all day you know."

 

National Rail are currently reporting "a large amount of water at Yeovil Junction" and advise passengers to use Sherborne instead. The weather forecast for tomorrow through to Monday for the area is good, i.e. much drier so every possibility it'll run as planned provided the situation on the Yeovil PM to Weymouth line is resolved.

 

I'm sure we could fit the move in round the loop and stabling in the up siding is most definitely possible. If needed, I'm on duty in Salisbury on Monday and always willing to assist.

Certainly has been busy on the WoE line today. Some interesting pictures are starting to permiate around showing extensive flooding and ballast washed away west of Yeovil. Some reports from drivers today stated that Sutton Bingham Reservoir resembled a large fountain with the inlet pipes forcing water in at such a rate. All it needed was a cherub in the middle! Rest assured, all efforts are being made to ensure that the line is open not only for this service but all other services come Monday morning. If only it would stop raining!

P.S. Anyone wishing to say hi, I'll be the one resembling the tango man!

 

And on that note I'll be off to bed. To dream perchance of 35028 racing through Andover, of the bilateral asymmetry of Short-Eared Owls' ears and the symmetry of certain features of Bavarian Serving Wenches.