Cathedrals Express To Winchester 14/12/16

Just got in at 0030hrs after a tediously slow journey down from London to Ashford where ½ hour was lost from Peckham Rye to Ashford as we poodled most of the way at 30 - 40mph. We thus in turn missed our connection to Deal and the following one an hour later was itself 20 mins late. Pictures and further comment in the morning.

Atmospheric shot taken first thing at Ashford

 

A long long day! We lost time on the schedule most of the day and only kept up by missing looping/pathing. Going out the 5's chattered happily with the occasional quite hefty thump up the rear as I presume the diesel kicked in. On the 'steam' part of the return journey, once we got going, I could not hear the 5's at all. We were in the middle of the train and all I could hear, quite clearly, was the diesel when we accelerated, disappointing.

We got roasted all day. most uncomfortably, from the heaters by our legs but were told that people further back were cold so it could not be turned down. That problem disappeared with the exit of the 5's so I guess it was not ETH Mr K.!!.

The tediously slow journey down from London saw us lose nearly thirty minutes in just over an hours running, RTT shows nothing in front of us and we could not even keep up with the 60mph freight train over 15 mins in front. We had one little, all too brief, burst up to 71mph but the rest of the journey was 35 - 40 mph. There was not a single announcement regarding the delay in carriage F, arriving at Ashford 27 minutes late. Very frustrating as our window to our hourly connection disappeared.

We were topped and tailed by diesels going down to Ashford so that explained the intended Sevington movement in earlier posts. Incidentally it never got to Sevington as it left Ashford in a Westerly direction direct to London almost an hour late and blocking the incoming London service to that platform.

Food was absolutely excellent dining after we had to wait just over an hour from boarding for our first coffee! should have been served immediately after arrival IMHO, second cup arrived after exactly THREE hours! despite asking for more coffee just after two!

Not sure I would want to do another at this time of year to be cooked nearly as much as the Turkey and serenaded to the sound of Sulzers!

 

Sadly, it is not just trips that might be diesel assisted that are running less than full. The UKRT/A1 trip to Bath and Bristol, which was guaranteed pure steam, had more than a few empty seats. If the issue is price, then the idea of a pricing regime that would allow for lighter loadings would appear not to be the answer.

Ian

 

A couple of shots of this run at Worting Junction and Micheldever, as well as a shot of the following day's tour at Tisbury.