CathEx to Cornwall, 17th & 20th Sept

The Man · Sep 21, 2016

1020 Shireman said: ↑

Cathedrals Express to Cornwall, St Austell to Exeter St David's, 20th September 2016
After getting up at just after 0300 hrs and driving to Bristol, oh joy, a newly refurbished GWR Green liveried 150 unit arrived at Platform 5 for the 3 hours 50 minutes journey from Bristol Temple Meads to St Austell. Ah, the roar of the engines, the vibration through the seats and tables... remarkably Mrs S managed to get a bit of sleep! Much to our surprise, it got us there dead on time at 0915 so we had plenty of time to speak to someone from Steam Dreams and get a loan to pay for a couple of 'hop on' tickets to Exeter St David's. Easier for us to get home from there and the Class 47 was due to rejoin the train in any case. Lizzie drew in on time but as chance would have it the sole standard class Carriage was on the back. Still there was a milepost side table available. Mike Hedderly was on board and will no doubt include a full report with timings in a future Steam Railway.

Doublebois, x2
We were looking forward to seeing the difference it would make charging through rather than starting from Par. Lizzie duly blasted through the Station at 52, and unlike the Duchys, made short work of the 2 miles climb over 1 in 84/109/62 grades to charge into Treverrin Tunnel at 43. (Speeds in the mid 20s or less are more common on the Duchy.

We passed Lostwithiel at 43; reached 49 at the foot of the 1 1/2 miles of 1 in 389; started the short 1 in 71 section at 54 falling to 50; made good use of the 1/2 mile of 1 in 142 down/level(55) onto 1/2 mile of 1 in 65; mid point MP274 on Bodmin Parkway platform(51); slowest(50). The crew took advantage of the 1/4 mile of 1 in 81 to regain the lost speed(55). Then: end of 1/4 mile of 1 in 94(54); end of 1 mile of 1 in 69/68 over Pendalake and Clinnick Viaducts(45); end of 1/4 mile at 1 in 58 over Derrycombe Viaduct(42); end of 3/4 miles of 1 in 70 over Draw Wood and West Largin Viaducts(40). This is often referred to as the 'first summit' going east.

After a short respite of 1 in 265 down(42): End of 1 in 159 over East Largin Viaduct(41); end of 1 1/2 miles of 1 in 90 (Westwood Viaduct the midpoint)(39); Doublebois summit itself(37.8). This was a little slower than most Duchys.

Other bits
There's a short 1/2 mile of 1 in 79 after Liskeard, met at 47 and topped at 42. Station speeds on the downgrades were: Menheniot(63); St German's(54) already slowing for Saltash and the crossing of the Tamar. Once over the river there's a wicked bank of almost a mile of 1 in 68 between Keyham(29) and Dockyard (26) followed by 1/4 mile of 1 in 76 into Devenport(28) that ensured a bit of noise from the front before we drifted into North Road on time.

Hemerdon
A request had been made to control to hold the train for a further 5 minutes after the Paddington left to ensure no adverse signals affected the climb of Hemerdon. As usual a big pacific had trouble getting out of the station. With a number of slips, it took 4mins 10.5secs to cover the less than half mile into Mutley Tunnel(12.6). Once out of Mutley the serious charge to the base of Hemerdon began. It's downgrade or level over the 3 1/4 miles to the foot of the 1 in 41. We had no trouble hearing Lizzie from the 9th coach as we passed Lipson Jn(56); Laira Jn(59); Tavistock Yard(63) and Plympton(62). Our speed fell rapidly over the first half mile of 1 in 41 to 44 (at the 1 in 47 gradient post), then to 40 at the end of the 1/2 mile of 1 in 47 that led onto the 1 1/4 miles of 1 in 42. Lizzie dug in but speed fell rapidly over the first half mile to 23.6 at MP240 1/4; then to 19.6 at MP240 and to a minimum GPS speed of 16.7 at MP239 3/4. We passed the 1 in 51 gradient post at 17.4, then the summit just after the 1 in 89 gradient post at MP239 1/2 at 20.7.

Dainton Eastbound
We passed Totnes with 6412 and her train in the SDR's Riverside station at 59. Surprisingly our speed had dropped to 52 as we hit the reverse curves on the approaches to Dainton Tunnel. It's a very mixed picture of lesser and short sharp gradients, including short bits of 1 in 78, 86 and 76 on tight curves (min 46) for just over 2 miles from MP221. The grades eased and we came off the 1/4 mile or so of 1 in 105 near MP219 at almost 53. The next 1/4 mile of 1 in 55 saw that fall to 45, and it's from here that the bank really steepens and where the curves are tightest. The next half mile of mainly 1 in 38 to MP218 1/4 saw a rapid fall in speed to 33. As the noise from the front got louder, over the final 1/4 mile of 1 in 43/37, our speed only fell to just under 30 before picking up a little to 30.7 into the tunnel.

Onward to Exeter
Unsurprisingly, as we'd been allowed 61 minutes from Plymouth, we were early into Newton Abbot, 21 mins ahead of the dreaded Paignton-Exmouth stopper. A good bit of weekday train regulation let us have the road through to Exeter rather than make us wait for our booked path. Station speeds were: Newton Abbot 48; Teignmouth 57; Dawlish 56; Dawlish Warren 59; Starcross 67; Site of Exminster Box 59 and we rolled into Platform 6 at Exeter in 66mins 20secs from Plymouth.

We didn't really expect Lizzie to match the Duchess over the banks but it was a most enjoyable 92 and a bit miles behind the old girl.

We got a Cross Country from Exeter and were back in Bristol by 1525. We had a spot of dinner in the Knight's Templar at Bristol to save Mrs S having to cook when we got home. All in all Mrs S thought it was worth the early start too, so all is well in the Shireman household!
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Just about how I recall it. Came out of Brown Queen tunnel, let her come down to about 54 mph, then opened up to 30% and good bit of second valve. Spot on 50 through Bodmin Road, and just left her to her own devices. However somewhere about Largin the exhaust injector started to play up, so rather than let the water drop, pulled her up to 25%, and she just dug in on to Doublebois at a fair rate of knots. That's why the top part of the climb was slower than normal. We were so early by then, that we took a steady run in all the way to Plymouth. Virtually coasted all the way from the top of the bank east of Liskeard to Saltash.
Earlier in the run we had struggled from Hayle to Gwinnear Road, because it started to drizzle with rain, and rail conditions were bad. Once we got past Gwinnear Road, she went very well up through Camborne as the weather started to clear. A really enjoyable run, with the loco on good form. Good fireman, Good Coal. Happy Days

KristianGWR · Sep 21, 2016

My footage from both days. Locations include: Sonning Cutting, Whiteball, Dainton, along the Glynn Valley and Hemerdon.

AlexGWR1994 · Sep 21, 2016

The Cathedrals Express to Cornwall trip succesfully done by Lizzie. Day 1 was Whiteball and Dainton and Day 4 at Hemerdon and Stoke Canon. Enjoy.

Shoddy127 · Sep 21, 2016

The Man said: ↑

Just about how I recall it. Came out of Brown Queen tunnel, let her come down to about 54 mph, then opened up to 30% and good bit of second valve. Spot on 50 through Bodmin Road, and just left her to her own devices. However somewhere about Largin the exhaust injector started to play up, so rather than let the water drop, pulled her up to 25%, and she just dug in on to Doublebois at a fair rate of knots. That's why the top part of the climb was slower than normal. We were so early by then, that we took a steady run in all the way to Plymouth. Virtually coasted all the way from the top of the bank east of Liskeard to Saltash.
Earlier in the run we had struggled from Hayle to Gwinnear Road, because it started to drizzle with rain, and rail conditions were bad. Once we got past Gwinnear Road, she went very well up through Camborne as the weather started to clear. A really enjoyable run, with the loco on good form. Good fireman, Good Coal. Happy Days
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Who were the chaps on the shovel Andy?

The Man · Sep 21, 2016

Shoddy127 said: ↑

Who were the chaps on the shovel Andy?
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Simon Scott PNZ to EXE. Chris Yates EXE to VIC. Both excellent firemen.

Big Al · Sep 22, 2016

The Man said: ↑

Simon Scott PNZ to EXE. Chris Yates EXE to VIC. Both excellent firemen.
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It's really helpful for @The Man to give us all insights into the trip. Greatly appreciated and also eliminates unnecessary speculation and comment.

1020 Shireman · Sep 22, 2016

Quite agree. Thanks Andy. Great to see the old girl back on the banks and being handled so well.

34098 · Nov 6, 2016

(LMS) Princess Royal Class No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth Plymouth 17.09.16

(LMS) Princess Royal Class No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth Plymouth 17.09.16

West Coast Railways Class 47 47746 Chris Fudge 29.7.70-22.6.10 Plymouth 17/9/16

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