Great Britain VI

If it is Tangmere on her own, the driver will be Ray Churchill, he drives the West country parts of the GB, and he will be driving, if it is a double header he will be on the lead engine.

 

Interesting. Only 4 mins stopped at Plymouth. Not enough time to water 2 locos, nor to shunt 777 and her support coach from the train, though perhaps enough just to detach the pilot loco. 2 locos should be able to get from Exeter to Par on a single tender-full, especially when they are large Southern tenders. Lots of time for revisions yet, of course.

 

They have 2 hours at Riverside for servicing.. they could fill to the brim there then its a 2 hour run to Par..Could they do it on full tanks???

 

I doubt there would be too many problems with that. Exeter - Par is 86(?) miles - if 34067 can do the 80-odd miles back from Salisbury to Waterloo this coming Sunday, there shouldn't be too many problems for it and the second locomotive on the GBVI.

James at SVN

 

A tba has been placed next to Bittern on UKsteam.info for day 1. I hope she still makes it unless something else becomes available.

 

I feel sorry for RTC - this mega-tour seems to have been particularly plagued by non-availability of the advertised locos. I'm sure they will come up trumps, but it looks like a lot of frantic telephoning will be the order of the day if Bittern isn't available. I agree with you 34067 looks the most likely loco to take the train out of Victoria if this turns out to be the case. What else is available that can be crewed by West Coast, is gauged for the Salisbury-Exeter line and can run at the 75mph essential for not holding up other trains on the single track sections? I can't think of anything, although 35028 was crewed by West Coast once for a Steam Dreams Kent circular. Whatever loco works Waterloo-Exeter will be facing the wrong way at Exeter St.David's for running into Cornwall. Oh well, we shall see, and all the best to the poor RTC team as they sort yet another headache out.

 

Ian Riley has said his Fives are on standby for Preston - Edinburgh. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them stood in for 777. There aren't many more options.

 

777 is still expected to be there at the moment.

There is also some re-measuring taking place and a lot of other work behind the scenes been going on for some time to sort out the gauging mysteries, but that takes time as I am sure you appreciate.

 

I suppose 2 hours is just about enought to get Tangers up to Norton Fitzwarren, turn and service, and get back to Exeter - provided she can get a path. IIRC, loco + support coach is normally limited to 45mph because of lack of braking power.

777 is probably in-gauge Exeter-Plymouth, but Plymouth-Par-Newquay must be in doubt (see the earlier comments by GWR4090 and others). In any case, it has all got to be checked. Come to that, I expect Bittern is being checked against the LSWR route, too. When she went to Yeovil last summer, it was via Castle Cary. I can't recall her on the LSWR since 2008 (the SD loco-exchange anniversary trip), and there have been quite a few changes since then.

 

Maybe I spoke too soon..... I have heard that NR won't even attempt to gauge 777 for the routes....

 

Great shame but perhaps not a surprise. Time to send for International Rescue (aka Ian Riley)?!

If the detour via Bath and Bristol can't be pathed, an alternative is Salisbury-Westbury, turn and service, thence via Somerton. I'd expect Tangmere to manage Westbury - Exeter on a single fill, but she probably needs to be looped at Tiverton for pathing, in which case the tender could be topped up.

OR: If Bittern's not available, Tangmere Waterloo-Honiton-Exeter and 45407+44871 Exeter-Par on Saturday; 45407+44871 Newquay-Exeter and 34067 Exeter-Bristol-Cardiff on Sunday? The Black Fives will be in the Cardiff area following this Saturday's Central Wales trip.

 

Why ?

 

Where is 45305? Surely this can assist. It's been an ezxcellent performer on the mainline and been right the way to Penzance on an earler GB.

 

On its way to Ilford for tyre turning according to the GCR newsletter and then off to the Worth Valley

http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Weekly-Newsletter-2013-04-10-14.pdf so that discounts that one!!!

Be nice if Braunton did a midnight flit down South, but something tells me that aint going to happen any time soon..............

 

From RTC's point-of-view, they probably want to use the LSWR main line if at all possible, so I see 3 alternatives:
1) If Bittern is fit and gauged for the LSWR, then Bittern Waterloo-Exeter, Tangers + Black 5 Exeter-Par;
2) If Bittern is fit, but out-of-gauge for the LSWR, then Tangmere Waterloo-Exeter, Bittern + Black 5 Exeter-Par;
3) Otherwise Tangmere Waterloo-Exeter and 2 x Black 5 Exeter-Par.

Given that Tangmere will be in London and the Black Fives in Cardiff after this weekend, option 3 is looking quite likely to me. Maybe 34067 will take over at Exeter on the return, to have a 75 mph loco for the "faster" section of track?

Of course, this depends on IR's locos being available, with support crews, and that's a big assumption. It's a lot of extra mileage and extra days, and doesn't leave much time to prep the locos on Sunday night before attacking the Central Wales line on Monday. The locos and the support team are already commited to 5 days running out of 6 Monday - Saturday. Perhaps adding Cardiff-Newquay-Cardiff immediately before is a bit too much to ask?

 

It seems unlikely, I agree, but doesn't rule her out completely. The newsletter doesn't make it clear when 5305 will be at Ilford, nor whether her tender is going with her. Does she have a mainline ticket ATM? (issued 6-monthly IIRC) If she does, and the tyre turning is done this week, then I suppose she could be a candidate for GB6, support crew and everything else permitting.