Paignton and Dartmouth Railway

Are they running the 25 to see if there are any problems before going to the South Devon this weekend ?

 

It unfortunately now seems that D7535 Hercules will not be attending the SDR this weekend as revealed on another post in the forum

 

I have it on very good information that 4277 has been running light between Goodrington and Churston, presumably running in. She was also still in her undercoat for anyone whos interested

 

Yes, last Weds. A few hot-spots in the motion and ash pan issues, but nothing serious. see this thread for the discussion: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=14074&start=45

 

I hear from family down in Paignton who travelled on the 10.30am that 5239 was struggling a bit but did make it up Goodrington Bank.
It's was pooring with rain down there which wouldn't help.
I'm told it had 9 coaches as there were parties of people travelling on the train.
After seeing 5239 pull Tangmere & all it's train last year I would have thought it would of made light work of 9, but on saying that it was the first train of the day & the track must have been greasy !
Lets hope that when I'm down there 23rd to 26th May (Spring bank holiday weekend) that they might put more than 9 coaches on.

 

A wet rail changes everything - even for a sure-footed loco like 5239 (although I've never seen her struggle). Lydham Manor slips well in the wet, but as soon as the rails dry, she lifts her load up the bank with no problem.

 

I remember some years ago they had use of 6024 King Edward 1 on the summer timetable & it was on the first train of the day, there was driving rain coming down & it slipped a lot of the way up Goodrington Bank but it made it. It sounded & looked very good. But like the Manor didn't have a problem in the dry. I have it on video taken from the beach side near the loo's just before the under bridge that goes up to Goodrington Village. I got a bit wet that morning trying to video & hold a brolly.

 

Yes, 6024 performs well on the P&D, even though the speed is much reduced. being a 4-6-0 with 22.5 tons on each axle means she is sure-footed. She does fine on the summer Torbay Expresses (slipped to a stand in horrible weather once that I recall - but got going on her own again) Some of the Pacifics succumb and both 5239 and 7827 have had to come to the rescue in the past. This is one of my famous shots of 7827 rescuing 60009. Interestingly, it was a dry day, the problem on this day (fram what I heard) being the slow speed and an understandably un-familiar crew. Still the rescue was entertaining, and added to the proceedings - most likely a first Manor-A4 paring too?

 

I was there the day that happen but on Goodrington Bank it slip passed us but I didn't realise it had come to a stand further up at Broadsands till I got a text from my sister saying what had happen !
I did get a video of Tangmere slipping up Goodrington Bank last year & you could tell that wasn't going to make it. Managed to get 5239 on rescue duties from the top of the steps that go down to the caravan site. I do like your pix of the A4 & the Manor with Brixham in the background.

 

Thanks. have a look at my fotopic site for similar shots.

 

Hi all, thanks for the comments.

Firstly, yes 5239 did find a little difficulty on todays 10.30 service. She usually makes light work, however, with the damp and dank wether she was finding the conditions a bit rough. With a day of no trains in the meantime the track was a little rusty making it worse. The sanders were working but as with most GWR engines they're pants!!

Now then thanks all for the Heritage Weekend Comments. Muchly appreciated. I will be printing them off for the management etc to see and absorb.

Like many here have said, we deliberately started this off small. Passenger numbers were good despite the atrocious saturday weather. Advertising was done to a budget too, the website is being updated shortly as it is currently rubbish!! There were adverts in the herald express, the torbay area paper and also it was on local ITV.

We used the 25 as the weekend was the heritage weekend and we did what we thought was best (and partly financially safest) to represent the heritage of the railway. Maybe next year we will expand...there is scope and motive power to have ALL steam but it would make things more tricky, one thing that made us use the 03 for the Brake van rides was staff injuries, without free labour we have to scrape it all together.

I can not be sure but i don't think we could do the BV rides on the main here, certainly with 2 train running we would be very clip for timings, and propelling passengers along the main is frowned upon.

Next year we hope to fine tune things on the OFF railway side of things. There has been talk of a little "Eye Spy/Treasure Hunt" around the sites, hopefully something at Kingswear, more cars at Pgn and Chn, more fair ground stuff at Pgn.

Thanks very much guys.

 

See there revamped web site is up & running, but not all info loaded yet .
You can now sign up for a newsletter which I have done lunchtime today.
http://www.paignton-steamrailway.co.uk/

 

Ah, much better! signed up for the newsletter too.....

 

Much better - well done.

As a website manager by trade, I'm generally appalled at how bad most preserved lines' websites actually are - there's usually lots of information but it's hard at best to find it, and there's no certainty it's reliable. Most people's needs are very modest. "Our" needs tend to be "which locos are running" - and that shouldn't be hard to keep up to date.

 

Hi all, Just heard from relations that today (25th May) the 1030 was pulled by 5239 - Goliath and only had 7 coaches, sorry GWR !

 

Don't worry she's bound to be up to ten at some point over the weekend.

Hopefully then you'll get some good shots

 

Can anyone confirm the exact length of the Churston Turntable. I have been advised that it is slightly under 65ft. Is this correct ? I gather it was originally installed under contract in the extended carriage sidings at Goodrington Sands in 1957. Any info on which company supplied it ?

David

 

The turntable is 65ft as 6201 Princess Elizabeth is 74ft with tender??, which is why they need the extension.

It did come from Goodrington many years ago and was first used at Churston on April 7th 1981 Out of interest the first coach to be turned was the then Directors Saloon (now at Buckfastleigh) on 7th April, shortly followed by the Devon Belle on the 9th April.
The first loco to be turned was 5239 Goliath on April 16th and then 4555 six days after.
The class 03 Diesel they had then was also turned on April 9th.

Also have quoted reference and pics of details if you are interested.

Hope this helps I'm not sure about any other details but with regards to who supplied it maybe you should contact the Dart Valley and see if hey know.

 

The 25 has just gone up to Churston from Paignton with a 'ghostly' looking coach in tow. Looks like a DMU trailer, but is painted all over in white (including windows) with some feint murals on the side (looks like viaducts and an old GWR broad gauge loco)
Whatever is that all about then! Something to do with the poster competition?

 

The 14:15 from Paignton had 11 on today....