Royal Duchy with RTC - 3rd April

On time arriving at Bristol looked very nice with a full rake of maroons class 47 on rear.

 

11 maroon coaches for today's train. I've been told that the class 47 is on the back of the train as support for the Western. The 47 will drag the 52 from Exeter to Penzance because of the fuel limitations of the Western.
Sounds a bit odd to me. Why not refuel in the west country? <BJ>

 

44871+70013 through Exminster at 11:37. Thanks to AMB. <BJ>

 

Through Totnes just after 12:00 going like a
bat out of hell as they say whistles & crew waving
as it went passed,

 

FGW or DBS might not wish to play ball letting it onto Laira or St Blazey ?.

 

Or is it the cost? Who knows.

44871 + 70013 near journeys end, not Lands End, approx 13 early. Light engine diesels already at Penzance.<BJ>

 

some photos and video of today tour at http://keyhamtrain.fotopic.net and video at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=keyhamtrain#g/u

 

LOL I was starting to think no one was out with the cameras today

 

70013 and 44871 will be on the South Devon Railway on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday; see www.southdevonrailway.co.uk

 

Any news on the return with 1015

 

Nice. I saw it with my 2 year old just before Stoneycombe quarry on Dainton. Thundered up there, awesome!

 

As far as I know, no info is published yet

 

Arrived in Bristol 5 mins early left on time

 

D1015 through a wet and soggy Keynsham at 20:44. Correction to earlier post, should have said 1 green coach + 10 maroons. <BJ>

 

Re: "THE ROYAL DUCHY" with RTC - 3rd April 2010.

My fotopic site has been updated with a collection of four photographs I took when "THE ROYAL DUCHY" was hauled down to Penzance by Class 5MT "Black 5" 4-6-0 44871 & Class 7MT "BRITANNIA" 4-6-2 70013 OLIVER CROMWELL.
Then returned later with Class 52 C-C D1015 WESTERN CHAMPION hauling, on Saturday 3rd. April 2010.

Link here; http://preservedrailwaylocomotivephotosbyrichardsmith.fotopic.net/c1833064.html

Please view and hopefully enjoy.

Best regards SteamHawk216.

 

Here's my video of the Royal Duchy today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYv5-qSKds0

Videos taken at Whiteball (the engine and support coach movement to Exeter), Dainton and Devonport.

There is an annoying clicking noise on the second clip, at Dainton, caused by locating the microphone too close to the electric wire in the field. A lesson learnt.

A short clip of D1015 will follow tomorrow.

 

Had a great day today,thanks to all involved.

My pics from the day are now up at:


http://mark-walker.fotopic.net/c1833094.html

Cheers,
Mark

 

Just got back after doing this tour and what a good 'un it was! As a DTG member we had block booked a coach in order to be near 1015 on the return, however things didn't go to plan.....we found ourselves at the front on the down, so we were right next to 1015 in the morning instead of the evening, oh well..Anyway, 1015 did her usual sparkling stuff and got us to Exeter in fine style, even with the 'duff' on the back - which incidentally was to provide heat for the train, however, there was an extra coach at the back the green thing, a BSK I think, but the ETS wasn't going through this coach so the rest of the train was a bit chilly until the steam heat arrived at Exeter.

After a bit of a farce at Exeter detaching the duff and 1015 and putting the dynamic duo on (Why does it take so long to uncouple/couple locos these days?) we were away, eventually. So we were now three coaches back and could hear Ollie as though he was in the coach with us! Dainton was dismissed without trouble and after a couple of slips from Ollie on Tigley - it had started to rain by now and it rained for the rest of the day :-( - we arrived at Plymouth for water. The Cornish banks provided much more barking from Ollie and a couple more slips in the steady rain to arrive at Penzance a touch early. After some pics it was a quick dash to "The Longboat" for a quick pint and then back aboard for 1015 to race us back to Padd.

The passage through a deserted Didcot at absolutley 'full bore' will remain with me for a long, long time, also Chosley and Tilehust...so, here endeth another suberb day out with 1015 and a couple of not-too-foul chuffers!! Boy, Ollie is LOUD.....but good, very, very good.

AK.

 

A damn good trip, overall. However, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that they had run out of the souvenir route guides by the time I got on at Bristol (allegedly due to a batch not turning up at Carnforth in time for the ECS move south), and I handed my address over to one of the stewards who said they'd send out the missing batch to those interested, so will have to see what happens. 44871 looked superb at Exeter (as did 70013), and the two-cylinder barking was first-rate over Dainton and Rattery, really echoed around the hills!

An interesting development was when we left some passengers behind at the Plymouth water stop, and in spite of warnings from the staff they did try to rush the train, only to be restrained by a member of the BTP. I must admit that I had no particular sympathy with them other than the fact that they missed a stirring run into the Duchy, as they were given ample advice on times in the letter accompanying the tickets, and common sense should have told them that trains can't just wait around like buses (I spotted them looking rather glum-faced at BTM on the return, where they got on).

The highlight for me was going over the Royal Albert Bridge for the first time; a quite stupendous structure in its scale, and all the viaducts giving spectacular views of the Cornish countryside (with the odd Cornish-beam engine mine pump-house ruin punctuating the skyline around Redruth). Penzance was very quaint (again, never been there before and now want to return), and we made a circuit of the harbour area, undertaking a whistle-stop tour of three pubs (couldn't find a pasty anywhere!). 44871 and 70013 were stored in one of the outdoor bay platforms, and this was an excellent location for photography. I must admit that as a staunch, even conservative steam enthusiast, I didn't really notice the difference between Maybach-powered D1015 and any other volatile liquid-guzzling contraption on the network: I'm sure it was an outstanding run for those in the know, but from a personal standpoint, I didn't really get the same sense of achievement as with a steam locomotive cresting a steep gradient. All in all, there was something for everyone in this trip.

 

A short video of D1015 on Hemerdon, taken from my back garden. 47760 was pushing from the rear.

http://www.youtube.com/hemerdonbank#p/u/0/TMS9L1EeWy8

Video of 70013 Oliver Cromwell and 44871 on Hemerdon whilst on route to the South Devon Railway after hauling the Royal Duchy to Penzance the previous day:

http://www.youtube.com/hemerdonbank#p/u/1/2iNa__tv700

Also a photo:

http://www.hemerdonbank.fotopic.net/p64054591.html