The Great Britain VIII

I think it's fair to say that, enthusiasts of mainline steam, stick with it to the bitter end, more than any other !

 

In Warship diesel and steam days in the early 60's, a non stop train from Taunton to Bristol was booked in 53 minutes average for the 43 miles. In 1961, the 1V93 0905 Liverpool to Plymouth was booked to run non-stop Bristol to Taunton in a heady 60 minutes and was booked for steam on a double home duty from Shrewsbury to Newton Abbot (the 8am Plymouth to Liverpool was the balancing working). 5059 Earl of St Aldwyn was a locomotive booked on this duty for severy days in the July of that year and never saw a Warship in on it during that summer. Bliss.

 

Out of interest, do you know what the line speed was at that time. Much different from today? Obviously today, the journey is more like 30 minutes with HSTs and 220/221s, marginally faster with the latter, but I'm just wondering to what extent the speed of the trains in the era you mention was dictated by the infrastructure rather than the rolling stock ?

Hope I haven't asked a daft question,

 

Great question to be honest. Line speeds, I would guess were nearer 80mph that the 100mph of today. Warship diesels were restricted latterly to a top speed of 80mph anyway because of their rough riding and a good Castle could match a Warship on a good day. The 1V93's 60 minute non-stop booking between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton was extraordinary and as it seldom arrived before time, I always envisaged its gentle trundle down through Yatton and Bridgwater!! Mind you, having already travelled the 109 miles down from Shrewsbury, the crew and their locomotive were probably quite grateful not to have to race down to the South West and just take it easy. Those were the days.

 

And as a random piece of information, on 27 July 1957, the 0915 Liverpool to Kingswear and Plymouth was behind 4056 as far as Newton Abbot (?? Princess Margaret). 85 late at Burlescombe, 99 late at Exeter, 126 late at Newton Abbot. Pretty typical of that day, source Summer Saturdays in the West. Little or none of the time loss down to the loco, sheer weight of traffic.

 

GB8 has actually been a huge publicity success....half a million people have watched it, and they thought it was a narrowboat!

http://tv.bt.com/tv/tv-news/what-is...-of-television-is-a-good-thing-11363979674889

 

A narrowboat gives more thrash and engine noise than a 66, I can see how more people would find it more exciting than a GM washing machine.

 

I have the book and what a great read Summer Saturdays in the West is. Just imagine. 100% steam on the busiest Saturday in the former GW's history. Unfortunately, by the time I became a booking lad at Taunton West Station in 1965, all steam had gone and although summer saturdays were very busy with bells going off all the time which all had to be recorded, it was a shadow of even 1960 when I started my trainspotting (at Exeter St David's of all places)! I had endure Warships, D1xxx, and D7xxx locomotives and just wished I had been old enough to have started my railway career 10 years before!!

 

With regard to those Newton Abbot to Salop double home jobs, there's a great little book that describes a footplate trip on 4037 with the Plymouth-Liverpool working (but only from Temple Meads north so a bit off-topic for this thread) in the early sixties - A Journey in Time by James Barry. Highly recommended - and a great window into the life of an engineman just as the hydraulics and D1500s were posed to take over these trains.

 

I shall find it and read it with great pleasure! I love listening to steam train drivers from the old age and here is a link to on BBC I-player which I listened to last night. Not surprisingly, there were some drivers who had taken to the new diesels very well and wouldn't wish to go back to steam, but there were some who missed the "old ladies" and the challenges of getting the best out of steam.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0120330/in-view-men-of-steam

As for 4037, she is still alive (on my railway at home). Here is 5069 Isambard Kingdom Brunel waiting to back down on to a Wolverhampton to Paddington express in 1961

 

I thought a "I survived GB8" teeshirt would go down well, in the same vogue as the extras on LotR2 wore one emblazoned with "I survived Helm's Deep".

 

Well, there is a link with the Britannia class...... I watched the canal programme and at around 1 hour twenty minutes in as the canal goes alongside the railway (Bath to Bristol section) you can hear the sound of a Britannia chime whistle and then the sound of the train racing past so they must have recorded the programme when a Railtour was operating along the ML.

 

So has anyone been told what compo to expect ?

 

An old repeat then.

 

I note that one of my earlier posts on here has been used in the latest Rail magazine ;-)

 

Just to add a conclusion to this thread

Received a letter of apology and offer of compensation in the post today from rtc

Must say glad to see a relatively swift conclusion to this matter

It won't however make up for the disappointment of my anticipated 9 day holiday ending early and not being as advertised

 

Yes I noticed earlier today! I remember thinking I've already read this? Havent I? Then I looked at the bottom of the page!

 

I did the same. It was the user names though rather than the statements themselves that made me realise they'd originated here. Presumably, some of the less complimentary letters regarding the magazine's editorial will also have been consumed,

 

Had a look at Rail magazine while I was in Sainsbury's today and noticed that they have used one of my comments about the Railtour along with a few others from the forum in the report about WCRC.