The Great Britain XI - 2018

http://www.railwaytouring.net/travel-tours/the-great-britain-tour-xi

2018's Great Britain is now online with some seriously interesting itineraries. Best of luck to all at RTC and WCR... ambitious!

Day 1: 60103 (/46233) London Kings Cross - Scarborough
Day 2: 45699+45690 Scarborough - Edinburgh via the S&C
Day 3: 60009 Edinburgh - Inverness (via Aberdeen)
Day 4: 61264 Inverness - Kyle - Inverness
Day 5: 61264+60009 Inverness - Grange-over-Sands (via Stirling, Lockerbie and the Cumbrian Coast)
Day 6: No train
Day 7: 45699+45690 Grange-over-Sands - Cardiff (via Crewe and the Heart of Wales?!)
Day 8: 34046 Cardiff - Yeovil, 31806+34046 Yeovil - Swanage
Day 9: 34046 Swanage - London Waterloo (via Netley and the Portsmouth Direct)

James

 

Correction to day 7... I can't read apparently.

It's 45699 and 45690 to Shrewsbury, then 48151 over the Heart of Wales.

James

 

31806 double headed from Yeovil??? (Day 7)

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Double headed to Weymouth, then top'n'tail to Swanage.

James

 

Time to keep that day free of commitments!

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"U class" on mainline is epic. Any reason why south west is missed out? No Penzance.

 

Be interesting to see if Day 5 stays like that. Bittern wouldn't fit round the Cumbrian Coast a few years back I seem to remember.

Double headed Jubs!

 

Well, Scarborough-Dumfries-Edinburgh-Aberdeen-Inverness would be my highlight... if only I could afford it.

 

Double headed jubilees, an A4 past the bottom of my garden, what's not to like....

But no black 5's?

 

It'll be just the one Black 5 for about 60% of the trip. Tradition demands it.

 

Very brave of Nigel Dobbing to go for yet another GB Marathon. How many times does the rumour mill, often backed up by alleged statements from someone quite senior at RTC say "This is the last one; NEVER again" then lo and behold, a few months later, another one is advertised!

I wish them well. After all, even if there are no changes to the itinerary or motive power, it must still be a monumental feat of organisation and like Big Al and Bulleid Pacific, I expect there will inevitably be some enforced change and a Black Five appearing at some point.

Still, the inclusion of Swanage is something different and the final day looks very interesting. I've always felt that it's a shame that quite a few "GB" trips have not included mileage over all four of the "Big four" companies, with the Southern omitted unless the West Country is reached via the LSWR route through Salisbury. The 2018 incarnation will give the passengers a good taste of Southern steam on a classic Southern route with some very attractive scenery, albeit not perhaps in the same dramatic league as the S&C, Kyle or Central Wales lines. Is it possible to book on just one day if there are any spare seats? The final day is very tempting.

 

No reason the B1 couldnt take it round the coast alone?
45596 is forecast to be ready by then too, increasing the options for two Jub operation.
Given that long range forecasts in previous years have routinely indicated both 35018 and 6023 would be involved it's amusing there is no mention of them when both are more realistic contenders than ever!

 

The Great Britain is like Frank Sinatra, many comeback tours!

Probably be a few loco changes, 31806 was give a test run on the 15:20 from Swanage to Norden on Tuesday so that one is getting there.

Big question is will NR have finished their August 2017 possession at Waterloo by then?

 

A few of things down south seem optimistic, mainly for operations or train crew hours.
Some ideas from Derby2

1) Will 31806 be ready with all the electronics in time? From the post by Gladiator 5076, probably.
2) Top and Tail tender first running Weymouth - Wareham at 45mph, could present pathing problems with the 30 minute frequency service to Weymouth and GWR services.
3) Turning 34046 for the final day or would the train be diesel hauled to Eastleigh then steam hauled via Botley to rejoin planned route? (A light engine trip to Yeovil PM or Eastleigh depot loop would be needed to turn. Both will take the best part of a shift to complete for the train crew.) ( Before anyone asks, Swanage turntable is about 50 foot long, not enough for 34046.)
4) Pathing over the Portsmouth Direct is a bit tight on weekdays. From memory the last few railtours routed that way have been on Sundays. It might need some discussions with the new South Western franchise to cancel the "Q" mileage accumulation / crew training trips which turn back at Petersfield.
5) The chance of getting any path not following an all stations Woking - Waterloo stopper via Surbiton in the late afternoon/evening peak is optimistic! Be prepared for a scenic trip via Chertsey and Brentford.

Good luck to RTC and WCRC when creating a compliant bid.

Cheers, Neil

 

Back in the day (1983?) when Waterloo suburban point work was renewed it was 3 x 52 hours possessions. This time it is now 4 weeks, but with the overlay of TPWS on track cables and renewal of traction current cables and a substation upgrade. Whatever anyone may say, proper H&S training and practices have made railway engineering works much less dangerous for the workers on track often in dark, wet conditions.

Cheers, Neil

 

Although the itinerary doesn't state this, would it not be possible to use the stop at Yeovil to service and turn 34046? Therefore you'd have unique tender to tender double heading and then have 34046 facing "the right way" for running from Weymouth and as a result for day 9 too without accumulating extra mileage. Would also mean an increase in speed limit from 45mph to 60mph to? (Supposing the U is capable?)

 

I would have thought the leading loco out of Weymouth would need to be boiler first. That of course means that as written, they would both be tender first which I suspect will be unacceptable to NR so the suggestion of tender to tender would work because Braunton on the front out of Weymouth puts it on the front out of Swanage the next day. Tender first Wareham to Worgret with the U should be OK.

 

I'm sure that the logisitics of the rather complex Yeovil-Swanage section will have been considered in some detail by RTC before making the announcement on the website. Tender to Tender for Yeovil PM-Weymouth seems the most likely way of addressing the complexities and no doubt more will be revealed nearer the time.

60mph wouldn't be a problem for the U. 31625 ran at this speed during its brief main line career in 1997. A U has 6ft driving wheels, the same as a Hall or Black Five. After the Sevenoaks crash of 1927, a River tank (which were all rebuilt as Us apart from 890 which became a U1) was tested on the ECML to ascertain whether it was the loco or the track which caused the accident and in the course of the testing, touched more than 80mph.