The Welsh Marches - Tyseley to Hereford - Sat 20th Sept

Hi Guys

Id like a little help. looking to book on this trip on monday as i have a day off from work a change.

what are the the highlights of this forthcoming tour? will the Earl working hard on any banks/hills/climbs/fast running going via newport and abergavveny.

Never done this route before. hope someone can help me

cheers

 

This is my one of my favourite sections of line in the U.K. if I wasn't in Scotland, I'd be either lineside or travelling alongside you ! Plenty of fast running and climbing featured on this tour ! Couple of videos below to give you a idea.

 

Passes Kidderminster at 10.26, for anyone who happens to be at the SVR gala...

 

Llanvihangel after Abergavenny is the main one on that itinery I though, is the climb up to Church Stretton southbound only ?.

 

No, the summit is just south of Church Stretton, and it is climbing most of the way from Wooferton to there.

 

Not for nothing did the equivalent VT tour last year gain the accolade of Railtour of the Year from the late, great Mike Notley. Great coverage in Steam Railway Issue 421 (November 2013) showcased the Worcester Shrub Hill-Gloucester, Maindee Junction (Newport) to Hereford and Hereford to Shrewsbury (Sutton Bridge Junction) legs of the tour. This, together with the posts on the VT Welsh Marches thread for last year, should give a pretty good idea of what to expect and the treat in store

We enjoyed lots of fast running up the Marches line, with an overall time of 47.5 minutes for the 42.6 miles from Maindee to Hereford and 51 minutes for the 50 miles onward to Shrewsbury. Strong climbing too, including a magnificent 52 mph over the 1 in 82/ 1 in 95 of Llanvihangel and equally 48 mph (according to my notes) on the climb through Telford returning to Wolverhampton.

Elsewhere, the running along the Birmingham-Bristol main line from Abbotswood Junction to Barnwood Junction, Gloucester (23.5 miles / 24 minutes including a cautious interpretation of the 40 mph slack through Cheltenham) and onward from Gloucester as far as Chepstow (27.3 miles / 28 minutes pass-to-pass) once again more than adequately demonstrated the Earl’s effortless ability to sustain running at up to 75 mph with load 8 plus water carrier (around 345 tonnes gross)

And finally there was the bonus of a fast run back from Shrewsbury Abbey Foregate Junction to the outskirts of Wolverhampton (just under 32 minutes pass to stop for the 28 miles to MP 143m 20c) and, even better still, the rare-as-hens-teeth experience of a steam run down the Stour Valley main line via Dudley/ Smethwick to Birmingham New Street performed in a respectable time of a shade over 20 minutes. (I don’t think this element of the itinerary is – as yet -confirmed for this year, though)

True, the opening 33 miles of the first leg from Snow Hill as far as Worcester can be a bit pedestrian, and likewise the Severn Tunnel Junction–Maindee Junction section along the South Wales main line. But that still leaves over 80% of a 250 mile railtour with the prospect of just the sort of energetic running that you are probably looking for.

I’m sure that whatever happens this year, Mike Notley will be smiling down on this one. VT have already paid due tribute on 4965’s 31st August Shakespeare Express run, and to me, this years run will be the most appropriate celebration of the many hours of pleasure I have enjoyed reading through countless issues of Mike’s Main Line Performance column in Steam Railway. It all adds something extra to this repeat tour, and I know that VT won’t disappoint.

 

Lots of superb scenery to enjoy too. The Welsh Marches line passes some beautiful countryside and there's a pleasant stretch running right by the River Severn on the Gloucester-STJ stretch. Current forecast suggests sunshine and showers. Let's hope for plenty of the former and not too many of the latter so you'll have the weather to appreciate the landscape as you pass through.

 

I have the offer from Network Rail under my nose.....it includes the Stour as we requested!

 

Times are on RTT

1Z43 Tyseley - Hereford
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50688/2014/09/20/advanced

1Z45 Hereford - Tyseley
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50689/2014/09/20/advanced

 

Recently I've become a volunteer coach steward with Vintage Trains, done a couple of Shakespeare Express runs, and the Welsh Marches will be my first all day tour. I'll be in coach H if anyone wants to say "Hello".
Alan Homer.

 

Damn, I'll just be leaving Arley when this comes through Kiddy.

 

Anyone out for 5043 today? After singing the praises of the scenery on parts of the Gloucester- STJ line, we've had mist and murk all morning, so apologies to anyone who is travelling. I do hope it wil lbe a bit brighter next time VT come down this way (In March 2015), as I've booked to travel on it.

Was out in the garden hoping I mght hear a whistle. (I can hear the horns of class 66s on the steel workings to S. Wales from my garden - the drivers regularly sound them at the various level crossings) but not a sound. Checked on RTT and I was definitely within earshot when 5043 passed through. Oh well.

 

My footage from Abergavenny has just gone live......it's quite something.

 

Footage of 5043 thundering up Llanvihangel about a mile short of the summit along with shots of the Cheshireman & The Cathedrals Express.

 

two shots from severn tunnel junction
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tguppy37401/15114357330/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tguppy37401/15119463619/in/photostream/

 

Very nice. The sound of the signal going back at the end is the cherry on top. Abergavenny Monmouth Road, along with most of the other boxes on the Marches line only has a couple of years left.

 

Captured a video of this from the SVR side at Kidderminster as she passed through on Saturday morning in appalling weather

 

Another film at Abergavenny roaring through the station not my film but one I found. Very impressive !