Winter Cumbrian Mountain Expresses 2014

No she's up at Shildon!!

 

The rumour on yesterday's trip was that 46115 will be out for some time, no further info.

 

Isn't that 60019 ?

 

It is Bittern ( currently at Barrow Hill) on Vintage Trains trip next month.

 

Last week in Feb, they're both due to move from Shildon to Crewe, No.9 dropping off 4468 at York en route..............................

 

I heard a completely different rumour regarding 46115, which was that the issue was a hot box which should be fixed well in time for next week - guess all will be revealed next Wednesday to see if the test circuit is activated!

Yesterday was certainly one of the most unusual trips I have ever been on. The advert for the Winter Olympics is currently asking who will take on nature and win - it somes up Galatea's performance yesterday as she was pitted against a formidable load, weather and gradients and she just came out on top - just. Galatea looks great, sounds fantastic, but her performance at the moment is way down on her shed mate Leander - she struggled accelerating away from slacks and as soon as the gradient became adverse speed quickly dropped. I don't believe 11 is too big an ask for an on form jubilee - but Galatea is clearly still in need of further tweaking. Obviously the injector issues played a major factor on Grayrigg and Shap, she was noticeably eased halfway up both climbs and power was just enough to keep us moving in both cases. When power was applied, she just didn't seem to pick up as you would expect.

Once over Shap, the driver was obviously well aware of the delays behind him and the performance between Shap and Penrith was electrifying (she certainly has no issues going downhill!), but the brakes came on and we were stopped for the troublesome injector to be assessed and boiler pressure restored. As far as I am aware, a request was made to be looped at Penrith to allow the loco to be assessed and the service trains to pass, however the loop was occupied by a tamping machine. Someone else reckoned Galatea is banned from this loop, however 5043 used it on the Scotland trip 2 years ago?, The first Pendolino was already heavily delayed and we left Carnforth 10 late due to a late running Trans Pennine dmu. So this extra 15 mins just added to things. Why we weren't looped at Grayrigg I do not know. Once at Carlisle, the driver seemed happier with the loco, however the fireman commented the injector was still playing up and we all expected to have a diesel or diesel assistance on the return - it was some surprise to see Galatea back on to the train. One of the reasons must have been the engineering possession and the difficulties in getting a diesel to Carlisle from Carnforth.

So we set out 40 late for the run up the S&C and Galatea was clearly not on top of things, but she dug in and got us to Hellifield. Hats off to the driver who once again balanced power with steam pressure, but the recovery after Ais Gill clearly indicated a severely winded loco. The weather by this time was absolutely horrendous and must also have put some severe strain on the loco. The diesel was a very wise option, but the Clitheroe line is a nightmare once you are out of path and the delays just started to rack up as we slotted in amongst the other trains. It was the same after Farringdon junction with the excellent ' Les Ross (103mph yesterday!), with us being checked frequently and looped around a virgin train at Wigan, only to be held for the same unit at Warrington! We were 1hr 50 late by the time we left the train at Crewe.

I am not sure how West Coast could have done do things differently, clearly 45699 needs extra work, but as has been mentioned there are few options for this train now at Carnforth. With 46115 injured, 45699 was itself a last minute substitute, but the 11 coaches should be within it's capabilities and is what it will be expected to work once healthy - Leander has handled similar loads in the past with no issue. The WCME did have a pool of 4 or 5 locos at one point - with overrunning maintenance work the options are now looking a little limited! the diesel substitute was wise and probably would have been sent earlier had it been able to do so. Good driving and engine management did the rest, but delays to other services were unavoidable in the end - but it should be pointed out that there were delays aplenty due to weather and other reasons yesterday - steam wasn't the only guilty party.

 

When was the last outing of 46115 before the test run last Wednesday?

 

Like how Everybody's debating what the choice of the loco will be for next week's WCME will be, while there's still the Welsh Borders tour to run ! I would hazard a guess that 70013 and 60009 could be called in as late replacements.

 

?? 23 Sept private charter Edinburgh-Gleneagles see approx page 10 of this thread.

 

46115 went over Shap with a CME on the 16th of October 2013 and came back over the S&C and was on fine form .

 

To be honest, if the injector business can be sorted in time, I can see No. 45699 being resigned to the Welsh Border's duty while No. 70013 ( if indeed she isn't at GCR ) handles the bigger task of the WCME. With the Welsh borders only being a short run mileage wise ( okay, couple in an engine move and back to Carnforth ), with only one or two severe gradients to tackle, it seems like it would be wise to step No. 45699 down to this level while she's still being tempermental.

 

Thanks for clearing that up Stephen. Pity the loco couldn't be made ready in time for a repeat yesterday. Hope a quick repair can be effected. Don't know how many staff wcr has but winter must be a busy time with all the locos in the fleet needing routine maintenance.
Is the scot in the final year before an out of frames boiler inspection is due?

 

Someone mentioned 48151 as motive power for the Welsh Marches on the train yesterday.

 

Summary of yesterday’s trip and other comments : -

Delayed outward by being diverted via Northampton due to broken rail at Weedon.

45699 seem to be performing better than my previous run over the same route last October (I would never have believed we could have managed 11 over Shap).The limit should be 10 having been over with Leander in 2009 with a speed in the 20’s in reasonable weather conditions.
15mph at Shap summit. Stopped for 22min at Penrith lack of steam and injector sticking.

With 45699 leaving late for servicing (I arrived back after a quick pint with my fish and Chips and it was still in the station) it was no surprise that we would have a late departure, not helped with Voyagers in 2 of 3 of the through platforms due to thee Engineering blockade on Shap, as well as couple of Newcastle bound trains were using the other one. We had to wait for a free platform.

It was horrendous conditions as we went over the S& C and not surprising we lost time (I have been over the S & C in similar conditions with the Duke in 2006 Northbound and we lost 5 – 10 minutes with a load of 12 or 13).
45699 lost 16 minutes between Carlisle and Settle Junction (we were delayed by the train from Lancaster between Settle Junction and Hellifield like last October) compared to 28 minutes last October with 10 on in better conditions. Please note times to the nearest minute.

We were stopped for 10 – 15 minutes before Clitheroe and followed the service train which was on time (a fellow passenger checked on real-time trains) and must have only just missed the possibility of getting ahead of it.
Nothing to add on the run between Farington Junction and Crewe since it has already been covered.

Les (Train manger) was keeping us informed of what was happening, but had to walk through the train to do this. As per usual the PA system wasn’t working – Will we ever have working PA in all West Coast sets?
The heating was on in Coach J all the way outwood I was in 3rd coach behind loco outwood), and from Hellifield on the return.Although at times it was too hot (From Hellifield) and the people nearest the controls did not want to turn it off for a short period and we had to open windows to cool down.


I would not recommend a trip at this time of the year to a first time passenger due to weather, short daylight hours, and for visiting attractions you really need a layover of at least 3 hours. I have been to Carlisle Castle twice and got drenched walking there and back and within the Castle walls in September 2006.The Tullie House Museum is the best option at this time of year.A couple opposite me were on their first trip and seemed to enjoy it, and I go the impression they would book another. They joined at Watford Junction and did not worry about being home late.

 

Regarding Ollie - a friend who receives the GCR newsletter e-mails tells me she's still in the works, having attention to the firebox, hence the re-branding of the Standards Weekend to a Mixed Traction event. So we can probably discount 70013 from the WCME for the next couple of weeks, at least.

The A4s will be busy at Shildon until the end of the month, so can't help out on the next 2 WCMEs.

 

Latest Heritage Railway says 70013 will be out for 3 months.

 

I wonder how accurate that is? Who do they attribute the information to? HR are as bad as, sometimes worse than, Stream Railway at exagerating things or simply getting them wrong, so it would be good to get some corroboration.