MILEPOST 32 APRIL 2011
TORNADO ON THE LSWR - See Page 48 Photo: Peter Smith RPS
railway performance society
www.railperf.org.uk
Milepost 32 – April 2011
The Quarterly Magazine of the Railway Performance Society Honorary President: Gordon Pettitt, OBE, FCILT Commitee:
CHAIRMAN Frank Collins 10 Collett Way, Frome, Somerset BA11 2XR Tel: 01373 466408 e-mail [email protected] SECRETARY & VC Martin Barrett 112 Langley Drive, Norton, Malton, N Yorks, YO17 9AB (and meetings) Tel: 01653 694937 Email: [email protected] TREASURER Peter Smith 28 Downsview Ave, Storrington, W Sussex, RH20 (and membership) 4PS. Tel 01903 742684 e-mail: [email protected] EDITOR David Ashley 92 Lawrence Drive, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middx, UB10 8RW. Tel 01895 675178 E-mail: [email protected] Fastest Times Editor David Sage 93 Salisbury Rd, Burton, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23, 7JR. Tel 01202 249717 E-mail [email protected] Distance Chart Editor Ian Umpleby 314 Stainbeck Rd, Leeds, W Yorks LS7 2LR Tel 0113 266 8588 Email: [email protected] Database/Archivist Lee Allsopp 2 Gainsborough, North Lake, Bracknell, RG12 7WL Tel 01344 648644 e-mail [email protected] Technical Officer David Hobbs 11 Lynton Terrace, Acton, London W3 9DX Tel 020 8993 3788 e-mail [email protected] David Stannard 26 Broomfield Close, Chelford, Macclesfield, Cheshire,SK11 9SL. Tel 01625 861172 e mail: [email protected] Steam Specialist Michael Rowe Burley Cottage, Parson St., Porlock,Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8QJ . Tel 01643 862182 E-mail: [email protected] Non-committee official:- Topical points Martin Robertson 23 Brownside Rd, Cambuslang, Glasgow, G72 0NL e-mail: [email protected] Directors of RPS Rail Performance Consultants Ltd.:- Frank Collins (chairman), Peter Smith (secretary), Martin Barrett
CONTENTS Notices 3 Fastest Times Martin Robertson 12 Pendolino Performance (Part 1) Robert Osborne 21 Class 378 David Ashley 31 To Uckfield Andrew James 34 On the 0729 Malcolm Simister 44 Oldest & Youngest Michael Rowe 48 Night Newpapers to Nottingham William Alcock 52 Riding the Alta Velocita Spine Alan Sprod 57 Letters 64 News 70
Enclosures (where subscribed): UK Distance Charts, UK Fastest Times, AGM Papers
Copyright The Railway Performance Society Ltd, registered in England & Wales No. 04488089 Use of the material in the magazine is permitted only for the private purposes of the reader No material in the magazine can otherwise be used for publication or reproduction in any form without the express permission of the Society
The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the RPS, the Editors or any of their advisers. Whilst efforts are made to ensure accuracy, the Editor his advisers and the RPS accept no responsibility for any loss or damage arising from any inaccuracies howsoever caused. Readers are asked to note that the RPS encourages contributions from all members, and articles may appear that are interesting in content, but occasionally may not be to the standard of the rest of the publication. Material sent to the Editors, whether commissioned or freely submitted is provided entirely at the contributors own risk; neither the Editor nor the RPS can be held responsible for any loss or damage howsoever caused. Published by The Railway Performance Society Limited, 92 Lawrence Drive, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middx, UB10 8RW Printed by Prontaprint Harrow, 7 Central Parade, Station Rd., Harrow, Middx, HA1 2TW.
Milepost 32 2 April 2011
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
There are a number of important updates to the Meetings and Events Calendar;-
2011 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This will take place on Saturday 14th May – full papers either with this Magazine or available from the Website. After the meeting there will be a presentation from Ian Umpleby on the compilation of Distance Charts
My apologies once again to everyone for the confusion over the date of this years AGM – while the correct date was referred to in the meetings section on the January Milepost, unfortunately the back cover and the Website continued to quote the incorrect date. If any member has bought as a result of the confusion an advance ticket to London for 7th May which they are unable to use or get refunded, please contact Peter Smith
2011 MASS TIMING DAY
As a result of the Virgin – CLIC Sergeant Charity Day, the 2011 Mass Timing Day has been rescheduled to Saturday 3rd September 2011
It will use the same route as had been planned for the June date – Rugby – Wolverhampton.
Full details will be in the July Milepost
VIRGIN – CLIC SERGEANT CHARITY DAY
I am delighted to be able to confirm that with the kind support of Virgin Trains we have been able to arrange a ‘Mileagathon’ in aid of the Children’s Cancer Charity CLIC Sergeant
Basic details of the event are as follows;-
• The aim of the event is to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Charity CLIC Sergeant with the support of Virgin Trains • The objective is to see how many miles can be travelled on Virgin Trains in a 24 hour period by the participants • The event will take place on Saturday 18th June 2011 between 00.01 hrs and 23.59 hrs • Participants are free to use whatever itinerary they wish during the day so long as it uses only on Virgin West Coast Pendolino or Voyager services • Participants are encouraged to raise as much sponsorship as possible for the charity but there is a requirement of a minimum of £100/head to take part • Participants will be provided with a free first class pass for the day but must carry photo ID with them at all times on the day • We are looking to see if we can provide a prize for the participant who clocks up the greatest overall mileage on the day.
The key points are;- • I will need full names and addresses of those taking part on the day NOT LATER THAN Saturday 4th June • You will need to carry PHOTO ID with you on the day to validate the pass • The free first class pass offer is on the basis of minimum funds raised per head of £100 – so I will also be requiring payment of £100 ‘up front’ please. Obviously you are free to raise or donate as much as you like over and above that if you wish! • I am anticipating producing a Sponsorship form – I appreciate that some will probably just make the donation personally, but the use of the form should enable CLIC Sergeant to claim Gift Aid relief on the donations and therefore boost the total raised
Milepost 32 3 April 2011 • I will want all participants to submit evidence to support the mileage travelled – I suggest in the form of logs, from which we will then also compile a summary report of the day. • Virgin Trains will be wanting to get some publicity out of this – I am checking their requirements on this but please be prepared to adapt what you do to meet the publicity requirements. There should of course be some publicity coverage for the Society as well from this.
Quite a lot of members have expressed an interest in this event already; what I am now looking for is firm commitment from those wishing to take part on the day. If you wish to take part therefore please contact me as soon as possible by post, email or phone
Frank Collins – Chairman
WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY – PERFORMANCE TRIALS
The RPS has been invited to provide official timers for some performance trials which the WHR are looking to arrange this spring to compare the performance of different loco types on the 1/40 climb north of Beddgelert to Rhyd Ddu. Assistance has also been requested to help analysing the results afterwards. The timers and the after-the-event assistance do not necessarily have to be done by the same people
A number of people have already expressed an interest in assisting with this project but if you would be willing to assist us with this – either by doing some of the timing (subject of course to dates) or the analysis afterwards please could you email either me or Sean Emmett ([email protected]) as soon as possible.
PUBLICATION OF MILEPOST
Milepost is published in April, July, October, and January. If you have not received your copy by the end of the month of publication it may have gone astray. Requests for replacements of missing or defective copies should be directed please to the Editor.
REPRESENTING THE SOCIETY
The RPS is always keen to be represented at special media-type occasions. However, we do ask that anyone wishing to do this should do so with the express agreement of the Committee. Should the opportunity arise for any member or in exceptional circumstances, friend of a member, to do this please can contact be made with the Secretary (either by telephone or e-mail) setting out the circumstances of the occasion. Please give us at least one week in advance of the occasion.
SUBMITTING ARTICLES
Submissions may be sent as attachments to an email or by post as documents on a CD or diskette or as a printed document. If sending a diskette or CD, please enclose a hard copy of the article; this helps if file(s) are unreadable for any reason.
Please send all submissions to the editor whose contact details are in the inside front cover of Milepost. The editor will normally acknowledge email submissions within a few days, and always within 3 weeks. If sending by post and you wish to have a receipt, please enclose an SAE for reply. If you wish any material/CD/diskette to be returned, please clearly state this.
Milepost 23¾ gave detailed guidelines for submissions. The editor is happy to supply these, on request by email or by post. Please note that page margins are critical: one inch or 2.54cm top, bottom, left and right.
DISTANCE CHART EDITOR’S REPORT
Enclosed with this issue are re-issued charts for London Liverpool St to Cambridge/Stansted Airport, Birmingham-Norwich, Leeds-Harrogate-York and a new chart Edinburgh-Bathgate-Glasgow- Westerton-Helensburgh Central. Since the last issue detailed gradient data for most main lines
Milepost 32 4 April 2011 outwith Scotland (except the WCML) and Wales has been received and your editor can provide the relevant PDF upon application. It is hoped to update the Irish charts on a rolling basis, including the recently opened/reopened lines, once the next timetable (expected April) is introduced. With regard to other countries the editor may be able to help; for instance a fellow member is putting together charts for the Netherlands but this is currently at an early stage. Once again thanks for all the contributions so far and keep looking at the website for up to date news regarding future developments. Ian Umpleby
FASTEST TIMES
From the GB Annual edition issued with the April Milepost, Fastest Times will be in loose leaf format. Hopefully this will be in landscape with a sufficient margin for holes to be pre-punched by the printer.
There are many areas where new times are few and far between and the higher initial cost of the new style should result in an overall downstream cost saving for the RPS.
It is intended that Overseas Fastest Times will be similarly changed in July.
An advantage of the change in style is that lines which have never previously featured can be issued at any time – printing constraints limit publications to 72 pages.
Please send all Fastest Times contributions to David Sage at the address on the inside cover.
This is with the following exceptions:- John Heaton for Voyagers, 180s, Pendolinos and 222s. Bill Long for DB material.
If in doubt then e-mail or post to my contact details on the inside cover.
Please, where practicable, also copy claims and logs to Lee Allsopp for the Society archive, and to Martin Robertson for material for his Fastest Times articles.
Note that the Members area of the RPS website – see www.railperf.org.uk - has the latest GB and Overseas Fastest Times. These times are also there in the general area, but without the recorder’s initials. At present all entries are as up to date as possible from submissions received.
Please note: Can Members who submit times to John Heaton’s ‘new’ GW, ECML and GE times please check to see if they are overall FTs as well, and forward additionally to me. Thank you.
HISTORIC FASTEST TIMES
Any new records, or suggestions for the 2011 issue may be sent to Bevan Price at [email protected], or by post to me at 24 Walmeseley Road, Eccleston, St. Helens, Lancs., WA10 5JT
Bevan Price
SALES ITEMS Back Numbers: Certain back issues of Milepost, from Milepost 6 onwards, can be supplied at a price of £2.50 each including postage. Supplies are extremely limited and once sold they will not be reprinted. Details of issues available will be supplied on request. Milepost is available in the British Library; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh; The Library of Trinity College, Dublin, the National Library of Wales, the National Railway Museum and the Railway Studies Library at Newton Abbot Library. Where a requested edition is out of print the member will be provided with a letter of authority from the Society (as copyright holder) to enable a complete copy to be taken from any of the Library copies.
Milepost 32 5 April 2011 Indices for volumes 7, 8, 10, 12 to 19 and 21 are available and will be supplied free of charge on receipt of an A5 size stamped addressed envelope.
Distance Chart Supplements.
All supplements are issued in A5 loose leaf format. Following a review, the price of these supplements has been reduced, but they will no longer be supplied with binders.
UK Distance Supplement: £17.00
The complete collection of RPS distance charts compiled to date. Individual new and revised charts are issued with Milepost when they become available.
Overseas Distance Supplement (Section 1 France): £8.50
The complete collection of Issue 2 distance charts compiled to date. Individual new and revised charts are distributed occasionally with Milepost to those members who have paid a small supllementary membership fee.
Overseas Distance Supplement (Section 2 Ireland): £7.50
The complete set of Irish distance charts as published in 2005/6. If any revised charts are published they will be distributed with Milepost to those members who have paid a small supllementary membership fee. Historical Fastest Times 2004, 2006 Editions: £2.00 each; 2004/6/7 pack: £7.50 Orders for all above sales items please to Peter Smith. All prices include postage. Please enclose the correct remittance with your order and allow 28 days for delivery.
VOYAGER / ADELANTE / CHALLENGER / PENDOLINO RECORDS.
"The notice of members is drawn to the monthly e-mail update of Fastest times for Classes 180/220/221/220+221/222/390 and the re-opened lists for FGW/ecml and GE. If anyone would like to start receiving these lists please let me know by e-mail to [email protected]. Equally, if a current recipient wishes to withdraw his name, please let me know.
For the benefit of new members the re-opened lists refer to the fastest performances recorded on and from the arbitrary start date of 18/5/08 These are usually but necessarily slower than the printed book Fastest Times, many of which were achieved pre-data recorders and involved speeds that are unlikely to be repeated. The re-opened records are for HSTs from FGW services plus Wakefield Westgate to Penzance, Class 91s and HSTs on Fastest Time book 'ecml' sections and for Class 90s on GE sections.
Submissions must be made in excel or works spreadsheet and the format used on the lists issued, unless the member does not have access to the technology. This is to minimise copying errors and compilation time. It would be a good idea therefore for new members to wait until they have received an issue of the lists before participating to save them from indulging in unnecessary detail. No logs are needed for this exercise, although David Sage and Martin Robertson would appreciate a copy if the record is also a new Fastest Times book entry, as opposed to just a re-opened one.
If in doubt please do not hesitate to contact me on the above e-mail address, by phone on 01626 865526 or letter to 57 West Cliff Park Drive, Dawlish, Devon, EX7 9ER"
John Heaton
Milepost 32 6 April 2011
THE MEETINGS SECTION
SATURDAY 14TH TUESDAY 24TH SATURDAY 18TH THURSDAY 23RD MAY 2011 MAY 2011 JUNE 2011 JUNE 2011 The Calthorpe The Royal Oak Virgin Trains Charity BRISTOL Arms LONDON Timing Event LONDON 1200 for 1215 1630 onwards ALL DAY 1645 Annual General Area Meeting See separate notice Area Meeting Meeting regarding this event. NEW VENUE Followed by talk This replaces MTD by Ian Umpleby on which has been Parkway Pub production of rescheduled to Sat distance and 3rd September - Bristol Parkway gradient charts
At the end of July/beginning of August there will be a Leeds area meeting – date yet to confirmed. For those ‘electronically connected’ date will be advised by email. For other regular attendees please ring Chris Taylor on the number below for details.
Saturday 3rd September 2011 rescheduled Mass Timing Day Rugby to Wolverhampton
In November (provisionally Nov 5th – waiting confirmation) Ian Mitchell, Professional Head of Signalling, Deltarail will give a talk on energy saving and driver advisory systems.
On 11th February 2012 Doug Landau will give a talk entitled ‘From shovels to CTs’.
More details of these in next issue
DIRECTIONS TO THE VENUES
LONDON – The Royal Oak, 44 Tabard Street, London SE1 4JU. From Borough tube station, turn left and at first road junction turn right into Great Dover Street and the almost immediately left into Long Lane. Tabard Street is a few yards on the right (5 minutes walk). OR from London Bridge walk down approach road and turn left into Borough High Street, Turn left by Southwark Local Studies Library, with St Georges Church on right, into Tabard Street. Cross Long Lane and continue down Tabard Street with Royal Oak on right (just over 10 minutes). Please let Richard Howlett know if you are coming on 020 8394 0340 or [email protected]
LONDON – The Calthorpe Arms, 252 Grays Inn Road, London WC1. From King’s Cross station cross Euston Rd and turn left towards Grays Inn Road, where you turn right, and walk southwards down Grays Inn Rd. The Calthorpe Arms is on the left (About 10mins walk from King's Cross) OR From Russell Square Piccadilly Line station turn right, then turn first right into Grenville Street then first left into Guilford Street (Great Ormond Street Hospital on right) and walk to the end of Guildford Street where it meets Grays Inn Road. The Calthorpe Arms is diagonally left from the end of Guildford Street. We will use the Dining Room upstairs
LEEDS – THE GROVE INN, Back Row (off Neville Street), Leeds The Grove Inn is around 400 yards south of Leeds City station (under10 minutes walk). From the south concourse at Leeds City station go past M & S Simply Food, cross the road and into a circular building, go down the steps and turn sharp right at the bottom, continue under the railway on Neville Street, past the Hilton Hotel, over the river, cross Water Lane, next on the right is a large new office complex called Bridgewater Place with Starbucks and a Tesco Express, turn immediately right after Bridgewater Place into Back Lane and The Grove Inn is on the right (an old building surrounded by modern office blocks). It is highly visible from Neville Street at this point). If you are going to attend this meeting, it would help if you can let Chris Taylor know on 07941 315846 or
Milepost 32 7 April 2011 [email protected]
BRISTOL PARKWAY - NEW VENUE Members should leave Parkway station by the up side main entrance, walking down the station approach past the bus stops and turning right at the main road. The Parkway is then visible. The meeting will start at 16.45, members making their way to the venue individually. The pub is open all day and food is available all afternoon so members might with to get there early to eat. Food is not permitted in the meeting room. The rental is free but members are encouraged to use the bar in return for this.. Please advise John Heaton on 01626 865526 or [email protected] if you are coming
FREE SOCIETY MEETINGS All society meetings are free of charge to Members attending; i.e. no contribution will be asked towards the hire of rooms. The committee wishes to encourage Members to come along to meetings, talk to other train timers and share information and experiences of traction performance. The Society has a digital projector and if any member would like to give a short presentation at a society meeting using this projector (or without if they prefer), or if anyone has any topics for discussion at meetings please contact the Meetings Organiser.
BRISTOL MEETING FEBRUARY 24th 2011 – John Heaton
Thirteen members met in the former first class lounge at Temple Meads. Members welcomed Michael Bruce from Leeds attending Bristol for the first time and having travelled the furthest of those present.
A considerable proportion of the meeting was spent discussing eco-driving- a bit like ‘defensive driving plus. Some members had travelled to the meeting on the 14.00 from Paddington which had left Reading 3min late on working times and arrived at Temple Meads 15sec early without exceeding 102mph. Fitting of a driver advisory coasting system to FGW HST power cars has been authorised and First Hull Trains Class 180s have already been treated. It is envisaged that the final version will not encourage intermediate late running has occurred with the 14.00.
David Burton produced a thoughtful analysis of the Cardiff-Portsmouth route in terms of other similar routes and he speed profile that applies. He concluded that there was little prospect of raising the lower speed limits on the route and that the timings were sharper than might be imagined between these sections.
Keith Hallin described some tempting special fares on offer. John Rishton presented a fastest New Street-Euston Pendolino run which had seemed frustratingly slow at the time as it was on a London Midland strike day with no conflicting trains and might well have been much faster. He also mused about the combination of Chiltern units which it seems often manage to couple a 165 with a 168 thereby managing the worst pairing possible; slow acceleration and a lower top speed. He also related a trip on the new Welsh Highland Railway with a through train he had been able to use.
John Sparkes discussed a 1986 Network Day that covered a wide variety of routes, starting with 2xClass 50s from Exeter via Westbury to Salisbury before venturing into third rail territory and down the Hastings line before returning via Dover. Keith Farr introduced the subject of publishing historical logs and the practical and ethical problems that can arise when tempted to improve their accuracy, especially in relation to two articles he was composing on Standard Class 5s
London Area Group – January 2011 – Richard Howlett
The London Area Group held its inaugural meeting on Wed 19th Jan at 5pm in the Royal Oak, Tabbard Street, Borough. The venue proved to be a good choice (also providing good food and ales) together with being convenient to Borough (Northern line via Bank) station.
Due to the ‘late departure of a previous meeting’, the proceedings started 8 minutes late but rapidly made up time with individual introductions along with brief outlines of how each of us were introduced
Milepost 32 8 April 2011 to Train timing and the RPR. One or two, even owning up to having responded to Bill Beckett’s original letter in the Railway Magazine that started the whole idea of forming a Society such as ours.
John Heaton then raised the topic of ‘eco-driving’, the subject of which he had been researching with a number of franchisees in connection with an article he was writing. Much of the management thinking was clearly geared merely to the attempt to save fuel costs with the instruction to crews to accelerate to the line maximum and thereafter to ‘coast’ wherever possible. How effective this was proving to be was thought highly conjectural and generally not conducive to good driving practice.
We then discussed the recent news report that a sizable UK-based Company had just completed the take-over of a potash business in order to obtain its substantial mineral rights in the Scarborough- Whitby area. Potash is widely used in the manufacture of agricultural fertilizer. The thought was, if this was to be an eco-friendly venture, as was claimed, just how was the mined product to be taken away from the extraction area? There were at least three semi-disused lines in the vicinity which does raise an interest into exactly how this traffic is to be handled.
One member recounted an amusing anecdote concerning the Ravenscar tunnel on the old Scarborough to Whitby line. This was believed to be the only point on the ‘system’ to have a bottle of bandy at both ends of a tunnel! This was due to the summit of the steep incline being inside the tunnel and the engine crews often became badly overcome by their locos smoke and fumes whilst inside the tunnel. Hence, they often needed a reviving ‘draft’, once out in the open air, in order to be able to continue with their journeys!!
We then discussed a number of other issues such as, a couple of notable high speed runs recoded by one of the members present, experiences of excessive speed with resultant emergency braking(!), a brief mention of the early evening series by Michael Portillo “Great British Railway Journeys” currently being run on BBC2, the finer points of fully detailed GPS output in journey logging together with the question of the observed difficulty, nowadays, in endeavouring to establish blame in accident investigations.
On the grounds of the perceived success of this meeting it has been decided that it should become a 4-monthly forum with the next meeting booked for Tuesday 24th May 2011 at 5pm at the same venue, the Royal Oak, Tabbard Street, Borough. .
MARTIN TASKER MEMORIAL LIBRARY – Lee Allsopp
The Society holds a large number of books (~150) containing articles on performance, or containing information of use to Society Members. Full details of the books held are contained in past issues of Milepost.
The books are available for borrowing by contacting me by letter, phone or E-Mail. The borrower will be responsible for postage in both directions. It will be possible in many cases for arrangements to be made to pass books on at Society Meetings to avoid postage costs in one direction at least. The length of the loan can be flexible by agreement.
The Society will be happy to receive donations to the Library. Items should be related to Railway Performance (no Magazine Collections please). Again please contact me regarding this. New items received into the Library will be notified in updates published in Milepost. The entire contents of the library will shortly be listed on the Society Website.
RPS ARCHIVES – LATEST UPDATES – Lee Allsopp
The RPS Archive consists of material collected over the years from submissions and donations of material and collections by members. We are also indebted to the Steam Railway Research Society (SRRS), and the Stephenson Locomotive Society (SLS) for giving us the opportunity to scan some of their material for inclusion in our archive.
Work has continued scanning a vast amount of material from Ben Stone and Noel Proudlock. I have also received John Daykin’s notebooks, kindly lent to the Society by his widow, these will be
Milepost 32 9 April 2011 processed next. There are now more than 295,000 entries in the database, with the magic 300,000 not too far away now!
The following is a short summary of the material that is has been added to the Archive on our Website since the last issue of Milepost. The Website is generally updated on a monthly basis, normally the first Sunday in the month. It you haven’t had a look yet, then please give it a try!
• Latest material from Lee Allsopp (including GPS track info) and Ian Umpleby. • Latest UK Fastest Times added • David Adams logs from the fourth quarter of 2010 • Milepost 31¾ + the Mass Timing Day Supplement • A further 13 books from Noel Proudlock, covering his travels from 1960 to 1976 • Martin Barrett’s written up logs from 1963/1965/1966/1967/1978/1979/1981/1984 • Latest runs from David Sage’s database. • Latest runs from Alan Varley’s database • Latest runs from John Heaton’s database. • Latest runs from Bob Jennings and Charles Foss • 8 notebooks and 5 large A4 folders from Ben Stone covering his commuting from Huddersfield to Leeds in the mid 90s, travel from 1997 to 2003, and steam runs from 1948 to 1953. • A selection of logs from Sandy Smeaton covering travel with steam and diesel in Scotland in the 1960s. • A couple of notebooks covering travel in the UK and Ireland in 1915/1916/1931/1932/1933 recorded by J M Robbins • Tony Leopards journeys in the UK and Europe from 2009/2010
NEED MATERIAL FOR ARTICLES? – Lee Allsopp
Do you feel that you could write an article for Milepost if only you had access to material to do so? Just want some information to satisfy an idle curiosity? Even if you don’t have access to the Society Archives on the website, you can still get information and logs for that article or whatever by contacting me direct by either E-Mail, phone or letter. Just ask me the question and I’ll see what we can come up with!
PROVISION OF CURRENT MATERIAL FOR RPS ARCHIVE – Lee Allsopp
With many members now being connected by Broadband, we are now in a position where we can receive contributions via E-Mail of current material from as many members as wish to contribute. A member could record a log one day and send it to me immediately for inclusion in the database and archive. Would any members who may wish to participate in this please contact me by E-Mail for further details.
I can accept material in a number of formats, Word, Excel, Acrobat pdf files and scanned images of hand written material (eg notebooks). For scanned images we find that scanning at 150 dpi gives perfectly acceptable results, while producing files of a reasonable size (200KB-1MB depending on size of paper, density of printing etc)
IN COMMITTEE: MARCH 2011
The March committee meeting’s primary purpose was to prepare and approve the documentation for the Annual General Meeting in May. Although AGM proceedings can be perfunctory, it is necessary to place on record the wide scope of the Society’s activities in the past year with a degree of precision and this inevitably takes time.
In an effort to tidy up a number of administrative items it was agreed that, if at all possible, David Sage would set up a Fastest Times format that would fit loose leaf, hole punched, A5 paper, dropping the distance information if absolutely necessary. Steps were also taken to co-ordinate the contents of mail to match new postal charges and weight bands.
Milepost 32 10 April 2011 New publicity angles were discussed, including the 300,000th entry in the archive which, it was confidently predicted, would coincide with the first recorded 4hr Edinburgh-King’s Cross run of the 2011 timetable.
The situation where the RPS had been approached to provide archive material for prospective book manuscripts was discussed. It was decided that authors should have to join the RPS to benefit, although it was recognised that we would be vulnerable to short term exploitation.
Disquiet has been expressed concerning the publication of logs in Milepost which had speeds that did not match the averages. It was concluded that wherever possible both actual and average columns should be shown and discrepancies would be mentioned for historical material. Writers of modern articles were to be urged to ensure their material was checked before submission. The alternative of refusing to publish logs that were not fully compliant was declined as their historic interest, normally outweighed technical perfection. It was often the case that such logs had been timed consistent with the best methods and information available.
Participation in a sponsored charity timing event with Virgin Trains is to be offered to the membership. This should also result in publicity opportunities. In addition, the Welsh Highland Railway wanted to involve the RPS in timing a variety of steam power over their newly opened line. Frank Collins undertook to lead both initiatives.
John Heaton Dawlish March 2011
OBITUARY – PETER PAY
We regret to announce the death on 14th February of Peter Pay at the age of 75, who had been a member for the past 12 years. Although Peter was not an ‘active’ member he took a keen interest in performance, indeed having been Performance Manager at York firstly with Trans Pennine services and then ECML in the 3 years before his retirement from British Rail in 1993.
Peter was a career railwayman having joined BR in 1951 as a junior clerk at Hendon and having stayed on the Midland Region until 1968, apart from 2 years National Service between 1953 and 1955. The highlight of that period was being the youngest Station Master (Class 3) at Bricket Wood in the late 1950s and he always recounted the tale that the busiest day of the week was a Sunday when people flocked to the local nudist camp just a few yards down the road. In 1960 he was accepted as a Traffic Apprentice and quickly rose to the management grades moving from the London Midland to Freightliners and then the BRB before becoming Divisional Operating Manager at Norwich where he had to implement the new Crown Point Depot, a scheme which he inherited but was not a great success. He moved to York HQ in the 1980s, but soon became a consultant with Transmark and went to Australia to assist with their railway operations. On returning to the UK he spent 2 years at BRB HQ before finally ending up as Performance Manager at York before retiring.
However that was not the end of Peter’s exploits as he became Operating Manager of the NYMR at a critical time and continued in various roles with them until his death, finally ending up assisting with health and safety. In his other ‘spare’ time he was very active at the National Railway Museum at York.
Is it any wonder he was not active with our ‘small’ society. He will be greatly missed and about 160 people attended his funeral in York on 28th February.
Martin Barrett
Milepost 32 11 April 2011
FASTEST TIMES UPDATE
Martin Robertson
Welcome to another Fastest Times Update, where I have a fine variety of new records ranging from Stonehaven with a Cross Country service, to Ashford with a Eurostar service and Pinhoe on the Southern line to Exeter. There has been an easing in the number of new fastest times received, particularly from the WCML, where the severe winter weather may have taken its toll on running times or the Pendolino services are reaching a plateau in their performance levels.
Table 1 Day/Date Fri Dec 3rd 2010 Train 10.25 St Pancras-Sheffield Motive Power 222.005 Load (tons) 7: 343/360 tonnes Weather Lying snow, overcast, clearing to sun by Sharnbrook, -2 Rec. Pos. GPS J Rishton-2/9-Stopwatch
Miles m c m s Av mph 0.00 0 17.5 ST. PANCRAS 0 00 21L PL3 0.93 1 12 Camden Road TNP 1 54.1 29.4 rbt 1.32 1 43 KENTISH TOWN 2 17.9 58.6 1.78 2 00 Carlton Road Jc 2 41.2 71.5 3.21 3 34 Belsize Tunnel NP 3 46.9 78.1 3.78 4 00 WEST HAMPSTEAD 4 14.1 76.2 4.88 5 08 CRICKLEWOOD 5 01.1 84.1 5.78 6 00 Brent Jc 5 33.5 100.1 6.74 6 77 HENDON fb 6 06.4 105.3 7.53 7 60 Silkstream Jc 6 33.3 105.4 9.13 9 28 MILL HILL BDY 7 30.4 100.8 10.78 11 00 Scratchwood 8 25.0 108.9 11.86 12 06 Elstree TNP 9 02.7 102.7 12.24 12 36 ELSTREE 9 16.5 98.0 14.28 14 40 Radlett Jc 10 22.0 112.6 15.03 15 20 RADLETT 10 46.2 111.6 16.78 17 00 MP 11 42.8 111.3 18.03 18 20 Napsbury 12 23.0 111.8 19.68 19 72 ST. ALBANS 13 27.4 92.2 sigs 21.03 21 20 Sandridge 14 21.8 89.5 sigs 24.42 24 51 HARPENDEN 17 17.5 69.4 27.03 27 20 Chiltern Green 18 48.7 103.1 28.99 29 17 LUTON APT PKWY 19 58.9 100.6 30.03 30 20 LUTON 20 40.0 90.9 32.56 32 62 LEAGRAVE 22 09.4 101.7 37.04 37 20 HARLINGTON 24 29.4 115.1 39.99 40 16 FLITWICK 26 02.8 113.6
Milepost 32 12 April 2011 41.53 41 60 Ampthill 26 51.9 113.7 42.43 42 52 Ampthill TNP 27 23.2 103.6 43.53 43 60 Millbrook 27 59.4 109.4
Miles m c m s Av mph 44.78 45 00 MP 28 38.2 115.8 47.03 47 20 Elstow 29 49.9 112.9 48.53 48 60 Bedford S Jc 30 38.2 111.9 49.67 49 71 BEDFORD 31 13.9 114.5 51.20 51 33 Oakley Jc 32 01.9 114.4 56.48 56 55 Sharnbrook 34 50.3 109.4 59.03 59 20 MP 36 12.4 112.4 59.53 59 60 Sharnbrook Summit 36 28.7 110.0 62.41 62 50 Irchester 37 57.7 110.0 63.54 63 60 Irchester Jc 38 35.7 106.7 64.84 65 04 WELLINGBOROUGH 39 46.0 66.6 65.20 65 33 Wellingborough Jc 40 07.8 60.0 66.03 66 20 Neilsons Sidings 40 48.5 74.0 66.78 67 00 Harrowden Jc 41 18.6 89.7 67.96 68 14 Finedon 42 02.2 97.0 70.49 70 56 Kettering S Jc 43 32.0 101.2 71.78 72 00 KETTERING 44 21.4 94.7 73.82 74 02 Kettering N Jc 45 37.9 95.3 74.78 75 00 Glendon N Jc 46 11.7 103.8 76.78 77 00 MP 47 21.6 103.1 78.28 78 40 Desborough North 48 15.1 100.9 80.21 80 34 Braybrook 49 23.5 101.2 81.78 82 00 MP 50 24.8 92.6 82.21 82 33 Little Bowden 50 48.4 62.8 82.74 82 75 MARKET HBGH 51 18.6 62.6 83.03 83 20 MP 51 36.9 61.6 84.28 84 40 Great Bowden 52 34.6 78.0 86.28 86 40 East Langton 53 49.4 96.2 87.53 87 60 Gumley 54 34.2 100.6 88.76 88 78 Kibworth 55 17.5 101.9 89.46 89 54 Kibworth North 55 42.7 99.9 91.36 91 46 Great Glen 56 49.2 102.9 92.50 92 57 Newton 57 31.3 97.2 93.26 93 38 Kilby Bridge Jc 57 59.0 99.0 95.29 95 40 Wigston S Jc 59 15.7 95.1 95.79 96 00 Wigston N Jc 59 38.3 79.6 96.79 97 00 MP 60 20.6 85.1 97.90 98 09 Knighton TNP 61 07.7 85.1 98.88 99 07 LEICESTER 62 56.0 32.5 17L
We start with a fine effort on the Blue Riband section of the Midland main line with a run from St Pancras to Leicester recorded by Richard Knight on a Meridian unit. This was done in wintery conditions with a late start and some quite slick operating to avoid delay from a service which had left a few minutes ahead of Richard’s train, but was calling at intermediate stations. The run appears to have benefited from a very rapid exit from St Pancras and equally rapid approach into Leicester. In between the running was excellent, with only a slight loss of time from the signal checks around St Albans. Richard’s comments are: This was yet another FT recorded when conditions were decidedly inauspicious. There was lying snow in central London (and indeed throughout), there was a biting west wind and it was around -2C. EMT were running an emergency timetable and
Milepost 32 13 April 2011 my usual 09.55 or 10.15 departures from St Pancras were cancelled. I shivered over a coffee waiting for the 10.25, noting with some alarm that its predicted departure was becoming progressively later. However, shortly after 10.30, two Meridians arrived in St Pancras. The 10.30 Nottingham, first stop Luton Airport Parkway, got away at 10.42.5, and we followed 21 minutes late at 10.46. We made a meteoric start from the terminus, and the brake test in Camden Road Tunnel was more perfunctory than usual. By St Albans, we were 20 seconds up on the previous record, mostly gained at the immediate start. But then, signals; as it turned out a reaction from the 10.30 being turned slow road at Harpenden Junction - nice operating, this. Thereafter we ran at slightly above line limits, although intermediate restrictions were well observed. Indeed the time of 38m 42s between Chiltern Green and the Newton overbridge compares with the 39m 47s of the previous record and an average of 40m 36s on my six previous unchecked runs. The run ended with a stop in Leicester as impressive as the start from London, taking only 1m 48s from the north end of Knighton Tunnel - this compared with a mean of 2m 18.5s on my last 10 unchecked entries. Indeed, I have only twice recorded less than 2 minutes since the start of the December 2008 timetable change, and I travel this route once a week.
Table 2 Day/Date Thur 2nd September 2010 Train 0745 W'hampton - Euston Motive Power 390.010 For Tables 2 and 3 we have Load (tons) 460/480 = 16.6hp/ton offerings from John Rishton Weather sunny between Coventry and Watford Rec. Pos. GPS J Rishton-2/9-Stopwatch Junction and Watford Junction Miles mm cc location PTT Sch mm:s average into Euston. The northern 0 93 78 Coventry 0 00:00 7 late section was a fine effort with 3.84 90 11 Brandon Lane 02:58 77.7 speed maintained around 124- 8.97 85 00 Back Lane 05:54 104.9 125mph and a well judged 11.45 82 43 Rugby 07:36 87.5 approach into Watford Junction. 13.86 80 10 Hillmorton 09:16 86.7 John’s comments are: At the 18.73 75 20 Welton 11:52 112.4 time I did not think that this was 24.10 69 71 Weedon 14:28 123.9 exceptional. Acceleration from 29.53 64 36 Banbury Lane 17:06 123.7 Coventry was a few seconds 31.12 62 69 Blisworth 17:53 121.8 behind my best, 2 seconds 37.48 56 40 Hanslope Junction 20:57 124.4 slower to the Sow Viaduct, but 41.61 52 32 Wolverton 22:56 125.0 as the run progressed and we 44.18 49 66 Milton Keynes 24:10 125.0 recovered from the 75mph 47.36 46 52 Bletchley 25:42 124.5 restriction at Trent Valley 51.76 42 20 Chelmscote 27:49 124.7 Junction, I began to realise that 57.90 36 09 Cheddington 30:46 124.9 we were keeping to a steady 62.31 31 56 Tring 32:53 125.0 124+mph, except through 66.10 27 73 Berkhamsted 34:43 124.0 neutral sections, and that with 69.52 24 39 Hemel Hempstead 36:24 121.9 the right braking for Watford 70.91 23 08 Apsley 37:04 125.0 this might come close to the 73.07 20 75 Kings Langley 38:07 123.4 existing record. 76.58 17 35 Watford Junction 44 40:52 76.6
The existing northbound record is much better than the southbound. Considering the start from Watford is in a deep, tree-lined cutting for the first mile and then follows a mile of damp tunnel. While the approach to Coventry is more restrictive than its braking curve, I thought the two directions should balance out reasonably well, due to the southbound only restriction to 75mph at Trent Valley Junctions.
Milepost 32 14 April 2011
The braking was good on this run and shaved a half minute off the previous time - still a minute slower than the down direction, though. Table 3 Day/Date Thur 2nd September 2010 Train 07:45 W'hampton - Euston Motive Power 390.010 Load (tons) 460/480 = 16.6hp/ton Weather sunny Rec. Pos. GPS J Rishton-2/9- Stopwatch Miles mm cc location PTT Sch mm:s average 0 17 35 Watford Junction 0 00:00 3 late 1.45 16 00 Bushey 01:44 50.2 6.05 11 31 Harrow & Wealdstone 04:12 111.9 9.39 8 04 Wembley Central 05:49 123.9 12.05 5 31 Willesden 07:11 116.8 13.80 3 51 Queens Park 08:12 103.2 16.06 1 30 Camden 10:22 62.6 17.41 0 04 Euston 17 13:12 28.6
For the short run into Euston John’s comments are: A reasonably good start from Watford and with good braking down fro 125mph to 110mph just north of the North Circular viaduct and the recently extended 105mph as far as Queens Park gave me my fastest time to passing Queens Park. But would there be a low numbered platform available without a signal check?
Table 4 We had left Watford 3 minutes Day/Date Sat 20-Mar-10 late which reduced the Train 8 20 Birmingham-Edinburgh likelihood of a signal check. Motive Power 221 117 Crossing over at Camden Load (tons) 5:268/2xx flyover showed we would be Weather using a low numbered platform Rec. Pos. GPS G A M Wood 4/5 Y and we were still travelling at m c miles Location m s mph ave 49mph. Not too fast down the 25 67 0.00 Lockerbie d 0 00 bank, but a possible record time 27 00 1.13 Mp 1 32 72 44.2 to come? I did not measure the 28 54 2.84 Nethercleaugh 2 39 101 91.9 speed as we entered the 31 61 5.94 Dinwoodie 4 19 117 111.6 platform at a speed far higher 34 40 8.66 Wamphray 5 42 126/123 118.0 than the recent norm, and kept 37 00 11.17 Mp 6 55 126 123.8 it up until my seat passed the 38 00 12.17 Mp 7 24 122/120 124.1 emergency exit stairs at the 39 60 13.91 Beattock 8 15 123 122.8 north face of the old parcels 42 00 16.17 Mp 9 23 115 119.6 deck above. Then with a gentle 44 00 18.17 Mp 10 26 107 114.3 continuous braking we made 46 00 20.17 Mp 11 40 92 97.3 the perfect stop with the cab 48 00 22.17 Mp 12 57 91 93.5 just beyond the foot of the 49 60 23.91 Beattock Summit 14 08 86 88.2 platform ramp. Brilliant! 51 47 25.79 Bodsbury LC 15 20 107 94.0 52 60 26.91 Elvanfoot 15 59 106 103.4 Table 4 has a run from 54 40 28.66 Mp 16 56 108 110.5 Lockerbie to Haymarket 58 00 32.17 Abingdon 19 02 87* 100.3 recorded by Alistair Wood. This 60 00 34.17 Mp 20 17 101 96.0 was a fine effort from what 63 20 37.41 Lamington 22 07 109 106.0 appears to have been a fully 65 00 39.17 MP 23 03 114 113.1 functioning Super Voyager unit.
Milepost 32 15 April 2011 67 00 41.17 Mp 24 04 118 118.0 68 40 42.66 Thankerton 24 47 123 124.7 70 00 44.17 Leggatfoot 25 31 126 123.5 m c miles Location m s mph ave The service was booked non 71 00 45.17 Mp 26 05 96 105.9 stop from Carlisle to Haymarket 73 33 47.47 Carstairs S JN 28 42 15* 52.7 in a tight 73 minute schedule, 73 48 47.76 Carstairs E Jn 29 27 23.2 but a special stop was provided 75 00 48.64 Mp 31 54 49 91.5 at Lockerbie to set down and 76 00 49.64 Mp 32 48 73 66.7 pick up passengers. Alistair was 78 00 51.64 Mp 33 49 92 118.0 lucky to have a relatively 79 34 54.05 Auchengray 35 07 88 111.2 unchecked entry through Haymarket East Junction with 81 00 54.64 MP 36 08 94 34.8 the time of 51m 14s just 82 00 55.64 Mp 36 46 91 94.7 bettering the current Pendolino 84 00 57.64 Mp 38 02 97/94 94.7 record. A fine effort from the 59.26 Harburn LC 39 07 92 89.7 Voyager which has several lower 87 00 60.64 Mp 39 57 99 99.4 speed limits than the Pendolino 88 38 62.11 Linnhouse Viad W 41 05 68* 77.8 units. The average speeds are 90 00 63.64 Midcalder Jn 42 12 91 82.2 included for the timing points 90 73 64.55 Kirknewton 42 44 94 102.4 given by Alistair, with obvious 93 00 66.64 Mp 44 07 99 90.7 errors around Auchengray. 95 40 69.14 Curriehill 45 42 94 94.7 97 16 70.84 Wester Hailes 47 02 68* 76.5 98 00 71.64 Kingsknowe 47 43 67 70.2 99 00 72.64 Slateford 48 36 68 67.9 100 40 74.14 Haymarket a 51 14 Slow app . Table 5 Date Sat 20 Feb 2010 Train 0735 Man Picc to Hull Units 170309/302 Coaches/weight 4c 185/ 187 9.0 hp For Table 5 we have a recording Recorder/position C.M.Taylor from Chris Taylor between miles m c wtt m s mph Selby and Hull, with a pair of 0.00 30 78 SELBY 0 0 00 9 late Turbostar units in use. I do not 0.55 30 34 Barlby 1 19 46 know the route but 90mph was 2.95 28 2 Hemingbrough (Cliffe) 3 33 77 achieved on a regular basis, as 4.01 26 77 Hagg Lane 4 18 86 the driver sought to regain some 5.06 25 73 Woodhall Lane 5 00 91 of the 9 minutes late departure 5.98 25 00 WRESSLE 5 36 87 from Selby. Chris’s comments 6.90 24 06 Rowland Hall 6 16 86/91 are: The only train not to stop at 8.64 22 27 HOWDEN 7 25 90/72* Brough, although we were 11.73 19 20 EASTRINGTON 9 45 87/90 checked by signals there. We 14.04 16 75 GILBERDYKE 12 11 28 69* kept close to the speed limits 14.70 16 22 Oxmardyke 12 02 69 although we lost ½ minute on 16.56 14 33 Broomfleet 13 36 74 the approaches to Hull station 17.23 13 60 Cave [2] 14 07 79 compared with the working 18.26 12 57 Crabley Creek 14 53 87/90 timetable. The previous record 20.45 10 42 BROUGH 19 16 27 74/58 was beaten by 45 seconds, but 21.54 9 35 Welton 17 27 60 as the train was delayed by 22.46 8 41 Melton Lane 18 15 71 adverse signals all the way from 23.48 7 40 FERRIBY <1> 19 04 79/91 Garforth to Selby, this time is 26.19 4 63 HESSLE 20 57 90/58 clearly beatable with a clear run. 29.03 1 76 Hessle Road 26½ 23 14 45* Average Speed 67.88 mph. 29.36 1 49 Chalk Lane 23 42 45
Milepost 32 16 April 2011 29.68 1 24 St. George's Road 24 07 47 30.06 0 73 Anlaby Road Jn 24 39 42 30.96 0 01 HULL 30 27 22 Moving north up the ECML we have another offering from Chris with a Trans Pennine Class 185 unit just managing to better the Darlington to Northallerton time. Chris includes a run with a Class 91 as a comparison. His comments are: Only just beating the previous record but just a good run with no overspeeding, speed was kept at 99 mph with very little 100 mph. Compared with a Voyager, from the Darlington stop the 185 run was on par until the higher speed of the Voyager started to gain. Compared with a Class 91 (a log of mine alongside) it shows how good the starts are with a Class 185 and it wasn't until the Class 91 train had passed the Class 185 speed after 2½ miles that its superiority became evident. The Class 91 run did not reach 125 mph anywhere (and is not the current fastest time) but the higher speed meant that the brakes were applied two miles before the station stop whereas the Class 185 did not start to apply the brakes until one mile from the station stop.
Table 6 Date Wed 30 Jun 10 Fri 2 Jul 2010 Train: Newcastle 1701 - Man Airpt 1810 - KX Unit 185123 911xx Weight 3c 163/169 13.3 10 418/447/531 Recorder/position C.M.Taylor 2/3 C.M.Taylor 9/11 miles m c m s speed m s mph 0.00 44 08 DARLINGTON 0 00 2½ late 0 00 4 late 1.10 43 00 MP 1 39 67 2 03 65 2.60 41 40 Croft Spa 2 44 90 3 09 93 3.10 41 00 MP 3 04 93 3 28 99 5.15 38 76 Eryholme Jn 4 20 99 4 39 110 6.93 37 14 Cowton 5 33 99/100 5 32 121 9.10 35 00 MP 5 42 99 6 38 119 12.10 32 00 MP 8 31 99 8 09 118 13.10 31 00 MP 9 08 97 14.15 29 76 NORTHALERTON 10 12 10 09 . Table 7 For Table 7 Alan Varley has Date Sat 04.09.10 provided several offerings Train 0820 Aberdeen-Plymouth recorded on a southbound trip Loco 220 021 on the Aberdeen-Plymouth Load 4/186/190 Cross Country service, using a Weather Overcast Class 220 Voyager unit. These Recorder A Varley 4/4 units are ideal for the route m c miles Location m s Speeds Ave where most stations are in 224 75 0.00 Stonehaven d 0 00.0 RT valleys and require uphill starts. 223 69 1.08 OB 1 30.0 67/73 43.2 Note the even time achieved in 222 26 2.61 Dunottar 2 46.5 71/74 72.0 under three miles from 220 78 3.96 Carron Via 3 53.0 71 73.1 Leuchars, Cupar and Ladybank. 219 39 5.45 Carmont 5 04.5 80 75.0 The other section was between 217 59 7.20 Drumlithie 6 19.5 85/95 84.0 Stonehaven and Montrose, 215 62 9.16 OB 7 35.5 94/96 92.8 where the start, although uphill, 213 67 11.10 Fordoun 8 49.0 93/98/96 95.0 has line speed limits of around 212 10 12.81 OB 9 52.5 100/95 96.9 75mph for the first few miles. 210 44 14.39 Laurencekirk 10 51.5 97 96.4 Alan’s comments are: 67011 209 11 15.80 Summit OB 11 43.0 100 98.6 brought the 5 vehicles of the 207 28 17.59 Marykirk 12 51.0 90* 94.8 Aberdeen portion into Aberdeen 206 20 18.69 Viaduct N 13 38.0 82*/77 84.3 24 early – which is getting a bit ridiculous. Another misty morning with very low cloud over the hills near Montrose, Milepost 32 17 April 2011 205 16 19.74 Craigo 14 26.0 83/79/82 78.7 33 26 21.80 Kinnaber 15 59.0 75* 79.7 32 00 23.13 MP 32 17 06.0 67* 71.5 Ave leading to the strange sight of 2- m c miles Location m s Speeds armed windmills – one blade was 30 55 24.44 Montrose 19 01.0 41.0 disappearing into the cloud at each revolution. 0820 to Plymouth was a 50 68 0.00 Leuchars 0 00.0 0,5 early 220 (unusually?). 220 021, dep 50 00 0.85 MP 50 1 15.5 65 40.5 right time, RBT 45/35 before 48 55 2.16 OB 2 16.5 83 77.3 Ferryhill then rather slow speeds, 47 46 3.28 Dairsie UB 3 03.0 92/94 86.7 that led me to be rather pessimistic 45 22 5.57 OB 4 39.5 65* 85.4 about the rest of the run – 62-64 or 44 50 6.22 Cupar 5 50.0 1 early 33.2 65mph, 99/97mph through 0.00 7 02.0 0,5 early Portlethen. 58mph TSR Muchalls, 43 40 1.13 MP 1 28.5 72 46.0 89mph max, 77/84mph and a slow 42 22 2.34 Springfield 2 22.0 85/83* 81.4 stop – but all this good enough for 40 45 4.05 LC 3 36.0 84 83.2 15m 18s, well inside time. 39 06 5.55 Ladybank 5 34.0 1 early 45.8 73/68mph Dunottar didn’t seem 0.00 7 41.0 RT encouraging either, but this 38 17 0.87 Kingskettle 1 14.5 65/78/77 42.0 followed the usual dragster start of 36 10 2.97 Falkland Rd 2 53.0 79 76.8 a 220, and we went through 35 00 4.08 Lochmuir 3 43.5 79 79.1 Carmont at exactly 80 in 5m 04.5s. 34 14 4.90 OB 4 25.0 62* 71.1 96/93mph Fordoun, just touching 33 19 5.84 Markinch 6 00.0 RT 35.6 100mph either side of 95mph Laurencekirk, 77mph after Esk
Viaduct, 79-83mph onwards, dead slow stop, 01m 55s from MP 32, but just inside FT in 19m 01s. Same style of running onwards for 13m 11s Arbroath, only mid-70s after Cauldcotts, here one can really talk about time-wasting, then 14m 38s Dundee, two 100mph max both provoking brakes to 96mph. 11m 51s Leuchars, good start from there and max 94mph but slow stop so 05m 50s, just not FT. But on the next two stretches with uphill starts the lion’s roar of the 220 getaway bit great chunks out of 221 or other MUD starting times, so even with rather ordinary stops we made FTs, 5m 34s to Ladybank and 06m 00s Markinch.
Table 8A Loco/Unit 334 0 xx Load 3/122/128 Train 14.10 Helnsburgh-Airdrie Date 12.02.11 Weather Cold Recorder/Position/GPS M Robertson 1/3 Y Miles Miles Chns Timing Point Sch M. S. M.P.H. Ave. 0.00 31 08 Uphall d 0 00 1.49 32 47 Drumshoreland 1 37 84/90 2.00 33 08 Union Canal 1 58 92/86 2.81 33 73 M8 Und Br w 2 31 90 3.49 34 47 Cliftonhall Rd Ub 3 02 73 4.05 * 12 RR 3 39 51* 4.22 35 26 Newbridge Jn (38 61) 3 51 49/47* 4.55 39 07 Ratho 4 13 57 5.29 39 66 Norton Mains Ob 4 53 74 5.80 40 27 UB 9 5 18 78 6.41 40 76 Roddinglaw Ob 5 45 82 7.24 41 62 Gogar Stn Rd Ob 6 22 65br 7.86 42 32 Edinburgh Park a 7 19
Milepost 32 18 April 2011
Table 8B Loco/Unit 334 035 & 001 Load 6/244/255 Train 12.10 Helnsburgh-Airdrie Date 27.02.11 Weather Cold Recorder/Position/GPS M Robertson Miles Miles Chns Timing Point Sch M. S. M.P.H. Ave. 0.86 43 21 Broomhouse Road 1 14 65 1.62 44 02 Saughton Jn 1 52 78 2.55 44 76 Haymarket W Jn 2 35 76 3.62 46 02 Haymarket a 4 19
Tables 8A and 8B have two short offerings on the Bathgate to Edinburgh section where a new 90mph limit now applies for much of the descent from Bathgate to Newbridge Junction. The Class 334 units are easily capable of achieving 90mph on the falling grades, something which diesel traction might struggle to do, although I recall in the early days of the reopened line Class 150 units being thrashed into the low eighties on the descent. An Uphall to Edinburgh Park and Edinburgh Park to Haymarket section are included, the latter run having a well judged braking into Haymarket.
Table 8C Loco/Unit 185126 Load 3-/- Train 06.23 Manchester A.-Middlesbrough Date 17/12/10 Weather Cold Recorder/Position/GPS J. Heaton 1/3 Y Miles Miles Chns Timing Point Sch M. S. M.P.H. Ave. 0.00 13 21 Garforth d. 0 0 00 ½E -/89 2.40 10 69 Micklefield 3½ 2 30 76/66/92 57.6 2.51 10 60 (½) 2.51 15 59 <2> 7.51 10 59 Church Fenton 9½ 6 03 78 86.4 89.4 9.37 8 70 Ulleskelf (1) 7 18 99/101 Table 8 C has a 10.70 7 44 Bolton Percy 8 06 99 99.4 fine run from a 12.75 5 40 Colton Jct 14 9 20 101 99.7 Trans Pennine 14.07 4 14 Copmanthorpe SB 10 07 102 101.5 Class 185 unit 16.29 1 77 Chaloners Whin 11 29 88/sigs 31/45 97.1 from Garforth to 18.22 0 02 YORK a. 20 14 30 38.5 York.
Table 8D In Table 8D, John Unit 159106 Heaton provides a Vehicles/tare/gross tonnes 3/-/- short offering from Train 07.26 Exeter SD-Waterloo Pinhoe to Honiton Date 22/01/2011 with a Class 159 Rec/Pos/GPS? J. Heaton 1/3 Y unit, although Dec. Mls M. Chns Timing Point Sch. Min. Sec. M.P.H. Ave. John did note that 0.00 168 41 Pinhoe d. 0 0 00 T one engine was 1.82 166 55 Broadclyst 2 33 64 42.8 out. 3.26 165 20 Crannaford 3 53 65 64.8
Milepost 32 19 April 2011 5.49 163 02 Whimple 6 02 59/53 62.2 9.21 159 24 Feniton 9 47 65/77 59.5 13.82 154 55 Honiton a. 12 15 08 up side 51.7
Table 9 Finally Table 9 has a Loco/Unit Train No: 3011 / 30XX recording by Baard Load 20 Covington on a Eurostar Train 06:19 St P to Brussels service from Ebbslet to Date 40598 Ashford. Baard’s comments Recorder/position Baard Covington/19‐20 are: I recorded a time of gps Racelogic VboxMini 17m 29s between Ebbsfleet Dist from Distance Timing Point Time Speed Int and Ashford Int aboard start km km (MPH) Eurostar last week. This 0 36.58 Ebbsfleet International 0 0.0 beats the current fastest 1.66 38.24 pepperhill tnp 02:05.2 73.4 RPS time on this stretch, 3.17 39.75 downs rd ob 02:46.7 87.2 but is (at the time of writing) 3.57 40.15 southfleet jn 02:56.5 90.2 the first Eurostar log 6.64 43.22 henhurst rd ob 04:06.8 102.7 between the two stations. 8.44 45.02 halfpence twp 04:47.9 100.3 The remainder are Class 395 timings. I wouldn't call 12.31 48.89 great wood ob 05:56.9 148.1 the running particularly 14.65 51.23 medway vee 06:29.4 167.2 spectacular. I was right at 15.33 51.91 north downs way ob 06:38.4 169.9 the back of the train, so 16.69 53.27 stoney lane ob 06:56.8 165.1 passing times from 17.81 54.39 north downs twp 07:12.6 159.9 Ebbsfleet appear much 21.38 57.96 pligrims wy ob 08:00.1 172.7 slower than with, say, a 23.55 60.13 boxley twp 08:27.1 178.4 Javelin. The gradients and 61.00 boxley valley ob 08:38.2 177.2 neutral section interrupt 25.56 62.14 sittinbourne rd ob wp 08:52.9 169.1 initial acceleration, but once 29.02 65.60 crissmill west crossover 09:38.9 170.2 full power can be applied, 31.04 67.62 eyhorne twp 10:04.9 180.1 particularly in the run down 32.45 69.03 hospital rd ob 10:23.0 173.3 the Medway Valley and onto 34.64 71.22 harrietsham twp 10:51.1 178.1 the bridge, the increase in 36.96 73.54 sandway rd ob 11:20.9 170.8 speed is exhilarating. 37.60 74.18 sandway tnp 11:29.2 165.4 Surprisingly, the climb back 39.49 76.07 bowley la ob 11:55.0 165.6 up to North Downs tunnel 40.22 76.80 hubberds farm ob 12:04.8 165.0 robs the train of close to a 42.89 79.47 lenham loop e pts 12:41.8 158.4 full 10mph. We had left 43.36 79.94 newlands rd ob 12:48.5 158.2 Ebbsfleet some 30 seconds 45.87 82.45 leacon la twp 13:25.5 146.6 early on public times, and it 46.56 83.14 a20 w ob 13:36.0 139.9 was clear that this run was going to arrive into Ashford 49.60 86.18 a20 maidstone rd ob 14:35.3 87.9 early. We did suffer a minor 51.11 87.69 lodge wood 15:22.9 70.4 check approaching Ashford, 51.54 88.12 ling walk ob 15:36.1 75.8 but still came to a stand 2 51.73 88.31 ashford w jn 15:41.5 76.9 minutes early on public 52.03 88.61 Trigger Line 15:50.6 74.3 times! I am certain a late 52.78 89.36 pc 16:16.2 58.5 running service with a clear 53.27 89.85 fb 16:38.0 37.0 road could better this time 53.62 90.20 beaver rd ob 17:15.8 8.5 significantly! 53.64 90.22 Ashford International 17:29.2 0.0
My thanks to all who have contributed runs over the last three months. I still have a store of runs for future articles, but all contributions are welcome, as without them, this article could not be written.
Milepost 32 20 April 2011
PENDOLINO PERFORMANCES ON THE FORMER CALEDONIAN MAIN LINE BETWEEN GLASGOW AND CARLISLE: SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES Part 1 Robert Osborne
Introduction The aim of this short piece is to present a flavour of the evolving train running performance facilitated by Pendolino sets on the former Caledonian main line between Glasgow Central and Carlisle (GC-C). These units began to supersede electric-locomotive haulage of Anglo- Scottish services to London in early 2002, the transition being completed with effect from the introduction of the autumn 2004 timetable change. That followed shortly after parallel changes to Cross-Country services from Glasgow to Birmingham and provincial cities of south eastern and south western Britain where Voyager diesel multiple units replaced a mix of loco-hauled and HST sets, unfortunately with a considerable detriment to the quality of the travel experience.
This article will focus on Pendolino performances only. It will not consider that performance in terms of horse-power outputs, the sets being sufficiently empowered to meet all the demands of the line speeds and gradient challenges which in turn, contribute to scheduling. Thus even the notorious Beattock and Craigenhill banks can be competently climbed at maximum permissible line speeds and which are rapidly attained following any checks. The limitations of the route are infrastructural - line speeds - and perhaps the driver’s willingness or managerial encouragement to utilise the full performance possible from the motive power.
In summary, the developments associated with Pendolino operations have seen the shaving of several minutes from schedules such that a time of about an hour for a start to stop GC-C transit becomes a challenging but real future possibility and that will deliver an average speed of greater than 100 mph between the two cities. Even today, that 100 mph average speed can be attained given suitable conditions for the 89.5 miles between Motherwell and Carlisle (M-C), so far only achieved twice in the author’s experience.
Electrification of the route in the early 1970s resulted in a quantum change reflected by significant journey time reductions and exemplified by a sub-5 hour schedule for the 401 miles between Glasgow and London (Euston). The initial ’Royal Scot’ of that new era (May 1974) completed the northbound journey in 4hrs 56mins behind class 87 locomotive No. 87018. Electrification was accompanied by much rebuilding of the line for faster running, raising the maximum overall speed limit over the ex-Caledonian main line from 75 mph to 90/100 mph, subsequently further elevated to 110 mph in the mid-1980s for short sections. Recent developments have seen continuing evolution, though arguably not as dramatic, with speeds up to 125 mph now sanctioned for Pendolino (and Voyager) units. Currently, about two thirds of the route are approved for Enhanced Permitted Speeds (EPS) between GC-C, ranging between 110 and 125 mph, facilitated by the capacity to tilt through the many curves. In contrast, 125 mph-enabled HST sets, fairly regularly diverted from the East Coast during autumn engineering work, do not exceed the 110 mph ceiling that remains in place for ‘conventional’ motive-power/trains, even over the ‘racing’ section between Wamphray and Lockerbie, the site of APT speed records of the early 1980s. Presumably this restraint, also applicable to former loco-hauled services, is a function of braking capacity as both forms of traction could/can well exceed that maximum.
On introduction, Pendolino sets were eight coach formations, subsequently strengthened to nine vehicles as standard; further extension may follow for some sets from 2011. The units were limited to conventional loco-hauled speeds in Scotland until the introduction of the 2006
Milepost 32 21 April 2011 timetable on 11 December 2005, when EPS and tilt mode was authorised for routine services north of the border, having been employed for some months previously in England. Further line improvements saw EPS up to 110 mph applied between south of Abington and Beattock Summit from September 2008.
All the trains featured in this article started or terminated at Glasgow, the author’s adopted home city, though recording may have commenced from/ceased at Motherwell. One of the features of the 2009/10 timetable has been/is the very limited number of Pendolino services that call at that latter city which is now served principally by local units, Voyager or East Coast trains, although this is also likely to change shortly.
Profile of the line - gradients and speed limits (Figure 1, below) In simplistic overview, in both directions topography dictates steep climbs of approximately 15 miles during the 50 mile ascent from sea-level to cross the southern uplands at Beattock Summit (1,016’). However, in practice, the north and south-bound profiles are rather different (see above).
Leaving GC, the initial level/gentle rise precedes 14 miles of steep climbing out of the Clyde basin to Craigenhill Summit, the gradients varying between 1 in 146 to 1 in 99. A brief respite of five miles of gentle descent follows to Carstairs before an almost continuous 20 miles of grind in the upper Clyde valley, paralleling the main body of the river to Beattock Summit, albeit on more moderate grades than those of Craigenhill bank. Crossing the watershed, the line falls for nearly 14 miles, following the valley of the river Annan, ten of which are severe gradients between 1 in 69 and 1 in 88, the notorious Beattock bank that challenged previous generations of motive power northbound. After Beattock village (milepost (MP) 39¾), gradients ease dramatically and topography is synclinal preceding a gentle rise to Castlemilk Summit (MP 22) with a further dip/rise before Kirkpatrick (MP 14½) as the line crosses, firstly, into the valley of the river Mein and, subsequently, the Kirtle. Thence it more or less falls gently throughout to Floriston onto the levels of the plain of the Solway Estuary on the approach to Carlisle.
Although there are inevitable specific exceptions, the line speed profile is, essentially, 90/110 mph throughout with recent upgrades through EPS up to 125 mph, (Tables A and B below). 90 mph begins within five miles, once clear of the inner Glasgow conurbation. It eases to 80 mph for the junctions and curves at Motherwell, rising briefly to 95 mph until the sharp curvature preceding Garriongill Junction (60 mph), where the route joins that was constructed by the former Caledonian Railway from Carlisle (distinct from lines acquired from other companies). Speeds of 95 mph are sanctioned thence to Craigenhill Summit followed by 100 mph until Carstairs curves (90 mph). Shortly thereafter the first EPS appears, ranging from 125/115/120 mph for approximately 11 miles until the lengthy ‘S’ shaped curves through Abington and Crawford which are restricted to 90 mph. Thereafter, 95 mph ensued to Beattock Summit but from September 2008 further EPS allows an easing to 110 mph from south of Abington to that Summit.
Descending Beattock, 90/95 mph is approved to Greskine where 100 mph, thence 125 mph, are sanctioned from approximately MP 43¾. Southbound, there is a frustrating, brief interruption to 100 mph for point work at Beattock village up loop whence 115 mph, then 125 mph ensues until just beyond Lockerbie. Northbound, 125 mph continues for approximately 17¾ miles from approaching Lockerbie and includes the lower part of the steepest grades of Beattock bank but eases approaching Greskine.
Milepost 32 22 April 2011
South of Lockerbie, speed limits are lightly restrained to 115/120 mph until Ecclefechan whence 125 mph continues for about eight miles until the curves at Quintinshill, the site of Britain’s worst railway accident in May 1915, prior to Gretna Junction where 125 mph is again sanctioned until the immediate approaches to Carlisle. Northbound, the speed profile is essentially similar albeit not identical, save for two principal sections, that aforementioned at Beattock village and north of Garriongill Junction where 105 mph is approved until Motherwell and also readily achieved by Pendolinos.
Milepost 32 23 April 2011 Table A: Speed and distance profile of the ex Table B: Speed and distance profile of the ex Caledonian main line: Glasgow Central to Carlisle Caledonian main line: Glasgow Central to Carlisle Speed Speed Dist- Limits Dist- Limits miles Location È MPH miles Location È MPH 0.00 Glasgow Central 0/20 0.00 Carlisle 0.56 Bridge Street Jn 25 8.73 Gretna Jn 125/95 1.26 Larkfield Jn-MP 101 30/75 10.16 Quintinshill s/b 95 3.95 Rutherglen E. Jn s/b 75 11.05 Quintinshill-SS 95 5.00 Cambuslang 80 13.00 Kirkpatrick Fb-MP 13 125/115 6.54 Newton 90 14.50 Brackenhill Sm-MP 14½ 115/125 8.44 Uddingston 90 15.75 Kirtlewater Vi-MP 15¾ 125/115 12.91 Motherwell 80 20.21 Ecclefechan-SS 115 14.61 Shieldmuir 90/105 22.00 Castlemilk Sm-MP 22 115 17.58 Garriongill Jn 60 25.84 Lockerbie 125 18.11 Law Jn-U/D main 90 28.64 Nethercleugh-SS 125 20.40 Carluke 100 34.44 Wamphray cross-over 125 24.00 Craigenhill Sm MP 78¼ 95 36.88 Murthat-SS 125 26.24 Lanark Jn 100 39.75 Beattock-MP 39¾ 125 28.72 Carstairs 90 47.00 Harthope-Vi-MP 47 90/95 # 29.13 Carstairs S. Jn s/b 90 49.78 Beattock Sm RR 90/110 # 33.84 Thankerton-MP 68½ 125 52.65 Elvanfoot-SS 90/110 55.73 Crawford-Clyde bdg 35.74 Symington u/b 125 90/110#/115# 39.10 Lamington-MP 63¼ 125/120 57.90 Abington RR 90 44.50 Abington RR 90 63.25 Lamington-MP 63¼ 115/125 90/110 66.66 Symington u/b 125 46.63 Crawford-Clyde bdg # 90/110 68.56 Thankerton-MP 68½ 125 49.75 Elvanfoot-SS # 52.62 Beattock Sm RR 90 73.27 Carstairs S. Jn s/b 90 55.39 Harthope-Vi-MP 47 95 73.68 Carstairs 90 62.64 Beattock-MP 39¾ 125/100 76.16 Lanark Jn 95/100 65.52 Murthat-SS 125 78.25 Craigenhill Sm-MP 78¼ 95 67.84 Wamphray cross-over 125 82.01 Carluke 100 73.72 Nethercleugh-SS 125 83.96 Law Jn-D-U main /70 76.57 Lockerbie 125 84.75 Garriongill Jn 60 80.41 Castlemilk Sm-MP 22 115 87.80 Shieldmuir 105 82.19 Ecclefechan-SS 115 89.50 Motherwell 80 86.79 Kirtlewater Vi-MP 15¾ 125 93.96 Uddingston 90 87.90 Brackenhill Sm-MP 14½ 125 95.86 Newton 90 89.39 Kirkpatrick Fb-MP 13 120 97.41 Cambuslang 80 91.35 Quintinshill-SS 95 98.46 Rutherglen E. Jn s/b 75 92.24 Quintinshill s/b 95 100.18 Larkfield Jn <30 93.68 Gretna Jn 95/125 101.84 Bridge Street Jn 20 102.40 Carlisle 125/<20 102.40 Glasgow Central 20/0
Notes to Tables 2/3/A: shading = permanent speed restriction where an enforced speed reduction will be required typically to <90mph, approaches to/exits Notes to Tables 1/3/A: shading = permanent speed from calling points excluded. Changes post restriction where an enforced speed reduction will be September 2008 between Beattock Summit and required typically to <90mph, approaches to/exits Crawford are indicated by # but the shading is from calling points excluded. Changes post retained herein. September 2008 between Crawford and Beattock Summit are indicated by # but the shading is retained herein.
Milepost 32 24 April 2011 Methodology All speeds are determined using stop-watches alone. The data collection points are closely based on the RPS recommendations though there are some marginal differences where the author was unclear of the precise timing point, such as staggered junctions. Larkfield Junction typically represents this difficulty as it extends for nearly ½ mile and MP 100¾ has disappeared. MP 101 remains extant close to where Muirhouse Larkfield curve diverges from the Upper Clydesdale curve just south east of Eglinton Street tunnel. Passing station times are determined as the mean point at the platform face, predominantly that present on the same – west/south - side as the mileposts, Carstairs is an exception. Speeds have been calculated from times at set points, primarily MPs.
The Data The data is presented as five sets in tabular form. Tables 1/x and 2/x are south and north- bound respectively. Tables 1/1, 1/2, 2/1 and 2/2 present an inventory of the logs recorded, subsets x/1 cover the whole route but x/2 that between Motherwell and Carlisle (M-C). Tables x/3 and x/4 present edited and shortened summarises of particular or projected runs. Few recordings were made before EPS and tilting was introduced, the majority featuring enhanced speeds. Tables A and B above summarise the speed profile for southbound and northbound trains respectively.
Table 1.1: Glasgow-Carlisle - Non stop GRT NRT EPS Date Set GRT NRT EPS 02/06/2008 23 67-03.9 66-15 y Date Set (M-S) (M-S) (y/n) 21/09/2004 50 77-18.0 72-15 n 26/06/2008 40 72-03.8 66-45 y 30/09/2004 37 76-11.9 70 n 09/07/2008 38 67-57.6 67-15 y 18/01/2005 40 71-57.7 69-30 n 11/09/2008 38 69-48.2 65-45 y 08/02/2005 22 78-45.3 70-15 n 15/10/2008 1 65-35.5 65-30 y 10/06/2005 44 74-13.7 68-45 n 03/11/2008 32 70-53.0 66-30 y 03/09/2005 38 70-45.4 67-15 n 19/11/2008 31 69-36.5 65-30 y 09/10/2005 20 74-08.4 70-45 n 28/11/2008 14 71-17.6 67 y
23/12/2005 40 78-43.9 68-15 y 23/12/2008 22 65-22.0 64-45 y 06/04/2006 42 69-01.6 66 y 17/03/2009 29 70-04.3 64-45 y 13/04/2006 43 70-18.3 67-15 y 06/06/2009 51 66-05.7 66 y 05/07/2006 10 78-09.0 66-15 y 23/06/2009 19 67-55.6 66-15 y 02/09/2006 39 71-07.5 69 y 15/07/2009 40 65-44.7 65-30 y
22/09/06 47 63-11 63-11 y 24/10/2009 37 71-02.6 67 y 1 28/11/2006 14 66-45.4 66-15 y 17/12/2009 38 71-43.8 68-15 y 01/01/2007 11 67-37.7 67-30 y 31/08/2007 49 66-32.1 65-45 y Notes to Tables 1.1 and 1.2: EPS = Enhanced Permitted 10/10/2007 23 67-54.0 65-45 y Speeds – up to 125mph; GRT/NRT = Gross/Net Running 16/11/2007 48 68-20.0 66-45 y Times, NRTs are actual or adjusted to nearest 15 secs for out of course delays; M = mins, S = secs; y/n = yes/no. All sets 9 27/11/2007 28 74-25.4 67 y coaches unless suffixed as (8c)(8 coaches). 1 = Virgin’s 22/12/2007 25 70-08.5 66 y Heavens Angels successful Glasgow Central to Euston record attempt, times for which are start to pass. 20/03/2008 53 70-00.9 66-15 y 25/04/2008 19 85-47.5 66 y Emboldened entries return GRTs of <70 mins or <60 mins for Tables – 1.1 or 1.2 respectively, fastest in Arial Black e.g. 63-11.
Pre EPS/tilt performances With a limited number of non-tilt runs, comparisons with the previous loco-hauled services cannot be definitive although higher rates of acceleration and deceleration consistent with
Milepost 32 25 April 2011 technological and enhanced power capacities could be discerned. Thus, of 13 runs between GC-C, only one achieved a gross running time (GRT) of less than 70 minutes and that barely, (Tables 1/1 and 2/1). Between M-C, of seven journeys, a fastest time of 57m 10s was achieved and, in all, only three bettered the sub 60 minutes barrier, (Tables 1/2 and 2/2). Interestingly the fastest of the latter, does beat the best loco-hauled performance but it should be noted that for the reciprocal northbound journey the fastest loco-hauled transit was not bettered, (Table 1/5).
Table 1.2 Mothwerwell-Carlisle Non Stop GRT NRT EPS Date Set (M-S) (M-S) (y/n) 03 57-09.6 57-15 n 02/10/2004 (8c) 29 58-07.7 57-15 n 08/11/2004 (8c) 17 60-26.1 60 n 23/12/2004 Notes to Tables 1.1 and 1.2: EPS = Enhanced Permitted 4 60-12.0 57-15 n Speeds – up to 125mph; GRT/NRT = Gross/Net Running Times, 26/06/2005 NRTs are actual or adjusted to nearest 15 secs for out of course 41 59-13.9 52-30 y delays; M = mins, S = secs; y/n = yes/no. All sets 9 coaches 24/06/2006 unless suffixed as (8c)(8 coaches). 1 = Virgin’s Heavens Angels 45 58-50.3 55 y 05/12/2006 successful Glasgow Central to Euston record attempt, times for 4 57-19.1 54 y which are start to pass. 09/12/2006 24 60-25.3 54-15 y 07/11/2007 24 60-59.6 52-15 y 22/09/2008 44 58-00.0 58-00 y 25/10/2008 6 67-01.4 53-30 y 12/02/2009 Emboldened entries return GRTs of <70 mins or <60 mins for Tables – 11/07/2009 36 53-09.6 53 y 1.1 or 1.2 respectively, fastest in Arial Black e.g. 63‐11. 45 54-50.2 53-15 y 15/08/2009 38 54-15.8 53-15 y 31/10/2009 32 54-03.6 54 y 27/11/2009
Table 2.1 Carlisle-Glasgow - Non stop GRT NRT EPS GRT NRT EPS Date Set (M-S) (M-S) (y/n) Date Set (M-S) (M-S) (y/n) 02/10/2004 33 69-54.5 68 n 22/12/2007 39 68-12.7 65-15 y 09/11/2004 23 86- 68 n 29/12/2007 32 69-33.9 66-30 y 53.1 1 06/06/2005 4 84-34.9 71-30 n 20/03/2008 34 68-01.6 66-30 y 03/07/2005 18 81-59.9 69-30 n 02/06/2008 5 72-11.6 68-15 y 03/09/2005 15 79-57.1 71-30 n 11/09/2008 53 74-20.5 67 y
23/12/2005 16 66-11.5 66-11.5 y 22/09/2008 28 77-07.9 65-45 y 07/03/2006 26 75-16.0 69-45 n 05/11/2008 37 75-23.7 66-45 y 13/04/2006 52 77-04.1 68-15 y 12/02/2009 38 74-11.2 65-30 y 24/06/2006 23 73-02.8 67 y 06/06/2009 21 71-29.4 65-30 y 05/07/2006 52 68-00.0 68 y 11/07/2009 46 78-31.6 66-15 y 02/09/2006 47 78-53.6 66-45 y 15/07/2009 11 72-23.8 66-45 y 2 01/01/2007 48 68-17.9 68-17.9 y 31/10/2009 30 68-35.2 66 y 02/09/2007 41 67-53.4 67 y 17/12/2009 44 75-46.8 65-30 y 12/10/2007 35 70-31.0 67-30 y 01/01/2010 5 66-22.9 66-22.9 y
Milepost 32 26 April 2011
Table 2.2 Carlisle-Motherwell – Non stop Notes to Tables 2.1 and 2.2: EPS = Enhanced Permitted Speeds – up to GRT NRT EPS 125mph; GRT/NRT = Gross/Net Running Times, NRTs are actual or Date Set (M-S) (M-S) (y/n) adjusted to nearest 15 secs for out of 09/10/2004 33 57-35.0 56-45 n course delays; 1 2 23/12/2004 10 61-00.6 59-30 n = via Holytown; = train was non- (8c) stop Preston to Glasgow Central, GRT 01/06/2005 21 73-01.6 58-45 n uses passing time at Carlisle. All sets 9 coaches unless suffixed as (8c)(8 07/06/2006 52 63-10.7 55-30 y coaches). Emboldened entries return GRTs of <70 mins or <60 mins for 09/12/2006 23 53-47.6 53-47.6 y Tables – 2.1 or 2.2 respectively, 13/05/2008 19 58-24.2 54-30 y fastest in Arial Black e.g. 63-11.
Post EPS/tilt performances Reviewing the EPS/tilt times, there is a clear trend for travel times to be less than 70 minutes southbound, with a typical public schedule of 66 minutes in 2010 for the GC-C journey, (Table 1/1). Thus 16 of 30 journeys covered the 102.4 miles in less than 70 minutes including the ‘Heaven’s Angels’ special record with a GC-C start to pass time of 63m 11s, currently the author’s fastest transit between the two cities by a notable margin. The fastest start to stop time recorded is 65m 22s. Reviewing the Net Running Times (NRTs) computed by reference to unrestricted runs, most lie 1½ minutes either side of 66 minutes. The post- September 2008 runs hint at further slight journey time reductions and are discussed later.
Northbound, 9 of 22 runs return a sub-70 minutes time, the fastest recorded being 66m 11½s and collated very early after EPS/tilt became available for public access, (Table 2/1). Again most of the net times also fall 1½ minutes either side of 66 minutes but there is a tendency to be slower than southbound; the post-September 2008 runs again hint at further time savings.
Tables 1/2 and 2/2 are included for completeness with far fewer journeys having been made starting, stopping or concluding at Motherwell. The fastest transits of 53m 10s and 53m 47½s south and north-bound respectively both return average start to stop speeds in excess of 100 mph. A further southbound journey completed very recently was less than 10 minutes slower than the fastest so far, despite some very gentle checks, thus confirming earlier performances.
One particularly disappointing feature of the performances described herein is the failure of northbound services to gain a restriction free run, many having been particularly badly affected by out of course delays approaching Carstairs and north thereof. For the C-GC logs for instance, very few broke the sub 70 minutes barrier (Table 2/1). Whilst recognising that the typical public timetable allowance for a non-stop run in 2010 is considerably more than that, (74 minutes), it clearly includes much pathing, recovery or performance allowance and compares poorly with the southbound equivalent at 66 minutes. In practice, services can take an inordinate amount of time for that final (or first) 30 miles. (How long is a piece of string?). The issue is further discussed at relevant sections throughout this chapter.
Tables 1/3/1 and 1/3/2 and 2/3/1 and 2/3/2 present in more detail selected examples of the fastest of the recorded journeys. As intimated, the Heaven’s Angels special shows a clear lead over all logs and was noticeable by the more pro-active driving technique though without any hint of excess. Interestingly and as to be expected, the September 2008 improvements do facilitate faster transits between Abington and Beattock Summit compared to that special.
Milepost 32 27 April 2011
Table 1/3/1: Pendolino performance on the Glasgow to Central line - running times 22/09/06; Log details: set 047, Heaven’s Angels 28/11/06; set 014 31/08/07; set 049 Dist- Sch Times Sch Times Sch Times miles Location â (M) (M-S) MPH (M) (M-S) MPH (M) (M-S) MPH 0.00 Glasgow Central d 0 0-00 0 0-00 0 0-00 0.56 Bridge Street Jn 1-16 1-56 2-10 1.26 Larkfield Jn-MP 101 2-40 3-42 100½ 4-47 3.95 Rutherglen E. Jn s/b 6 4-57 76 6-20 73 6-40 5.00 Cambuslang 5-46½ 82 7-10½ 79 7-27½ 6.54 Newton 8 6-54 83 8-21 79 8-37½ 8.44 Uddingston 8-07½ 93 10-55 Sigs 9-52½ 89 99/76/ 12.91 Motherwell 12½ 11-04 90 13-09 93/75/87 12-53 90/85 14.61 Shieldmuir 12-15 96 14-21½ 92 14-04½ 93 17.58 Garriongill Jn 14-25 16-42 16-17 18.11 Law Jn-U/D main 16½ 15-06 17-20 16-55 PWS 20.40 Carluke 16-51 95 18-54½ 94 19-17½ 24.00 Craigenhill Sm MP 78¼ 19-09 97 21-15 95 21-45 94 26.24 Lanark Jn 21½ 20-28 102 22-35 101 23-05 100 28.72 Carstairs 23 21-58½ 93 24-09 92/85 24-36½ 95/90 29.13 Carstairs S. Jn s/b 23½ 22-15 93 24-27 92/85 24-55 95/90 33.84 Thankerton-MP68½ 24-49 125 27-08 122 27-31 123 35.74 Symington u/b 25-44 125 28-04 124 28-27 123 39.10 Lamington-MP 63¼ 27-19 124 29-42 122/119 30-05 122/119 44.50 Abington RR 31½ 30-20 91 32-47 89 33-07 87 46.63 Crawford-Clyde bdg 31-43 92 34-13 89 34-36 89 49.75 Elvanfoot-SS 33-46 91 36-19 90 36-43 90 52.62 Beattock Sm RR 37 35-36 88 38-11 90 38-35 89 55.39 Harthope-Vi-MP 47 37-23 93/95 40-02 92/94 40-26 91 62.64 Beattock-MP 39¾ 42½ 41-27 126/103/108 44-12 123/110/109 44-34 100 65.52 Murthat-SS 42-55 125 45-41 125 46-05 117 67.84 Wamphray cross-over 44-05 126 46-52 123 47-18 124 73.72 Nethercleugh-SS 46-50 125 49-40 12 50-03 125 76.57 Lockerbie 49½ 48-09½ 125 51-02 124 51-24½ 124 80.41 Castlemilk Sm-MP 22 50-06 110/116 53-01 115 53-23½ 114 82.19 Ecclefechan-SS 51-02 118 53-57 118 54-20 118 86.79 Kirtlewater Vi-MP 15¾ 53-09 126 56-09 126 56-30 125 87.90 Brackenhill Sm-MP 14½ 53-45 126 56-45 123 e 57-06 125 89.39 Kirkpatrick Fb-MP 13 56 54-27½ 128 57-28 125 57-49 125 91.35 Quintinshill-SS 55-24 58-27 109 58-47 92.24 Quintinshill s/b 55-58 59-00 97 59-20 93.68 Gretna Jn 59 56-49 99 59-52 97 60-11 100 102.4 65 63-11 p 124/30 68 66-45.6 122/0 68 66-32.1 126/0 0 Carlisle a p p NRT 63¼ 66¼ 65¾
Milepost 32 28 April 2011 Log details: 15/10/08; set 001 23/12/08; set 022 15/07/09; set 040 Dist- Sch Times Sch Times Sch Times miles Location â (M) (M-S) MPH (M) (M-S) MPH (M) (M-S) MPH 0.00 Glasgow Central d 0 0-00 0 0-00 0 0-00 0.56 Bridge Street Jn 1-55 1-46 1.26 Larkfield Jn-MP 101 100½ 4-22 3-37 3.95 Rutherglen E. Jn s/b 6-36 dark 6-25 ? c 6-16 5.00 Cambuslang 7-25 7-14½ 7-04 6.54 Newton 8-34½ 8-24½ 85 8-14 87 8.44 Uddingston 9-49 9-39½ 88 9-29 90 12.91 Motherwell 13-Feb 12-41½ 80 12-51 Sigs 14.61 Shieldmuir 14-13½ ?Sigs 13-51½ 94 14-05½ 71 17.58 Garriongill Jn 16-27 16-06 16-27 90 18.11 Law Jn-U/D main 17-05 16-34 17-02 20.40 Carluke 18-39½ dark 18-17 92 18-38 89 24.00 Craigenhill Sm MP 78¼ 20-57 20-38 95/96 21-07 93 26.24 Lanark Jn 22-16 21-57 100 22-27 100 28.72 Carstairs 23-48½ 23-28½ PWS 24-00 89 29.13 Carstairs S. Jn s/b 24-07 23-53 PWS 24-18 89 33.84 Thankerton-MP 68½ 26-43 123 27-02 120 26-54 125 35.74 Symington u/b 27-38 dark 27-54 123 27-50 122 39.10 Lamington-MP 63¼ 29-17 29-35 122 29-30 119 44.50 Abington RR 32-19 90 32-39 93 32-42 86 46.63 Crawford-Clyde bdg 33-37 92 33-56 106 34-01 107 49.75 Elvanfoot-SS 35-20 110 35-38 110 35-43 111 52.62 Beattock Sm RR 37-01 97/89 37-21 88 36-17 89 55.39 Harthope-Vi-MP 47 38-51 95 39-11 94 39-18 94/96 109/ 62.64 Beattock-MP 39¾ 43-08 101 43-21 112/100 43-25 102 65.52 Murthat-SS 44-39 122 44-50 122 44-56 119 67.84 Wamphray cross-over 45-51 124 e 46-01 123 46-09 123 73.72 Nethercleugh-SS 48-38 122 48-50 123 48-56 124 76.57 Lockerbie 50-02 125½ 50-11 123 50-16½ 118 80.41 Castlemilk Sm-MP 22 51-57 114 52-10 114 52-17 115 82.19 Ecclefechan-SS 52-54 114 53-06 117 53-12½ 117 86.79 Kirtlewater Vi-MP 15¾ 55-13 117 55-15 124 55-24 124 87.90 Brackenhill Sm-MP 14½ e 55-51 116 e 55-52 124 55-59½ 124 89.39 Kirkpatrick Fb-MP 13 56-36½ 121 56-35 125 56-43 122 91.35 Quintinshill-SS 57-36½ 57-33 57-47 92.24 Quintinshill s/b 58-09 58-05 58-20 93.68 Gretna Jn 59-00 /120 58-55 106 59-11 101/124 102.40 Carlisle a 69 65-35.5 126/0 66 65-22.0 125/0 66 65-44.7 NRT 65½ 64¾ 65½
Milepost 32 29 April 2011 Table – 1/3/2: Pendolino performances on the Motherwell-Carlisle route Log details: 9/12/06; set 004 11/07/09; set 036 Dist- Sch Times Sch Times miles Location â (M) (M-S) MPH (M) (M-S) MPH 0.00 Motherwell d 0 0-00 0 0-00 1.70 Shieldmuir 2-13 2-14 4.67 Garriongill Jn 4-33 89/60 4-28 92/60 5.20 Law Jn-U/D main 5-11 5-06 7.49 Carluke 6-45½ 92 6-39 95 11.09 Craigenhill Sm MP 78¼ 9-08 95 8-58 96/95 13.33 Lanark Jn 10-28 100 10-18 102 15.81 Carstairs 12-01 99/89 11-49 90 16.22 Carstairs S. Jn s/b 12-19 99/89 12-07 90 20.93 Thankerton-MP 68½ 15-52 113/118 14-42½ 123 22.83 Symington u/b 16-49 122 15-38 124 26.19 Lamington-MP 63¼ 18-27 123/118 17-15 123 31.59 Abington RR 21-32 88 20-19 92 33.72 Crawford-Clyde bdg 22-59 88 21-36 106 36.84 Elvanfoot-SS 25-06½ 90 23-18 112 39.71 Beattock Sm RR 26-59 91 25-01 85 42.48 Harthope-Vi-MP 47 28-50 90 26-50 95 115/101/ 49.73 Beattock-MP 39¾ 32-58 123/105 30-57 112 52.61 Murthat-SS 34-27 123 32-26½ 123 54.93 Wamphray cross-over 35-40 123 33-38 124 60.81 Nethercleugh-SS 38-27 124 36-25 123 63.66 Lockerbie 39-48 124/119 37-46 125 67.50 Castlemilk Sm-MP 22 41-48 116 39-45 114 69.28 Ecclefechan-SS 42-44 115 40-41 117 73.88 Kirtlewater Vi-MP 15¾ 44-54 123 42-50 125 74.99 Brackenhill Sm-MP 14½ 45-39½ 126/105 43-27 124 76.48 Kirkpatrick Fb-MP 13 46-26½ 124 44-10 78.44 Quintinshill-SS 47-27½ 124/99 45-08 79.33 Quintinshill s/b 48-01 95 45-40 80.77 Gretna Jn MP 8¾ 48-53 97 46-30 --/125 89.49 Carlisle a 65 57-19.1 122/0/?sigs 53 53-09.6 NRT 54 53¼
Notes to Tables 1/3/1 and 1/3/2: shading = permanent speed restriction where an enforced speed reduction will be required, approaches to/exits from calling points excluded; a/d = arrive/departure times respectively others are passing times; c = check for inapparent reason; Dist-miles = distance in miles; e = estimated time; Fb = footbridge; MP = milepost; p = passing times; PWS = permanent way slowing – line repairs; RR = Relay Room or equivalent; s/b = signboard; Sch = schedule as per public timetable; Sigs = Signal check; Sm = summit; SS = Substation/Traction Supply Centre; U/D main = pointwork from Up to Down main line; Vi = viaduct; ? = query
On examining the southbound runs in Table 1/3/1 but excluding the Heaven’s Angels special, the five GC to Carlisle runs all return GRTs of between 66m 45½s and 65m 22s and, as to be expected, close consistency. In some cases, marginal out of course delays were experienced/suspected and NRTs fall between 66¼ and 64¾ minutes. Table1/3/2 features the M-C section and here the most recent run was the most exciting with an unchecked 53m 10s for the 89.5 miles, equivalent to an average speed of 101 mph, the fastest such recording herein.
Of note the September 2008 enhancements enabled a saving of about 45 seconds between Abington and Beattock Summit which accounts for most of the difference compared to other logs presented in this section. To be continued
Milepost 32 30 April 2011 Class 378- Over-specified in the maximum speed department – did they mean 75kph?
David Ashley
The Class 378, built by Bombardier and recently introduced to the services of London Overground has certainly given customers a much improved level of comfort than they were used to.
Perhaps the most notable features of the units are the longitudinal seating throughout, and the full-width gangways, which project the appearance and ambience of a bendy-bus. However, they were built as three or four car units without end-gangways, so it is not possible to walk the full length of the complete train when units are coupled together.
The recently-introduced S stock on the Metropolitan line has similar features, but with full- width gangways throughout the eight car trains, and also including 2+2 seating. The downside is that they are unable to supply a ‘half-train’ that can fit into the bay at Chalfont & Latimer for the Chesham branch. Consequently, half the fast Amersham services have been diverted to provide a through service to Chesham.
The Class 378s are mainly used on the DC lines from Euston to Watford Junction, the North London line from Stratford to Richmond and the East London Line extension from Dalston Junction to West Croydon. During the summer of 2010 I sampled some of these services following their introduction.
What is surprising about LOL’s routes is the number of their stations, and the short distances between them:
stations miles time avge speed stations/ mile NLL Stratford-Richmond 23 18 63 17 1.3 Direct Euston-Watford J 19 17 47 22 1.1 ELL EXT 1 Dalston J-W Croydon 19 17 50 20 1.1
It is not, perhaps, surprising that maximum speeds, with stations less than a mile apart, are less than 50mph. Equally, there is no incentive to raise speed limits and line speeds on both the North London line and Watford services, which are no more than 50mph and frequently less. The limits beyond New Cross are 60mph in places but, with closely-spaced stations, there is little opportunity to exploit them.
Due to station spacing, the log presentation is slightly different: there are no timing points between stations, and the maximum speed represents the maximum speed between the timing point on this row and the next. The mileage reflects the distance between stops.
The first log shows a journey from Euston, which started normally, but the train came to a halt shortly after departure from Kilburn High Road, which necessitated a jog by the driver along the length of the train to the rear cab, and an equally energetic run back. Onward progress was uneventful, but the driver was unable to recover the lost time. A log is also shown of a Bakerloo line train that shares the same tracks between Queens Park and
Milepost 32 31 April 2011 Harrow. It can see that there is a slight advantage with higher maximum speeds and faster start-stop times with the Class 378 units. However, with the mandatory individual door- EUSTON-HARROW Date/day 7-Aug-10 7-Aug-10 Train 1537 Euston-Watford J 1644 Elephant & Castle-Harrow Motive Power 378238 3564 - Bakerloo line stock Load (tons) 8 7 Rec/Pos/GPS? D Ashley 1/4 Y D Ashley 1/7 Y Miles M C location m s max mph ave Sch m s max mph ave 0.00 0 04 EUSTON 0 00 T 46 2.36 2 33 S Hampstead 5 09 41 27.5 0.63 3 03 Kilburn High Rd 1 24 sig st 3m/41 26.8 0.61 3 52 Queens Park 4 49 46 7.6 38 0.89 4 43 Kensal Green 1 44 33 30.7 2 20 38 22.8 0.93 5 37 Willesden j 2 04 42 26.9 2 05 42 26.6 0.64 6 08 Harlesden 1 26 46 26.7 1 21 45 28.3 0.95 7 04 Stonebridge Pk 1 47 40 32.0 1 52 36 30.5 1.03 8 06 Wembley Cent 2 06 46 29.3 2 13 41 27.7 0.80 8 70 N Wembley 1 35 42 30.3 1 39 36 29.1 0.57 9 36 S Kenton 1 16 46 27.2 1 22 42 25.2 0.85 10 24 Kenton 1 43 45 29.7 1 46 38 28.9 1.09 11 31 HARROW 1 55 5L 34.0 2 09 30.3 closing of terminating tube trains, any further acceleration would probably result in a Class 378 being held outside Harrow whilst the door-closing ceremony was completed on the tube train ahead of it.
WEST HAMPSTEAD-DALSTON Date/day 17-Aug-10 Train 1411 Richmond-Stratford Motive Power 378003 Load (tons) 3 Rec/Pos/GPS? D Ashley 1/3 Y Miles M C location m s max mph ave WEST HAMPSTEAD 3L 2 43 Finchley Rd & Frognal 0.84 1 56 Hampstead Heath 2 01 42 24.9 0.64 1 05 Gospel Oak 1 45 45 21.9 0.64 0 34 Kentish Town W 1 28 23 26.1 0.60 4 76 Camden Rd 1 48 41 20.0 1.04 3 73 Caledonian Rd 2 32 35 24.6 0.51 3 32 Highbury & Islington 1 11 41 26.0 0.55 2 68 Canonbury 1 13 39 27.1 0.71 2 11 DALSTON Kingsland 1 22 3L 31.3
Next, we move to the North London line between West Hampstead and Dalston Kingsland. Once again, speeds up to the mid-40mphs were recorded, but no more. The line resembled
Milepost 32 32 April 2011 a building site with a number of platforms being extended to accept longer trains. This culminated with fitters working on the staircase at Dalston Kingsland. One suspected that
DALSTON J - WEST CROYDON Date/day 17-Aug-10 Train 1510 Dalston J- W Croydon Motive Power 378151 Load (tons) 4 Rec/Pos/GPS? D Ashley 1/3 Y Miles M C location m s max mph ave DALSTON J 0 00 32 T 0.25 0 20 Haggerston 1 13 41 12.3 0.91 1 13 Hoxton 1 13 39 45.0 0.73 1 71 Shoreditch High St 1 48 39 24.2 0.73 2 49 Whitechapel 1 38 26.6 0.61 3 18 Shadwell 1 27 25.3 0.49 3 57 Wapping 1 19 22.2 0.33 4 03 Rotherhithe 1 07 17.5 Canada Water 0 57 4 46 Surrey Quays 1 10 41 1.26 5 67 New Cross Gate 2 56 36 25.8 0.80 3 54 Brockley 1 47 40 26.9 1.08 4 60 Honor Oak Park 2 20 40 27.6 0.81 5 45 Forest Hill 1 54 43 25.7 0.84 6 32 Sydenham 1 47 49 28.2 0.79 7 15 Penge W 1 27 29 32.6 0.39 7 46 Anerley 1 16 35 18.4 1.10 8 54 Norwood J 2 28 37/st 40s/30 26.8 1.84 10 41 WEST CROYDON 6 28 4E 17.0 the electric drill left on the stairs when fifty passengers rushed for the exit would be exhibit A at a future court case – either when somebody nicked it, or when a passenger tripped over it!
The short walk to Dalston Junction also resembled walking through a building site, but work at there seems to have been completed. Speeds up to 40mph were recorded up to Whitechapel, after which the train entered tunnels and remained underground until Surrey Quays. Out of the tunnels, speeds rose to the heady heights of 49mph beyond Sydenham. In spite of a signal stop beyond Norwood Junction, West Croydon was reached 4 minutes early.
Whilst not a race track, the lines are certainly worth a visit, if only to sample the rolling stock on the line, which is a step change from what preceded it.
Milepost 32 33 April 2011 TO UCKFIELD
Andrew James
In this article I will explore the performance of first generation diesels on the line to Uckfield, dealing in the main with the sections to and from London Bridge.
No. 10800
Previously, brief mention was made of the North British Type 1 No. 10800 which was rated at 827 hp. This locomotive weighed 69 tons in working order, had a maximum rail horsepower of 620 hp and was envisaged for use in trip working and light passenger duties on the former London Midland Region. The Uckfield line has steep gradients south of East Croydon with stretches of 1 in 100 to Oxted and 1 in 75-80 on either side of Crowborough, which must have tested the locomotive’s somewhat limited capabilities to the limit, particularly when the load exceeded five coaches or about 160 tons tare on the drawbar.
In Table 1 is the only log I know of that Table 1 exists of the loco during its tenure on Date Unknown the line and was timed by the late Train 15.52 Victoria-Brighton Norman Harvey, who many older Motive Power 10800 NB Type 1 readers of Milepost will recall wrote Load 6/192/200(est) articles for the former Railway World entitled ‘Locomotive Causerie’. The log Recorder N.Harvey originally appeared in the April 1959 M C sch m s m.p.h a.s issue of that magazine, but since I 10 27 East Croydon 0 00 suspect not many readers have a copy 11 20 South Croydon 2 20 23.5 in their possession it is reproduced 12 21 Sanderstead 4 26 28.9 herewith. Performance, as one would expect, was fairly modest and the 13 38 Riddlesdown 6 50 30.3 15.52 was a severe test of No. 10800’s 15 32 Upper Warlingham 10 22 32.7 capabilities. Unfortunately Mr Harvey 17 11 Woldingham 13 09 37.5 took very few point speeds and in the 19 38 Lime Sidings 16 20 44.1 main only calculated log averages, but 20 25 Oxted 16 17 31 42.5 we can make a rough assessment about No. 10800’s capabilities in terms 20 25 0 00 of power output. From Sanderstead to 21 35 Hurst Green Jct 2 18 29.3 Riddlesdown the line is almost all on a 23 25 Monks Lane 4 37 65 48.6 steady inclination of 1 in 100 and here 25 47 Edenbridge Town 8 7 29 47.6 No. 10800 was sustaining about 560 25 47 0 00 edhp, assuming a sustained speed of 30 mph with this load. The steam 27 28 Hever 3 26 30.8 contemporary which was its nearest 29 26 Cowden 6 44 42 35.9 rival in terms of power output and 32 08 Ashurst 9 30 62 60.2 which ran over the line on an 33 62 Ashurst Junction 11 20 54.8 occasional basis from the capital, was 34 36 Birchden Junction 13 00 24.3 the Ivatt class 2, 2-6-2 tanks, but, 35 52 Eridge 14 14 36 45.0 unfortunately, I have not been able to trace any runs behind these engines to offer a comparison. The table quite clearly underlines that No. 10800 was not quite fully up to the task in hand and the train should have, perhaps, been allocated a more powerful engine, but it does underline the quite exacting nature of the schedules north of Oxted during the steam era. One should not assume that lines of this nature provided a sinecure for former express types
Milepost 32 34 April 2011 or, indeed, purpose-built engines of modest power capabilities such as the Standard class 4 tanks.
Dieselisation
Dieselisation of the Oxted line began in earnest in June 1962 after trials took place on the route during January 1960 utilising an earlier ‘Hampshire’ unit, latterly classified as a 205 under the TOPS scheme. The introduction of these units in Hampshire during 1957 had led to an upsurge in passenger numbers and in 1959 the then British Transport Commission authorised dieselisation of the Oxted line service. Dieselisation of the line was fairly rapid and by the autumn of 1963 steam had virtually ceased to operate on it.
The units that entered service on this line were specially-dedicated and referred to in the official literature of the period as “East Sussex Units”, of which 19 were built. They were better known as ‘Oxted units’ and, like their Standard tank predecessors, were built to fit through the confined clearances of Somerhill tunnel between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge. They had identical power units to their Hampshire/Berkshire counterparts, rated at 600hp, but aesthetically looked quite different being slightly more rounded at the front end and, in the author’s opinion, having a more pleasing profile to the eye.
They were built as three-car formations and weighed 118 tons in working order, slightly less than their earlier ‘Hampshire’ brethren. Performance-wise, in my, albeit limited, experience of them, they seemed to have slight edge over the Hampshire units, the reason for which I am not entirely sure, given their identical power units. Possibly it was due to their front end being more aerodynamically shaped and the body shells being narrower than the Hampshire units.
According to the tractive effort graph published from which the rail horsepower can be computed, the ‘Oxted’ units could develop a maximum rail horsepower of about 460-470 hp in the 20-55 mph speed range, after which there was a discernable drop in power until, by the time they reached their maximum service speed of 75 mph, they only developed a maximum of 300-310 rail horsepower. The graph also predicts a balancing speed of 44 mph on a 1 in 100 gradient and 67 mph on level track.
Shortly after the introduction of the DEMU’s, the-then BRCW Type 3s entered service on the Uckfield line. They were better known in latter years as ‘Cromptons’ or Class 33s under the TOPS scheme and survived on the line until 1984. One problem was that these locomotives had electric train heating only but, unfortunately, the-then Southern region did not have much compatible coaching stock leading to the drastic expedient of using life-expired EMU stock from former 4-COR and 2-BIL units, amongst others, with their traction motors removed. When viewed from the rear they must have presented an almost surreal sight to the observer on the non-electrified area from Sanderstead onwards.
The last diesel traction to appear on the line during the mid ‘sixties were some transferred Hampshire/Berkshire units which, like the Oxted units, survived in use on this line until their eventual demise in 2004.
Down logs
Comparing schedules between London Bridge and Uckfield and vice-versa in comparison with the ‘steam era’ is somewhat difficult due to the differing stopping patterns in use in these periods. Modest acceleration of services occurred with time savings of about 5-8 minutes over the steam traction the diesels replaced.
We start at London Bridge to review running on the line. Perhaps the two principal points of
Milepost 32 35 April 2011 interest from here to East Croydon are the gradient of 1 in 100, or virtually that, which occurs between New Cross Gate and Forest Hill and the subsequent recovery to Norwood Junction. Table 2 underlines typical ultra-competent class 33 running of which these modestly powered locos were capable, and Table 3 shows Class 205 DEMU performance. ‘ Table 2 Run Run 1 Run 2 Date 16.7.1980 15.9.1977 Train 1719 LB-Uckfield 1703 LB-Uckfield Motive Power 33054 33049 Load 8/268/288 8/268/288 Recorder B.Price B.Price M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 0 03 London Bridge 0 00 0 00 2 74 New Cross Gate 4 10 52 42.1 4 27 47 39.4 3 54 Brockley 4 56 57 58.7 5 14 60 57.4 4 62 Honor Oak Park 6 05 53 57.4 6 24 52 56.6 5 45 Forest Hill 7 03 53 48.9 7 23 52 48.1 6 33 Sydenham 8 00 52 53.7 8 22 52 51.9 7 15 Penge West 8 39 63 71.5 9 02 50 69.8 7 46 Anerley 9 02 67 60.7 9 25 60 60.7 8 53 Norwood Junction 10 04 63 63.1 10 30 66 60.2 10 27 East Croydon 17 12 28 12 55 55 . Table 3 Run Run 3 Run 4 Date 2.7.2003 23.6.2003 Train 17.10 LB-Uckfield 17.10 LB-Uckfield Motive Power 205032/207019 205018/205032 Load 5/208/225 6/240/255 Recorder A.James M C sch m s m.p.h. a s m s m.p.h. a s 0 03 London Bridge 0 00 sigs 0 00 2 74 New Cross Gate 5 20 54 32.9 4 48 53 36.6 3 54 Brockley 6 09.5 53 54.3 5 38 53 54.0 4 62 Honor Oak Park 7 27 49/52 51.3 6 58 47 49.5 5 45 Forest Hill 8 22 50 51.5 7 57.5 47 47.6 6 33 Sydenham 9 20 59 52.8 8 58 56 50.6 7 15 Penge West 10 06.5 60 60.0 9 46 58 58.1 7 46 Anerley 10 29 63 62.0 10 10.5 58 56.9 8 53 Norwood Junction 11 32.5 62 61.7 11 16.5 60 58.9 10 27 East Croydon 17 14 02 13 49
In Table 2, Mr Price, like me, had to revise his speed estimation figures, no doubt due to the number of milepost irregularities in the area, particularly between New Cross Gate and Forest Hill, which makes speed estimation on this section a somewhat onerous occupation. He may also have used different timing points to me which explains the anomalies between
Milepost 32 36 April 2011 point and average speeds. As can be seen from the four runs in Tables 2 and 3, a Class 33 on eight coaches was more than a match for a Class 205 ‘Thumper’, despite having a lower power:weight ratio. This was, no doubt, due to the higher gearing of the Class 33s which was shown to advantage after Forest Hill.
Table 4 Run Run 1 Run 2 Date 30.6.1983 12 .1. 1985 Train East Grinstead Railtour Motive Power 33 045 33106/33110 Load 263/285 292/310 2*4TC M C sch m s m.p.h. a s m s m.p.h. a s 10 27 East Croydon 0 00 0 00
12 23 Sanderstead 3 48 37 34.6 4 32 53 36.6 13 32 Riddlesdown 5 25.5 42/40 41.1 6 17 sig stop 38.1 15 32 Upper Warlingham 8 02.5 54 43.1 13 09 63 15.3 17 13 Woldingham 9 59 50 tsr 54.5 14 48 65 64.1 20 25 Oxted 15 14 17 44 18 44 48.1
In Table 4, I have had to cheat slightly and use a Class 33 on a service to East Grinstead to display the work of a Crompton on a typical Oxted line load. Unusually, the Crompton was slightly below par, but still performed adequately on the ascent to Woldingham.
Run 2, in Table 4 features a railtour over this route behind a pair of Class 33s. When they were given the opportunity, the duo performed well and such speeds at Woldingham may have been unprecedented until the electrification of the line on to East Grinstead in 1987. Table 5 Run Table 3, Run 3 cont'd Table 3, Run 4 cont'd Date 2.7.2003 23.6.2003 Train Motive Power Load Recorder M C sch m s m.p.h. a s m s m.p.h. a s 10 27 East Croydon 0 00 0 00 11 16 South Croydon 1 51.5 40/34* 27.8 1 58 40/43 26.3 12 23 Sanderstead 3 36 40 37.5 3 34 30 tsr 40.8 13 32 Riddlesdown 5 48 35/42 30.3 5 46.5 32/37 31.2 15 32 Upper Warlingham 8 29 52/55 44.7 8 51 45 39.0 46 17 13 Woldingham 10 25 53/51 54.7 11 09 sigs 46.0 19 08 Oxted SEP 12 28 62* 56.7 13 37 47.1 20 25 Oxted 15 14 03 45.9 15 16 44.1 RHP 940 900 Riddlesdown-Woldingham 1 in 139 av
The continuation in Table 5 of run 4 in Table 3 was spoilt somewhat by a tsr at Sanderstead although 205032/207019 in run 3 recovered well to surmount the ascent of Woldingham at
Milepost 32 37 April 2011 53 mph, before falling slightly on the final climb to Oxted tunnel.
The improvement in running brought about by dieselisation of the line is discernable in the logs. Whilst we may think of a Class 33 on eight coaches or a ‘Thumper’ as being somewhat modest motive power, the improvement shows in the better acceleration and higher speeds recorded on the long grind to Woldingham on a daily basis compared with steam running.
Table 6 shows the continuation of Run 1 from Table 2 and Run 4 from Table 5. Table 6 Run Table 2, Run 1 cont Table 5, Run 4 cont Date 12.1.1985 23.6.2003 M C m s m.p.h a s sch m s m.p.h a s 20 25 Oxted 18 44 51 0 00 21 21 Hurst Green 20 43 30/62 28.7 2 2 21 38 max 24.3 21 21 0 00 22 00 Mp 1 28 49/69 30.2 24 10 Little Browns 3 27.5 68 64.0 25 47 Edenbridge Town 25 45 56 51.6 6 5 16 25 47 0 00 27 27 Hever 27 48 61/20 51.2 2 55 41*sigs 36.0 29 26 Cowden 31 38 37/52 30.9 5 55 40 39.8 32 07 Ashurst 35 08 47 47.4 8 34.5 62 55.4 33 00 Mp 9 31 56/53/60 58.1 35 00 Mp 11 38.5 55 56.5 35 52 Eridge 41 24 34.1 15 12 43 35 52 0 00 36 00 Mp 1 09 28/40 18.3 37 00 Redgate Mill Junction 44 32 54 23.5 38 00 Mp 4 18 35 38.5 39 11 Crowborough 47 00 54 52.0 6 6 37 39 11 0 00 39 61 Crowborough NEP 1 44 21.6 42 00 Mp 4 16 65/68 53.0 43 68 Buxted 52 41 62/55 49.8 7 6 29 50.1 43 68 0 00 45 00 Mp 2 08.5 49*32 32.2 46 10 Uckfield 5 4 28 29.0
Perhaps the principal stretch of interest from the performance point of view is the drop from Hurst Green to Edenbridge on a partial descent of 1 in 103. this was the first opportunity for the traction of the period to reach the line limit of 70 mph. Whilst this may seem a very pedestrian speed by the standards of the early 21st century, one had to experience a ‘Thumper’ at 70 mph to appreciate the speed sensation conveyed by these units. 205018 was a particularly lively rider with numerous jerks, thumps and lateral swaying thrown in for good measure.
Two other areas of interest are the climb from Eridge culminating in about 2¼ miles of 1 in 80 on the ascent to Crowborough, which separated the good from the also-rans and the restart from Crowborough with its steep sinuous descent to Buxted where occasionally one
Milepost 32 38 April 2011 could record a subliminal 75 mph in a DEMU.
The Cromptons only really showed what they were capable of from the restart at Eridge, the previous running being spoilt by checks and tsrs to this point. However, the continuation after Crowborough was fairly pedestrian, perhaps due to the line in general at the time not seeming to be in a particularly good state.
Table 7 Run Run 3 cont Run 7 Date 2.7.2003 30.6.2003 Train 17.10 LB-Uckfield Motive Power 205032/205033 Load 6/236/250 Recorder A.James M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h. a s 20 25 Oxted 0 00 0 00 38 21 21 Hurst Green 2 2 17 max 25.0 2 23 38 max 23.9 21 21 0 00 0 00 22 00 Mp 1 22 51/71 32.4 1 36.5 46 27.5 24 10 Little Browns 3 18 69 65.4 3 50.5 65 61.7 25 47 Edenbridge Town 6 5 05 5 43 25 47 0 00 0 00 27 27 Hever 2 46.5 38* 37.8 2 55.5 47*40 35.9 29 26 Cowden 5 18.5 59/71 47.1 5 31 57 52.8 32 07 Ashurst 7.44.5 68/73 68.1 8 00 69/71 66.7 33 00 Mp 8 31 68 70.6 8 50.5 64 bks 65.0 35 00 Mp 10 24 53 58.5 10 46 52 62.3 35 52 Eridge 15 11 29 11 55 35 52 0 00 0 00 36 00 Mp 1 02.5 33 20.2 1 07 32 18.8 37 00 Redgate Mill Junction 38 00 Mp 3.51.5 45 42.6 4 10 42 39.3 39 11 Crowborough 6 5 58.5 6 22 39 11 0 00 0 00 39 61 Crowborough NEP 1 34.5 46 28.6 1 37 41/66 23.2 42 00 Mp 3 42.5 68/75 58.4 4 00 64/70 56.3 43 68 Buxted 7 5 49 52.6 6 24 46.3 43 68 0 00 0 00 45 00 Mp 1 59 53*31 34.8 2 06 48*39 32.9 46 10 Uckfield 5 4 40 25.2 4 22 29.8
Up logs
The return from Uckfield features the staple diet of services to Oxted and vice-versa, namely
Milepost 32 39 April 2011 all-stations stoppers. This, however, did not mean that these services were devoid of interest from the performance point of view - far from it. The constant acceleration and deceleration required on these services was fairly punishing and in hot weather drivers occasionally eased off power to avoid overheating.
Table 8 Run Run 8 Run 9 Date 17.6.2003 9.9.2004 Train 18.27Uk-East Croydon 18.27 Uk-East Croydon Motive Power 205009/205028 205001/205009 Load 6/240/242 5/208/210 Recorder A. James A. James M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 46 10 Uckfield 0 00 0 00 45 00 Mp 3 23 30/44 20.0 2 21.5 40/45 28.6 43 68 Buxted 5 6 04 25.7 4 26 33.3 43 68 0 00 0 00 42 00 Mp 3 12 46 36.6 3 01 47 36.8 39 61 Crowborough NEP 6 19 40 43.1 6 03.5 42 44.1 39 11 Crowborough 8 7 27 33.1 7 20 29.4 39 11 0 00 0 00 38 00 Mp 2 17 58/68 29.9 2 03 59/67 33.3 36 00 Mp 4 13 45 62.1 4 00 37 61.5 35 52 Eridge 6 5 00 26.8 4 52 24.2 35 52 0 00 0 00 35 00 Mp 1 37 37 33 00 Mp 3 45 64 42.4 3 58.5 58 50.9 32 08 Ashurst 6 4 57 45.0 5 32 34.7 32 08 0 00 0 00 31 00 Mp 2 21 44/48 28.1 13 13 37/47 5 sig 29 26 Cowden 5 4 43 42.5 16 09 stop 34.3 29 26 0 00 0 00 27 28 Hever 5 3 41 42/57 32.2 3 55 50 30.3 27 28 0 00 0 00 25 47 Edenbridge Town 3 2 57 35/57 35.8 3 18 56 32 25 47 0 00 0 00 24 10 Little Browns NEP 2 55.5 48 30.0 2 50 48/52 31 22 00 Mp 5 34 44 45.4 5 20 51 51 21 21 Hurst Green 9 6 50 19.5 6 38 34 21 21 0 00 0 00 20 25 Oxted 3 Not timed 2 36 32 21.9 Rhp 930 847 Mp 42-Crowborough NEP 1 in 80 av (approximate) The other thing worth mentioning is that there has always been a dearth of limited stop services on this line due to I guess the relatively sparse population that the line runs through. It was only during the morning peak that the Ashurst, Cowden and Hever stops were
Milepost 32 40 April 2011 omitted.
Performance-wise, the two main areas of interest are the 1 in 75-80 from Buxted to Crowborough and the final 1 in 103 gradient between Edenbridge and Hurst Green.
Table 9 Run Run 10 Run 11 Date 23.6.2003 30.6.2003 Train 18.27 Uk-East Croydon 18.27 Uk-East Croydon Motive Power 205018/205032 205018/205032 Load 6/240/242 6/240/242 Recorder A. James A. James M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 46 10 Uckfield 0 00 0 00 45 00 Mp 2 19.5 37/44 29.0 2 21 41/45 28.7 43 68 Buxted 5 4 19 34.6 4 29 32.3 43 68 0 00 0 00 42 00 Mp 2 59.5 47 37.1 2 53.5 49 38.4 39 61 Crowborough NEP 6 25 34 eased 39.2 5 53.5 42 44.8 39 11 Crowborough 8 7 48 27.1 7 06 31.0 39 11 0 00 0 00 38 00 Mp 2 01 59/68 33.8 2 08.5 57/66 31.9 36 00 Mp 3 56 44 62.6 4 03.5 47 62.6 35 52 Eridge 6 4 46 25.2 4 49 27.7 35 52 0 00 0 00 35 00 Mp 1 30 41 26.0 1 31 43/62 25.7 33 00 Mp 3 40 62 55.4 3 40 60 55.8 32 08 Ashurst 6 4 58 41.5 4 57 42.1 32 08 0 00 0 00 31 00 Mp 2 18.5 43/44 28.6 2 18 45/48 28.7 29 26 Cowden 5 4 44 44.5 4 40 42.5 29 26 0 00 0 00 27 28 Hever 5 3 50 44/51 30.9 3 48 40/54 31.2 27 28 0 00 0 00 25 47 Edenbridge Town 3 2 57 29/57 35.8 3 04 31/50 34.5 25 47 0 00 0 00 24 10 Little Browns NEP 2 56.5 42/45 29.8 2 42.5 45 32.4 22 00 Mp 5 57 39 42.4 5 38.5 33 eased 43.5 21 21 Hurst Green 9 7 18 32.8 8 10 17.5 21 21 0 00 0 00 20 25 Oxted 3 2 36 32 21.6 2 32 33 22.5 Rhp n a 953
Runs 8-11 highlight the heating troubles referred to above, although easing of these units, particularly at MP 22, was not always due to this issue but, rather, some drivers braked early for the stop at Hurst Green. Fortunately, David Lloyd-Roberts, who has resided in the former DEMU and EMU Capital of the Universe, Tunbridge Wells, did record a few non-stop runs
Milepost 32 41 April 2011 between Eridge and Edenbridge. Particularly discernable is the hump of 1 in 100 in the vicinity of Cowden station and the effect it had on these moderately powered units.
Table 10 Run Run 12 Run 13 Date 12.7.1977 13.7.1977 Train 08.30 Uk-Victoria 08.30 Uk-Victoria Motive Power 1315/1311 1316/1308 Load 236/250 236/250 Recorder D.L.R D.L.R. M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 35 52 Eridge 0 00 0 00 34 36 Birchden Junction 2 00 36.0 1 50 51 39.3 33 62 Ashurst Junction 3 12 52 33.8 2 45 57 44.2 32 08 Ashurst 4 47 66 63.5 4 22 67 62.2 29 26 Cowden 7 21 57 64.9 6 55 59 65.3 27 28 Hever 9 15 66/68/1 62.4 8 47 69/78 63.5 25 47 Edenbridge Town 13 11 06 71 10 23 25 47 0 00 0 00 21 21 Hurst Green 9 6 31 50/51/49 39.8 6 26 53/50 40.3 21 21 0 00 0 00 20 25 Oxted 3 2 51 20.0 2 27 23.3
Tables 11 & 12 in the up direction feature undoubtedly the best opportunity to reach 75 mph in this direction with the charge downgrade to Sanderstead. The deterrence for such exuberance was normally signal checks at Sanderstead due to the mass of traffic heading towards the capital at South Croydon Junction.
Table 11 Run Run 14 Table 8 ,Run 8 cont Date 10.9.2003 17.6.2003. Train 06.56 Uk-Victoria Motive Power 205018/205032 Load 6/240/257 Recorder A.James M C sch m s m.p.h. a s m s m.p.h. a s 20 25 Oxted 0 00 0 00 19 08 Oxted SEP 2 59 34 24.4 2 54.5 38 25.0 17 13 Woldingham 5 44 49 42.3 5 29 55 45.1 15 32 Upper Warlingham 7 17.5 72 66.9 7 00.5 66/75 69.3 13 32 Riddlesdown 8 51 80 77.0 8 39.5 72 72.4 12 23 Sanderstead 9 47.5 55sigstop 70.9 9 51.5 45/27 55.6 11 16 South Croydon 14 56.5 27*38 12.7 12 51 32* 21.8 10 27 East Croydon 15 16 33 32.2 14 21 34.5
Run 14 was, I suspect, fairly exceptional with a maximum of 80mph, although a shade more could have been expected if there were no checks at Sanderstead. Run 8 was also above the norm in my, albeit limited, experience over this section. Runs 9 and 10 were probably
Milepost 32 42 April 2011 more typical of what one could expect during the era of ‘Thumper’ domination on this route.
Table 12 Run Table 8, Run 9 cont Table 9, Run 10 cont Date 9.9.2004 23.6.2003 Train Motive Power Load Recorder M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h. a.s 20 25 Oxted 0 00 0 00 19 08 Oxted SEP 2 58.5 31 24.5 2 52.5 36 25.3 17 13 Woldingham 5 59 50 38.6 5 45.5 53 40.3 15 32 Upper Warlingham 7 41 67/69sigs 62.2 7 26 72 63.1 13 32 Riddlesdown 9 58.5 29 52.4 9 06.5 72 71.6 12 23 Sanderstead 12 06 35 31.4 10 07 38 66.2 11 16 South Croydon 17 14 22* 12.7 12 25 28.4 10 27 East Croydon 15 19 13 26.1 14 18 27.5
Tables 13 & 14 show the continuation to London Bridge. Cautious running, especially during the peak hours, was probably the norm over this section. However, Run 14 is probably the exception to the rule reaching the highest speed I ever timed behind a DEMU. The maximum must be tempered by the fact that there a number of milepost irregularities in the area, although the station-to-station average suggests a maximum of at least 80 in the vicinity of Brockley. Run 15 is perhaps more representative of running behind a DEMU on this section, although is still pretty respectable going.
Table 13 Run Run 14 cont Run 15 Date 10.9.2003 8.9.2003 Train 06.56 Uck-LB Motive Power 205033/205028 Load 6/240/257 Recorder A .James M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 10 27 East Croydon 0 00 0 00 8 53 Norwood Junction 3 15 40 30.9 3 25 50 29.4 7 46 Anerley 4 42 53 45.0 4 40.5 55 51.9 7 15 Penge West 5 07.5 55 54.7 5 04.5 60 58.1 6 33 Sydenham 5 53.5 62 60.7 5 48.5 65 63.4 5 45 Forest Hill 6.42.5 64 62.4 6 35 65/69 65.8 4 62 Honor Oak Park 7 22.5 74 70.9 7 15.5 62/71 56.1 3 54 Brockley 8 12.5 82 sigs 79.2 8 13 64 68.9 2 74 New Cross Gate 8 50 52 72.0 8 58 58 sigs 60.0 0 03 London Bridge 16 15 13 27.1 17 51 19.5 Finally, two runs behind class 33s show pretty modest running, but no doubt the drivers were concerned to avoid any signal checks in the vicinity of Spa Road and on the subsequent approaches to London Bridge.
Milepost 32 43 April 2011
Table 14 Run Run 16 Run 17 Date 17.7.1980 11.7.1980 Train 08.01 EG-LB 17.04 EG-LB Motive Power 33015 33057 Load 8/268/288 8/268/280 Recorder B. Price B.Price M C sch m s m.p.h a s m s m.p.h a s 10 27 East Croydon 0 00 0 00 8 53 Norwood Junction 2 53 52 34.9 3 13 31.2 7 46 Anerley 4 05 57 54.4 2 20 50 21.5 7 15 Penge West 4 29 65 58.1 2 47 55 51.7 6 33 Sydenham 5 07 65 73.4 3 30 60 64.9 5 45 Forest Hill 5 57 65 61.2 4 25 60 55.6 4 62 Honor Oak Park 6 44 65 60.3 5 12 61/68 60.3 3 54 Brockley 7 41 63 69.5 6 08 60 70.7 2 74 New Cross Gate 8 31 48 54.0 6 57 49 sigs 55.1 0 03 London Bridge 16 13 31 34.7 14 29 23.0
On the 7.291 by Malcolm Simister
Walking to the station one morning to catch my regular 07.29 Connex (now Metro) all- stations EMU to Melbourne Flinders Street, I recalled that I caught a very different train with the same departure time many years ago.
In the early-mid 1970s I caught the 07.29 Bournemouth to Waterloo service quite often, it being the earliest train the first bus of the day from my home would allow me to catch. Although it carried the normal 92 ‘semi-fast’ headcode, the 07.29’s stopping pattern was unique, calling at Pokesdown, Christchurch, New Milton, Brockenhurst, Southampton, Winchester and then non-stop to Waterloo. Looking through the runs I timed on the train, the three in the table are a little unusual in other ways too, none being with the standard 12-car Bournemouth line formation of a 4-REP power unit plus two 4-TC trailer units:
• Run 1 was with the unique and relatively short-lived 8-VAB No. 8001, plus a 4-VEP. The 8-VAB was a hybrid unit cobbled together in 1968 from some of the carriages of three 4-VEPs and a Mk1 buffet car. It was formed due to a shortage of Bournemouth line express stock. With three VEP motor carriages, the VAB packed 3,000 hp which, with the 1,000 hp of the 4-VEP on the 07.29, made 4,000 hp for the 12-car train, the most powerful EMU formation on the Southern Region. However, while a powerful unit, the 8-VAB was not very comfortable for long journeys, having 2 + 3 seating and slam doors to every seating bay.
1 The title of this article was inspired by ‘On the 8.02, an informal history of commuting by rail in America’, by Lawrence Grow
Milepost 32 44 April 2011 • Run 2 was a slightly non-standard formation with a 4-REP, a 4-TC and a 3-TC, the latter being a 4-TC without a first class carriage.
• Run 3 was unusual for the Bournemouth line at that time in comprising a 4-BIG and two 4-CIGs.
The different power characteristics make comparing these three runs interesting: VAB/VEP REP/TC BIG/CIG Gross weight, tons 494 425 466 Power h.p. 4,000 2,784 3,000 h.p. / gross tons 8.1 6.55 6.44 Powered axles 16 8 12 h.p. per axle (traction motor rating) 250 348 250
The VAB/VEP therefore had more power per ton available than the other two formations by quite a margin.
Referring to the logs below, having the highest power and hp/ton, the VAB/VEP combination was, predictably, always the fastest off the mark, although the BIG/CIG combination was not far behind. In fact, with sharper braking, the BIG/CIGs beat the VAB/VEP on the short sections to Pokesdown, Christchurch and Brockenhurst.
I am not an engineer, but I assume that the superior initial acceleration of the VAB/VEP and BIG/CIGs over that of the REP/TCs was influenced by their power being more evenly spread, namely 250 hp per powered axle against 348 hp for that of the 4-REP. The latter was, I think, also more highly geared.
However, while slower in initial acceleration, the REP/TC formation climbed the 1 in 252 gradient from Winchester to beyond Micheldever with higher speeds than the BIG/CIGs and just about held its own against the VAB/VEP. While the VAB/VEP touched 86 mph through Micheldever, both it and the REP/TC topped the summit at 83 mph against only 74 mph for the BIG/CIGs. The latter’s hill climbing also seemed to be poorer than the other two formations on the climbs to MP100 (between Hinton Admiral and New Milton) and from Eastleigh to Winchester.
Another feature of the VAB/VEP run was that speed was maintained at or very close to the permitted 90 mph maximum over the 25 miles from Hook to Walton-on-Thames, the average speed being 88.85 m.p.h. with a maximum of 92 mph in three places. Over the same section, the REP/TCs averaged 85.9 mph (maximum 90 mph) and the BIG/CIGs 87.7 mph (maximum 93 mph). The latter was commendable as at Hook the train was still recovering from a severe slowing through Basingstoke for a fast-slow-fast line ‘weave’.
The driver of the VAB/VEP was clearly getting some time in hand for the pws for track re- laying past Surbiton but it also illustrates a timetable with some slack as the time was gained without serious infringement of the speed limit. The REP/TC driver was content just to keep time, which speeds a little under the limit allowed, while the BIG/CIGs were driven similarly but less consistently than the VAB/VEP to regain time lost through Basingstoke.
Milepost 32 45 April 2011
07.29 Bournemouth - Waterloo Run 1 2 3 Formation 8-VAB + 4-VEP 4-REP + 4-TC + 3-TC 4-BIG + 2 x 4-CIGs Unit nos. 8001 + 7706 3001 + 407 + 302 7053 + 7377 + 7378 Power; per gross tons 4,000 h.p.; 8.1 h.p./ ton 2,784 h.p.; 6.55 h.p./ ton 3,000 h.p.; 6.44 h.p./ton Vehicles, tare, gross tons 12, 474, 494 11, 404, 425 12, 446, 466 Date Sat 7 Aug 1971 Sat 25 Sep 1971 Sat 5 Oct 1974 Dist Actual vs Sch Speed Actual vs Sch Speed Actual vs Sch Speed M Ch m:s m:s mph m:s m:s mph m:s m:s mph 0 00 Bournemouth 0:00 0:00 0:00 1 08 Boscombe (closed) 1:58 53 2:43 2:05 52 1 58 Pokesdown 3:01 +0.29 3:47 -0.17 2:56 1 76 Christchurch 2:57 +0.03 3:18 -0.18 2:46 +0.14 60 max 3 23 Hinton Admiral 3:43 74 4:15 3:49 69 5 64 New Milton 6:14 +0.16 6:38 -0.08 6:27 +0.03 2 79 Sway 3:10 78 3:52 75 3:20 74 4 64 Lymington Junction 4:38 +0.52 * 5:24 +0.06 * 4:54 +0.36 57* 5 59 Brockenhurst 6:09 +0.51 6:45 +0.15 6:06 +0.54 4 59 Beaulieu Road 4:56 79 5:02 80 4:58 74/83 7 32 Lyndhurst Road 7:03 64* 7:09 63* 7:11 61*/67 10 23 Totton 9:57 45* 9:45 48 10:19 Sigs 24 10 75 Redbridge 10:51 +0.39 10:36 +0.54 49 11:41 -0.11 40 12 54 Millbrook 12:53 50 12:38 49 13:45 13 46 SOUTHAMPTON 14:32 +0.28 14:23 +0.37 15:25 -0.25 1 05 Northam Junction 2:33 +0.27 * 3:20 -0.20 * 2:44 +0.16 * 1 79 St Denys 4:04 53 4:46 49 4:15 51 3 33 Swaythling 5:20 69 6:06 69 5:36 /20pws 60 5 54 Eastleigh 7:22 +1.08 69* 8:03 +0.27 62* 9:13 -0.43 61* 9 42 Shawford 10:33 76 11:10 74 12:39 71/75 12 52 Winchester 13:29 +1.31 13:57 +1.03 15:41 -0.41 2 07 Winchester Junction 2:37 +0.23 68 3:26 -0.26 58 2:46 +0.14 62 8 38 Micheldever 7:56 86 9:07 81 8:22 72 10 27 MP56¼ 9:21 83 11:30 83 10:16 = =74/82 16 24 Worting Junction 13:34 +0.56 60* 15:00 -0.30 59* 14:37 -0.07 61*/73 18 64 Basingstoke 15:47 75 17:10 74 17:13 $ ~20 24 33 Hook 19:26 92 21:10 90 22:30 81 26 60 Winchfield 21:00 90 22:47 88 24:22 84 30 08 Fleet 23:14 90 25:06 88 26:37 90 33 29 Farnborough 25:29 90 27:21 86 28:48 91 35 47 MP 31 26:56 92 29:06 90 30:20 86/93 38 48 Brookwood 28:59 90 30:52 84 32:18 92 42 21 Woking 31:26 +3.04# 90 33:28 82 34:47 88 44 74 West Byfleet 33:95 92 35:28 88 36:35 91 46 16 Byfleet & New Haw 34:04 91 36:19 90 37:24 90 48 38 Weybridge 34:57 90 37:10 85 38:15 87 49 41 Walton-on-Thames 36:23 92 38:42 86 39:40 92 52 16 Esher 38:14 83 40:32 83 41:26 92 53 21 Hampton Court Jun 38:57 +3.33 83 41:23 +1.07 80 42:11 +0.19 88 54 45 Surbiton 39:56 /pws20 62 42:20 77 43:05 84 56 66 New Malden 41:46 44:07 63* 44:48 62* 59 30 Wimbledon 46:36 (1) 60* 46:38 (1)/sigs 62* 47:15 (1) 65* 62 56 Clapham Junction 50:11 +1.19 * 50:10 Sigs +1.20 ~30 49:47 Sigs +1.43 38* 65 22 Vauxhall 53:40 37 57:05 Sig st 2m 54:23 Sig st 14s 32 66 47 WATERLOO 57:13 +0.47 63:35 -5.35 58:52 -0.52
Milepost 32 46 April 2011 All three runs suffered checks approaching London. The VAB/VEP was slowed over newly laid track after Surbiton and the other two runs had signal checks and signal stops between Clapham Junction and Waterloo which prevented their on-time arrivals.
It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions based on one run of each formation but they confirm my overall impressions gained from the numerous REP/TC runs that I timed and a few more with the VAB/VEP and with BIG/CIGs. Whatever its shortcomings in passenger comfort, the VAB/VEP formation was a powerful performer and the VAB on its own was probably even better (I never timed it on its own). REP/TCs were slower off the mark but once into their stride performed well and, as has been documented often, could top 100 mph. Regrettably, 4-REP runs without any trailer sets were rare. The BIG/CIGs had good initial acceleration and ran well on level track but seemed to lack some ‘grunt’ when climbing, similar to other Southern electric EMUs such as 4-CEPs/BEPs and, indeed, 4- VEPs without the 8-VAB.
My current 07.29 to Flinders Street is of comparatively little interest to train timers, although the new Alstom-built 3-car EMUs can accelerate very quickly and they outperform the other common Melbourne units, built by Comeng in the 1980s. Rather than read kilometre posts I bury my head in the newspaper every morning and sit on seats that are even more uncomfortable than those in the 8-VAB. I know which 07.29 I would rather be on!
CHINA
Chris Taylor writes:
High Speed rail in China is being built quite fast. Already open is the Wugang Line from Guanzhou (near Hong Kong) to Wuhan at 601 miles in length, of which 66% is either in tunnels or bridges (viaduct). This distance is covered at an average speed of 184 mph including a brief stop at Changsha. The Wuguang Line from Beijing to Shanghai is due to open in October 2011 and has 22 tunnels with a total length of 10 miles, the Beijing Grand Bridge (viaduct) at 29.9 miles in length, the Tianjun Grand Bridge at 70.6 miles in length and the big one, the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is 102.4 miles long. The Wugang Line will reduce the times taken for the 819 miles from 9 hours 50 minutes to 4 hours with a number of intermediate stops at a top speed of 236 mph. There are other high speed lines open but these are the most impressive. The trains are busy, or so I understand and China has 880 trains delivered or on order (10,000 coaches). This info was taken from Trains Magazine. Anyone going out to China to time the trains ?
Milepost 32 47 April 2011 Preserved Steam on the Main Line - The oldest and the youngest.
Michael Rowe
Peter Smith, RPS Treasurer and provider of more than 8,000 logs to the RPS database has kindly sent the writer details of recent logs behind the oldest preserved locomotive on the main line, King Arthur Class 4-6-0 No.30777 ‘Sir Lamiel, and the youngest, new build A1 Class 4-6-2 No. 60163 ‘Tornado’.
‘Sir Lamiel’, renamed ‘King Arthur’ for St. George’s day, was working from Victoria to Stratford-on-Avon and return via Kensington Olympia, Reading and Oxford. The running throughout the day was competent against a schedule varying in difficulty dependent on available paths.
The 24 minute schedule from Banbury to Warwick was definitely challenging. A collection of logs by A. Mellor has recently been placed on the database, including some between Banbury and Birmingham Snow Hill. The tabulated run behind Hall Class 4-6-0 No.4920 ‘Dumbleton Hall’ on the ‘Bournemouth to Birkenhead and Manchester’ train definitely caught the eye. No. 4920 is preserved on the South Devon Railway although currently undergoing a major overhaul. The writer enjoyed a lively run behind it on the West Somerset in September 1996.
Date 23/04/2010 03/07/1937 Loco 30777 4920 Load coach/tons 12/397 12/371/407 * Train 08.45 ex Victoria 09.23 ex Bournemouth Recorder P.M.Smith A. Mellor Miles Sch mph Sch mph 0 Banbury 0 00-00 0 00-00 1.1 Banbury Jct 04-56 38 03-00 3.5 Cropredy 07-38 51 06-25 47 8.8 Fenny Compton 10 12-38 68 12.10 63 14.4 Harbury Tun Sth 17-20 (74)(72) 16-35 [1] 66 16.3 Fosse Rd 18-59 73 18-40 75 19.4 Leamington Spa 21 23-04 42 22-25 stop 21.8 Warwick 24 28-25 stop 03-35 40 1.3 Warwick Parkway 3-37 06-10 [2] 40 sigs (36)(13) 4.2 Hatton 8 7-24 17 09-35 (34½) 4.5 Hatton Sth Jct 10 10-55 20 ----- 13.4 Stratford-upon-Avon 25 28-51 stop 19.1 Small Heath 25-10 69 23.3 Birmingham Snow Hill 29 29-10 [27½ Net] stop
[1] - Knightcote 11.5 miles from Banbury [2] – Budbrook 3.9 from Leamington * - 13/401/440 from Leamington Spa The King Arthur and the Hall are of a similar age, No.30777 was built by the North British Locomotive Company in 1925, No.4920 three years later at Swindon. The King Arthur incorporates Maunsell’s many improvements from the original Urie
Milepost 32 48 April 2011 design of 1918. The Hall was based on Saint Class 4-6-0 No.2925, originally built in 1907 and modified with six foot diameter driving wheels in 1924.
The King Arthur, built as an express loco, is larger than the Hall with two cylinders and, for its time, an efficient front end; it owed much to the GWR Saint:
Locomotive Fire grate Total heating surface Superheater King Arthur 30 sq.ft 2,215 sq,ft 337 sq.ft Hall 27.1 sq.ft 2,103 sq,ft 263 sq.ft
The Hall made the quicker initial start from Banbury, a combination of driver familiarity and generally faster station exits probably, but up the rising grades to Cropredy the King Arthur gained, the 51 mph vs 47 mph at Cropredy closely mirroring the respective boiler sizes.
The Hall passed Warwick at 40 mph and fell to 34½ mph on Hatton bank. The previous day, Castle Class 4-6-0 No.4087 with 435 tons gross fell from 42 to 33 mph here. The King Arthur attained 36 mph on the bank, an equivalent drawbar horsepower in the range 1,300-1,350, some 120 EDHP more than the Hall. Both locomotives produced approximately 44 EDHP’s/sq.ft. fire grate.
No. 60163 ‘Tornado’ worked the 08.45 from Victoria to Swanage via Feltham, Woking, Southampton and Bournemouth. The return journey was via Southampton, with Class 67 diesel No. 67029 leading to Southampton and then with No. 60163 providing the power via Romsey, Andover and Hampton Court Junction to Waterloo. The performance, where the schedule allowed, with a load greater than the heaviest summer ‘Bournemouth Belle’ was excellent, although there was one blemish, a stall on the 1/80 after Worgret Junction when the Class 67 was started up. The running, none the worse for it, did not involve the histrionics seen on the WCML and the ECML; probably full regulator working with the reverser at a maximum of 25-30%, other than at low speeds.
Some power outputs during the day: Location Speed & gradient EDHP Mile Post 31, Down 51.0 mph on 1/304 1270-1310 Winchfield - Basingstoke 68.8 mph average 1400-1500 Worting Jct-Wootton 60 mph on 1/249 1750-1800 Brockenhurst, Down 55 mph on 1/200 1800-1900 Corfe Castle, Down 27 mph on 1/77 1650-1700 Dean, Up 53 mph on 1/220 1610-1710 Grateley, Up 44 mph on 1/140 1760-1790 Oakley, Up 64 mph on 1/550 1000-1050
The two most interesting stretches of uninterrupted running arguably were Woking to Eastleigh and Southampton to Basingstoke via the Laverstock curve. There were few, if any, trains ever booked Woking to Eastleigh non stop pre-1968, let alone with well over 500 tons. However a run behind Driver Clive Groome, then just turned thirty years old, twixt Woking and Winchester with a stop at Basingstoke, might be of interest ans is shown here for comparison. Clive had the luxury of an 85 mph limit and with the newly fettled railway plus the end of steam less than three weeks away, allowed himself a gentle gallop past Wallers Ash.
Milepost 32 49 April 2011 Date 16/06/2010 19/06/1967 Loco 60163 35007R Load 13+Class 67/542 11/363/390 Train 08.45 Victoria 08.35 Waterloo Recorder P.M.Smith M.J.Rowe Miles location sch actual mph sch actual mph 0.0 Woking 0 00-00 8ML 0 00-00 RT 0.4 Woking Jct 1-49 21 3.6 Brookwood 6-35 52 6-41 54 6.6 MP31 18 10-35 (51) sigs 9-51 60 8.9 Farnborough 13-26 (32)(47) 11-52 (69)(72) 12.2 Fleet 16-44 47 14-37 75 14.5 Winchfield 19-47 66 17-24 66 17.0 Hook 21-55 (68)(67) 20-17 pws 23 22.6 MP47 27-11 54 23.4 Basingstoke 32 26-41 (74)(64) 31 28-51 stop 25.9 Worting Jct 35 29-07 60 5½ 5-33 (44)(54) 28.2 Wootton 8-07 58 31.4 Litchfield Tn 34-19 68 11-36 [1] 68 33.8 Micheldever 36-14 (76)(75) 13-03 81 38.0 Wallers A Tn 39-35 (76)(74) 15-36 [2] (91)(94) 40.0 Winchester Jct 21½ 17-21 87 42.3 Winchester 43-02 (75)(76) 25 20-12 stop 44.7 Shawford Jct 53 45-02 (75)(73) 45.4 Shawford 46-34 74 49.2 Eastleigh 50-57 stop [1] – Roundwood 31.9 miles [2] – Wallers Ash 37.4 miles
The Southampton to Basingstoke run via Andover, of course, only became possible post the steam era with the commissioning of the Laverstock curve. Other than during WWII, 500 ton passenger trains through Romsey were a rarity - the through Cardiff and Plymouth services occasionally loaded to twelve coaches. The writer remembers that due to a fire in Litchfield Tunnel the Up ‘Bournemouth Belle’ worked from Eastleigh to Salisbury once, where reversal and a replacement locomotive was necessary for the continuation to London.
So, for comparison with No. 60163, three separate runs are shown below, namely Southampton to Salisbury, to Andover Junction and to Basingstoke, made within a few days of each other in 1963. They probably represent typical day to day performance. They indicate the higher level required today by steam hauled specials over former Southern metals. The usual caveats apply; 60163 has a support team and each run is a special occasion.
Date 16/06/2010 30/08/1963 Loco 60163 34013R Load 13+67/542 10/337/365 Train 19.15 Southampton 11.00 Brighton Rec’der P.M.Smith M.J.Rowe
Milepost 32 50 April 2011 miles Location sch actual mph sch actual mph 0.0 Soton UGL 0 00-00 RT 0 00-00 [a] RT 0.3 Millbrook 2-57 -13 2-57 -32 2.4 Redbridge 5 8-07 (22)(14) 5 6-01 sigs 4.2 Nursling -47 8-52 -44 7.4 Romsey 13 17-11 -21 12 13-54 (48)(36) 11.1 Dunbridge 22 22-25 -55 18-56 -50 15.0 Dean 26-31 -63 23-27 (56)(54) 20.7 Cl. Park Via N 32-32 -53 28 27-51 [b] (55)(72) 22.4 Laverstock S.Jct 33 35-24 (28)(31) 31½ 31-22 -31 24.6 Salisbury 37 36-08 stop 22.9 Laverstock N.Jct 35 36-03 -33 3-34 [c][I] 14ML 27.0 Porton OB 42-03 -44 9-48 [d] (45)(42) 31.8 Grateley Sm’t 47-51 -43 13-55 [e] -55 32.4 Grateley 48-32 -62 16-25 [f] -66 36.5 Phil Hill Via 51-57 -75 37.5 Redpost Jct 52-43 -70 20-25 -80 38.8 Andover 53 53-48 -75 24 22-17 stop 42.6 MP62½ 7-13 [II] -43 43.8 Bourne R.Via 58-17 (62)(70) 8-55 -60 45.9 Whitchurch 60-02 -68 10-53 -59 49.6 Overton 62-15 -66 14-14 -70 66-10 sig st 52.7 Oakley (64)(66) 16-58 -72 69-11/76-18 54.6 Worting Jct 81 78-25 23 18-50 -66 57.3 Basingstoke 85 83-15 stop 27 22-12 stop
[a] - Start Southampton Central, 0.3 miles before Southampton UGL [b] - Alderbury Jct 19.3 miles [c] - Tunnel Jct 1.1 miles from Salisbury [d] - Porton stn 5.5 miles -[e] Amesbury Jct. 8.1 m’s -[f] - Grateley stn 11.0 m’s [I] - Train: 2/9/1963, MN 4-6-2 35006R, 12/399/420, 16.51 ex Salisbury [II] - Train 3/9/63 BB 4-6-2 34087R 11/365/390 18.48 ex Andover Junction
Milepost 32 51 April 2011 The Night Newspaper to Nottingham
Post War Running on the old Great Central Main Line
William Alcock
Previously published in Steam World, and reprinted here by courtesy of the Editor
Travel on the old Great Central main line from Marylebone to Leicester, Nottingham and Manchester did not come my way very easily. Not until the early 1950s did I at last see something of it, and even then I had to go out of my way, as my main travelling links were between London and Scotland, and to the West Country. But a few journeys I contrived to make were well worth the trouble, both by day and night.
The Great Central was the last of the main lines to enter London, and the express service from Marylebone did not commence until 15th March 1899. To get into London moreover, the company had to employ running powers over the Metropolitan from Quainton Rd north of Aylesbury right through to St. John’s Wood, near Finchley Road, to which it soon added powers to use the Great Western Birmingham route, turning off at Neasden South Junction and returning to its own line at Grendon Underwood Junction. Both routes had to climb over the Chiltern Ridge, the GW at Saunderton, and the Aylesbury route up the six miles at 1 in 105 from Rickmansworth to Amersham. Once over the Chilterns the ruling grades were generally 1 in 176, a stiff grade for a high speed main line. The need, moreover, to share the single pair of tracks from Harrow on the Hill out to Watford South Junction, just before Rickmansworth, proved over the years to be a real operational nuisance; delays were frequent in this area to the GC, and later GNER and BR expresses, as I experienced myself in latter days. This disadvantage was eventually removed in 1962, but by that time closure of the GC route north of Aylesbury was in sight, and there was no benefit to the running of its expresses.
In their day, the GC, later the LNER, expresses were commendably fast; non-stop timings to Leicester of 109mins by the Aylesbury route and 113mins by the Great Western route being representative. One particularly meritorious run was that by Driver Webb and Fireman Haynes in 1938 with Sandringham No. 2848 ‘Arsenal’ and 465 tons (a very heavy load for this route) when the 103.1 miles up from Leicester via Aylesbury were completed in 110min 6sec. The baneful effects of World War II on schedules, and maintenance meant that recovery after the war was not really achievable to pre-war standards. The GC section of LNER suffered from more than its fair share of speed restrictions after the war, with an overall limit to 70 mph and a tighter restriction to 60 mph, over the Metropolitan joint line. In addition, of course, in common with most other areas of British Railways, there was a serious backlog in locomotive and rolling stock maintenance. After the war, a brave attempt was made to restore the express services, and two named trains were introduced: ‘The Master Cutler’ and ‘The South Yorkshireman’. Heavier than the average GC line expresses of the past, these proved to be a tough proposition for the B1s which were called on to handle them: in 1948 ‘The South Yorkshireman’ had a timing of 127 mins down to Leicester with a stop at Aylesbury, and ‘The Master Cutler’ had similar timings. But it was a battle to keep time in these post-war years, even when some A3 Pacifics were drafted in to assist. Here I describe a down run on the South Yorkshireman in March 1953, when all went well, but my experience in the up direction highlighted the frequency of delays in the densely occupied Metropolitan area.
My own interest in the route was fired unexpectedly one day in 1951 when my course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich happened to visit an experimental station in the Aylesbury
Milepost 32 52 April 2011 area. We travelled by Metropolitan, electrically-hauled as far as Rickmansworth and steam thereafter. On arrival at Aylesbury we were crossing the footbridge when, suddenly, we heard a train approaching from the North. It was no less than ‘The Master Cutler’ headed by a B1. Evidently it had just experienced a severe check, for it was reaccelerating savagely, and as it came under the footbridge, its exhaust just about lifted us off our feet! The blast was terrific and the crew were obviously going all-out in a ‘do or die’ effort to reach Marylebone on time. It was certainly a thrilling moment, and as far as I am concerned the echoes are hardly down yet! From that moment I was determined to see something of the Great Central main line.
My opportunity came on the evening of Saturday 1st March 1952, when I repaired to Marylebone to catch the 16.50 ‘South Yorkshireman’ as far as Leicester. It was due in Leicester Central at 19.00 and there was a train back at 19.02 – a narrow margin, but I was optimistic it would work. If it didn’t, there was a much later train back by the Midland route. On arrival at Marylebone, I found the train made up to 11 coaches of traditional Gresley main-line stock, 378 tons tare, 390 tons gross headed by A3 Pacific No. 60102 ‘Sir Frederick Banbury’. Passengers were distinctly few this cold March Saturday evening, and I found a compartment to myself near the front. Driver Henson of Leicester made me very welcome when I went along to view the engine, and even went to the trouble of writing out for me the passing times on a maintenance card. He also demonstrated the general standard of maintenance by stepping down onto the platform with a footplate iron, wedging it between the radius link bracket and the link itself, and levering the bar so as to reveal a ¼ inch of play in the associated bearing.
At 16.50 precisely we set out, entering the tunnel under Lord’s cricket ground, and emerging to pass behind the Metropolitan and Bakerloo station at West Hampstead. Down in the dip at Neasden we touched 60 mph, and then climbed to Harrow on the Hill, passing through the station at 37 mph. A permanent way slack near Pinner rather hampered our progress but we rounded the sharp bend through Rickmansworth at 25 mph in 26m42s. Now Henson opened the locomotive right out and with a characteristic Gresley roar ‘Sir Frederick’ attacked the six mile climb up to Amersham. For the next 12 minutes I was listening to the triple-beated roar of a Gresley exhaust as we climbed at around 38 mph up past Chorley Wood and Chalfont. Approaching the summit the speed fell off somewhat to 29 mph but in the trough across the Chiltern ridge we recovered to a full 70 mph. This was enough, despite a permanent way slack before Wendover, to reach our first stop at Aylesbury, just over two minutes within the 57 min allowance. The first 37.9 miles had therefore occupied 54m 44s, reflecting the difficulty of this route, both operationally and topographically.
From Aylesbury, the 65.2 miles onwards to Leicester were allowed 71 mins, which promised sprightlier progress. It was still light on this cold March evening, enabling me to see all the stations and timing points along this new route, which helped me considerably. Leaving Aylesbury punctually, Henson made a promising start, and had got well into the sixties by Grendon Underwood Junction, going up the rising grades to Finmere at a minimum of 55 mph. He had just recovered to 66 mph in the dip beyond when we sighted adverse signals approaching Brackley: these brought us right down to 15 mph (probably due to a freight ahead) and recovery was a little laboured up to the continued rising grades to Helmdon. But from then on Henson really began to go for a punctual arrival at Leicester. Whatever the speed restrictions may have been, he went down the long falling 1 in 176 from the Catesby Tunnel with speeds rising from 70 mph to 77 mph through Braunston; threading Rugby at 66 mph, and alternated between 62 mph and 72 mph on the rises and falls past Shawell and Ashby Magna. All was now set for a punctual arrival in Leicester, and with a full 78 mph below Whetstone, not even a last minute permanent way slowing taken at 37 mph could prevent us from making the stop dead on time at 7 p.m. in 69m 19s. Had we not had that last slowing near Leicester, we might well have completed the final 4.7 miles from passing Whetsone to the dead stand in four minutes flat – a feat infrequently achieved on this route.
Milepost 32 53 April 2011
My return journey, departing by the 19.02 up was now assured, and I made my way back to London behind B1 No. 61118, in an eight coach train of 247 tons. With stops at Rugby, Woodford, Brackley, Aylesbury and Harrow, it was not an especially interesting run, and my principal memory of it is a rather heavy steak and kidney pie which was served in the dining car. I fear that gastronomically I would have dined better in The Painted Hall at Greenwich!! At least we were not obstructed in the Metropolitan area, and for once arrived punctually in Marylebone.
It was some time before I had the opportunity to sample Great Central running again, but when I did, it was all the way from Manchester London Road (later Piccadilly) to Marylebone. It was a Saturday in March 1953 and I was on my way back from ship trials in Belfast. At Liverpool I caught a train from the Central Station arriving in Manchester Central whence I walked to London Road. Here I caught the 09.54 Cleethorpes train over the Woodhead Tunnel line to Sheffield where I changed into the ‘South Yorkshireman’ for Marylebone. At that date, departure from Sheffield was scheduled at 11.34 with arrival Marylebone at 15.28. In the event, it proved a hard battle, nobly fought. For some reason we left eight minutes late and it soon became apparent that our hefty load of 12 well-filled coaches totalling some 430 tons gross was about as much as our smartly turned-out B1, No. 61160, could manage. The acid test came as we struck the stiff 1 in 100 grades leading up to Heath and Pilsley where the echoes of our steed’s staccato exhaust could be heard plainly in the carriage. However, our B1 stuck to it unflinchingly, and it was greatly to its credit that it topped the summit at a gallant 32 mph, swiftly accelerating to 50 mph down through Tibshelf. In the end we only lost three minutes on this tough 57 min timing to Nottingham, all the more creditable since little or no advantage could be taken of the falling grades down from the high ground at Annesley because of the incessant colliery slacks. As we had left Sheffield eight minutes late, we were 11 minutes late arriving in Nottingham Victoria. Here the train filled to standing, putting the load up, I should say, another 10 tons; with this heavily laden caravan, our hard pushed crew, leaving 13 mins late battled on to Leicester; they were not helped in this endeavour by the need to make the scheduled stop at Loughborough, which because of the length of the train, had to be a double stop. By Leicester we were a full 15 mins behind time. Here we exchanged our valiant B1 with its doughty crew for V2 2-6-2 No. 60836. It soon became evident that this particularly grimy Gresley specimen was more in command of the situation than one might have at first suspected. Our new crew went into action right from the start with a ferocious attack on the 1 in 176 climb past Whetstone, the syncopated exhaust beat echoing all over the local countryside. It needed this all out effort with this load just to keep time to Rugby with 440 tons – but we did it to the second, in 26 mins exactly.
Now came the supreme effort. If time were to be regained at all, the next stage to Aylesbury had to be the scenario, and the crew really went for it. With all but 450 tons, the V2 hit up to a full 64 mph at Braunston, and then ascended to the Catesby Tunnel at a minimum of 48 mph. Recovering to 60 mph past Woodford Halse, it lifted the speed into the 70’s through Culworth Junction and then further still into the 80’s on the following descending grades to touch a 80½ mph through Brackley and 84 mph through Calvert. In this way the 45.2 miles from Rugby to Aylesbury were reeled off in 43m 42s with a recovery of no less than 12½ mins. Thus we arrived in Aylesbury only 2½ mins late!! This was a really outstanding effort, in which our time from start to stop was within two minutes of Arsenal’s pre-war pass-to-pass time with its slightly heavier 465 ton load. In retrospect our V2’s effort was a notable performance.
It was not possible on this Saturday to finish the job and arrive in Marylebone on time. Initially however, all went well with a good climb up to the Chilterns and a cheerful 76 mph down from Amersham past Chalfont & Latimer and Chorley Wood; but then, as so often, signals intervened and we were bought to a stand twice, once over two minutes, in the Metropolitan area, nevertheless our crew did not give up, but made the most of the dip at
Milepost 32 54 April 2011 Neasden with a last surge of speed to 66 mph, to enter Marylebone at the earliest possible moment, which happened to by 15.39, 11 minutes late. The whole run from Sheffield had been a very gallant effort by both crews and their engines, and I felt that I had seen something of the fine spirit of the enginemen of the Great Central route.
For a long time I had been aware, from the writings of Oswald Nock of the existence of the night ‘newspaper’ flyer from Marylebone to Nottingham (Arkwright Street) and had read and re-read his graphic account of his night journey with it on the footplate of Sandringham No. 2841 ‘Gayton Hall’ in June 1938. I wondered what had happened to the train through the vicissitudes of war, and discovered that it still existed, inevitably on slower timings but not bad, starting at the earlier time of 01.45. As I was then posted to Portsmouth, timing it clearly involved a journey to London and a night out, preferably on a Friday evening when I could hope to be free. I took the plunge in 1954, arriving on Marylebone station at around the witching hour, off a last train on the Bakerloo. I found the train was a light load of 165 tons tare, perhaps 185 tons gross, headed by B1 No. 61187. The cab was inhabited by a very friendly crew who, on discovering why I had come, insisted that I travel with them! It was an offer I clearly could not refuse.
The old pre-war Newspaper had a timing of 66 mins to its first stop at Brackley, with a passing time through Aylesbury of 43 mins. Oswald’s run moreover had no extra speed restrictions, whereas we had to face a bridge renewal to 10 mph near Pinner, a repair slowing between Dutchlands box and Wendover in the Chilterns, where speed might have ranged high; and yet another 30 mph restriction through Aylesbury itself, where Oswald’s run had screamed through at 84 mph! We got the right away sharp at 01.45, and made a distinctly faster start than on my South Yorkshireman run, as well we might with only 185 tons. Soon we were making a brisk pace through the sleeping suburbs with the empty streets silent and the odd house lit here and there; the bridge repair at Pinner right down to 10 mph made our time out to “Ricky” 23m 50s where we braked to 28 mph for the bend, then literally went out into the dark.
It certainly was black in the Chiltern beechwoods, but the cheerful chirruping of the B1’s exhaust echoed back reassuringly as we climbed steadily up to Amersham at just over 40 mph; the boiler was steaming perfectly and once over the top we swept up to a full 77 mph in the trough between Great Missenden and Dutchlands box (not Deutschlands as I had thought for so long!). The green signal lights shone out like beacons far ahead as we began the descent to the Vale of Aylesbury. It was a pity that we had to slow down twice as I would have much enjoyed tearing through Aylesbury station pell mell at dead of night as Oswald Nock did in 1938. But our progress perforce had to be more decorous, and we passed through the deserted platforms at a cautious 30 mph. We had taken 48m 51s from Marylebone compared to Oswald Nock’s 44m 13s, but we had needed all our extra 4½ minutes for the three repair slacks. Nor were our impedances entirely over even then, for there was another bridge renewal just beyond Grendon Underwood Junction; after this however all was clear, and the crew went in for a final flourish touching 75 mph near Brackley, to bring us into Woodford in 81m 59s, nicely within the 83 min schedule.
The next stage of 14.1 miles to Rugby took 16m 40s with a top speed of 77 mph at Braunston – taking perhaps a slightly liberal view of the speed limit. The succeeding 19.9 miles on to Leicester were run in 21m 29s, and at this time I had the satisfaction of doing the final 4.7 miles from Whetstone to a dead stand in 4m 4s! It is worth repeating that at that time of night in those days the countryside was very dark indeed, with little or no lights visible. The crew was relieved at Leicester, but I continued through to Arkwright Street; there was now just a suggestion of light in the eastern sky, with the help of which I could just descry the pewter waters of the lake at Quorn. Speed rose to 68 mph through Loughborough, fell to 63 mph at Barnston, and built up again into the mid-sixties over the final level miles past Gotham Junction and Ruddington, which we passed very nearly in even
Milepost 32 55 April 2011 time: we drew carefully to a stand at the paper-unloading point in Arkwright Street station, Nottingham, where I thought it discrete to make my adieu to the crew and get back into the passenger coaches. I finally alighted at Nottingham Victoria at around 05.00 and settled down for the long wait to return to London with the 08.39 ‘Master Cutler’. This was hauled by A3 No. 60059 ‘Tracery’ with a modest load of 330 tons gross. It made a fair run up to London, but was slower after the Rugby start than V2 No. 60836 by one and a half minutes to Calvert, where bridge renewal intervened. We eventually arrived in Marylebone two minutes late. We would have kept time easily had it not been for two protracted signal stops, one at North Harrow and the other outside Marylebone. As the driver said at Marylebone, ‘Bloody signals everywhere!’
Alas, after that memorable March night in 1954 I saw little more of the old Great Central, but I had at least managed to see it over the whole length of its longest mainline, and had also timed its latter-day expresses, The ‘South Yorkshireman’ and the ‘Master Cutler’. More clandestinely, I had passed by night through the darkness of the Chiltern uplands and in their great beechwoods to the Middle of England when all that could be seen was a green signal light beckoning us on. My final memories of the old Great Central are those of spring evenings at the staff college at Latimer in 1965, hearing through my open study window the exhausts of B1 Class 5s and the occasional triple beat of a rebuilt Royal Scot as they climbed sonorously up to Amersham. As their echoes died away they left the world to darkness and to me, musing upon the great days of steam on the Great Central.
News from the website
Southeastern are offering 20% off offpeak fares when booked online until 2nd May – railcard discounts apply. New Manchester curve approved Swindon-Kemble doubling financed Loco hauled: Holyhead to Cardiff Crewe-Shrewsbury resignalling going ahead Chiltern’s new 90min timetable delayed Adelante’s to return to FGW? Cross Country summer timetable Oxford-London from £1 Barnsley PSR changes Uttoxeter-Stoke speed differentials North London Signal Box closure Acton Grange changes
Milepost 32 56 April 2011 Riding the Alta Velocità Spine
Alan Sprod
In December 2009, the simultaneous opening of new high-speed lines between Novara and Rho Fiera Milano, Bologna and Firenze, plus the final leg into Napoli from Gricignano marked the virtual completion of a high-speed spine, linking Torino, Milano, Bologna, Firenze, Roma, Napoli and Salerno. Still to be completed are dedicated routes through Bologna and Firenze – the former with low-level platforms at Bologna Centrale and the latter serving a new subterranean station, avoiding reversal at Firenze Santa Maria Novella. Also awaiting completion is the direct link north of Napoli between the Roma-Napoli and Napoli- Salerno high-speed lines.
The first component of the current high-speed spine was the Direttissima Roma-Firenze, opened in four stages between 1977 and 1992. This new route was electrified at the standard 3000v DC, which restricts maximum speed to 250 kph. Thereafter, with one exception, all new high-speed routes have been electrified at 25kv AC, other than where they traverse traditional main lines through major cities.
The first 25kv AC line was the Alta Velocità Roma-Napoli, opened in December 2005 between Salone and Gricignano. Exiting Roma, tracks were initially shared with the Roma- Sulmona line, until independent tracks were subsequently commissioned. Pending the completion of the final leg into Napoli, a three-kilometre spur linked the south end of the AV Roma-Napoli to Gricignano on the Napoli-Foggia main line.
In February 2006 the western leg of the AV Torino-Milano was opened between Torino Stura and Bivio (= Junction) Novara Ovest, with a connecting spur to the traditional Torino-Novara- Milano main-line. As mentioned beforehand, the eastern leg to Rho Fiera Milano opened in December 2009.
The next section to be commissioned was the AV Milano-Bologna, with full passenger service commencing in December 2008.
The Torino-Napoli spine was completed, when the AV Bologna-Firenze opened for passenger service in December 2009.
South of Napoli, in June 2008 the Linea Monte del Vesuvio opened between Napoli and Bivio Santa Lucia, north of Salerno. The southern sector of this line had been in use since 1992 for freight and long-distance and local passenger services routed via a new link to Sarno, on the Napoli avoiding route from Cancello. At the northern end of the LMV, the direct northern link to the AV Roma-Napoli still awaits completion. This link will be the “straight route”, both active legs into Napoli from the LMV and the AV Roma-Napoli being diverging routes, utilising non-conflicting junctions. The LMV is electrified at 3000v DC, with a maximum speed of 250 kph.
Fuller details of the development of the Alta Velocità network can be found in Issues 119, 147, 159, 171 and 175 of TODAY’S RAILWAYS EUROPE. Wikipedia is also a good source of information, accessed via “High-speed rail in Italy”.
The development of the rolling stock fleet for the high-speed trains has been rather complex. Loco haulage and traditional EMUs were and still are utilised over the Direttissima Roma- Firenze, gradually enhanced by new ETR.450 Pendolino units and new ETR.500 High Speed sets, both equipped solely for 3000v DC operation. The power cars on the original ETR.500 fleet have been replaced by new dual DC/AC machines, together with a fleet of
Milepost 32 57 April 2011 new-build power cars and intermediate vehicles. Additionally two families of tilting dual DC/AC stock have been built, the ETR.485 being nine-car EMUs and the ETR.600 with seven vehicles.
The trains worked by the ETR.500 sets are marketed under the Frecciarossa brand name (Red Arrow) and those operated by the tilting units as Frecciargento (Silver Arrow).
Having previously travelled three times on the Direttissima Roma-Firenze, albeit not for several years, plus a journey from on the AV Roma-Napoli in 2006, I was aware that timing the Italian high-speed lines would be a challenge. There are few, if any, intermediate stations. The best timing points are the equipment buildings at intermediate operating interlockings, plus the portals of the many tunnels. There are two species of interlocking – Posto di Movimento (PM) and Posto di Communicazione (PC). The former have crossovers and loops, whilst the latter only have crossovers.
Subject to much patience and determination, detailed track diagrams can be found in publications and via the internet. Ideally one needs to know in advance, as to which side of the line the equipment buildings have been built.
There are at least three good sources of distance information – the recent superb Schweers and Wall Rail Atlas, the line charts within the relevant Wikipedia pages and finally the official Rete Ferroviaria Italiana “sectional appendices”, miraculously available via the internet ( the “Parta Generale” pages on http://isoweb-filenet.rfi.it/cons_discom/ ). Not only does the Schweers and Wall Rail Atlas mark most of the required distances, but it also shows the RFI working timetable numbers. Although the Wikipedia distances appear to be authentic, my distance charts have been based on the official RFI data. The RFI line charts conveniently show on which side of the tracks the PMs and PCs are located.
Now for the experience of my two-stage journey from Salerno to Torino on Monday 27th September 2010. At considerable expense, even at the FIP concessionary rate, tickets and reservations in First Class were obtained on arrival at Salerno the previous day. With a waiting queue and only one window open, it would have been inappropriate to have been demanding about our seat allocations.
Train AV 9372 10.34 Salerno - Napoli Centrale 11.03 (7.18 Reggio di Calabria - Roma Termini 12.30) Date Monday 27th September 2010 Loco ETR485 Set 41 9-Car High-Speed Tilting EMU (250 kph) Pos (In Coach 3, 7th of 9) DATUM DISTANCE BOOKED ACTUAL SECTOR RUN (Kms) (Kms) M.s K.P.H K.P.H (3000v DC) 15.73 0.00 SALERNO 0 0.00 (19" L) 4.99 10.74 Galleria Santa Lucia (North Portal) 7.08 90.3 90.3 4.8 = 43.17 Bivio Santa Lucia (Line Speed = 180 kph, Kms 42-36) 41.09 13.02 PM Torricchio 8.09 134.2 95.8 (Line Speed = 200 kph, Kms 36-33) (Line Speed = 250 kph, Kms 33-13) 19.74 34.37 PC Vesuvio 16.03 162.1 128.4 15.59 38.53 Galleria Somma Vesuvio (North Portal) 17.33 166.4 131.7 (Line Speed = 220 kph, Kms 13-10) (Line Speed = 180 kph, Kms 10-7) 6.41 47.69 Bivio/PC Casoria 21.34 136.8 132.6 -0.64 54.75 NAPOLI Centrale 29 30.35 46.9 107.4 (21" L)
Milepost 32 58 April 2011 Our incoming train was running late, with poor information about anticipated arrival. Eventually a well-loaded ETR.485 Set #41 arrived nearly twenty minutes late from distant Reggio di Calabria. Our first task was to reshuffle away the occupants of our reserved seats, one seat of which was fortunately adjacent to a window. Immediately exiting Salerno is the 10230m Galleria Santa Lucia, opened in 1977 to relieve the steep hump from Nocera Inferiore. Beyond the northern portal, the Linea a Monte del Vesuvio diverges at a flat junction, soon passing PM Torricchio, then entering the 1434m Galleria Torricchio. Beyond Bivio Sarno, the LMV traverses a vast concrete viaduct, the tracks at one stage diverging to accommodate a future Salerno Bypass route to Battipaglia. Despite being late, for reasons unknown, no attempt was made to exploit the 250 kph potential of the new line. The only obvious intermediate timing location is PC Vesuvio.
To accommodate the future direct route towards Roma, approaching the outskirts of Napoli the LMV tracks diverge before curving towards Bivio/PC Casoria. The missing link was still being constructed, inevitably on a viaduct. The net result of the uninspired running was a further loss of two minutes before reaching Napoli Centrale, where our train reversed.
Onward to Roma we would be faced with the frustration of traversing a 300 kph railway in a set limited to 250 kph. Exiting Napoli an additional pair of tracks dedicated to the AV line have been laid on the east side of the original main line to Roma via Cancello and Cassino, before the latter is crossed immediately after Bivio/PC Casoria. On this somewhat winding section, there was a distinct sense of tilting.
Train AV 9372 10.30 Napoli C - Roma Termini (7.18 Reggio di Calabria - Roma Termini Date Monday 27th September 2010 ETR485 Set 41 9-Car High-Speed Tilting EMU 250 Loco kph Line speed 300 kph
DIST BOOKED ACTUAL SECTOR RUN
(Kms) m.s (K.P.H.) (K.P.H.) 0.00 NAPOLI Centrale 0 0.00 (18 L) 6.88 Bivio/PC Casoria 7.24 55.7 55.7 10.87 Galleria Santa Chiara Tnl N 9.33 111.4 68.3 26.54 1° Bivio Gricignano 15.04 170.4 105.7 45.43 1° Bivio Caserta Nord 19.55 233.6 136.8 48.73 PC Pignataro 20.44 241.4 141.0 69.37 PM Tora-Piccilli 26.16 223.8 158.4 79.89 Bivio Cassino Sud 28.52 243.5 166.1 89.32 PM Sant'Angelo 31.07 249.9 172.2 110.23 PM San Giovanni 36.25 236.8 181.6 133.81 PC Ceccano 42.19 239.8 189.7 161.04 PM Anagni 48.59 245.3 197.2 185.60 PM Labico 55.53 213.5 199.2 195.73 Galleria Massimo 58.29 233.6 200.8 209.82 PM Salone 62.06 233.4 202.7 217.96 Roma Prenestina 65.30 143.6 199.6 222.12 ROMA Termini 75 69.53 56.9 190.7 13L
After the future junction for the direct LMV line towards Salerno and through the 1315m Galleria Santa Chiara, the future Napoli Afragola station is under construction. Loop tracks and bare platforms had been installed, but little sign was observed of the construction of passenger facilities. No timing was recorded for PM Afragola, though fortunately one had been made at the northern portal of Galleria Santa Chiara, less than two kilometres beforehand.
Milepost 32 59 April 2011 Although spot speeds were not being recorded, the 200 kph threshold was exceeded as soon as 25kv territory was reached onward to Gricignano, until December 2009 the southern limit of the new line. Unchecked running continued throughout to the outskirts of Roma, with the fastest sector speed being 249.9 kph between Bivio Cassino Sud and PM Sant'Angelo. Speeding through PM Agnani, where the old line lies alongside, there was a brief glimpse of a derailed Cargo locomotive tipped at a steep angle down an embankment immediately before the station.
With a clear run from PM Salone into Roma on the dedicated AV tracks, five minutes had been gained on the schedule, reducing lateness to thirteen minutes. Now into Day 5 of the trip, although some unstaffed wayside stations had been badly coated with graffiti, for the first time we observed a train heavily defaced by such excrescence - an E464 push-pull suburban train.
At Roma Termini we found a slightly-upmarket bistro-bar on the concourse, where our luggage was not too accessible by petty-thieves (we speak from experience!). We had sufficient time before departure for a front-end photo of our ETR.500 Set No.16, working AV9618 to Milano and Torino. Before departure we abandoned our allocated seats for off- side seats in an optimum train-timing position.
Speed was rather restricted until the Direttissima diverged from the old line beyond Settibagni, after which speed briefly rose before a prolonged stretch of restricted running for thirty kilometres between PC Campene and PC Gallese. Higher speed running was then regained, hovering between 230 kph and 250 kph until approaching the end of the Direttissima, before joining the traditional route via Arezzo at Firenze Rovezzano. There our unit weaved across to the Firenze Avoider tracks, passing through Firenze Campo di Marte, served by some Roma to Milano trains rather than reversing at Firenze Santa Maria Novella. AV9618 is booked non-stop between Roma and Milano.
After traversing the avoider unchecked, the traditional Bologna-Firenze route was briefly regained at Firenze Rifredi, where major construction was taking place for the new through route avoiding Firenze SMN. The AV Bologna-Firenze starts at Firenze Castello, soon entering the Galleria Vaglia. Whereas the 1934-opened Direttissima between Firenze and Roma penetrated the Apennines through one major tunnel, the AV Bologna-Firenze has nine tunnels, only two of which are less than one kilometre in length. Additionally, just north of Galleria Vaglia, there is a two-part artificial Galleria Crocioli (190m Sud and 192m Nord). In sequence from the south the tunnels are Vaglia (18.7 kms), Morticine (654 m), Borgo Rinzelli (717 m) , Firenzuela (15.3 kms), Scheggianio (3.6 kms), Raticosa (3.9 kms), Monte Bibele (9.2 kms), Sadurano (3.9 kms), Pianoro (10.5 kms, when completed). Pending the completion of the final leg towards Bologna, there is a non-conflicting junction at Bivio Emilia, midway along the Galleria Pianoro. Single bore tunnels lead to portals just before the flat junction south of Bologna San Rufillo with the Direttissima Bologna-Firenze. The hybrid Pianoro/Interconnessione tunnels are 10.3 kilometres long.
Overall, 72 kilometres of the 78 kilometres of the currently-commissioned AV Bologna- Firenze are subterranean. Some of the daylight gaps between adjacent tunnel portals pass in a blink of an eye!
Since returning, six different sources of AV Bologna-Firenze route information have been found, with plenty of inconsistencies in the quoted tunnel lengths. Derived distance charts have been based on the RFI data. This was also the only source from which the distances for the Pianoro/Interconnessione tunnels could be derived.
According to the track diagrams in an issue of TUTTO TRENO, there are crossovers towards the north end of Galleria Vaglia at PM San Piero a Sieve, crossovers and loops at
Milepost 32 60 April 2011 Train AV 9618 14.00 Roma Termini - Milano Centrale Date Monday 27th September 2010 Loco ETR500 Set 16 (PC + 11 + PC, 300kph) Pos (In Coach 4, 8th of 11) DATUM DIST BOOKED ACTUAL SECTOR RUN (Kms) (Kms) M.s K.P.H. K.P.H. 0.13 0.00 ROMA Termini 0 0.00 (1" L) (3000v DC) 4.50 4.37 Roma Tiburtina 5.25 48.4 48.4 7.18 7.05 Roma Nomentata 7.25 80.4 57.0 16.23 16.10 Settebagni 12.10 114.3 79.3 (Line Speed = 250 kph until Km 250) 31.96 31.83 PC Campene 17.14 186.2 110.8 (Eased) 43.94 43.81 PM San Oreste 22.04 148.7 119.1 (Still Restrained) 60.86 60.73 PC Gallese 28.40 153.8 127.1 (Regain speed) 74.22 74.09 Interconnessione Orte Nord 32.16 222.6 137.7 93.39 93.26 PC Civitella d'Agliano 37.03 240.4 151.0 104.42 104.29 Interconnessione Orvieto Sud 39.54 232.2 156.8 114.92 114.79 Interconnessione Orvieto Nord 42.34 236.2 161.8 134.39 134.26 Interconnessione Chiusi Sud 47.58 216.3 167.9 154.25 154.12 Interconnessione Chiusi Nord 52.54 241.5 174.8 183.57 183.44 PC Rigutino 60.01 247.1 183.3 189.07 188.94 Interconnessione Arezzo Sud 61.22 244.4 184.7 199.59 199.46 Interconnessione Arezzo Nord 63.59 241.2 187.0 227.71 227.58 PC Renacci 70.49 246.9 192.8 234.79 234.66 Interconnessione Valdarno Nord 72.32 247.4 194.1 253.38 253.25 Firenze Rovezzano 79.20 164.0 191.5 (Cross to Firenze SMN Avoiding Line track) 257.10 = 256.97 Firenze Campo di Marte 81.14 117.4 189.8 0.00 (Unchecked on Avoiding Line) 2.83 259.80 Firenze Statuto 83.31 74.3 186.6 (Weave 2 tracks to Main Line) 4.84 = 2.76 261.81 Firenze Rifredi 85.44 54.4 183.2 5.37 264.42 Firenze Castello 87.50 74.5 180.6 (To 25kv AC at Km 7.2) (Line Speed = 300 kph to Bivio Emilia) 24.16 283.21 Galleria Vaglia (North Portal) 95.59 138.3 177.0 44.45 303.49 Galleria Firenzuola (North Portal) 100.55 246.7 180.4 58.82 317.87 Galleria Raticosa (North Portal) 104.15 258.6 182.9 72.21 331.26 Galleria Sadurano (North Portal) 107.01 290.4 185.7 78.48 = 0.0 Bivio Emilia (in tunnel) (To 3000v DC at Km 3.9) 6.43 = 90.49 343.96 Bologna San Ruffillo 113.11 123.5 182.3 93.46 346.93 Bivio Crociali 114.57 100.8 181.0 96.90 = 0.00 350.37 BOLOGNA Centrale (Pass) 118.18 61.6 177.7 (Line Speed = 250 kph, Kms 5.7-22.0) 9.52 359.89 PM Lavino 126.14 72.0 171.0 13.62 363.99 PM Anzola 127.26 204.9 171.3 (To 25kv AC at Km 21.8) (Line Speed = 300 kph, Kms 22-31) 25.00 375.37 KM 25 130.31 221.4 172.5 (Line Speed = 260 kph, Kms 31-35) 35.00 385.37 KM 35 133.00 241.6 173.8 (Line Speed = 240 kph, Kms 35-50)
Milepost 32 61 April 2011 44.36 394.73 Bivio Modena Ovest 135.22 237.2 174.9 (Line Speed = 300 kph, Kms 50-189) 52.83 403.20 PC Rubiera 137.32 234.5 175.8 72.86 423.23 PM Campegine 143.03 217.8 177.5 85.59 435.96 1º Bivio Parma Est 146.03 254.6 179.1 99.00 449.37 KM 99 (Parma) 149.00 272.7 180.9 (Restrained) 108.69 459.06 PC Fontanellato 153.52 119.4 179.0 119.29 469.66 1º Bivio Fidenza Ovest 157.00 202.9 179.4 (Regain speed) 135.85 486.22 PC Piacenza 160.31 282.5 181.7 166.25 516.62 PM Livraga 166.41 295.7 185.9 175.00 525.37 KM 175 168.26 300.0 187.1 185.00 535.37 KM 185 170.26 300.0 188.4 (To 3000v DC at Km 189.3) (Line Speed reduces to 250 kph at Km 189) (Line Speed reduces to 230 kph at Km 190.6) 191.22 = Bivio/PC Melegnano 23.47 (Line Speed reduces to 200 kph at Km 15) (Line Speed reduces to 160 kph at Km 12) 9.58 555.48 Milano Rogoredo (End of Alta Velocita) 176.33 197.2 188.7 3.77 561.29 Milano Lambrate 179.40 111.8 187.4 1.40 563.66 Signal stop (c. KM 1.4) 181.48 66.6 186.0 182.41 0.00 564.85 MILANO Centrale 179 186.27 19.0 181.7 (8½" L) (Datum Distances at Roma Termini and Milano Centrale adjusted for position in Coach 4 Timings missed at PM Reggio Emilia AV (Km 63.48) and Bivio/PC Melegnano (Km 191.22)
PM San Pellegrino, and also crossovers at PM Idice within the north end of Galleria Monte Bibele. The San Pellegrino loops are partially within the north end of Galleria Firenzuela. The obvious solution for train-timing was to record at the exits from major tunnels. Only one physical building was observed – at PM Idice.
Speed was restrained throughout the Galleria Vaglia. Beyond, the section speeds to the respective north portals of Galleria Firenzuola, Galleria Raticosa, and Galleria Sadurano were a respectable 246.7 kph, 258.6 kph and 290.4 kph. Line speed reduces to 140 kph through the Galleria Interconnessione (in which there is a 25kv AC to 3000v DC transition) and further to 100 kph at the flat junction with the Direttissima.
Although seemingly unchecked, AV9618 passed through Bologna Centrale and onward to PM Lavino well below the line speed shown in the RFI documentation – but can 135 kph really be correct?
Heading onwards to Milano, the first anticipated timing point at PM San Viola was missed, possibly obscured behind the viaducts of the connections between the old main line and the AV Milano-Bologna. KM 5 may be a better timing point. Speed rose onward to PM Anzola, beyond which the power supply resumes at 25kv AC. With an absence of physical structures, timings were recorded at Km 25 and Km 35. No advantage was taken of the 300 kph line speed between Km 22 and Km 31. Beyond the latter, an environmentally-imposed curving alignment, restricts line speed along the northern suburbs of Modena to 260/240 kph, until reaching Km 50.
At Bivio Modena Ovest, non-conflicting junctions are installed to allow through running from Milano to Modena. However, like similar junctions at Bivio Parma Ovest and Bivio Fidenza
Milepost 32 62 April 2011 Ovest, the junctions have not yet been commissioned. Only Bivio Piacenza Ovest has been commissioned.
A sighting of PM Reggio Emilia AV was missed, possibly anticipating the wrong side. Although back in 300 kph territory, speed was well below this ceiling. Approaching PC Fontanellato progress was heavily restrained, until regaining speed before PC Piacenza. Evidently there was some form of operating problem, since southbound trains were also proceeding at reduced speed.
At long last the magic ceiling was reached, with spot-on 300 kph running from PM Livraga (Km 166.25) to Km 185. Luckily a timing was taken at the latter, since another timing bumble occurred at Bivio/PC Melegnano (Km 191.22), the end of the 25kv section. Approaching three hours travelling since Roma, your recorder was probably beginning to suffer with timing fatigue! At Bivio Melegnano, non-conflicting junctions allow trains on the old main line to and from Bologna to use the AV Milano-Bologna south of Milano Rogoredo. The latter station has been considerably expanded to cater for the Alta Velocità and the traditional routes to Bologna and Genova.
Although unchecked through Milano Lambrate, an end-to-end non-stop run was precluded by a slowing, then a one-minute signal stop on the final approach to Milano Centrale, reached 8½ minutes late. The average speed for the 563.6 kilometres from Roma to the signal stop outside Milano Centrale was 186.0 kph. Overall the run was slightly disappointing. The line speed ceiling was rarely reached and there was little evidence that time was being lost due to delays caused by a preceding train.
Most of the clientele alighted at Milano so, before the reversal of the train for the final leg to Torino, with many empty seats now available we moved to a better vantage point further down our vehicle and on the opposite side. Unfortunately we were thwarted by the last- minute arrival of a substantial group with reservations for the seats we now occupied. Meanwhile our Roma-Milano window seats had been taken, so we had to turf-out the occupants of our aisle-side reserved seats, abandoned before we left Roma. A certain Mr. S’s Law covers this scenario!
As with the Roma to Milano run, despite a five-minute late departure, it took a long while for the driver to reach the line speed ceilings. Not until after passing Bivio Novara Ovest, just over fifty kilometres from Milano Centrale, did speed approach the 300 kph ceiling. The fastest section speed of the day of 303.9 kph was recorded between PC Recetto (Km 68.20) and PM Alice Castello (Km 38.65). The final timing point on the Alta Velocità was at the western end of the Galleria artificiale Rondissone (Km 21.59). In retrospect a further timing should have been made at Km 5, before the transition to 3000v DC at Km 2.3.
At Bivio Stura, the AV Milano-Torino is the straight route, the eastbound traditional track burrowing under. The route onward to Torino Porta Susa is currently only double-track, albeit quadrupling is in hand. Probably our train used new track, the old tracks appearing to be under refurbishment and rewiring. With only two tracks available there was a congestion problem, with checked running throughout on the final six kilometres to Torino Porta Susa, reached on time – a gain of five minutes on schedule.
There could be some errors in this report, since all the distance and line speed data has been self-generated. If any corrections need to be made, please notify me via [email protected] .
Milepost 32 63 April 2011 Train AV 9618 17.15 Milano C -Torino Porta Nuova 14.00 ex-Roma Termini, reversing at Milano C Date Monday 27th September 2010 Loco ETR500 Set 16 (PC + 11 + PC, 300kph) Pos (In Coach 4, 4th of 11)
DATUM DISTANCE BOOKED ACTUAL SECTOR RUN
(Kms) (Kms) M. S K.P.H. K.P.H 0.00 0.00 MILANO Centrale 0 0.00 (5" L) (3000v DC) 8.52 = 126.58 8.52 Milano Certosa 7.29 68.3 68.3 122.49 12.61 Rho Fiera Milano 9.42 110.7 78.0 (Line Speed = 160 kph, Kms 120.8-118) (To 25kv AC at Km 118.2) (Line Speed = 260 kph, Kms 118-114) (Line Speed = 300 kph, Kms 114-106) 102.73 32.37 PC Marcallo 15.53 191.7 122.2 (Line Speed = 260 kph, Kms 106-98) (Line Speed = 300 kph, Kms 98-3) 84.08 51.02 Bivio Novara Ovest 19.58 274.0 153.3 68.20 66.90 PC Recetto 23.11 296.2 173.1 38.65 96.45 PM Alice Castello 29.01 303.9 199.4 31.78 103.32 PM Cigliano 30.31 274.8 203.1 21.59 113.51 Galleria artificiale Rondissone (Ovest) 32.34 298.3 209.1 (To 3000v DC at Km 2.3) 0.00 = 12.09 135.10 Bivio Stura 38.22 223.3 211.2 (Continuously checked) 5.85 141.34 TORINO Porta Susa 51 46.06 48.4 183.9 (T)
LETTERS
Dear David, Burley Cottage, Porlock
The Cornish Riviera 26/06/10 – 28/06/2010 Nos.6024 and 5029
Peter Thrussel has kindly sent me very detailed logs of this event and writes:.
“Last summer I had the great pleasure of travelling on Steam Dream’s Cornish Riviera from Paddington to Penzance and return.
Initially King 6024” [4-6-0] “encountered some bad coal and was short of steam. This resulted in going inside at Frome for an unscheduled stop while the fire recovered. When we restarted we enjoyed a splendid run to Taunton where D1015” [‘Western’ Class diesel Hydraulic] “was attached to pilot us over Whiteball as a precautionary measure. The diesel was brought back from Exeter to offer assistance.
Attached is the log of the King’s effort from Frome to Taunton, a nice little cameo before the Diesel’s intervention.
At Exeter the Western was removed and, after a servicing stop, Castle 5029” [4-6-0] “was attached inside the King for the run to Par. Both engines performed and so my log for this section is also included. From Par to Penzance we were hauled by D1015 due to clearance restrictions on the Down line under a bridge near Hayle.
Milepost 32 64 April 2011
The whole log of the return journey from Penzance to Paddington” [via Bristol] “behind 5029 and 6024 is attached. Steam operated unassisted throughout, despite the warm dry weather and a number of line-side fires north of Taunton. There was some very good hill climbing and a rousing descent from Whiteball. Looking back it still seems quite remarkable to have travelled the full length of the GWR West of England main-line behind steam in the 21st Century, something I had never done before in any Century”
The second fastest steam time twixt Westbury and Taunton on the RPS data base is a run recorded by the late Ronald I.Nelson with double chimney King No.6009 and published in his book ‘Locomotive Performance, a footplate survey’. [Norman McKillop wrote in ‘Ace Enginemen’; “Every top-link enginemen knows that R.I.N’s knowledge of the job is profound”] The fastest steam time on the data base is 43 minutes 11 seconds, albeit with only seven coaches, when Hall Class 4-6-0 No.6999 replaced failed Castle Class 4-6-0 No.4079 at Westbury. The train was the May 9th 1964 “City of Truro” commemorative..
Number 6009 [with the 13.30 ex Paddington, which included two extra empty coaches for Plymouth,] had been delayed between Reading and Westbury. Driver Simons was keen to make up lost time and passed Curry Rivel Junction [35.3 miles] in less than 34 minutes before the loco developed a ‘hot box’. The schedule was: Blatchbridge Jct. 9 minutes, Castle Cary 24 and Taunton 50. Number 6009 was replaced by a Hall at Taunton. Mr Nelson wrote “the replacement, a 49 series ‘Hall’ was not at all a bad engine when once she had warmed up” Similar to No.6999 in 1964 perhaps? . .
I have edited Peter’s logs to afford comparisons; 6024 ran the 15.6 miles from Castle Cary pass to Curry Rivel Junction pass in 12 minutes 55 seconds, No.6009 with a lighter train, higher permitted speed limit and a 60mph restriction through Castle Cary was 11 seconds faster. This was an excellent performance by 6024, particularly after the earlier tribulations - poor coal or perhaps over firing on the comparatively small King grate?
O.S.Nock tabled details of a non stop run from Newton Abbot to Truro in ‘British Railways in Action’ and ‘Sixty Years of Western Express Running’. He rode on the leading of two locomotives, Grange Class 4-6-0 No.6873 with Hall No.5964 as pilot [placed inside in true GWR tradition]. He wrote that with a long non stop run without water troughs “the hill- climbing is not likely to be so vigorous as on the Cornish trains starting with their tenders full at Plymouth” Thanks to OSN’s note books which have been copied on to the RPS data base engine workings are available, he commented that the pilot loco appeared to be worked as per the leading loco.. Water consumption was similar ie 3,000 gallons, c.35 gals/mile, which since both carried a Swindon number one boiler, reinforces this view.
One would expect the King plus Castle to outperform the two mixed traffic 4-6-0’s.. However whilst to-day’s Main Line loco’s are well prepared the crews do not have the day to day route familiarity of the past, indeed steam west of Plymouth is a rarity.
Milepost 32 65 April 2011 Date 26/06/2010 c.1955 Loco 6024 6009 Train 09.07 [I] 13.30 [I] Load tons 12/402/ 11/388/ tons 439 410 Driver Warrener Simons Fireman Birmingham Hill Recorder P.Thrussel R.I.Nelson Miles Location sch actual mph actual mph psi Reg. Cut-off Westbury 00-00 0 Frome 00-00 0.91 Blatch Jct 3 3-38 29 9-09 68 232 5/8M. 18% 5.13 E.Som Jct 8 9-41 50 - 59 240 Full 22% 6.91 Brew ham 10-49 47 15-02 55½ 240 Shut 45% 10.4 Bruton 14-53 76/80 18-11 70 223 Shut 45% 13.8 C’stle Cary 17 17-31 74/69 21-12 60* 243 1st valve 15% 15.9 Alford 19-18 72 34-07 69 248 ¼ M. 15% 18.7 K.Mand’le 21-36 69/66 25-28 74 240 ¼ M. 15% 20.9 C.Mackrell 23-36 68/76 27-18 71 228 ¼ M. 15% 25.2 Som’ton T 27-08 69/81 - 73 242 3/8 M. 15% 29.5 Curry Riv t 30-26 80/72 33-54 85 230 ¼ M. 13% engine eased-hot axle box 33.5 Athelney 37 33-37 74/71 37-11 238 1st valve 13% 36.3 Cogload 40 35-56 74 40-25 242 ¼ M. 13% sigs 30 41.3 Taunton 48 43-07 stop 45-42 stop
. Date 26/06/2010 Aug-55 Locos 6024 6873 5029 5964 Train 09.07 [I] 13.30[I] Load tons 13/439/ 14/465/ 476 500 Drivers Churchill B.Pope Taylor Fireman Bunker Haydon Hunt Recorder P.T mile location sch actual mph sch actual mph psi Reg Cutff 0.00 Exeter S.D 0 00-00 6.72 Powderham 8-49 71½ 10.60 Dawl’h W 13 12-10 68½ 15.01 Teignm’th 20 16-22 62 20.15 N.Abbot 26 21-19 56½ 0 00-00 Aller Jct - 61 2-53 22.10 MP216 23-19 53 4-07 43 30% 22.60 MP216½ 23-51 52 4-53 215 ¾F 35% 23.10 MP217 24-28 46 5-49 40% 23.60 MP217½ 25-13 35 7-07 47% 23.89 Dainton 33 25-44 30/62 8 8-45 18/50 185 53%
Milepost 32 66 April 2011 sigs 16 pws 25 28.91 Totnes 39 33-26 60/62 15 16-17 29.60 MP223½ 34-08 53 17-25 200 35% 30.10 MP224 34-43 50 18-20 205 40% 30.60 MP224½ 35-22 41 19-29 210 45% 31.60 Tigley 37-02 30½ 22-32 19½ 200 32.60 MP226½ 38-53 34 25-13 190 33.10 MP227 39-44 35½ 33.40 Rattery - 33½ 25 26-47 28 205 40% 35.10 MP229 42-41 46½ 35.85 Brent 43-36 51½ 28 30-36 44/55 40.43 Ivybridge 55 48-36 60/61 37-30 45.39 Hemerdon 59 53-43 55/76 41 42-17 53/64 48.10 Plympton 56-06 73 45-00 50.15 Laira Jct 65 58-15 54 47-53 52.04 Plymouth 70 61-57 Stop 53 - pass mile location sch actual mph sch actual mph psi Reg Cutff 0.00 Plymouth 00-00 53 51-19 4.22 Saltash 17 9-20 20 63 59-07 slack 5.15 Wearde 11-02 40½ 60-36 8.15 MP255¼ 14-45 59 - 56 9.24 S.Germans 25 17-39 4½/11 65-25 42½ 215 35% 10.90 MP258 24-03 19 67-55 35/34 208 35% 12.40 MP259½ 27-24 30 70-09 45 195 35% 12.90 MP260 28-18 37/45 70-49 185 35% 14.68 Menh’iot 30-47 43½ 72-55 53 205 35% 15.90 MP263 32-47 30/28 - 38 205 35% 16.40 MP263½ 33-47 32 75-15 215 35% 17.78 Liskeard 38 35-36 51/60 77-00 54 19.40 MP266½ 37-25 44½ 79-03 41½ 21.33D’blelois 39-54 40½ 81-38 195 sig stop 42-34/ dep 44-20 26.93 Bodmin 51-36 49/61 97 88-50 55mx pw s 15 30.35 L’w ithiel 54 55-12 53 93-05 59mx 225 ¾F 45% 30.90 MP278 55-52 46 - 225 ¾F 40% 31.40 MP278½ 56-33 40½ 95-57 225 ¾F 35% 32.14 Trev Tun 57-36 40/42 - 32 34.71 Par 65 64-10 Stop 109 100-57 55 35.90 MP283 102-23 52 225 ½F 36.90 MP284 103-40 43 215 ¾F 40% 39.18 St.Austell 108-03 28/26 210 50% 41.53 B’gullow 112-15 36/58 51.90 MP299 124-42 50 53.63 Truro 138 138-15 sigstop
Split times on the Up run with 6024 & 5029 and 13/437/476 tons were: - Penzance to St.Austell 64min-3secs - 2mins- 35secs stop for signals at MP 313. - to Plymouth 55-18 - 33mph min’m on the climb from Lostwithiel to MP268½. - to Exeter 72-27 - 26½ mph min’m. on Hemerdon and 32 min’m. on Dainton, - check to 13 mph at Ivybridge - Newton Abbot passed in 44-23 before checks at Dawlish. - to Bristol Temple Meads 85-07 - MP156 (37.9 miles) passed in 36-22 before checks. - to Wantage Road via Chippenham 63-34 - 51mph min’m at Box - 51½ min’m after Dauntsey - 77 max’m before stop. [Loco’s driven carefully, line-side fire risks]
Milepost 32 67 April 2011 - to Paddington 80-38 - many delays - 75mph max’m at Pangborne and Slough.
Peter’s full log will be placed on the data base,
Porlock Milepost Editor, March 8/2011 Dear David,
Re: RPS Steam Seminar Papers
May I please use your columns to rectify a 'senior moment'. Sandy Smeaton has kindly pointed out that I incorrectly attributed the Fort William - Mallaig run on 1/9/2007 to K4 Class 2-6-0 No.61994 when in fact it was made by Thompson/Peppercorn 2-cyl K1 Class 2-6-0 No.62005.
Sandy reminds me that No. 61994 ran the Glasgow to Fort William sector, arriving late due to prolonged slips. Sandy notes that 62005's ascent of Beasdale bank is the best performance he has observed on the Mallaig extension.
Apologies and thank you Sandy..
Michael Rowe.
Dear David
Re 6 and 7P’s on the Caledonian Main Line
I read with interest Sandy Smeaton’s article in Milepost 31¾. Regarding the run that he timed behind 45697, he says that the only time in the 1966 season that the engine off the previous night’s 2120 St Pancras-Glasgow returned on the 1400 Glasgow-Manchester was on August 6th 1966.
I mentioned in my article that I had a Rail Rover ticket in that year, and my point of entry to Scotland was on the said 2120 St Pancras. Below is a log of that run and it will be interesting to see which is considered the better of the two. Mine was a very much lighter load, but equally it contained some good hill climbing. Later in the day, after returning to Carlisle on a Class 47, I timed a second run over the GSWR with a Black 5. I had to wait a considerable time for any steam north of Carlisle, and grabbed the first steam that turned up. It was actually quite a good effort think for that period, and the crew managed to keep time to Dumfries.
It’s amazing how one can remember what one was doing the best part of fifty years ago.
Kind regards
D J Lloyd Roberts NB – EDHP Thornhill-Carronbridge 1 in 495 rising: Table 1 895 – 49.9mph, Table 2 793 – 38mph
Milepost 32 68 April 2011 Run no 1 2 Date 06 August 1966 Date 06 August 1966 Train 01.00 Sheffield-Glasgow Train 09.25 Blackpool-Glasgow Motive Pow er 45697/6P Motive Pow er 44778/5MT Load 8/240/260 Load 11/365/400 M C s c h m s mph M C s c h m s mph 0 05 Carlisle 0 00 0 05 Carlisle 0 00 4 09 Rockcliffe 8 15 48/56 4 09 Rockcliffe 6 38 56 6 07 Floriston 10 30 sigs/43 6 07 Floriston 8 46 63/64 8 58 Gretna Junction 14 00 sig st 8 58 Gretna Junction 11 21 65/53 115 16 Gretna Green 18 00 115 16 Gretna Green 12 24 55 110 20 Eastriggs 23 50 64/68 110 20 Eastriggs 17 28 67/69 107 20 Annan 26 32 60 107 20 Annan 20 10 64 104 57 Pow foot 28 15 65/68 104 57 Pow foot 21 55 67/64 100 25 Ruthw ell 33 09 56/55 100 25 Ruthw ell 26 46 68/57 95 58 Racks 37 30 73/75 95 58 Racks 31 15 69/66 91 66 Dumfries [37] 41 55 91 66 Dumfries [36] 35 45 91 66 0 00 91 66 0 00 88 33 Holyw ood 5 55 53/54/56 88 33 Holyw ood 5 45 53/50/55 84 17 Auldgirth 10 30 53 84 17 Auldgirth 10 30 48 77 50 Thornhill 18 07 55 80 29 Closeburn 15 45 46/50 74 24 Carronbridge 22 07 50 77 50 Thornhill 19 25 43 70 35 Ardoch 27 55 64/56 74 24 Carronbridge 24 40 39/57 65 54 Sanquhar 31 30 50 65 54 Sanquhar 35 45 43 62 29 Kirkconnel 35 20 57/53 62 29 Kirkconnel 39 50 51/43 54 75 New Cumnock 43 35 60 54 75 New Cumnock 49 20 51/52 49 44 Cumnock 48 43 69/64 49 44 Cumnock 55 05 63 47 46 Auchinleck 50 39 57/55 47 46 Auchinleck 57 04 60 43 11 Mauchline 55 13 57/53 43 11 Mauchline 61 20 65/64 40 37 Garrochburn 58 20 60/68 40 37 Garrochburn 64 08 65/70 37 58 Woodhead 60 56 60/69 35 42 Hurlford 70 05 33 56 Kilmarnock [67] 65 46 33 56 Kilmarnock [68] 73 42 33 56 0 00 33 56 0 00 21 38 Kilmaurs 4 57 43 23 08 Dalry No3 19 10 18 20 Stew arton 9 28 45/43 22 40 Dalry 21 26 15 79 Dunlop 12 59 35 22 40 0 00 13 53 Lugton 15 32 53 19 61 Glengarnock 6 42 32/48 Caldw ell 17 39 57/50 15 57 Lochw innoch 12 10 45 8 78 Neilston 21 10 64/68 12 27 How ood 15 45 52/55 6 77 Barrhead 23 04 64/70 11 41 Milliken Park 17 30 5 23 Nitshill 24 33 70 10 09 Johnstone [34] 19 37 3 74 Kennishead 25 53 7 64 Paisley West 5 40 3 17 Busby Junction 26 52 7 13 Paisley Canal [8] 6 55 2 60 Pollockshaw s West 27 35 50 7 13 0 00 1 60 Crossmyloof 29 18 33 5 74 Haw kshead 3 45 33 102 21 Glasgow Central [43] 36 54 102 19 Glasgow Central [14] 14 15
Milepost 32 69 April 2011 Dear Sir,
Modern Locomotives Illustrated
As members probably are aware, my close associate Neville Hill writes articles for Modern Locomotives Illustrated which give publicity (and at present cash) to the RPS. Normally the archive turns up trumps when he seeks material but forthcoming issues concern classes 01- 07 and no doubt, at some time in the future, the bigger shunters. Could I please ask members to let me have details of any instances of shunter haulage which are not in he archive. Anything will do- even without a log. I was once rescued by a Neville Hill pilot from the Cross Gates area but that will not satiate the appetites of MLI readers. It might well prove to be the case that we cannot summon enough to write anything for those issues but, if so, I would prefer that it was not for the want of trying. If you send anything you have to me at 57 West Cliff Park Drive Dawlish or e-mail/ring [email protected] / 01626 865526, I will ensure Neville receives it.
John Heaton
MYSTIC VARLEY
Looking at forthcoming ECML schedules, do I see that my apocalyptic fantasies are heading towards reality: the 1500 from KX is booked to York in 110 minutes, compared with my 115minutes? Is there in fact any short-term reason for these extended northbound schedules, which fit strangely with the restoration of a 4-hr Ed-KX timing southbound, Or is it indeed a case of the introduction of French-style recovery?
Best wishes Alan Varley
Network Developments
During the time since the last Milepost there have been few developments. The official reopening of the Airdrie to Bathgate line took place on the 7th March a day after the final station reopening on the line took place. The connection at Dalston Jn to the North London Line was reopened on the 28th February and the Welsh Highland Railway opened in full. In England/Wales no new stations opened with Southend Airport further delayed to May. Peak Rail have had to defer their extension into the NR’s Matlock station until July although Duffield’s platform 3 will see use by trains from Wirksworth this month. The proposal for an Okehampton to Exeter service is still being progressed. Ongoing works now include the three-tracking of Glasgow to Paisley. The Cotswold line re-doubling from Charlbury to Ascott-under-Wychwood should be completed in May with other sections following later. Unfortunately the new Chiltern Line timetable due in May has had to be deferred but the new through line at Princes Risborough has been installed and a start made on the faster layout at South Ruislip. Aynho Junction may now be taken at 90 mph and most of the line southwards to Princes Risborough is passed for 100mph operation. Reconstruction of the Southern Region part of Reading station should have started with an extra platform being built. The North London line resignalling/platform lengthening has been completed and more frequent trains will operate from May. Arnside Viaduct (Cumbria) is being reconstructed this Spring which should eliminate the speed restriction. The ERTMS signalling system was being installed over the remaining Cambrian Lines west of Shrewsbury at the end of March. No service improvements yet but an extended loop at Welshpool and new one on the Aberystwyth line at Dovey Junction should improve reliability. Bridgework, raising clearances has heralded the early stages of the Manchester-Liverpool via Earlestown electrification scheme. One potential line closure is from Shaftholme Jn to Knottingley as Grand Central
Milepost 32 70 April 2011 Trains are proposing to run all their trains directly from Wakefield Kirkgate to Doncaster from May. In Ireland the recession has meant deferment of the relaying of Coleraine to Londonderry and Lurgan to Lisburn lines; however the Portrush branch has been re-railed. The 4 tracks from Dublin(exc) to Hazelhatch should now be open with locals using the inside tracks. New stations are being built at Oranmore and Craughwell on the Galway-Limerick corridor. Ian Umpleby April 2011
The CLIC Sergeant Charity event is mentioned elsewhere in the magazine. The“Train of Hope” special train sponsored by Virgin Trains is shown below. Other events are summarised here:
Up for auction are three experience days on the railway industries simulators. These are used by to train drivers and are as close as possible to the real life experience. Virgin Trains are offering a day on their Pendolino simulator at the training academy in Crewe, with 1st class travel to and from Crewe. This will include a night’s accommodation at The Ramada Hotel in Crewe. First Capital Connect are offering a cab ride on either Thameslink or Great Northern routes in the morning followed by an afternoon on their 319 or 365 simulator. Trans Pennine Express has a class 185 simulator at Ardwick, Manchester which will be available for a day. Northern Rail is supplying 8 day rover tickets for their network, being auctioned in 4 lots of 2 each. For railway enthusiasts interested in visiting the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, the owners of High Mill self catering accommodation (close to Pickering station) in the combination of 12 people for 2 days or 2 people for a week. The railway interest could be combined with visiting the other tourist attractions in the available. The auctions will be made on the popular on line auction site eBay under the user name ‘trainofhope2011’.
There is also a raffle that will be drawn in September 2011. Tickets will be on sale during March 2011. Among the major prizes are two first class dining tickets for the UK tours run by the Orient Express. Virgin Trains will also supply two first class tickets to enable the winners to and from the starting/finishing point of their chosen tour. Eurostar have donated two standard return tickets for journeys from St Pancras International or either Kent station to one of the following destinations of Lille, Paris, Brussels, or Disneyland Paris. Northern Rail have again generously supplied 8 all day rover tickets for the raffle. There are also other tremendous prizes generously donated by our many sponsors. More details are available at www.trainofhope.co.uk
Milepost 32 71 April 2011 SATURDAY 14TH MAY 2011
Annual General Meeting
CALTHORPE ARMS - LONDON
Speaker: Ian Umpleby
Note amended date
TUESDAY 24TH MAY 2011
Area Meeting
LONDON
The Royal Oak, Borough
SATURDAY 18TH JUNE 2011
VIRGIN TRAINS CHARITY EVENT
Please support this prestigious event
THURSDAY 23RD JUNE 2011
Area Meeting
BRISTOL PARKWAY
New Venue
END JULY/BEGINNING AUGUST
Area Meeting
LEEDS
SATURDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER
Mass Timing Day
RUGBY – WOLVERHAMPTON
Note revised date
Milepost 32 72 April 2011