MILEPOST III 28 - Rail Perfthat compared members experiences closely with the DfT IEP specification....

Milepost 38¾ -217- January 2018

MILEPOST JANUARY 2018

How good were the “Castles”?

From page 279

Photo: T Brown

38

III 28

RPS

railway performance society

www.railperf.org.uk


Milepost 38¾ - January 2018

The Quarterly Magazine of the Railway Performance Society Honorary President: John Heaton FCILT Commitee: CHAIRMAN Frank Collins 10 Collett Way, Frome, Somerset BA11 2XR Tel: 01373 466408 e-mail [email protected] VICE CHAIRMAN Michael Rowe Burley Cottage, Parson St., Porlock,Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8QJ Tel 01643 862182 E-mail: [email protected] SECRETARY Frank Price, Penn House, Middle Common Rd., Pennington, Lymington SO41 8LE Tel: 01590 672235 Email: [email protected] TREASURER (co-opted) John Rishton, 16 Haydock Drive, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4DN (and membership) Tel 07804 418896, e-mail: to [email protected] EDITOR David Ashley 92 Lawrence Drive, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middx, UB10

8RW Tel 01895 675178 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]

Meeting Secretary: Michael Bruce, 234A Otley Rd., Weetwood, Leeds LS16 5AB Tel 0113 305 0367 [email protected] Committee member: David Sage: 93 Salisbury Rd, Burton, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 7JR Tel 01202 249717 E-mail: [email protected] Non-committee official:- Foreign Fastest times: Alan Varley, 285 Chemin de la Costiere, 06000 Nice, France, e-mail: [email protected], German FT: Bill Long - [email protected] Fastest Times Editor Martin Robertson 23 Brownside Rd, Cambuslang, Glasgow, G72 0NL e-mail: [email protected]

Directors of The Rail Performance Data Foundation: RPS nominees: Frank Collins, Peter Smith, Frank Price Trustees: John Rishton, Nigel Smedley, David Lloyd Roberts

CONTENTS Notices 219 Fastest Times Martin Robertson 223 Problems Derek Wilson 230 No further Fastest Times in the Principality Michael Rowe 236 Sydney-Albury Michael Burrow 249 High Speed – Italian Style Frank Collins 252 Recorder’s Guide to SNCF Alan Varley 258 Letters 265 News: Edinburgh-Glasgow electrification Martin Robertson 274 Treasures from the RPS archive: ECML 1959-63 Andrew James 275 GW Castles – a false reputation? “Swedebasher” 279 Network developments Ian Umpleby 287 RPDF 500,000 288 IET Supplement Introduction to traffic Sean Emmett 290 Early Appraisal Dr David Stannard 309 Log analysis David Ashley 312 Enclosures: IET Supplement, MTD 2017 Supplement, Membership renewal document, SAE (UK)

RPS

railway performance society

www.railperf.org.uk

mailto:[email protected]










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.

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, usb or as a printed document. If sending a CD or usb, 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/usb to be returned, please clearly state this. Guidelines for submission are: Text: Microsoft Word: Margins 25.4mm all around, Titles Arial 14 bold, text Arial 11. Tables: Microsoft Excel Arial 8, but any recognized format can be handled.

THE MEETINGS SECTION.

THURSDAY 25th JANUARY 2018 THURSDAY 22nd FEBRUARY 2018

TUESDAY 20th MARCH 2018

SATURDAY 12th MAY 2018

The Royal Oak, Borough, The Beaufort Arms The Grove Inn, The Brunswick Arms, Railway Street

London 1215 Bristol Parkway 1600 Leeds 1700 Derby 1215

Area meeting Area Meeting Area Meeting AGM

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]

LEEDS – The Grove Inn, Back Row (off Neville Street), Leeds. LS11 5PL The South Entrance to Leeds City station is now open accessed from the west end footbridge. Go down the two escalators from the south entrance there are then a number of ways to get to Neville Street but the easiest way to go forward from the escalator through the doors and turn right down Dark Neville Street at the end turn right onto Neville Street cross the traffic lights (water Street) at the corner of Bridgewater Place tower block turn right and the Grove Inn is visible. Please note that the stairs previously mentioned opposite the south concourse (main concourse) are going to be closed. As before if high winds are forecast and Neville Street is closed please meet outside WH Smith's in the South Concourse and we find somewhere else to meet. BRISTOL PARKWAY - THE BEAUFORT ARMS Members should leave Parkway station along the approach road, passing the bus stops and, at the mini-roundabout where the station approach joins Hatchet Road, turn right. Walk 100 yards and at the next mini-roundabout, turn right again. You are now walking along North Road. Meetings are held at The Beaufort Arms, BS34 8PB, which is on the left side of North Road after a further 50 yards. Meetings start at 16:00 and conclude around 18:30 The Beaufort Arms is open all day and food is served at all times. You can order and eat during the meeting should you wish. Further information is available from John Rishton on 07804 418896 or [email protected] BRISTOL MEETING OCTOBER 26th, 2017 John Rishton Interestingly, our October meeting fell the week after the Class 800 launch and it naturally became a major part of the discussion with several logs presented. First impressions – quite a good train under wires, lacking punch on diesel. A member unable to be present supplied some performance statistics that compared members experiences closely with the DfT IEP specification. Amongst other items discussed were the January 2018 West of England timetable, a proposed process to better calculate gross tonnage, logs comparing class 153,156 and 185 units on the Windermere branch (where will the bi-mode class 369 performance lie?) and a log of a climb by 76079 taking 338 tonnes up the 1 in 49 from Grosmont to Goathland at an average of 9.6mph. FASTEST TIMES Alan Varley has taken on the compilation of Foreign Fastest Times. Contact details are shown on page 218. This means that UK and Ireland will be managed by Martin Robertson, and others by Alan Varley. HISTORIC FASTEST TIMES- Bevan Price Please send contributions for future issues to: [email protected] Or by post to Bevan Price, 24 Walmesley Road, Eccleston, St. Helens, Lancs., WA10 5JT. Logs need not be sent to me, but could you please provide a copy to Lee Allsopp, for the logs database. Distance Chart Editor’s Report – Ian Umpleby Another busy three months for your Editor as the speed of change continues on our Railways. With Trans-Pennine services being reorganised shortly, Table 39 has been split into 3 with Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington being transferred to a new Table 89 and York – Scarborough similarly to Table 39d. The Ordsall Chord has been inserted in Table 82 which may be a temporary measure. Earlier this year I decided that I had better re-survey Birmingham New Street following its revamp. A routine cross-Birmingham measure of the Midland Lines appeared to show that the line was around 3 chains shorter than the official chainages in the New Street environs. I returned to this in early December in connection with signalling alterations being made in the North/East Birmingham and could not shift the problem. I then measured across Birmingham on the Coventry to Wolverhampton axis .and this also produced the same three chain shortage. Interestingly this placed the zero point towards Wolverhampton almost halfway between the new canopied section - it’s officially 0miles and 5 chains. The exact location of the error has yet to be established so a three chain “change of mileage” has been




shown at Birmingham New Street’s centre for the Midland Lines and the Euston mileages adjusted on an elapsed distance basis. All Birmingham related charts have been adjusted accordingly. I’m writing this on Boxing Day and am looking forward (?) to transforming the vast amount of information on the final Thameslink layouts into charts in time for the January upload. I have been asked if I can include information on bi-directional running where relevant, and a start has been made on this. All this activity means that work on non-core activities has been slow, but I’d like to thank all those members who have provided information over the past year. The website continues to be promptly updated with the weekly TSR digest and infrastructure changes. 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. 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 Latest runs from Ian Umpleby. Latest runs from John Bull Latest runs from Richard Neville-Carlè Latest runs from Noel Proudlock David Adams logs from the 3rd Quarter of 2017 Milepost 38½ Latest runs from Bob Jennings Logs from John Rishton to go with his Fastest Times entries More from Bevan Price, including recent runs from the past few years. More running from Derek Wilson with logs from Classes 220/221/222/333 Images from a further 6 of John Heaton’s notebooks to go with runs already in the database Details of John Heaton’s runs in 2016 - 2017 Images from a further 16 of David Sage’s notebooks to go with runs already in the database 7 more books from the late Martin Barrett, covering a wide variety of years and traction. Many more to come A folder of logs from David Ashley covering a wide range of modern traction Details of Brian Milner’s runs from 2008. Michael Bland’s collection of ~330 notebooks have been loaned to the Society by his family. 113 more have been scanned and entered covering the period 1972 – 2006. A collection of ~350 notebooks from the late John Frood have been donated to the Society. John was a very keen Class 33 enthusiast. 5 more books have been scanned, covering mainly Class 33 from Exeter, with some Class 52 runs too. More runs from Howard Claridge on the East Coast, Great Western and Southern Class 800 runs received to date RPS ARCHIVES – Coming soon! – Lee Allsopp The following is a taster of material that will appear in the archive, as it is scanned and processed, together with topical material received from a number of members. More from Bevan Price’s notebooks, covering a vast amount of travel over many years. Member Derek Wilson has donated a large amount of material covering the late 70s onwards. This is now being entered into the archive. Martin Barrett’s vast collection of notebooks are being scanned and added to the archive. Images from more of David Sage’s notebooks to go with data already in the archive. More logs from David Ashley with modern traction Another ~170 notebooks from Michael Bland will be scanned in the coming months. ~345 notebooks from John Frood are waiting to be scanned. These will be done after the Michael Bland notebooks, as they need to be returned to the family.


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 most 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) NEW TREASURER As many of you will be aware, Peter Smith indicated to the Committee a little while ago that he wished to retire from the role as Treasurer as soon as the services of a replacement could be found. Peter has been Treasurer of the RPS for about 15 years. During that time, he has quietly and very efficiently gone about the process of keeping the Society’s finances in order, processing the annual round of Membership renewals, and producing and filing the Annual accounts. In more recent years he has also taken on a similar function in respect of the Rail Performance Data Foundation. When you have someone who does these tasks with the efficiency and dependability of Peter it is very easy to underestimate both the amount of work involved and the importance of role. The membership and treasury function, however, is vital to the Society being able to function, and the very fact that these functions have carried on almost unnoticed in the background for the last 15 years is a great credit to Peter and the work he has done for the Committee and the Society as a whole. I would like therefore on behalf of the Committee and the Society to thank Peter for everything he has done for us over the last 15 years. We will miss him on Committee but look forward to his still being involved with the Society in other ways. I am therefore delighted to announce that John Rishton has agreed to take over the role of Treasurer with effect from the start of our new financial year on 1st January 2018. John will be well known to many of you, having been a member for 28 years and a regular attendee at Society meetings, and latterly running the Bristol area meetings. John has also been the Examiner of our accounts for some years. The latter of course means that John will be unable to Examine the 2017 Accounts; so the Committee has agreed to appoint Robert Bowden-Smith as Examiner for the 2017 Accounts. Robert lives in Haslemere, Surrey and is a Chartered Accountant and is independent both of the Society and Peter, although he and Peter have known one another professionally for around 25 years. We are very grateful to Robert for agreeing to take this on. I am very grateful also to both John and Peter for arranging a seamless transition. They decided that the most logical time to make the transition was at the end of our financial year, rather than the next AGM – so of course this means that the 2018 renewals will be handled by John rather than Peter. The renewal forms have been changed to reflect this. If everyone could also please return their renewals papers promptly, that would be a great assistance also to John in the transition. Frank Collins, Chairman

Your committee wish you a happy new year


FASTEST TIMES UPDATE Martin Robertson Welcome to another Fastest Times Update where we look at the recent FT offerings from our members. My thanks to all of those who contributed both in the last few months but also throughout the year. There has been a distinct fall off of new FT’s in the last couple of months, maybe we are not travelling so much, or engineering work is hindering progress. As always contribution in electronic or paper format are acceptable. If submitting electronically, an Excel Spreadsheet file is the simplest to manipulate, but Word or Works files are suitable. We start with two runs from Chris Taylor from Kings Cross to Doncaster on the Grand Central Adelante formed services. Neither run manage to quite match the 87-minute schedule, but Chris’s claim that they are the fastest diesel traction runs in the world, may well be true. Chris’s comments: I travelled south on the Saturday’s fast Leeds to London train, the 06:40 which stops at Wakefield Westgate & Doncaster arriving at King’s Cross 2 hours 2 minutes, only 3 minutes slower than the 07:00 Monday to Fridays train with only one stop in 1 hour 59 minutes. On the Saturday Doncaster to King’s Cross was 88 minutes 58 seconds. “The fastest DMU working in the world” so it is said, and with a 87 minute timing King’s Cross to Doncaster at an average speed of 107.5 mph, it is worth a trip. The problem with the pathing of the Grand Central 180 is the extra time added for pathing purposes. Looking at 180101’s run 1½ minutes is added approaching the Welwyn bottleneck and a further ½ minute approaching Peterborough. Taking the pathing allowance out the train has to average over 110 mph including the three minutes added for performance purposes (the net running time excluding the Pathing and Performance allowances of 5½ minutes gives an average of 114.8 mph). I have, for comparison purposes, included a log from 2011. The conductor confirmed that all engines were working. The driver in 2017 took things steady to try to avoid signal checks. The 2011 run was over ½ minute faster and a 9 mph higher speed at Potters Bar and although we passed the Welwyn Tunnels without getting checked, there was a signal check to 83 mph approaching Hitchin and again approaching Peterborough to 83 mph, with further checks at Grantham and Bathley Lane. After Peterborough, the 2017 train resumed normal running with slightly higher speeds ascending to Stoke Tunnel. By Retford the 2017 run was nicely to schedule and 1½ minutes faster than the 2011 run. Platforming at Doncaster can be a problem and any early approach is likely to result in the severe signal check. Both trains were due to use platform 4 (a much faster entrance) but both used platform 8 so got checked. 88 minutes 5 seconds is not bad at an average speed of 106.2 mph. The 2017run was remarkable and it was partly due to the drivers skill no signal checks were experienced. For Table 2 we turn to the West Coast Main line with a fine effort recorded by Ed Gardner, on a morning ‘commuter’ service from Lichfield, which yielded three consecutive Fastest Times. Ed’s comments:- I had my eye on the Lichfield to Tamworth fastest time, as I commute daily on the 06.41 from Lichfield to London. After timing several trains, the present fastest time of 5m 24s, was looking pretty tough to beat. I had all but given up when I thought I’d have one more go and on Fri 28th July. 390 130 duly shaved another nine seconds off the time. Normally I would then bury my head in e-mails but I decided to continue logging the train. The result was a new fastest time from Tamworth to Rugby, again not difficult as again there was no previous Fastest Time recorded with RPS. However, it sets a good challenge, achieving an average of just over 100 mph for this 27½ mile leg of the journey. With two fastest times in the bag I continued logging the train all the way to Euston, achieving a third fastest time on the one journey. This was a very impressive run indeed, a fast departure from Rugby, then consistent running at 124 mph (it’s rare to go much faster on a Pendolino),


Table 1

Date Sat 8th July 2017 Sat 16th July 2011

Train 1923 KX to Bradford Interchange 1D75 1548 KX to Bradford Inter

Unit no 180.101 180 107

coaches/weight 5c 252½/ 266 5c 252½/255

Recorder C. M Taylor 2/5 C M Taylor 2/5 GPS

miles m c location wtt m s speed wtt m s mph

0.00 0 06 LONDON K X 0 0 0 ½ early 0 0 00 ½ late

2.42 2 41 Finsbury Park 4 4 33 68/72 4 4 20 59

3.32 3 33 Harringay 5 19 60 bt 5 10 76

4.87 4 77 Alexandra Palace 5 6 38 88 5 6 23 85

9.08 9 14 New Barnet 9 25 96 9 00 101

12.64 12 59 Potters Bar 10 11 37 99 10 11 02 108

14.39 14 39 Brookmans Park 12 37 110 11 58 113

17.60 17 56 Hatfield 14 21 113 13 40 110

20.23 20 26 Welwyn GC 14 15 45 109 14 15 05 108

21.85 21 76 Welwyn North (1½ p) 16 39 111 (½ p) 15 59 110

23.72 23 61 Woolmer Grn 17 17 38 111/120 16 16 58 109

27.50 27 48 Stevenage 19 19 36 115 18 18 54 120/84 sigs

31.85 31 76 Hitchin 21 21 43 122/119 21 21 29 100

36.97 37 05 Arlesley 24 19 120 24 07 120

41.09 41 15 Biggleswade 26 23 122 26 10 120

44.03 44 10 Sandy 27 27 51 119/120 28 27 38 120/122

51.63 51 58 St Neots 31 40 119 31 25 118/122

55.82 55 73 Offord 33 47 118 33 32 118

58.74 58 67 Huntingdon 34 35 15 122 34 35 00 125

63.29 63 31 Abbots Ripton 37 29 123 37 12 123

69.23 69 26 Holme 39 40 27 106/96 40 22 104/92

72.60 72 56 Yaxley (½ p) 42 26 97 (1 p) 42 30 83 sigs

74.90 75 00 Fletton Jn (2 f ) 43 51 103 (1 f) 100

76.24 76 27 Peterborough 46 44 40 97 45 44 51 101

79.40 79 40 Werrington Jn 46 29 116 (1½p) 46 37 117

81.79 81 71 Helpston 47 42 122 47 52 117

84.70 84 64 Tallington 50 49 07 121 51 49 16 121

88.69 88 63 Essendine 51 05 121 51 16 119

92.12 92 17 Little Bytham 52 48 120 52 58 120

97.05 97 12 Corby Glen 55 14 121 55 28 119

99.65 99 60 Stoke Jn 57 56 31 118/114 58 56 46 115

101.21 101 21 High Dyke 57 20 111 (1 f) 57 34 113

105.35 105 35 Grantham 60 59 39 98 62 60 13 81 sigs

107.72 107 65 Peascliffe TS 61 03 108 61 44 105

109.58 109 54 Barkston South J 62 04 119 62 44 118

111.57 111 53 Hougham 63 04 122 63 43 120

115.24 115 27 Claypole 65 64 54 121/123 67 65 33 120

120.05 120 12 Newark-on-Trent 67 67 12 105/96 69 68 00 105/94

122.87 122 77 Bathley Lane 68 58 109 (1½p) 69 42 67 sigs

126.23 126 26 Carlton 70 42 121/123 71 29 113

130.27 130 29 Egmanton 72 42 116 73 42 102

133.62 133 57 Markham 74 26 119 94

135.41 135 40 Gamston 75 21 115 76 53 108

138.52 138 49 Retford 77 76 58 111 80 78 30 117

140.60 141 56 Sutton 78 33 123 80 04 119/120

143.88 144 00 Ranskill 79 40 124 81 14 116

147.55 147 52 Bawtry (1 f ) 81 32 107 83 14 106

149.70 149 60 Pipers Wood 82 34 110/120 106

151.44 151 29 Rossington 83 32 118 (½p) 85 16 117

153.90 154 00 Potteric Carr Jn 84 58 90/27 (1 f) 87 01 68/29

155.89 155 78 DONCASTER 87 88 05 91 90 08

bt = running brake test p = pathing f = performance


TABLE 2 Miles M C location PTT m s average

Date/day 28/07/17 10.50 72 00 MP 72 6 44.93 123.4

Train 0641 Lichfield TV-Euston 14.50 68 00 MP 68 8 44.45 120.5

Motive Power 390130 16.50 66 00 MP 66 9 42.22 124.6

Load (tons) 11 cars 557/565 tonnes 18.50 64 00 MP 64 10 40.36 123.8

Position 4/11 20.50 62 00 MP 62 11 38.36 124.1

Recorder E O Gardiner 24.50 58 00 MP 58 13 34.41 124.1

Weather Fair 26.50 56 00 MP 56 14 32.49 124.0

GPS: Y/N? No 30.00 52 40 MP 52.5 16 14.68 123.3

Miles M C location PTT m s average 32.50 50 00 MP 50 17 27.57 123.5

0.00 116 18 Lichfield TV 0 0.00 36.50 46 00 MP 46 19 23.60 124.1

1.22 115 00 MP 115 1 34.64 46.6 38.50 44 00 MP 44 20 21.68 124.0

2.47 113 60 MP 113 3/4 2 23.60 91.9 42.50 40 00 MP 40 22 17.80 124.0

3.22 113 00 MP 113 2 47.00 115.4 44.50 38 00 MP 38 23 16.00 123.7

4.22 112 00 MP 112 3 18.15 115.6 46.50 36 00 MP 36 24 14.06 124.0

6.22 110 00 Tamworth 6 5 15.00 61.6 48.50 34 00 MP 34 25 12.77 122.6

0.00 110 00 Tamworth 0 0.00 50.50 32 00 MP 32 26 11.11 123.4

2.00 108 00 MP 108 2 11.16 54.9 52.50 30 00 MP 30 27 9.20 123.9

6.00 104 00 MP 104 4 17.46 114.0 54.50 28 00 MP 28 28 7.20 124.1

8.00 102 00 MP 102 5 29.73 99.6 56.50 26 00 MP 26 29 5.16 124.2

10.00 100 00 MP 100 6 34.67 110.9 58.50 24 00 MP 24 30 3.06 124.4

14.00 96 00 MP 96 8 31.11 123.7 60.50 22 00 MP 22 31 0.76 124.8

20.00 90 00 MP 90 11 25.65 123.8 64.50 18 00 MP 18 33 7.28 113.8

24.00 86 00 MP 86 13 22.14 123.6 66.50 16 00 MP 16 34 12.64 110.2

27.50 82 40 Rugby 19 16 26.00 68.5 72.50 10 00 MP 10 37 12.26 120.3

0.00 82 40 Rugby 0 0.00 74.50 8 00 MP 8 38 10.50 123.6

2.50 80 00 MP 80 2 34.08 58.4 77.50 5 00 MP 5 39 50.89 107.6

8.50 74 00 MP 74 5 46.60 112.2 79.50 3 00 MP 3 41 12.68 88.0

82.50 0 00 Euston 50 45 42.00 40.1

and an excellent finish into Euston. No tsrs or signal checks. Arrival into Euston was four minutes early. I suspect this willl be a tough one to beat. Table 3 moves north on the WCML for an offering between Warrington and Crewe recorded by Alistair Wood. I was musing if the 27.5 miles from Tamworth to Lichfield would be the approximate limit for a 100mph plus stop to start time, bur Alistair’s run came within a whisker of achieving the 100mph average over a significantly shorter distance. Alistair’s comments:- A start to stop average of 99.9mph. Shows what can be done by an unchecked approach to Crewe. A morning of disruption with the line closed south of Milton Keynes due to a large lineside fire.at Headstone Lane. The 10:40 ex Glasgow was turned back at Preston with my 10:51 ex Edinburgh announced as running to Milton Keynes, but actually got to Euston, although I left at Crewe.

Table 3 Miles Location m s Speed

Date Fri 15th Sept 2017 9.65 Acton Bridge 6 17 126

Train 10 51 Edinburgh 10.10 Mp 172 6 32 123

Unit Euston 11.10 Mp 171 7 01 124/123

Unit 390020,9,462/4xx 12.35 Hartford 7 37 124

Recorder G A M Wood 15.10 Mp 167 8 58 125/123

Weather Dry, mild. Gps Y 16.63 Winsford 9 40 125

Miles Location m s Speed 19.10 Mp 163 10 52 123

0.00 Warrington 0 0 (-2) 20.10 Mp 162 11 23 118

1.10 Mp 181 1 26 63 21.10 Mp 161 11 55 114

Acton Grange Points 2 10 84 22.85 Mp 159 1/4 12 53 85

3.98 OB 178m 11ch 3 29 116 23.27 Crewe Yard Box 13 10 74

7.60 Weaver Jn 5 18 122 24.11 Crewe arr 14 29

Table 4 continues south from Crewe with an offering from Sandy Smeaton to Wolverhampton. Sandy’s comments:- The previous record, John Rishton’s on 24.06.17 with 390131, was 28m


33s. A couple of checks south of Carlisle produced a late start from Crewe and presumably some incentive to regain time. 390009 was six seconds ahead of 390131 at Betley Road and by the same margin at Stafford. A further 14 secs were gained onto Wolverhampton. A case of faster acceleration and perhaps the 390/0’s slightly higher power-to-weight ratio. I would add that it demonstrates the remarkable uniformity of Pendolino running if braking by the driver is not involved. For Tables 5 and 6 we turn to the Chiltern line, still the most frequent contributor to the listings, with runs recorded by Brian Milner. Table 5 has a High Wycombe to Banbury offering with Class 68 traction. Brian’s comments:- A seven-minute late departure from High Wycombe gave the driver some incentive for time recovery that he made good use of. A rather faster climb towards Saunderton than is possible by 168 was followed by no delays, to give us an excellent overall time. Arrival in Banbury was only half a minute late.

Table 4 Miles Ms Ch Location Sch Mn Sc avge

Date: Wed 13.9.17 20.01 138 00 MP 11 52.4 108.4

Train: 08.00 Glasgow Cen-Euston 20.50 137 41 Lit Bridgeford J 12 09 105.7

Unit: 390009 21.01 137 00 Gt Bridgeford 12 26.5 105.4

Load: 9 cars /452.5/460 22.01 136 00 MP 13 01 104.3

Weather: Heavy rain at Crewe, clearing 24.01 134 00 Stafford N J 15 15.9 53.4

Recorder/Method: A.Smeaton/No GPS 24.49 133 42 STAFFORD 17½ 16 10.7 31.2

Position: 5/9 24.76 133 20 MP 16 28.2 56.6

Miles Ms Ch Location Sch Mn Sc avge 24.96 133 04 Trent Valley J ~ ~ ~

0.00 158 01 CREWE (P5) 0 0 00.0 ~ 6½L " 28 50 ~ ~ ~

0.25 157 61 Crewe SJ 1 0 59.2 15.2 25.59 28 00 MP 17 19.7 57.7

1.01 157 00 MP 2 01 44.4 26.59 27 00 " 18 11.9 69.0

2.01 156 00 " 2 46.0 80.0 27.59 26 00 " 18 50.3 93.7

3.01 155 00 " 3 22.8 97.8 28.59 25 00 " 19 24.6 105.0

3.76 154 20 " 3 47.9 107.6 29.34 24 20 " 19 48.4 113.4

4.76 153 20 Betley Rd 4 18.9 116.1 30.09 23 40 PENKRIDGE 22 20 10.9 120.0

5.76 152 20 MP 4 48.6 121.2 31.34 22 20 MP 20 46.9 125.0

6.51 151 40 " 5 10.3 124.4 32.59 21 00 " 21 23.2 124.0

8.01 150 00 " 5 53.9 123.9 33.59 20 00 " 21 52.4 123.3

9.51 148 40 Summit 6 37.8 123.0 34.59 19 00 " 22 21.5 123.7

10.51 147 40 Whitmore 7 07 123.3 35.59 18 00 " 22 50.9 122.4

12.01 146 00 MP 7 49.6 126.8 36.59 17 00 " 23 21.9 116.1

14.01 144 00 " 8 46.8 126.3 37.59 16 00 " 24 14.2 68.8

15.01 143 00 " 9 15.6 125.0 38.16 15 34 Bushbury J 27 ~ ~ ~

17.01 141 00 Badnall 10 15.3 120.6 " 14 45 ~ ~ ~

18.01 140 00 MP 10 46.6 115.0 38.23 14 40 MP 24 53.7 58.1

19.01 139 00 Norton Br NJ 13 11 19.2 110.4 39.23 13 40 W'hampton NJ 26 10.4 46.9

39.80 12 74 WOLVERHAMPTON 30½ 28 13.3 16.8 4½L

. Table 5 Miles M C Location 168 m s mph ave

Date Fr 1-Jul-16 15.48 32 00 Milepost 11 48.0 96/ 94 96.5

Train 1310 Marylebone-Bham Moor St 17.33 33 68 Ashendon J 12 58.0 96/ 95 95.1

Loco 68012 17.84 2 29 Brill Tunnel S 14 27.0 96/100 20.7

Load 7,274/290/375 19.48 4 00 Milepost 15 27.0 97 98.3

Rec/pos B Milner 7/8 21.75 6 22 Blackthorn [1.0] 16 51.5 97 96.9

Miles M C Location 168 m s mph ave 23.75 8 22 Bicester SJ 20.5 18 07.0 95 95.4

0.00 16 33 HIGH WYCOMBE 2 0.0 0 00.0 7.0 L 24.84 9 29 BICESTER N 22.0 18 47.5 98/ 94 96.7

1.09 17 40 Milepost 1 47.5 65 36.4 26.48 11 00 Milepost 19 49.0 95/ 98 95.9

3.09 19 40 Milepost 3 22.0 83/ 85 76.2 28.43 12 76 Ardley OB 21 02.0 96/ 95 96.2

4.91 21 26 SAUNDERTON 5.0 4 41.0 82/ 84 83.2 30.64 15 13 Ardley TS 22 24.0 100/101 97.1

6.59 23 00 Milepost 5 53.5 82/ 79 83.2 32.48 17 00 Milepost 23 31.0 95/ 80 98.7

8.09 24 40 PRINCES RISBORO 7.5 7 00.5 82 80.6 33.88 18 32 Aynho Jn 28.0 24 32.0 83/ 90 82.6

10.64 27 13 Ilmer UB 8 46.5 98/100 86.6 35.36 82 53 KINGS SUTTON 25 32.5 89/ 91 88.5

12.48 29 00 Milepost [1.0] 9 54.0 95/ 90 98.0 37.70 85 00 Milepost [3.0] 27 06.0 90 90.0

13.80 30 26 HADDENHAM & T 12.0 10 45.5 94/ 98 92.6 38.90 86 16 BANBURY 35.0 28 40.0 0.5 L 46.0


Table 6 Miles M C Location 168 m s mph ave

Date 30/06/2016 20.33 23 00 Milepost 15 23 81 83.5

Train 1447 Oxford-Marylebone 22.00 21 26 SAUNDERTON 16.5 16 34 88 84.9

Loco 168329 23.83 19 40 Milepost 17 42 100 96.6

Load 2,92/100 25.83 17 40 Milepost 19 09 62 82.8

Recorder B Milner 2/2 26.98 16 28 H WYCOMBE 20.0 20 20 57 58.7

Miles M C Location 168 m s mph ave 28.33 15 00 Cock Lane 21 36 71 63.5

0.00 19 44 BICESTER VILL 0.0 0 00 RT 29.98 13 28 Whitehouse TN 22 53 82 77.6

0.50 19 04 Gavray Jn 1.0 1 08 38 26.7 31.80 11 42 BEACONSFIELD 24 12 85 83.2

0 56 33.38 9 76 SEER GREEN 25 15 94/101 90.0

1.20 0 00 Bicester SJ 2.0 2 12 42 39.4 36.10 7 18 GERRARDS X 27.0 26 54 100/101 99.1

8 23 37.83 5 40 DENHAM GC 27 56 99 100.2

2.01 6 22 Blackthorn 4 12 75 60.1 40.33 3 00 Milepost 29 26 100 99.4

4.33 3 77 Ludgershall 5 54 85 81.6 41.46 1 69 WEST RUISLIP 30.0 30 07 100/102 99.9

5.93 2 29 Brill TS 7 02 87 85.3 43.25 0 06 SOUTH RUISLIP 31.0 31 11 99 100.5

1 16 43.30 0 00

1 18 0 02

9.51 0 00 Ashendon J 8 32 99/102 95.0 44.28 1 00 Milepost 31 50 96/ 93 6.9

33 68 46.04 2 61 SUDBURY HILL 32 57 97 95.4

13.10 31 61 Chearsley Rd 9 47 100/ 95 100.9 48.28 5 00 WEMBLEY STA 34.0 34 23 88 93.7

15.36 30 21 HADDENHAM 10.5 10 42 97/100 97.3 49.66 6 31 Neasden SJ 35.0 35 24 70/ 30 81.9

17.36 28 00 Milepost 12 04 98 99.3 200 66

18.86 26 00 Boxers 13 18 96 97.3 51.59 202 60 Mapesbury Rd 38 12 47/ 50 41.1

18.89 24 40 PR RISBORO 14.0 14 21 82/ 87 87.1 53.34 204 40 St Johns Wd TN [4.0] 40 24 43 47.9

54.70 205 69 MARYLEBONE 4 47.0 43 27 3.5 E 26.7

Table 6 has a Bicester Village to Marylebone service formed by a Class 168 unit. Brian’s comments:- An excellent run with the only problem being a short 30 mph tsr south of Neasden South Jn. I had travelled many times on this unit in its past life with both Central Trains (I believe) and Trans Pennine Express – my opinion is that its current internal layout and seating is the best ever. We ran very close to the working times until the recovery time at the end of the journey which was reached 3.5 minutes early. In Table 7 we turn to Cross Country services recorded by Ian Umpleby between Derby and Tamworth, although the previous section from Chesterfield is also included. Why Network Rail does not realign the track at Burton on Trent to avoid the 50mph psr seems nonsensical . How much fuel is spent in accelerating away from the slack, from either direction, by so many trains every day. Ian’s comments:- The 06:08 Edinburgh - Plymouth is timed for HSTs but, due to planned engineering work between Edinburgh and Newcastle, started from the latter and was formed by a class 220. I joined at Leeds and after busily noting the MPs to Wakefield was astounded to find a sub ten-minute time - my first ever in hundreds of journeys - when I checked my stopwatch. I had to look at my wristwatch just in case I'd pressed too early and it confirmed that just over ten mins had elapsed; this was not a record but grabbed my attention. The next two sections were checked and we left Chesterfield two mins late before setting the second best-ever time to Derby, eight secs slower than a Meridian. The driver had started at Leeds and almost certainly carried on to Birmingham as the same style of running continued to Tamworth where I left the train; this run was an absolute fastest time. Table 8 has on offering from Bevan Price, on a slightly slower Trans Pennine service between Dewsbury and Leeds. I have included the several sections which Bevan forwarded. He comments:- Again, for me, a fast, relatively unchecked entry into Leeds, possibly because it was a few minutes late. (Five TP trains per hour between Manchester & Leeds seems to cause problems - how will they manage with six per hour - with skip-stops replacing some local service? I suspect that punctuality will not improve....)


Table 7 miles M. Ch Timing Point WTT Min. Sec. M.P.H. avge

Loco/Unit 220018 20.95 131 02 Little Eaton J [1] 13 15 113 109.3

Vehicles/tare/gross tonnes 4/195/205 22.85 129 10 St Marys 14 19 80 107.6

Train 0741 Newcastle - Plymouth 23.47 128 41 Nottingham Rd 14 58 55 56.1

Date Sat 7th October 2017 24.13 127 68 Derby pfm 3 19 16 36 33.5

Weather Sunny Ints 0.00 127 68 Derby 21 18 45 T

Rec/Pos/GPS? IU;3/4;N 1.40 1 20 Pear Tree 2 30 70 33.6

miles M. Ch Timing Point WTT Min. Sec. M.P.H. avge 4.85 4 56 Stenson J 5 4 41 115 94.4

0.00 146 19 Chesterfield 0 0 00 2L 5.45 5 24 North Staffs J 5.5 5 00 115 114.8

0.89 145 28 Chesterfield SJ 1.5 1 22 63 38.9 6.29 6 11 Willington 7.5 5 26 120 116.4

3.45 142 63 Clay Cross NJ 3 3 10 96 85.8 8.83 8 54 Clay Mills 6 40 124 123.3

4.04 142 16 Clay Cross 3 32 96 96.0 10.98 10 66 Burton on Trent 9 8 08 47 88.3

147 75 12.40 12 20 Branston J 9 26 82 65.3

6.60 145 30 Stretton 5 01 111/109 103.9 14.85 14 56 Barton 10 58 106 96.6

10.27 141 57 Wingfield 7 00 112 110.5 16.18 16 02 Wichnor J 13 11 41 113 109.9

14.23 137 60 Ambergate J 10.5 9 22 80 100.8 19.58 19 34 Elford 13 25 125 118.1

16.34 135 51 Belper shl 10 43 98 92.9 21.65 21 40 MP 14 25 124 124.9

23.85 23 56 Tamworth 18 16 25 1.5E 65.8

Table 8 Miles m c Location

m s mph

Date Sat 22 April 17 6.56 32 26 RAVENSTHORPE 5 56.5 74

Train 0841 Picc - Hull 8.03 33 63 DEWSBURY 7 56.0

Loco 185 143 9.35 35 09 BATLEY 1 48.0 71

Load 3/163/167 9.95 35 57 Batley 2 07.5 76

Recorder/pos/GPS B. Price, 2/3 Y 10.55 36 25 Morley TWP 2 46.0 75

Miles m c Location

m s mph 12.54 38 24 MORLEY LOW 4 32.5 53

0.00 25 61 HUDDERSFIELD 0 00.0 5L 13.96 39 58 Churwell 5 43.5 76

2.00 27 61 DEIGHTON 2 14.0 72 14.28 40 03 Cottingley 5 59.0 76

2.73 28 39 Bradley 2 50.5 71 14.98 40 59 Farnley J 6 33.5 72

3.25 29 01 Spen Valley J 3 18.5 72 16.26 42 02 Holbeck EJ 7 48.5 39

3.76 29 42 Heaton Lodge J 3 42.5 70/67 16.54 185 22 Whitehall J 8 20.5 24

4.95 30 57 MIRFIELD 4 41.0 77 17.13 20 47 LEEDS 10 18.0

Table 9 has three short snippets on the Wessex line between Salisbury and Exeter, recorded by John Heaton. He comments:. Another trip to Sherborne and a few more seconds shaved off the times at the western end of the route, particularly the new Cranbrook station. At least these two trains, especially the first were driven with some vigour, although the schedules are supposed to contain 5% performance allowance which, for once, was evident. Table 10 has an offering Howard Claridge, west of Plymouth on a Saturday holiday service, between Plymouth and Lostwithiel. Howard comments:- Pretty standard run on the Summer Saturday Newquay train with this rare stopping pattern Finally, Table 11 has relatively rare improvement on a Scotrail FT, recorded by myself between Larbert and Glasgow Queen Street. This was on a Sunday evening, with fewer services into Queen Street. The run was recorded at the end of a long day from Stromness in Orkney with four hours from Thurso to Inverness and three and a half hours from Inverness to Glasgow. Darkness had also fallen, hence the limited number of passing times. The running had been vigorous throughout with 100mph sustained once on the E&G line. There was no previous offering for a Glasgow Queen Street to Larbert DMU Fastest Time. I therefore include my best time, recorded back in 1993 as a starting point and look forward to receiving a flood of improvements on the line.


Table 9

Unit 159013 Unit 159103

Load 3 Load 3

Train 11.25 Exeter SD-Waterloo Train 12.20 Waterloo to Exeter S. D.

Date 21/9/17 Date 21/9/17

Recorder/Position/GPS J. Heaton 1/3 Y Recorder/Position/GPS J. Heaton 3/3 Y

Miles Miles Ch Timing Point WTT M. S. mph Ave. Miles Miles Ch Timing Point WTT M. S. M.P.H Ave.

0.00 168 44 Pinhoe d. 0 0 00 ½E 0.00 163 02 Whimple d. 0 0 00 ½E

1.86 166 55 Broadclyst 2 16 76 49.3 2.23 165 20 Crannaford 2 31 82 53.0

2.35 166 16 Cranbrook 3½ 3 04 36.6 3.18 166 16 Cranbrook a. 4 3 39 50.3

0.00 166 16 Cranbrook 4 3 45 0.95 165 20 Crannaford 1 36 52/62 35.6 3.18 163 02 Whimple 4½ 3 47 61.1 0.00 163 02 Whimple 5 4 36 2.03 161 00 MP 161 2 50 60 42.9 3.74 159 23 Feniton 4 17 76/87 70.9 5.03 158 00 MP 158 5 16 81 79.2 7.03 156 00 MP156 6 45 80 80.4 8.34 154 55 Honiton a. 9 8 16 Dn pfm 51.9

. Table 10 Miles m c Timing point WTT min/secs mph avge

Date Saturday 27th May 2017 9.20 256.27 St Germans 14.5 14.24 45 57.9

Train 1135 Paddington-Newquay 10.83 258.00 Mp 258 16.06 64 57.5

Motive Power 43136 / 43189 12.83 260.00 Mp 260 18.00 62 63.1

Load 2 + 7 coaches 378/385 tons 14.60 261.62 Menheniot 19.48 58 59.0

Position / Weather 8/9 Sunny Intervals 24C 16.08 263.20 Milepost 21.19 59/57 58.5

Recorder / GPS Howard Claridge / No 17.70 264.70 LISKEARD 23.0 23.00 58 57.7

Miles m c Timing point WTT min/secs mph avge 19.83 267.00 Mp 267 25.12 59 58.1

0.00 245.78 PLYMOUTH 0.0 0.00 T 21.03 268.16 Doublebois 26.37 47 50.1

1.23 248.29 Devonport 2.52 25.7 22.08 269.20 St Pinnock VJ 28.0 28.07 38 42.0

1.61 248.60 Dockyard 3.33 33.4 22.83 270.00 Largin VW 29.04 51 47.4

2.19 249.26 Keyham 4.32 41/45 35.4 24.83 272.00 Mp 272 31.10 59 57.1

3.04 250.14 St Bud Ferry Rd 5.44 39.14 42.5 26.85 274.02 BODMIN PKWY 33.5 33.22 50 55.1

4.19 251.26 Saltash 9.0 9.12 15 19.9 28.08 275.20 Brownqueen TW 34.35 63 60.7

6.95 254.07 Wivelscombe TE 12.04 69 57.8 30.28 277.36 LOSTWITHIEL 37.5 37.22 T

. Table 11

Date Fri 16.08.93 Sun 24.09.17

Train 1542 Glas-Abdn 1623 Invn-Glas

Unit 158 716 170459/403

Load 2/74/85 6/266/275

Recorder M D Robertson M D Robertson

Miles m c Location m s mph Miles m c Location m s mph

0.00 0 07 Queen St 0 00.0 0.00 110 19 Larbert 0 00.0

0.91 1 00 Mp 1 2 22.5 35 10.10 11 38 Croy 8 56.5 100

1.82 1 73 Cowlairs 3 43.5 53/ed 15.32 6 21 Lenzie 12 04.0 99

3.15 3 19 Bishopbriggs 5 06.0 65 18.34 3 19 Bishopbriggs 13 54.0 86br

3.99 4 06 Cadder 6 13.5 75 19.67 1 73 Cowlairs 15 06.0 54

6.17 6 21 Lenzie 7 28.5 85 21.49 0 07 Queen St 19 17.0

8.19 8 22 Waterside J 8 50.5 90

9.95 10 03 Gartshore 10 00.0 90

11.39 11 38 Croy 10 58.5 91 12.75 12 67 Dullator 11 52.0 91 15.41 15 40 Castlecary 13 35.0 91 17.26 17 28 Greenhill U J 15 00.0 60sc 17.92 106 54 Greenhill L J 15 32.5 68 20.25 109 00 Carmuirs WJ 17 38.5 55* 21.49 110 19 Larbert 19 13.0

My thanks again to all those who have contributed the featured runs, without which these articles could not be compiled.


Problems Derek Wilson The last weekend of October 2002, according to some newspapers, should have seen the town of Sevenoaks re-named either Fiveoaks or Two Stumps, as this was the period of the (mainly) Southern Great Gale. Unfortunately, it was also the weekend chosen by Pathfinders to stage a re-run of their ill-fated ‘Bone Breaker’ rail-tour (more of which later), this one called ‘The Gratis Grids’. Driving from Yorkshire to Crewe in the early hours of a Sunday was not too bad as both the traffic and wind were fairly light. Waiting at Crewe’s Platform 12 were 10 coaches with No. 56041 piloting No. 56038, a total 6,500 h.p, which should have presented no problems. How wrong I was. As soon as we left the station the force of the wind became evident, although as the log shows, we did not run into any real trouble until Norton Bridge, where for the first time we had the unusual sight of the driver and second man leave the locos armed with substantial saws and axes to clear fallen branches from the track. Arriving at Stafford almost an hour late, and with conditions worsening rather than getting better, the decision was taken to abort the tour and return to Crewe. This journey took twice as long as the outward one, due to the amount of debris deposited on the tracks since our passage southwards.

Table 1 Date 27-Oct-02

Train The Gratis Grid

Loco 56044 piloted by 56038

Load 10,362/375

Miles Sch Act mph

0.00 Crewe P12 0 0.00 /55

1.77 Basford Hall 6 3.50 72

7.89 Madeley 12 9.20 72

10.46 Whitmore 11.24 tsr31

14.12 Mp 144 16.08 tsr43/73

19.24 Norton Bridge 21 21.02 trs 17,ss 30m24s

23.87 MP 134.25 82.11 15

24.54 Stafford 28 86.05

Table 1B

Date 27-Oct-02

Train The Gratis Grids

Loco 56038 piloted by 56044

Load 10,362/375

Miles Place Sched. Actual Speed

0.00 Stafford 0 0.00 45

1 94 Milepost 135.50

4.58 Sigs 90m 46s

2.44 Milepost 136 99.00 13

5.30 Norton Bridge 10 112.34 13

7.44 Milepost 141 122.48 12

9.44 Milepost 143 131.30 Sigs 6m 17s+lm 16s 10.44 Milepost 144 150.26 Sigs 2m 21s

11.44 Milepost 145 156.25 12

13.98 Whitmore 169.16 14

16.65 Madeley 20 179.37 15

18.44 Milepost 152 189.03 11

19.83 Betley Road 193.12 13

22.77 Basford Hall 28 208.01 14

24.54 Crewe P 12 32 216.13


The return journey follows in Table 1B, but before we returned to Crewe, all passengers were informed that a third attempt would be made to reach Clacton, at no charge for the original passengers of the Bone Breaker, of which I was one. Another Problem Caused by the Weather. Back in the days before global warming had been invented, winters were cold and trains were being electrically heated, as steam heat was being phased out, and when even a locomotive-hauled train could have as many as eight or 10 coaches to pull, I was one of the passengers, on 30 December 1985, who boarded the 0738 Hull to Carlisle service at Keighley. The first stop was Skipton, arrived 1½ minutes early, having reached 82 mph after Kildwick. Before leaving Skipton we were told that the train would be diverted and arrive at Carlisle somewhat later than advertised; the reason being that as we were the first train along the line and also that the track gangs had not yet reached the many affected parts. We would be leaving the Carlisle line at Settle Junction, travelling through Wennington, to gain access to the West Coast line at Camforth and so on to Carlisle. The reason for the diversion was that there were many icicles dangling from the roofs of the many tunnels, and until they were dislodged, the safety of the drivers was paramount, not to mention the cost of replacing cracked or broken windscreens. Goodbye Class 58

How many times have you been on an aeroplane that has just landed, after the pilot has just announced, ‘Welcome to X, the ground temperature is Y the weather outlook is Z. Please remain in your seats, with your safety belts fastened, whilst we taxi to our allotted terminal’. But how many passengers do so? The same thing happens on trains, which explains why 31 people were injured when No. 58035 hit the buffers at low speed at Walton-on-the-Naze, on the now infamously named ‘Bone Breaker’ rail-tour of 26 August 2002. Of the two most seriously hurt, one had a broken leg, and the other suffered broken ribs, the rest had a series of cuts and bruises and all were believed to be standing up at the time of the collision. Boring though it may be, my wife and I are one of the last to leave a plane or train, and we usually meet the early leavers at the baggage reclaim area, or if we leave a train at its terminus, before the cleaners arrive. We find that the queues at the ticket barriers have all gone. To me this proves the old adage ‘More haste, less speed’. The Class 58 railtour log in Table 2, was Pathfinder’s first attempt to reach Clacton and had been running remarkably well, considering the round-about route taken. According to my records, it was 1344 when we hit the buffers, whereas we were due stop in the platform at 1346. Once the train had been emptied of the walking wounded as well as those like myself who were shaken but not hurt, the train was impounded by the British Transport Police, pending examination by an Accident Investigation Team. Meanwhile, the tour mangers went to work, and after a very short time, a fleet of coaches was organised to take us to Thorpe-le-Soken station, where, after another short wait, Nos. 321302 and 321440 arrived with a semi-fast service for Liverpool Street. From there an even shorter journey on the Underground took us to Euston Square station, for the few minutes’ walk to Euston station itself. Here almost like royalty, we were led straight through the ticket barrier, and onto a Class 87-hauled service for Liverpool, first stop Crewe. So, we arrived back there well over two hours before ‘The Bone Breaker’ was due to return.


On the way to the exits, all the television screens seemed to be showing the evening news. I stopped to watch, only to find we were the news. Unfortunately, in the worst tradition of British journalism, we were described as a train full of train spotters, having a final journey behind a locomotive which, when viewed from above, is shaped like a bone. Welcome to cliché land. Incidentally, I never learned the true cause of the accident, so if any member can enlighten me, I would be most grateful.

Table 2 Miles Place Sched. Actual Net Speed

Date 26-Aug-82 0.00 Banbury 0 0.00 79

Train The Bone-Breaker Rail tour 5.02 Aynho Jet. 5 5.00 72/77

Loco 58045, piloted by 58033 10.94 Heyford 11 9.45 Tsr32/Sigs9m 24s

Load 10,364/400 13.56 Tackley 23.35 Sigs17

Miles Place Sched. Actual Net Speed 19.81 Wolvercot Jet. 19 34.06 69/17

0.00 Crewe 0 0.00 64 22.62 Oxford 25 37.43 66/40/83

2.77 Basford Hall 3.14 80 27.73 Radley 43.04 78

7.87 Madeley 12 8.04 68/77 32.25 Didcot North Jet. 35 46.41 78

10.51 Whitmore 10.04 80 37.64 Cholsey 50.56 79

14.09 Standon Bridge 13.20 51/25 44.54 Pangboume 56.15 Sigs 3m 3s

19.19 Norton Bridge 23 18.06 72 50.10 Reading 70 70.06 66/Sigs 21

24.49 Stafford 29 25.02 25 55.04 Twyford 77 76.45 76/Sigs 23

0.00 Stafford 0 0.00 73 61.82 Maidenhead 85 8.46 46/Sigs 33

4.95 Shrugborough TS 5.29 S 67.64 Slough 95 95.46 69

9.26 Rugeley 12 10.52 S 71.37 Iver 99.04 40/52/Sigs 19secs

10.56 Rugeley Town 19.36 s 77.00 Southall 106 108.44

14.82 Hednesford 24 36.14 41 80.39 Ealing Broadway 110 114.34 90

21.51 Bloxwich 45.24 27 0.00 Ealing Broadway 0 0.00 15

24.54 Walsall 39 53.29 42 2.10 Acton Wells Jet. 7 5.16 Sigs 3m 38secs

26.26 Bescot Stadium 43 55.52 63 3.55 W’sden WL’don Jet 18 15.04 72

30.09 Hamstead 60.03 44 7.15 Camden Jet. 22 21.09 43

33.64 Soho South Jet. 66 67.18 41 10.50 Cannonbuy 28.06 18

35.69 Birmingham New St.

71 72.59 59 12.40 Hackney Wick 34.21 14

0 00 Birmingham New St.

0 0.00 29 13.40 Stratford 45 38.29 Sigs2m 11 s/72

1.96 Bordesley Jet 9.01 Sigs 7m 2s 16.70 Ilford 50 44.15 Sigs 4 secs/80

4.03 Tyesley 20 20.07 22 21.70 Romford 49.53 Sigs 10/Sig 9 secs

5.95 Olton 25.43 23 24.30 Harold Wood 58.15 79

7.78 Solihull 30.07 76 29.35 Shenfield 68 68.28 63/81

11.11 Dorridge 35 34.54 77/Tsr 20 39.15 Chelmsford 76 76.50 83

17.89 Hatton 48 42,52 Tsr 22/49 45.25 Hatfield Peverell 81.40 810

22.05 Warwick 50.54 Sigs 9m 22s

47.95 Witham 84 83.41 78

24.01 Leamington Spa 67 64.49 76 51.60 Kelvedon 86.28 75

29.47 Harbury Tunnel N. 70.49 61/67 55.95 Marks Tey 91 89.47

35.11 Fenny Compton 79 75.29 81 60.80 Colchester Goods Line 99 97.06 85

43.89 Banbury 88 83.11 59 58045 now leading and 58033 at rear

0.00 Colchester Goods Lin* 0 0.00 41

2.15 Hythe 9 6.27 56

4.55 Wivenhoe 9.28 36/46

6.30 Alresford 12.38 50

9.30 Great Bentley 15.52 47

13.60 Thorpe le Soken 24 23.30 Sigs 51 secs/40/16

16.20 Kirby Cross 31.01 33

18.65 Walton on the Naze 38 37.20 36

A minor unfortunate incident

I had arranged to be in London in early June 2009, which coincided with the running of Pathfinder’s charter to Long Marston, which started at Euston. It had rained overnight, and continued to do so for the rest of the day, almost to the minute we arrived back in the capital.

No. 90029 was at the head of 10 coaches and left promptly at 0713. The first pickup was


Milton Keynes, followed by Nuneaton, where No. 66060 replaced the electric loco. Our route was then non-stop through Birmingham New Street to halt at Kidderminster where some passengers had opted to spend the day on the Severn Valley Railway. There then followed further stops at Worcester Shrub Hill, Norton Junction (pathing), Evesham and finally Honeyboume, before coming to a halt, two minutes late in the temporary platform in the Long Marston complex. As I remember, there were coaches running around the site, with long queues waiting for them. Then someone pointed out that a train had appeared on an adjacent line, hauled by a J94 look-alike steam loco, plus three coaches, with a small diesel loco coupled at the far end, thus avoiding the need to run around. As it was still raining, 200 or so soggy passengers boarded, waiting to go wherever the train would take us. The steam loco was a 1947-built Barclay 0-6-0 saddle tank, works number 2183, but carrying the running number 15 and the name Earl David, and turned out in the lined brown livery of the Wemyss Private Railway Company, for whom it had worked. This company was a long established one, owning a number of collieries in the Kingdom of Fife, with an outlet to the sea at Methil. After a short delay to make sure everyone was safely on board, the ‘right away’ was given, but less than 10 seconds later, after many loud shouts of ‘STOP!’, we were brought to a halt. The coach I was in, (the second), had somehow split the points and all wheels of the leading bogie were off the rails. As we were still well within the platform limits, everyone had to get off, and re-join the queue for the coaches – and still it rained. So, after making extensive tours of the site, the majority of the passengers headed back to the charter, if not in an attempt to get dry, but at least to escape from the rain. The return journey was supposed to mirror the outward one, but we were informed on the train that ‘due to congestion in the Birmingham area’, we would be re-routed. As we were diesel hauled this did not present a problem for us, but for those who had chosen the SVR option, it did. We re-traced our route back to Droitwich Spa, where we picked up the steam enthusiasts and then headed straight up the Lickey Incline, non-stop through Birmingham New Street again, to pick up the remaining ‘kettle’ enthusiasts at Bescot Stadium, and then on to Stafford. By using Portobello Junction and then on to Bushbury Junction we avoided the potential bottleneck of Wolverhampton. As we arrived at a platform heading north, 90029, which had been stabled in a bay, moved out ready to couple up, and head south, once 66060 had been detached. Despite the change in route, we were only 18 minutes late leaving Stafford. So, with a clear road, apart from a signal slowing at Nuneaton, the 83.8 miles to Milton Keynes, timed to take 79 minutes, were reeled off in 66m 23s. Another gain of 2½ minutes to Watford saw an arrival back into Euston two minutes late. And at last, it had stopped raining. As strange as it may seem despite all the distance I have travelled by train, (610,000+ miles logged and possibly that number again not), I have only suffered two complete loco failures. The first was when D241, with an early evening Kings Cross to Newcastle service, expired at Knebworth, and was rescued by D8048 (See Milepost 34, Page 33). The second was when No. 37194 hauling Pathfinder’s ‘Deviationer’ railtour, failed about a mile and a half beyond East Midlands Parkway station. The tour started, as usual, at Crewe with No. 20305 piloted by No. 20302 and a load of 13 coaches. With 37194 attached at the rear, the gross weight for the Class 20s was 600 tons. The journey to Ely was via Nuneaton, Wigston, Glen Parva and then down the Midland Main Line to West Hampstead, for a short run on the North London line as far as Harringay Park Junction, where for a short distance we joined the East Coast Main Line, before branching off onto the Hertford Loop, only to rejoin


the ECML at Langley Junction. We then took the then newly built flyover at Hitchin, and later passed Cambridge and Ely, before arriving into Ely reception sidings. After a number of shunting moves which saw us visit Ely station, the Potter Group’s tracks 14 and 22, as well as giving us glimpses of the two Class 08s owned by the Group, the 20s then headed for Grantham goods loop, via March, Peterborough, Spalding and Sleaford, where 37194 took over. It soon became obvious that all was not well with the locomotive, as we crawled to the operational stop at Nottingham, at a maximum of 40 mph. After the required two minutes, we were on our way again and after reaching 28 mph, 37194 finally expired in the darkness, shortly after passing East Midlands Parkway station. Perhaps the load of 647 tons was too much. As the 20s were still attached at the rear, permission was eventually given for them to pull us into Toton yard. Here they ran around and set of for our designated route. We passed Leicester 2¼ hours late, and after making the relevant set downs, arrived back at Crewe at 2354, schedule: 2144. Diesel Multiple Unit Problem One of the strangest DMU problems happened to me on 1 April 1986. (I realise that it was All Fools Day, but it really happened). The 0807 all stations stopping service from Doncaster to Leeds arrived at Wakefield Westgate on time. Formed of two of the first, second generation units, Nos. 141004 and 141016 came to a halt, the doors opened, people got off, other people including me got on, the doors closed, the conductor gave the ‘right away’, the engines revved up, but there was no forward movement.

Table 3

Date 01-Apr-86

Train 0807 Doncaster-Leeds

Loco 141016 and 141004

Load 105/112

Miles Place Sched Actual Speed

0.00 Wakefield Westgate

0 0.00 28

0.88 Wakefield Kirkgate

2.17 52/29

4.05 Normanton 6.48 54

5.25 Altofts 8.26 61

8.83 Woodlesford 12.03 62

13.83 Milepost 195 17.36

14.81 Leeds 16 20.54

After a few moments, the conductor left the rear unit to talk to the driver in the front unit. The engines revved up once more, but still no forward motion; the conductor talked to the driver once more, then they both changed ends and we set off in the same direction as the train had arrived, except that we now branched off to Wakefield Kirkgate. An announcement was then made that due to a mechanical fault, the driver could not select forward gear, so we were being re-routed and would arrive in Leeds somewhat later than planned. Having eventually arrived at Leeds, the train once cleared of all passengers, then headed empty northwards, presumably to go to Neville Hill Depot for rectification. At last, the perfect rail-tour - despite the weather So, I will end with a journey that was never more than seven minutes behind its schedule, also written to prove that railtours can run to time and also that I do not only use Pathfinder’s.


On 25 August 2014, Retro Railtours ran a charter from Leeds to Stratford-on-Avon using Class 60 No. 60059 with 11 coaches weighing 384 tons tare and 410 tons gross. I parked at Dewsbury because I knew that at 6 am parking would be easier and cheaper than Leeds. We left three minutes late, and lost a little more time at Huddersfield, as the stock was the wrong way around. All this, plus being restricted to 34 mph, before passing Slaithwaite, led to our maximum lateness of seven minutes at Marsden. Passing there we then made stops at Stalybridge, Reddish South and Stockport. Although a Class 60 has a nominal maximum speed of 65 mph, we seemed to have one which went a little faster, as we averaged 68½ between Cheadle Hulme and Handforth, thus regaining most of our lost time. Shortly after, we were looped at Chelford for 11 minutes to allow normal traffic to pass, and thus we left there only one minute late. We also stopped at Crewe and Rugeley, then passing through Hednesford and Walsall, arriving at Bescot down goods for a scheduled stop of 23 minutes, leaving there, two minutes late, after the loco had run-round. Re-passing Walsall in the opposite direction, we avoided Birmingham by use of the junctions at Castle Bromwich and St. Andrews, so passing Tyseley and Henley-in-Arden, we arrived at Stratford-on-Avon at 1152 (schedule 1149). Although it was still raining, as it had been virtually since we left Yorkshire, there is so much to see and do in the town that our 4½ hour stay did not seem long enough. Departing Stratford one minute late, we now branched off at Bearley Junction, ran through Dorridge, and Birmingham New Street, to halt at Bescot Stadium for a crew change. Departing on time we retraced our path to Rugeley, but then turned off through Stoke and Kidsgrove, to set down at Crewe, Stockport, and Reddish South from where on time departures were made. After the Reddish stop, we went slightly ‘off piste’ to our outward journey, passing Ashton Moss North Junction, Phillips Park South and Ashburys to arrive at Stalybridge three minutes late. Despite two signal stops lasting just over four minutes, and a very slow approach to Huddersfield, arrival back to Dewsbury was only one minute late at 2111. Now that’s how to run a railtour! Despite the title of this article, and all the events that have happened to me, after over sixty years of recording train travel in all six continents that have railways, (only Antarctica does not), I still believe rail travel to be the safest method of travel for the human race. Charter train massacres sheep The choice of title depends on which you like the best, sheep or trains? 2 September 1989 saw the 0825 charter to Edinburgh leave Bradford Interchange, with No. 47288 taking 10 coaches towards New Pudsey and Leeds to collect more passengers. Those of us with some railway knowledge looked a little askance at the thought of a no-heat locomotive coming back late in the evening from Scotland, even though it was only early September. Our fears were groundless for as soon as we stopped in the platform at Leeds, no sooner was 47288 detached from one end, than 47417 was attached at the other. We then retraced our path back only as far as Whitehall West Junction where we swung right for a stop at Skipton, reached in just over 33 minutes. As no schedules were issued, it was impossible to say if we were late, on time, or early. Garsdale was the next stop, arrived at in 51¼ minutes for the 35.4 miles, including a stop of 2¾ minutes before Dent. The next 51.35 miles to Carlisle took 62¼ minutes including four TSRs. After Carlisle with a clear road 47417 showed what she was capable of, despite a TSR to 52 mph at Dinwoodie and topping Beattock at 39, Carstairs South Junction, 73.15 miles, was passed in 70m 34s, despite a gross load of 400 tons.


A stop of 34 seconds between the South and East Junctions delayed matters slightly, but we hit 85 mph before Curriehill, 95.55 miles, passed in exactly 94 minutes. Thereafter our approach to Edinburgh was hampered by a series of signal checks and we arrived at Waverley in 41 seconds over two hours for the 110.65 miles from Carlisle. A considerable amount of time had been allowed in Edinburgh, so it was either late in the afternoon or early in the evening when we left. A high speed, unchecked run down the east coast line to a stop at Berwick, meant a start to stop average of 70.6 mph, including a maximum of 98 after Drem. On departure, engineering works meant 17m 38s to pass Beal, 8.35 miles from Berwick, however, despite a stop of 1m 28s waiting for a platform outside Newcastle, the 67 miles from Berwick were completed in 79m 18s. The relative calm before the storm to come. Leaving Newcastle, we were soon up into the mid-eighties, when rather than disaster striking us, we struck disaster in the form of a flock of sheep that, due to defective lineside fencing, had strayed onto the line. As it was now pitch black and in open country beyond Ferryhill, the driver had no chance of seeing, let alone stopping, before impact. The carnage that followed resulted in the death of 16 sheep, and one very badly damaged locomotive. No-one had come up with the idea of Thunderbirds in those days, so the nearest available loco, given this was Saturday night, was at Thornaby. So, there we sat and waited and waited and waited, until at last a loco turned up to release us from No. 47417, move us from the accident site and get us onto a line where we could proceed homewards. I don’t know what this loco was, but suffice it to say that I was woken up by an announcement we were approaching Leeds. Unfortunately, on leaving there, the driver forgot we had passengers for New Pudsey and went sailing straight through. Presumably reminded by the second man, we stopped and then Control had to be informed, to let the train set back. More time being lost. Eventually we returned to Bradford Interchange, as we left the station, we were met by one of the largest collections of taxis, offering their services (at double rates) that I have ever seen outside London. There is a Kenneth More film called “A Night to Remember”, this was one night certainly to forget.

NO FURTHER FASTEST TIMES IN THE PRINCIPALITY Michael Rowe There has been in Wales, during the last century, a dramatic reduction in railway route mileage. Much of the closed mileage was either branch lines or, in South Wales, the elimination of duplicate routes, some freight only. . Post the 1923 Grouping, other than the former Chester and Holyhead route, the country arguably became, or at least that is how the authorities at Swindon probably perceived it, a Great Western Railway fiefdom. In practice the London Midland and Scottish Railway inherited significant interests, particularly in the industrial areas of south Wales.


The Midland Railway, by a combination of acquisitions and running powers, established its own route between Hereford (reached by running powers over other companies’ tracks) and Swansea via Brecon. The Midland ran on average six freight trains per day each way before the First World War. The route was mainly single track; gradients in places were severe, curves frequent and inevitably average speeds low. The passenger service was never a realistic competitor to the GWR route via Newport and Cardiff. The June 1914 Bradshaw shows two through services per day - Hereford departure 9.22 am and 3.50 pm, both allowed four hours overall for the 79¼ miles, including 24 scheduled stops. In February 1930, the morning train ran to Ystradgynlais where there was a 15 minute connection to Swansea; the afternoon train left Hereford at 4.00 pm and reached Swansea at 7.50 pm. The through service was stopped shortly afterwards but a four train per day service between Hereford and Brecon survived for another 32 years. Pre-1923, a Swansea-allocated Johnson 0-4-4T ran daily to Hereford and back, an arduous duty for a small tank engine. (Ahrons, RM December 1919 states No. 1737) built in 1886 (fire-grate area 16 sq. ft, total evaporation 1,358 sq. ft and only 1,150 gallons water capacity). In 1909. Nos. 2621-4, with 1,220-gallon tanks, replaced Nos.1734-7.

Table 1 m c location sch m s sch m s

Log I II 17.31 Whitney 7 7.00 7.0 7.21

Date 02/09/1947 13/07/1956 19.10 Cliffford Xng 3.04 39 3.40 37/34

Train 1605 1850 21.23 Hay 7 6.47 7.0 7.46

Loco 12143 ex L&Y 3F 0-6-0 3638 GWR 57xx 0-6-0 10 10.12 10.0 11.41

Load 3,80 4,121 25.27 Glasbury 8.09 7.54 45

Recorder G J Aston G J Aston 9 8.44 8.0 8.28

m c location sch m s sch m s 27.60 Three Cocks J 4 3.09 5.0 3.57

0.00 Hereford B.C. 0 0.00 21L 0.0 0.00 4L 7 3.55 7.0 5.32

0.85 Mooorefields Jct 4 4.04 4.29 21* 30.11 Talgarth 5 5.45 5.5 6.18 28

4.74 Credenhill 11.03 11.46 35 8 6.29 6.0 6.57

Credenhill 12 11.23 32.43 Trefeinon 7 5.45 6.0 5.51

6.61 Milepost 6 3.47 41 14.51 40 14 9.16 6.5 6.06

7.47 West Moor 5.02 36/33 16.09 37 34.25 Llangorse 3.5 4.57

9.14 Moorhampton 8 7.58 18.59 24* 4.5 5.20

10 9.19 35.45 Talyllyn 6 7.45 5.0 3.50

12.38 Kinnersley 6 5.28 49 24.03 51 8 10.21 6.0 4.20

12 5.47 47 29.0 25.09 T 37.47 Groesffordd 4.0 4.37

14.24 Eardisley 4 3.46 4.09 5.0 4.55

6 5.34 6.0 6.00 39.33 Brecon 8 8.31 5.0 5.04 1L

15.61 Milepost 15 3.35 30/49 3.53 27 17.31 Whitney 6.18 5.55

G.J. Aston in September 1947 embarked on an extensive tour of the railways of south Wales (see appendix). He commenced his journey in Birkenhead (a ‘derailment on Up line at Dorrington. SLW over Down line, Candover to Dorrington. Long delays awaiting LMS for the single line.’) and was 45 minutes late into Hereford. The Brecon train was held for the connection, whether specifically for Mr Aston we can but speculate. Mr Aston’s 1947 trip afforded him a gentle introduction to the gradients of south Wales and was perhaps appropriate for an LMS manager. There was a 45 mph speed restriction as far as Three Cocks Junction; the line rose 161 feet in eight miles to MP 9, some at 1/120, 1/126, fell to Hay then rose at 1/84, 1/80 for 2½ miles with a similar fall from Talyllyn Junction to Brecon. He continued his journey over the former Brecon and Merthyr Railway to Newport. The even-then-elderly ex-Lancashire and Yorkshire 0-6-0 (boiler pressure 180 psi, fire grate 18¾ sq. ft, total evaporation 1,060 sq. ft., 5.0 ft. diameter coupled wheels) with eleven stops gained 10 minutes overall (schedule 107 minutes, station allowances 31 minutes). Actual


running time was 80m 23s; station allowances, including taking water at Hay, crossing the 5.05 pm ex-Brecon at Trefeinon and ticket collection at Talyllyn, were cut significantly. A decade later ex-GWR motive power was the norm. The schedule, with 11 stops, albeit not the same, was 100 minutes, running time 86 minutes. Actual running time was 83-45. With hindsight perhaps tighter schedules, post the decline in freight traffic, might have delayed the challenge of the bus and motor car to these rural areas. No. 3658 (Log no.2) a 57xx 0-6-0, was built in 1929 (boiler pressure 200 psi, fire grate 15.3 sq. ft., total evap.1,178 sq. ft., 4ft 7½in diameter coupled wheels). This time Mr Aston continued to Neath (Keith Farr published the log in the March 2015 Railway Magazine). Both former London and North Western Railway (LNW) routes (also dependent on running arrangements with the GWR.) into South Wales have survived, albeit the Central Wales line has been truncated at its southern end. Those routes in south Wales have not fared so well. The Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny (MT&A) line ran across the heads of the valleys, from which branches ran south to Blaenavon, Nantyglo, Ebbw Vale, Nine Mile Point and Rhymney affording the L&NWR access to the Welsh industrial heartland. The MT&A climbed over 1,000 feet between Abergavenny and Brynmawr, then seven sawtooth miles followed to Dowlais (including one mile at 1/35) and a seven-mile descent to Merthyr at 1/40 to 1/50. Under BR auspices, speeds were limited to 25/30 mph although higher speeds were apparently the norm, certainly during the LMS period. Not surprisingly, the route and branches presented operational challenges and indeed was one of a select group for which a specific locomotive design was produced, the L&NW 0-8-4Ts. Their introduction is described in J.M. Dunn’s ‘Reflections on a locomotive career’, particularly their tendency to spread the track. They were occasionally used on passenger services, usually, as were the L&NW 0-8-0s, on bank holiday seaside excursions. MT&A weekday passenger services consisted in 1914 of 11 trains from Abergavenny to Merthyr, (with a best overall time 81 minutes), in 1930 the figure was eight (88 minutes best) and in 1953 reduced to six (91 minutes).

Table II

Run III IV

Date 06/09/1947 11/07/1956

Train 0757 1708

Loco No/class 1203 Ivatt 2F 2-6-2T 40145 Stanier 3P 2-6-2T

Load 3,87 2,53

Recorder G J Aston G J Aston

m.ch

location (gradient) sch m s mph sch m s

0.00 Abergavenny B.Rd 0 0.00 5L/38 0 0.00 3L/42

1.57 Milepost 3 (1/34) 3.21 29/17 3.13 30/19

2.42 Govilon (1/34) 7 5.45 5.35

Govilon (1/34) 8 6.49 7 6.38

3.17 Milepost 4½ (1/39) 2.54 19 2.44 19

3.57 Milepost 5¾ (1/39) 5.05 21 5.27 slipping

4.11 Gilwern (1/39) 5.40 6.20

6 6.01 6 6.55

4.57 Milepost 6 (1/38) 2.09 23 2.03 20/19

5.26 Clydach (1/38) 5 4.01 4.10

6 4.53 6 5.10

5.57 Milepost 7 (1/38) 2.01 1.41 19

6.57 Milepost 8 (1/80) 5.31 17 4.35 21

6.63 Gelli Felan (1/38) 5.51 5.00

6 6.49 6 6.42

7.57 Milepost 9 (1/60) 3.26 22/23 3.29 22/24

8.26 Brynmawr (1/88) 5 5.06 3L 5 5.14 4L


Dunn recounts an occasion when 0-8-Ts Nos. 1976 & 793 went light engine from Tredegar to Abergavenny Brecon Road to work a returning excursion to Tredegar. They left Brecon Road at 8.08 pm and with eight corridor coaches had to draw up at every station at which they stopped. At Clydach the front engine was in the single line tunnel so, ‘What with the noise of the steam escaping from the safety-valves which also filled the footplate so that we could neither see or hear each other, the drippings from the tunnel roof and our endeavours to see the guard’s signal, we were in an unenviable predicament and I got into a dreadful mess.’ Overall, they lost 10 minutes at Clydach and took 78 minutes (schedule 49 minutes) from Abergavenny to Tredegar. As a result of this incident the 0-8-4Ts were limited to four coaches and single operation, all similar trains were to be split at Brecon Road and worked forward as separate portions. W. Jones wrote (Railway World 1957), ‘Easter Monday in 1931 I was delighted to find one (0-8-4T) at the head of our train back to Rhymney Bridge, (he joined at Gilwern). The train consisted of ten LNWR six wheelers with which she made a fine show up the long 1/38.’ The Ivatt Class 2F (BR classification 2MT) 2-6-2T (log III) performed particularly well in the early part of the climb from Govilon, attaining 21½ mph on the 1/39 (an EDHP of at least 530), later, perhaps through a shortage of steam, it fell to 17 mph before Gelli Felan. The nominally more powerful Stanier 3P (actually a modified Fowler design and considered by many to be the least successful Stanier locomotive), with the by then normal two coach consist, performed less well, albeit its highest power output was at the end of the climb (EDHP 450, at least). Mr. Aston continued behind No. 40145 as far as Dowlais; on the favourable gradients speed was allowed to reach 34½ mph on the 1/45 after the Beufort stop, 40 on the 1/78 start from Trevil and 43 on the 1/38 before the Rhymney Bridge stop following which 26½ was attained on the 1.4 miles at 1/46 up to Milepost 17 (EDHP 470). The only record on the RPS database of an eastbound climb from Merthyr is also from Mr. Aston’s 1947 visit, a G2 0-8-0 with a two-coach train. Unfortunately, no speeds were recorded. Typical performance, 5m 45s start-to-stop for the 1.9 miles at 1/45 from Pontsarn to Pantysgallog. The Swansea Victoria to Pontardulais section of the former LNWR route from Shrewsbury perhaps encapsulated the difficulties, despite dual track, of operating fast services in much of the Principality. The initial start from the two-platform terminus at Victoria was at 1/57, to reach the junction with the connecting line from the docks and the GWR, then two level miles to Mumbles Road, albeit subject to problems from drifting sand, followed by a rise at 1/70 & 1/106 to Dunvent, a fall at 1/72 and 1/119 to Gorseinon, with a final rise at 1/116 to Pontardulais. The overall speed limit was 50 mph. There were six weekday departures for Shrewsbury from Swansea Victoria in June 1914, with a best time to Craven Arms (95½ miles) of six minutes over three hours and nine ‘locals’ to Pontardulais. Forty years later there were five to Shrewsbury, best time to Craven Arms three hours five minutes, and six ‘locals’ to Pontardulais. Thanks to Messers. Aston and Hedges we have details of 1954 performance. The Fowler 2-6-4 tank (log IV) lost three quarters of a minute to Pontardulais, (in 1914 the allowance was a minute less). Mr Aston’s log (V) on the York Mail brings back memories of University and nine o’clock lectures. The Down York Mail was due Swansea Bay at 8.12 am but was often late such that the bus from Oystermouth ran alongside it at one point or even on two or three occasions actually passed under it at Bryn Mill. Motive power was usually a BR or LMS 5MT 4-6-0, sometimes a Fowler 2-6-4T and very occasionally an LMS 8F 2-8-0. No. 73035 (log V) slipped badly after leaving Victoria station, but ran well afterwards with a minimum of 36 mph after Mumbles Road. (In 1914, the 23 minutes to Pontardulais included a stop at Swansea Bay). Log No VI is included as an example of how, six years post nationalisation, elderly ex-LNWR locos (original design 1881) continued to operate deep in BR(W) territory. The veteran kept time to Gowerton, where water was taken; the lost few minutes were recovered by the time the train left Pontardulais for Pantyfynon the next stop and Brynamman West.


Table III, Closed section of the LNWR Mid Wales line. Swansea to Pontardulais

Log IV V VI

Date 23/07/1954 29/05/1954 19/07/1954

Train 1025 1830 1915

Loco/class 42388 LMS 2-6-4T 73035 Br Cl5 4-6-0 58915 LNW 0-6-2T

Load 5,154/160 6/170 2,60/61

Recorder M Hedges G J Aston M Hedges

m.ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph sch m s mph

0.00 Swansea 0 0.00 0 0.00 0.00

1.12 Swansea Bay 4.06 38 4.32 38 3.48

Swansea Bay 3 4.10

2.63 Mumbles Road 6.57

6.46 48 3.38

Mumbles Road 7 7.17 50 5 4.04

4.50 Killay 4.39 9.13 36 4.36

Killay 5 5.10

5.52 Dunvent

6.34

10.48 44 3.17

Dunvent 53 2 3.27 47

7.22 Gowerton 8.56 48 14 12.56 35 3.21

Gowerton 6 6.26

8.61 Gorseinon

11.29

15.00 43 3.07 38

Gorseinon pws14 4 4.15

10.37 Gra SB pws15 18.44 52 46

12.22 Pontardulais 17 17.43 23 21.30 11 7.11

Whilst the major former Great Western routes survived the strictures of the 1960s and 1970s, two significant cross country routes i.e. Aberystwyth to Carmarthen and Barmouth to Ruabon (the Barmouth to Dolgellau section was formerly a Cambrian Railway line) succumbed in the mid-60s. Both routes were characterised by single track, severe gradients and on the latter some sections with severe curvature. Almost immediately after leaving Aberystwyth the Carmarthen line entered a sharp curve on a 1/41 gradient. There were four adverse miles after Llanilar, in parts as steep as 1/41, then a short tunnel and a descent to Strata Florida at 1/41. The continuation to Tregaron was a rarity, (it now affords a pleasant walk beside the Tregaron bog) it was reasonably straight and level. Much of the rest of the route was characterised by many sharp curves. After Pencader Junction it descended at 1/80 to 1/55 with a 35 mph limit for most of way on to Carmarthen. (There is a scheme to reopen the line as part of a south to north route for the Prinicipality. AECOM’s report suggests a cost of £750 million and that some of the route may have to be diverted for environmental reasons, presumably the only straight section; the Tregaron bog is a SSSI.) Pat Dalton described the line in Trains Illustrated 1959, ‘Fifty-six miles of single track that wind and twist crazily through fertile valleys, over fast-flowing rivers and amid mountain scenery of great beauty – the Aberystwyth Carmarthen branch.’ He also recounted a return footplate trip: The 7.15 am ex-Aberystwyth consisted of 22xx 0-6-0 No. 2271 with ‘three for 93 tons’. Departure was seven minutes late awaiting the Down Whitchurch Mail, which was reduced to 3½ minutes by Tregaron. This included the conditional stop at Caradog Falls Halt and a 5 mph pws at Abermud Bridge, i.e. 38½ minutes for the 19 miles with five intermediate stops. He considered the overall 41 minutes schedule to Tregaron was ‘tight’. His return from Carmarthen was with 43xx 2-6-0 No. 6355, with the same three-coach set plus six empty milk wagons for Pont Llanio (177 tons tare). Time was kept comfortably. He was impressed how well the 2-6-0, recently out of shops, rode the curves near Convil compared with the 0-6-0. Railwaymen, he noted, often referred to the route as the ‘Burma Road’. Thanks to Messrs. Maidment and Wrottesley, the RPS database includes details of performances in 1962 behind a 43xx 2-6-0 (log VII) and a Manor Class 4-6-0 (log VIII). They are tabulated as far as Lampeter. Despite the light load the 2-6-0 appears to have developed c.950 EDHP. Although details are sparse the Manor, with almost twice the load, averaged 17.0 mph twixt Trawscoed and Caradog Falls suggesting an EDHP of c.800. (Outputs similar to those observed with currently running 43xx and 78xx locos on the West Somerset Railway.)


Table IV

Log VII VIII

Date 30/06/1962 25/08/1962

Train 1740 1017ex Penryhndeudraeth

Loco 7312 43xx 2-6-0 7812 78xx 4-6-0

Load 3,94/100 6,-/195

Recorder D Maidment A J Wrottesley

m.ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph

0.00 Aberystwyth 0 0.00 0 0.00

2.68 Llanrhystyd Road 7 5.50 28/43/30 7.00

3.06 Llanilar 7 4.34 53 11.50 17.15

1.45 Felindyffryn Halt 3.30 39/42

1.42 Trawscoed 7 3.05 32 top 1/41 22 7.45 3L

2.67 Caradog Falls 9 6.06 34 on 1/44 17.45 stop board B 2.32 28

2.12 Strata Florida 6 4.59 44 39 23.45 2L

2.66 Alltddu Halt 50/55 26.45

5.43 Tregaron 11 7.36 48 31.45 1L

2.22 Pont Llanio 10 4.44 48/39 53 36.35 1L

1.34 Olnarch Halt B 4.12 46/46

1.20 Llangybi B 2.37 50 42.55

2.25 CDerry Ormond 11 2.32 48/48 45.15 Jct 47.45

2.20 Lampeter 5 4.02 52 67 49.45 T

total runningtime 53.52 ov’ll sch 73 61.35

. B – conditional stop

Table V m.ch location sch m s sch m s mph

Log IX X Derry Ormond 0.0 5.44 7.0 5.35

Train 0630 1030 1.20 Llangybi 4.0 3.06 3.05 35

Loco 6367 43xx 2-6-0 7826 78xx 4-6-0

0.0 3.58 3.25

Load 6+2, 214 2,63 1.34 Olmarch 6.0 3.33 6.45 35,38

Recorder GJ Aston N Proudlock 0.0 3.48

m.ch location sch m s sch m s mph 2.22 Pont Llanio 5.0 4.55 11.0 11.13

0.00 Carmarthen 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.0 10.50 13.0 13.20

1.06 Abergwili Jct 4.0 4.45 4.0 3.12 20 2.57 Tregaron 5.0 5.08 5.0 5.50 38,35

3.11 Bronwydd Arms 10.0 10.00 8.0 8.40 15,35 8.0 6.34 6.5 6.55

0.0 10.11 9.0 10.50 2.63 Alltddhu Halt 6.0 5.20 5.10 36,38

3.06 Conwil 8.0 8.14 8.0 9.05 20,35 0.0 5.30

0.0 8.37 9.0 9.35 2.12 Strata Florida 4.0 4.26 7.0 9.05 36,38

3.07 Llanpumpsaint 8.0 7.42 7.0 8.25 30,25 5.0 6.39 8.0 16.50

0.0 7.47 8.0 8.50 1.31 Ystrad Meurig 4.32 5.03 31

5.03 Pencader 11.0 13.15 12.0 12.40 46 5.11

16.0 16.37 20.0 18.05 2.11 Caradog Falls 7.0 6.19 7.0 5.03 40

0.34 Pencader Jct 1.0 1.23 2.00 36,27 0.0 6.37 8.0 5.11

2.07 Bryn Teifi 6.0 4.57 4.5 5.27 2.67 Trawscoed 8.0 5.08 5.5 5.08 41,40

0.0 5.27 5.0 5.40 0.0 5.37 6.0 5.44

1.59 Maesycrugiau 5.0 3.31 4.0 4.00 38 1.42 Felinduffryn Halt 2.5 2.55 2.30 50

0.0 4.26 4.5 4.30 0.0 3.12

3.71 Llanybyther 8.0 7.32 6.5 7.50 40 1.45 Llanilar 6.5 3.19 6.5 4.45 48

11.0 11.17 8.0 8.25 0.0 3.50 7.0 5.55

5.14 Lampeter 9.0 9.33 10.0 8.28 37,54 3.06 Llanrhystyd Road 7.0 5.35 5.5 4.35 48,50

15.0 47.18 14.0 12.10 0.0 5.52 6.0 4.45

1.24 Aberayron Jct 3.28 3.20 28,36 2.68 Aberystwyth 7.0 6.14 54L

6.5 5.49 45 T

2.25 Derry Ormond 6.0 5.24 5.5 5.15 TotalRunning Time 129.39 125.30


Mr Aston’s wartime experience of the route is tabled (Log IX Table V). The Carmarthen departure was delayed, first by the late running 9.25, pm ex-Paddington and then ‘attaching coaches and milk tanks’. There were further delays; loading troops at Llanbyther and detaching tanks at Pont Llanio. The longest delay was, however, at Lampeter where the 6.55 am from Aberystwyth was crossed rather than at Tregaron. Presumably the two trains were too long to pass at any of the intermediate stations. Although two minutes were lost against schedule to run the five miles from Llanpumpsaint to Pencaderv in 13¼ minutes with 214 tons tare represented hard work, the Manor (log X) with only two coaches was only half a minute quicker. Similarly, the start from Ystrad Meurig, much of it at 1/41, was good. The Manor attained 31 mph on the 1/41, an EDHP of c.800. Although the line was a Blue route, thus permitting 43xx Class 2-6-0s and Manor 4-6-0s, it was not without its concerns to the motive power authorities. One challenge was working the Royal Train in 1956 from Milford Haven to Aberystwyth and back; the solution, a pair of LM Class 8F 2-8-0s. The former GWR Ruabon-Dolgellau route geographically and in other aspects paralleled the Cambrian line from Whitchurch to Machynlleth; the climb from the east is intermediate, with the final three miles at 1/63, 1/64 to 1/54 and 1/64, whereas from the west there is a rise of 700 feet in ten miles including 1.5 miles at 1/50 after Bontnewydd and the last two miles at 1/59 and 1/58. O.S. Nock described a return footplate trip from Ruabon to Barmouth in ‘Four thousand miles on the footplate’. Loads were light, three coaches, and he noted, ‘I left Ruabon with a determination to return one summer Saturday and clock one of these splendid Moguls with a full load of eight corridor bogies.’ Permitted unassisted loads east of Dolgellau were 43xx 2-6-0s and 78xx 4-6-0s 252 tons, 22xx 0-6-0s 168 tons. Thanks to Messrs. Basterfield and Maidment, we have details of 10-coach trains, on the second of which the two 0-6-0s individually were close to the limit.

Table VI

Log XI XII

Date 31/08/1957 30/07/1960

Train 0720 Pwllheli 0720 Pwllheli

Loco 9004 9xxx 4-4-0 2286 22xx 0-6-0

2296 22xx 0-6-0 2202 22xx 0-6-0

Load 10,309/330 10,334/365

Recorder B Basterfield D Maidment

mile location sch m s mph m s mph

0.00 Barmouth 0 0.00 0.00

1.61 Morfa Mawddach 5 5.49 6.45

6 6.17

9.32 Dolgellau 22.35 slack 22.19 38

10.27 Mile Post 43½ 24.55 30,25

12,33 Bontnewydd 29.30 26 29.48 26

14.02 Wnion 35.52 13 36.28

14.77 Mile Post 39 38.09 23,17 32.34

16.01 Drws-y-Nant 41.55 20 42.46

18.77 Milepost 35 53.47 10 14

19.36 Garneddwyn 56.45 20,sl52 53.13 19sl 57

22.22 Llanuwchllyn 60.53 30,sl40 57.23 sl 20 48

Llangower Halt 63.28 52sig12

27.24 Bala Jct 65 70.03 xng 64.44 15

72.25

30.67 LLandderfel 79.34 40,sl27 70.50 46,56/sigs

33.38 Llandrillo 83.52 45,sl30 75.38 41sl18

36.07 Cynwyd 88.32 46,45,50 79.47 1

38.15 Corwen 85 92.27 27 water stop 83.23 water stop


The Dukedog 90xx Class 4-4-0 and the 22xx Class 0-6-0 (log XI) ran the 9.55 miles from Dolgellau to Milepost 35 in 31m 12s pass-to-pass, the pair of 0-6-0s in an estimated 28m 15s. The 4-4-0 and the 0-6-0 developed an average EDHP of c. 750 over the stretch, the pair of 0-6-0s did considerably better with approximately 1,000. The 22xx 0-6-0s carried the standard Swindon No. 10 boiler (fire grate 17.4 sq. ft, total evaporation 1,247 sq. ft at 200 psi), two 17½ by 24 inch cylinders and 5 ft 2 in diameter coupled wheels. The 90xx 4-4-0 dimensions were comparable: (fire grate 17.0 sq. ft., total evaporation 1,190 sq. ft at 180 psi), however, although they were nominally new locos in 1936, the design dated back to the end of the 19th century and the locos were effectively a rebuild. The 22xx 0-6-0s were a new design in 1930, primarily to replace Armstrong and Dean designed 0-6-0s. Mr Maidment took advantage of the Corwen water stop and awaited the following 9.20 am Barmouth to Birmingham. This train ran all stations to Dolgellau and then Corwen, Llangollen and Ruabon. A 43xx 2-6-0 No. 7310 with maximum permitted load of 8/264/285 tons left Corwen 15½ minutes late. How much of this lateness was attributable to the loco and how much to operations must be open to question but the 61-minutes schedule from Dolgellau with a full load appears challenging. Another 8½ minutes was lost on to Llangollen. There was a lengthy signal stop at Glyndyfrdwy to pass a Down train (the 11.00 am ex-Ruabon), actually scheduled to be passed at Llangollen. Dual track commenced at Llangollen, the first ¾ mile was adverse including 1/141, then a favourable half-mile at 1/334, a mile rising at 1/75, a short easing, 1/330 past Wrights siding then 1¼ miles at 1/110 and 1/118 and a final mile at 1/85 to Acrefair. No. 7310 passed Trevor (3.70 miles) in 7m 47s at 31 mph after a maximum of 43 before and Acrefair (4.68 miles) in 10m 01s at 24 mph minimum and stopped at Ruabon (6.19 miles) in 13m 17s. (The train was taken forward from Ruabon by a Grange 4-6-0 which converted an 18-minute late departure to a one minute early arrival at Wolverhampton). The 0-6-0 and the Dukedog passed Llangollen slowly, three and a half minutes late (115m 29s from Barmouth), having recovered 4½ minutes of lateness by a smart water stop at Corwen. After attaining 39 mph maximum, they passed Trevor (122m 45s) at 29 mph and Acrefair (125m 12s) at 22 and reached Ruabon (128m 30s) 2½ minutes late. Before the Second World War, the through coaches for Pwllheli from the 11.10 am ex-London Paddington were attached to the 3.05 pm ex-Ruabon, which ran non-stop to Dolgellau, arrival 4.26 pm and after a stop at the Junction reached Barmouth at 4.53 pm. In the Up direction, the 9.35 am ex-Pwlllheli was scheduled in two hours from Barmouth to Ruabon, including stops at Barmouth Junction, Dolgellau, Corwen and Llangollen. On four summer Saturdays the 11.40 am ex-Pwllheli, with the same stops, was four minutes quicker. In August 1958, the best down time from Ruabon to Barmouth was by the connection from the 11.10 am ex-Paddington i.e. 125 minutes with five stops and five conditional, in the Up direction the 7.20 am ex-Pwhelli was allowed 126 minutes with only one stop. In the Down direction, Mr. Aston recorded the action in 1932. A Dean Goods 0-6-0 with 9/238 on the 12.52 pm ex-Chester, with stops at Llangollen, Corwen and Bala, achieved a running time of 94m 20s (92½ minutes net) from Ruabon to Dolgellau, (Corwen to Dolgellau 58m 30s). Richard Howlett in 1957 timed Manor Class 4-6-0 No. 7817 from Ruabon to Corwen in 34m 40s and from the restart to Dolgellau in 53m 35s with seven for 216 tons. Alan Varley timed two Manors, Nos. 7827 and 7822, with 315/325 on a Talyllyn RPS special in 1963, Corwen to Dolgellau pass in 50m 35s with 25½ mph minimum at Garneddwyn. All logs can be found on the database. The closed railways of Wales do not involve any lines where high speeds were attained: there are no Stanley Junctions to Forfar equivalents, but if hill climbing is a performance criteria, then much has been lost.


APPENDIX G.J. ASTON’S 1947 VISIT TO SOUTH WALES The late, much respected, RPS Member G.J. Aston made an extensive tour of south Wales in September 1947. Whether this was an official visit pre-Nationalisation or not we can only wonder. One can surmise that his LMS colleague D.S.M. Barrie, whose knowledge of south Wales was comprehensive, was consulted. His journey commenced at Birkenhead and he entered south Wales from Hereford (Table I, log I). Tuesday 2nd September 1947

Train Loco Load

1605 Hereford-Brecon LMS 0-6-012143 3,80

1815 Brecon-Newport GWR 45xx Class 2-6-2T 4593 3,79

1755 Paddington (Newport2059) GWR Castle 4-6-0 5020 11,350

2230 Cardiff Queen St-Coryton Halt GWR 64xx Class 0-6-0PT 2c Auto

2250 Coryton Halt-Cardiff Queen St GWR 64xx Class 0-6-0PT 2c Auto

The 6.15 pm to Newport (one of the four trains per day in each direction) left Brecon on time and ran the 47 miles to Newport, over the former Brecon and Merthyr Railway main line, in 159 minutes, schedule 155 minutes. The 23 stops, including a prolonged one at Talybont to cross an Up freight, occupied c. 34 minutes. The seven miles, mainly at 1/38 to a summit at Torpantau (1,310 feet above sea level), were climbed by the small Prairie tank at 19-21 mph with a minimum of 17 on the curves before entering the summit tunnel. This required an EDHP of c. 450 and resulted in a gain of six minutes on the WTT over the 7.25 miles from Talybont to Torpantau. Talybont was left nine minutes late, the 3.25 miles to Pentre Rhiw were run in 11m 07s (schedule 14) and the 3.95 miles to the next stop Torpantau in 12m 57s (schedule 15). If gradient and length are taken into account this was amongst the most severe climbs on British Railways, arguably even the severest. GJA occupied his evening with a spin to Cardiff behind ‘Trematon Castle’ and a return trip on the last ‘auto’ working of the day to Coryton Halt. (The surviving remnant of the Marquis of Bute and the Cardiff Railway’s attempt to take on the Taff Vale, which still carries, during the day, a half hourly service.) Wednesday 3rd September 1947

Train Loco Load

2125 Paddington-Neyland 0244 Cardiff Castle 4-6-0 5013 11,

2125 Paddington-Neyland, 0419 Swansea Unknown

2125 Paddington-Neyland, 0522 Carmarthen Hall 4-6-0 5963

0610 Whitland-Pembroke Dock 81xx 2-6-2T 8102 3,83

0815 Neyland-Paddington to Johnstone 43xx 2-6-0 8,259

0848 Johnstone-Milford Haven 57xx 0-6-0PT, 4654 3,69

1025 Milford Haven-Johnstone 57xx 0-6-0PT, 4654 3,69

1045 Johnstone-Carmarthen GWR Manor 4-6-0 Hall 4-6-0 5963

4,126

1225 Carmarthen-Llandeilo LMS/LNW iP 2-4-2 6620 2,58

Visit to Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Rlwy

1425 Neyland-Pontypool Rd - Pembury-Swansea Hall 4-6-0 5963 6,175

1750 Swansea-Skewen-Port Talbot GWR DMU 16

1837 Port Talbot-Court Sart J-Dynevor-Swansea GWR DMU 16

GJA, after his return trip to Coryton, joined the 9.25 am from London Paddington, which had run via Gloucester, with ‘Abergavenny Castle’, at its head. He presumably attempted some ‘shut eye’ but still managed to note that they were four minutes late away from Cardiff and seven minutes late from Swansea after reversal but he failed to note the loco or load; seven minutes late from Carmarthen, after another reversal, behind ‘Wimpole Hall’ and eleven


minutes late on arrival at Whitland. He changed here; the train to Pembroke Dock was headed by one of the ten 81xx Class 2-6-2Ts which were rebuilt in 1938 with, inter alia, 5 feet 6 inch diameter coupled wheels. Pembroke Dock was reached at 7.23 am. A ferry trip (it ran half hourly he noted) to Neyland enabled him to catch the 8.15 am to London Paddington which he only took to Johnstone before making a return trip on the Milford Haven branch. He then joined the 10.35 am from Neyland at Johnstone which boasted extravagant motive power for its four third class coaches, ‘Wimpole Hall’ and ‘Frilsham Manor’. Not surprisingly perhaps, time was gained between stops, but ‘Guards Time’ was enforced; apparently some five minutes behind GMT, (a reincarnation of how local time was before the coming of the railways perhaps). Carmarthen was reached one minute late despite a very sprightly run from Sarnau, the last stop, left five minutes late. An elderly ex-L&NW 2-4-2T attained 35-37 mph between the five intermediate stops on the Carmarthen Llandeilo branch, the overall schedule of 38 minutes for the 13 miles was kept. GJA then made his way to Cwmmawr, presumably by road. Perhaps the most interesting part of his day was his visit to the Bury Port and Gwendraeth Valley. GJA presumably thought so as he wrote a note in his timing book, ‘B&GV line. 1.45 Bury to Cwmmawr arrived worked by 0-6-0T with two bogies and two workmen’s four-wheelers marshalled alternatively. No. 2081 with one bogie and one four-wheeler worked 2.55 pm Cwmmawr to Tycoch (not advertised workmen’s) arriving five minutes late. Engine then to shunt at Kidwelly. Engine changed for No. 2019 at Kidwelly Junction, No. 2081 going light back to Pontyberem to shunt. I then walked back to Trimsaran Road (1.56 miles); sleepers almost invisible in the undergrowth but all quarter MPs in position on North side. 3.20 pm Cwmmawr Bury Port No. 2126 and two coaches waited for me at Trimsaran Road and, even so, arrived Bury Port 5 minutes before time.’ No. 2019 was an 0-6-0ST, one of a batch built in 1893-5, 2081 one of a batch built 1900-01 and 2126 built 1903-4. They were all built at Wolverhampton, 2019 with 16” x 24” cylinders and Nos. 2081 & 2126 with 16½” x 24”. The 3.20 pm from Cwmmawr was allowed 55 minutes for the 13 miles to Burry with eight intermediate stops and specifically 20 minutes for the five miles from Trimsaran which No. 2126 cut to 10 minutes including three brief stops. ‘Wimpole Hall’ (No. 5963) sustained 24 mph on the 1/50 climb to Cockett with 175 tons, following a pws at the foot of the bank. GJA’s day finished with a return trip to Port Talbot from Swansea in a GWR railcar (popularly known as a ‘flying banana’) outwards via Morrriston and Skewen, return via Court Sart and Dynevor North. Thursday 4th September 1947

Train Loco Load

1115 Swansea st Thomas-Ponterdawe (freight) LMS 0-6-0T

1500 Ynysgeinin J-Colbert J GWR 57xx 0-6-0PT 9635

1654 Colbren J-Brecon GWR 57xx 0-6-0PT 4621 2,55

1820 Brecon-Neath GWR 57xx 0-6-0PT 4621 2,55

2025 Neath-Treherbert GWR 81xx 2-6-2T 8103 4,116

2145 Treherbert-Cardiff Queen St GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5,145

1850 Neyland-Paddington - from Cardiff-Newport

The morning and early afternoon was given over to freight train observations, initially with an LMS 3F 0-6-0T (Jinty), over the former Midland Railway line to Ynysgeinon and then the former Neath and Brecon Railway to Colbren Junction. The 57xx Pannier hauled 11 loaded wagons up the 1/50.


He then joined the 4.10 pm passenger service from Neath Riverside to Brecon, returning with the same loco and train to Neath over the former Neath and Brecon railway main line. The 57xx (No. 4621) on the return from Brecon attained 34 mph up the 1/70 before Cray and 40 on the 1/65 before Craig-y-Nos, approximately 420 EDHP. (Keith Farr published the log in the March 2015 Railway Magazine). The evening was spent travelling from Neath to Cardiff, albeit via Treherbert. Another 81xx 2-6-2T hauled four coaches over the steeply graded, former Rhonddha and Swansea Bay Railway, line to Treherbert. There was a delay of 15 minutes at Blaengwynfi to cross a freight train, leading to an 18-minutes late arrival at Treherbert reached at 9.47 pm. Despite this, GJA was able to catch the 9.45 pm to Cardiff. The 56xx 0-6-2T ran the 23.6 miles over the former Taff Vale route to Cardiff Queen Street in 61 minutes including 13 intermediate stops, a gain on schedule of two minutes. Friday 5th September 1947

Train Loco Load

0905 Newport-Nantybwch LMS 2F 0-6-2(Coal tank) 27590 2,58

After Tredegar: Coal tank 7742

1003 Merthyr from Nantybwch-Brynmawr LMS 2F 2-6-2T 1204 2,55

1045 Crewe from Abergavenny-Pontypool Rd GWR Hall 4-6-0 4934 10+5,340

Cardiff Gentral-Queen St GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5650

1515 Queen St-Merthyr GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5698 3,88

1645 Merthyr-Brynmawr LMS G2a 7F 0-8-0 9113 2,57

1748 Brynmawr-Ebbw Vale LMS 2F 0-6-2 Coal Tank 7741 1,

1803 Ebbw Vale-Aberbeeg GWR 57xx 0-6-2PT 7778 3,90

1758 Brynmawr-Newport from Aberbeeg-Risca GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5602 3+2,135

1850 Newport-Brynmawr from Risca-Aberbeeg GWR 57xx 0-6-0 PT 8796 5,145

Continued from Aberbeeg to Abergavenny Brecon Rd LMS 7742 - on footplare 3,

Friday began and ended as an LMS day. The 9.05 am from Newport, with a ‘Coal Tank’ at its head, was scheduled to Nantybwch, 24.5 miles, in 96 minutes with, according to Bradshaw, nine intermediate stops; in practice it made 12 stops, changed locos at Tredegar, one ‘Coal Tank’ for another, and was two minutes late into Nantybwch. Within five minutes, GJA was headed for Brynmawr behind an Ivatt 2F tank. The log finishes at Brynmawr and the next we know GJA was leaving Abergavenny Junction behind a GWR pannier tank. He notes, ‘Station manned by LMS staff’. It appears likely that he rode on the footplate of the 2-6-2T to Abergavenny; the loco was still new, one of the first batch of ten built at Crewe in 1946. Back to the GWR: all stations to Pontypool Road behind a pannier tank and then ‘Hindlip Hall’ to Newport and Cardiff, with a 15-vehicle load, 10 carriages and five vans. A 25-minutes late departure from Pontypool Road, morphed, after a maximum speed of 54 mph and a stand of six minutes at Newport East, into a 35 minutes late arrival at Cardiff. After transferring from General to Queen Street stations in Cardiff, GJA travelled the former Rhymney Railway route to Merthyr via Caerphilly, Quakers Yard High Level and Aberfan. The 56xx ‘Valleys Tank’ comfortably maintained the overall 75-minutes schedule for the 22.8 miles, including 13 stops, one of which involved awaiting a Vale of Neath train at Quakers Yard and another a ticket inspection at Pentrebach. The Abergavenny train at Merthyr consisted of two coaches headed by an ex LNWR G2a 0-8-0, allowed 91 minutes for the 24.5 miles. He alighted at Brynmawr and descended, most of it at 1/42, to Ebbw Vale, the single coach pushed by a Coal Tank. He then presumably walked the 400 yards or so to the GWR station. After a trip to Aberbeeg behind a Pannier tank, then behind a ‘Valleys tank’ to Risca (as per schedule, 8.75 miles in 29 minutes with six stops), he waited 18 minutes for the 6.50 pm ex-Newport. This arrived behind another Pannier tank with


five coaches, three for Brynmawr and two for Ebbw Vale which were detached at Aberbeeg South. The day ended on the footplate of Coal Tank No. 7742, presumably ‘light engine’ after a day on the Ebbw Vale shuttles, to Abergavenny. This was, undoubtedly, preferable to awaiting the 8.30 pm Merthyr to Abergavenny scheduled passenger service. Saturday 6th September 1947

Train Loco Load

0757 Abergavenny Brecon Rd-Brynmawr LMS 2F 2-6-2F 1203 3,87

0845 Brynmawr-Blaenavon GWR 42xx 2-8-0T Freight 6

1055 Blaenavon-Newport GWR 45xx 2-6-2T 4550 3,91

1217 Newport-Pontypridd GWR 64XX 0-6-0 PT 2 auto

1257 Pontypridd-Porth GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 6,170

1237 Penarth-Swanseafrom Porth-Maerdy GWR ex Taff Vale 04 0-6-2T 290 3,90

1546 Aberdare-Abercynon GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 6692 3,87

1622 Abercynon-Old Ynysbwl GWR 64xx0-6-0 PT 6438 1 auto

1708 Old Ynysbwl-Pontypridd GWR 64xx 0-6-0 PT 6438 1 auto

1733 Pontypridd-Llantrisant GWR ex Taff Vale A 0-6-2T 356 2,50

1818 llantrisant-Cowbridge GWR Diesel Railcar

1918 Bridgend-Barry GWR ex Taff Vale A 0-6-2T 322 6,179

2034 Barry-Cardiff GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5622 6,173

GJA’s run behind the LMS 2-6-2T prompted detailed timings on the long climb to Brynmawr (Table II log III). He continued on the ‘GW freight, 2-8-0T No. 4275, six loads’ running over the LMS route (ex-LNWR) to Blaenavon which lost its passenger service in 1941. He then, presumably, walked from the former Blaenavon Low Level station to the GWR station and caught the 10.55 am to Newport. Time was kept (schedule 50 minutes for the 16.25 miles with 11 stops before signal checks at Newport East led to a six-minutes late arrival. The auto to Pontypridd ran via the former Brecon and Merthyr route to Caerphilly and then over the tracks of the former Alexander (Newport and South Wales) Docks Railway, (ex-Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway). The next seven trips covered most of the former Taff Vale lines radiating from Pontypridd. Whilst GJA travelled in both directions on the Old Ynysbwl branch, he apparently used other forms of transport between Maerdy and Aberdare. The Taff Vale was the oldest, largest and arguably the most profitable of the constituent companies making up the GWR post-1923. It had on joining 112 route miles, 22 of which were four-track, 275 locos, plus four steam rail motors, over 400 passenger and c. 2300 freight vehicles. During the day GJA travelled behind three former Taff Vale Railway locos. Nos. 322 (renumbered from 441 in March 1947) and 356 were both A Class locos designed under Mr Cameron’s auspices; 56 were built between 1914 and 1921. They were regarded as mixed traffic loos with 5’ 3” diameter coupled wheels. No. 322, when numbered 441, was the first to be rebuilt, experimentally at the time, by the GWR with a standard superheated No. 10 Swindon boiler. No. 356 was treated similarly in 1927 and rebuilt further in 1933 with 17½ inch diameter cylinders aligned to a boiler operating pressure of 200 psi. As originally built, they had 18½ inch diameter cylinders and 160 psi saturated steam boilers, later increased in many cases to 175 psi. The excuse for rebuilding with Swindon type boilers was that the original Taff Vale boilers were poor steamers although some were only six years old at the time of conversion. However, the locos with 200 psi and smaller cylinders were adjudged an outstanding success. No. 290 was a member of the O4 Class, built in 1910 by Beyer Peacock. They were the last loco designed under Mr Riches authority and had 4’ 6½” diameter coupled wheels and were rebuilt by the GWR with No.3 standard superheated boilers. (Nos 3 and 10 were similar; No. 10 had a larger fire grate).


Many RPS members will know that GJA’s notes were immaculately laid out and normally bereft of comment, however he did occasionally allow himself the odd note, in this case he appeared surprised that there was a loco depot at Maerdy and that the Pontypridd to Llantrisant’s carriage had ‘wooden seats. After a trip to Cowbridge (the original branch was built in 1865, extended by the Taff Vale Railway in 1892 to Aberthaw, an expensive and unsuccessful challenge by the TVR to the emerging Barry Railway which closed in 1930, returning Cowbridge to its branch line terminus status), GJA made his way to Bridgend, presumably via the A48 road and caught the 7.18 pm to Barry via Aberthaw with an ex-TVR loco at the head of a ‘Valleys’ six coach set running over the former Barry Railway route. The running, compared to the slow times over the various Valley routes occasioned by the fearsome gradients was comparatively exciting. With eight intermediate stations, the 19.1 miles were run in 47m 23s with 6m 49s spent at stations, including a lengthy stop at Llandow (Wick Road Halt) where the driver over-ran the platform. The day was completed in another ‘six set’ from Barry to Cardiff. Sunday 7th September 1947

Train Loco Load

0858 Cardiff Queen St-Caerphilly GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5678 4,118

1030 Aberdare LL from Pontypridd-Barry Island GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 6628 6,171

1404 Barry Docks-Cardiff GWR 56xx 0-6-2T 5609 6,175

0920 Sheffield-Swindon extended to Swansea from Cardiff-Pyle GWR Castle 4-6-0 5030 9,295

1735 Pyle-Porthcawl GWR 41xx 2-6-2T 4156 7,204

2023 Porthcawl-Port Talbot GWR Grange 4-6-0 6828 8,259

2050 Swansea-Paddington from Port Talbot-Cardiff GWR Hall 4901 9+3,363

Sunday’s exploration commenced on the 8.58 am from Cardiff Queen Street. (This was the retimed 8.50 am re-routed due to permanent way works. Instead of running over the former Rhymney route via Llanishen, it followed the former Taff Vale Railway route to Walnut Tree Junction and then the Rhymney Railway line to Caerphilly. Caerphilly station would have been entered from the west rather than the normal east). The 11 miles were run in 26m 22s, schedule 28, compared with the direct route, seven miles in 19 minutes. Presumably the loco, a 56xx Class tank, ran round the set before proceeding to Rhymney. The next entry in Mr Aston’s note book is a trip to Barry Island from Pontypridd over the former Barry Railway route, behind a 56xx with a ‘six set’. Two hours were spent at Barry before a return to Cardiff behind another 56xx and a ‘six set’. The rest of the day was spent on the South Wales main line. The 9.20 am Sunday Sheffield to Swindon, which often brought an LNER loco to the soul of the GWR, on this particular day was extended to Swansea as a relief to the 12.55 pm from Paddington. GJA quotes the WTT for the 12.55 pm which, according to Bradshaw, did not stop at Pyle, presumably he had access to the day’s notices. The relief, consisting of nine LNER coaches left Cardiff 10 minutes later than the 12.55 pm schedule and, after a lacklustre performance, stopped at Pyle 13 minutes late. Maximum speed after the Llantrisant stop was 54 mph and the Castle only attained 36mph on the 1/163 before Stormy Siding. The connection to Porthcawl, awaited the 45 minutes late running 12.55 pm which, despite the public timetable, also stopped at Pyle, and then left 40 minutes late behind a large Prairie tank built at Swindon the previous month. The 8-coach evening train to Swansea, headed by ‘Trellech Grange’, contrived to lose seven minutes against a schedule of 19 minutes for the 14 miles via the Pyle west curve, on the non-stop run to Port Talbot. The maximum speed on the favourable descent past Margam was


only 54 mph. (Fourteen years later, the writer noted 86 mph behind a Castle on the Manchester-Swansea service). GJA crossed over at Port Talbot and caught the Swansea to Paddington via Gloucester service. With a 400 tons gross train, ‘Adderley Hall’ made rather heavy weather of it, only attaining 24 mph on the rise to Stormy Siding and reaching 56 on the favourable stretch towards St. Fagans, a loss of six minutes on a very generous schedule. The next entry in Mr. Aston’s note book is ‘Tuesday 9th September, 12.30 pm Liverpool C to Manchester C. D10 Prince George, 8 art 192’. More preparations for the forthcoming nationalisation or simply checking up on the Cheshire Lines Committee operation, we may perhaps never know.

SYDNEY CENTRAL to ALBURY by X P T Michael Burrow A recent trip to Australia gave me an opportunity to compare current X P T performance between Sydney and Albury with David Turner’s earlier run in 1985. The mismatch of various track gauges still exists to a large extent in Australia with New South Wales being principally Standard Gauge, Queensland and Western Australia (Perth Area) Narrow Gauge (3’ 6”) whilst Victoria State is generally Broad Gauge (5’3”). On top of these regional differences the Interstate Network has been planned on a standard 4’ 8.5” basis and some track is still dual gauged. The Sydney to Albury and Melbourne Southern Cross X P T however, runs on standard gauge throughout and changing trains at Albury is now well into history. The X P T service currently operates twice daily between both major cities with departures from Sydney at 07.30 and 20.30 and from Melbourne at 08.30 and 19.50. Overall travel times vary between just under 11hrs. and 11hrs 30m. for the 600miles. Maximum line speed on the fastest sections is 100 m p h but due to gradient and curve configuration through the Great Dividing Range of Mountains this is far from universal. Speeds of 50 m p h or less are much more common up the steep gradients and contour-hugging curves. X P Ts consist of a 2,000hp Power car, at each end of a 5 to 7 coach rake, with coaches weighing from 40 to 48tons depending upon internal configuration. On my run there were 6 coaches and the total train weight, including power cars, was 397 tons tare. The Power Cars weigh in at 72.5 tons each, slightly more than a British HST unit. Runs 1 & 2: Sydney to Albury For comparison purposes this table has been drawn up in Imperial Units alongside David’s 1985 run. The Sydney Suburbs extend far out from Central Station with an intensive service of double-decked e m us and the X P Ts only come into their own from Campbelltown onwards where track occupation is less fraught. In my run, the initial 31.90 miles to Campbelltown took all of 48m 20s; an average of just 40.9 m p h. After Campbelltown, track curvature is as much a limit on speed as are the severe gradients. The climb from Maldon to Mittagong Junction, over 30miles, is an example of complex speed limits due to the many tight bends combined with gradients as steep as 1 in 69. Not surprisingly, the difference between the two runs was just short of 3 minutes in favour of the lighter, 5 coach load in Run 1. This produced comparative average speeds of 54.2 and 49.8 m p h. with Run 2. losing 2.5 minutes on the 61 minute schedule to Moss Vale, (56.9 mls). The line from Moss Vale to Goulburn (49.5 mls.) is again undulating with a falling trend to Towrang. The flatter terrain then allows the maximum line speed to increase briefly to 100m p h. between km 215 and km 219. Performance-wise, both runs managed to gain time on the


51 minute schedule with speeds briefly in excess of 80 m p h. although nowhere near the 100 m p h permitted. Run 1. bettered the 6 coach loaded X P T, by almost 5 minutes. Slow running continued on to Joppa Junction, where the Canberra line curves away on the down side, then on to Yarra before a short 1 in 40 climb to the summit at km 239, (Cooks Cutting). Down to Breadalbane, is initially at 1 in 60, but this eases off gradually for another short stretch of 4.5 miles of 100m p h permitted track. After the high point of Cullerin, (845ft.) the line continues mainly downhill to Fish River on gradients of between 1 in 75 & 80. The severity of the bends, however, keeps speed down to a frustrating 40-50 m p h past Gunning, before a stiff 2.5 mile climb, mainly 1 in 40 to km 283. Steep undulations continue

SYDNEY CENTRAL to ALBURY Dist Sched. Actual avge Actual avge

Run 1 2 14.50 Breadalbane 15 - 12 75.9 15 - 27 73.6

Date 1985 16/09/2016 33.55 Gunning $ 38 37 - 27 51.4 37 - 39 51.5

Train 1210 Sydney-Albury 0730 Sydney-Albury 39.30 Oolong 45 - 01 46.9

Loco XP 20XX / 20XX XP 2014 / 2016 45.40 Jerrawa 50 - 49 53.3 51 - 53 53.4

Load 2+5,212/230 2+6, 252/275 58.20 Yass Junc. 65 64 - 52 65 - 45

Recorder D Turner M J Burrow 5/8 7.05 Bowning 7 - 42 54.9

Dist. Sch Actual avge Actual avge 13.65 Goondah 15 - 19 53.5 15 - 00 54.2

0.00 SYDNEY CEN 0 0 - 00 22.55 Binalong 25 - 21 53.1/sigs 24 - 41 55.1

31.90 Campbelltown 43 48 - 20 29.45 Galong 34 - 33 45.0 32 - 12 55.2

5.10 Menangle Park 5 - 22 57.2 5 - 47 52.8 42.25 Harden $ 49 48 - 19 46 - 52

6.65 Menangle 6 - 46 66.4 7 - 20 60.0 1.90 Murrumburrah 3 - 25 33.5 2 - 39 43.0

11.65 Douglas Park 11 - 22 65.2 12 - 05 61.9 3.85 Demondrille J 6 - 18 40.3 5 - 32 40.3

17.40 Maldon 16 - 36 65.7 17 - 42 61.6 13.85 Wallendbeen 16 - 37 58.3 16 - 33 54.5

19.15 Picton 18 - 30 55.3 19 - 50 53.8 27.50 Cootamundra 33 33 - 01 32 - 15

24.90 Tahmoor 25 - 07 52.3 27 - 12 46.9 8.80 Frampton 11 - 37 45.5 11 - 44 44.9

30.15 Bargo 30 - 41 56.8 33 - 12 52.5 16.50 Bethungra 18 - 36 66.0 19 - 05 62.9

38.55 Yerrinbool 40 - 04 53.6 43 - 11 50.4 24.25 Illabo 24 - 43 76.2 25 - 27 73.2

48.05 Mittagong 53 50 - 31 54.5 54 - 34 50.0 30.05 Marinna 29 - 17 76.5 29 - 58 77.3

51.05 Bowral 53 - 21 63.2 57 - 23 64.3 35.00 Junee 38 35 - 01 35 - 33

52.60 Burradoo 54 - 40 71.5 58 - 44 68.9 7.50 Harefield 7 - 29 60.0 9 - 05 ! 49.5

56.90 Moss Vale 61 58 - 37 63 - 24 11.80 Shepherds 10 - 21 90.5 12 - 23 78.2

6.35 Exeter 7 - 30 50.8 8 - 13 46.5 17.55 Bomen 14 - 49 77.5 17 - 13 71.1

10.35 Bundanoon 13 11 - 10 65.8 13 - 27 45.7 22.20 Wagga Wagga 23 20 - 49 23 - 54

16.05 Penrose 15 - 59 71.3 18 - 41 65.1 9.10 Uranquinty 9 - 03 60.3 9 - 27 57.8

19.65 Wingello 18 - 51 75.8 21 - 45 70.8 18.25 The Rock $ (18) 14 - 39 98.0 16 - 50

24.80 Tallong 23 - 22 68.7 26 - 37 63.7 27.45 Yerong Creek 20 - 39 92.0 8 - 17 66.5

29.50 Marulan 27 - 16 72.3 31 - 03 63.3 36.95 Henty $ (15) 26 - 30 97.4 16 - 23

39.30 Towrang 34 - 34 80.5 38 - 34 78.4 47.30 Culcairn $ 35

(10) 33 - 57 10 - 36

48.05 N.Goulburn 41 - 48 72.4 46 - 11 69.1 12.25 Gerogery 8 - 52 83.1 10 - 18 71.4

49.50 Goulburn 50 44 - 25 49 - 10 21.45 Table Top 14 - 33 96.8 16 - 45 85.6

3.50 Joppa J 5 - 44 36.5 5 - 44 36.5 30.90 ALBURY 25 23 - 10 25 - 10

6.40 Yarra 8 - 49 56.1 8 - 50 56.1 Comments $ Pre-bookable Request Stop

for the next 10 miles before another long, curve-hindered descent to the scheduled stop at Yass Junction. (58.2mls). There was less than a minute between logs for this section with a time in 1985 of 64m 52s (53.8m p h average), compared to the 2016 run of 65m 45s: (53.1mph average). The next 42.25 miles to Harden are again curve infested and heavily graded with speeds for both runs generally in the mid 50s. The only surprise was that Run 2. was 1.5mins. faster due to a signal check between Binalong and Galong for Run 1. The persistence of extreme track curvature is still in evidence throughout the 27.5 miles to the next stop at the wonderfully named Cootamundra – a strategic bus interchange point with road


connections to Canberra. Average speeds for both trains were in the 50 m p h orbit. The line to Bethungra is of particular interest from the engineering point of view with separation of the north and south bound lines on differing routes and gradient profiles. That heading towards Sydney is deviated to give a less severe profile with a minimum (sic) climb of 1 in 67 compared to the 1 in 40/47 of the down line. The additional up deviation distance is 1.7 miles. Again, due to bends, the down line limit is 53m p h but only 40m p h on the less steep up deviation. Before the next stop at Junee, both drivers took advantage of the better track alignment to increase speed into the higher 70s with sectional averages from Cootamundra rising to 60.0 and 59.1 m p h for Runs 1.& 2. respectively. The 22.2 miles on to Wagga Wagga were reeled off at an average of 64 m p h in 1985 with a peak speed of over 90 m p h. By comparison, Run 2 was hindered at Harefield, when crossing the northbound X P T service and took 3 minutes longer to complete the section. However, the 78.2 mile section from Wagga Wagga to Albury has good lengths of 100m p h track and anticipation was building for a fitting finale to this challenging journey. Like all dreams this was not to be the reality. In 2016 we were stopped at all of the three request stop stations and failed to touch the magic 100. The overall running time with three stops was 68m 59s (68.0 m p h) compared to Run 1.with one stop, of 57m 07s (82.2 m p h) - a 12 minute difference. Summary This proved a more interesting run than I initially expected not only in observing how the line crossed the varied N S W countryside but seeing the effect of serving quite small towns with a long-distance passenger train. Perhaps a comparison within the U K would be the H S T served Cornish / Devonian mainline: the similarity being a constant series of heavy gradients and speed restricted curves punctuated by station stops. Of course, in Australia distances are on a more vast scale. The thirty years time difference the two logs shows little if any operational improvement when taking the different train loads into account. There is a painstaking crawl out of both termini, whether contending with the local commuter traffic in Sydney or following the circuitous, standard gauge route out of Melbourne and speeds are often below those permitted due to varying restrictions throughout hilly terrain. The cost of significant future track improvements would be prohibitive without major Federal funding. In addition, the existing 100m p h permitted stretches are often not long enough to allow acceleration to maximum speed for any significant length of time. On the longer fast section between Wagga Wagga and Albury (78.2 mls.) the schedule has to take the possibility of three additional Request Stops into account. Run 3: Albury to Goulburn As a post-script, a log of a run in the Up direction from Albury to Goulburn on the return leg is included. This shows what can be achieved when running late and the potential of longer, faster sections can be better utilised. Leaving Albury 12 minutes late, due to flooding by the Murray River, with a five coach load, acceleration was such that the first 9.45 miles were reeled off in less than 8.5 minutes with a maximum speed at Table Top of 94m p h. Following the t.s.r. at Gerogery we all but hit the ton with 99 m p h before the Culcairn stop – 30.9 miles in 25m 33s - gaining 5.5 minutes on schedule. The 10.35 mile sprint on to Henty was also covered in better than even time. The highlight of the journey was the 36.95 miles to Wagga Wagga. This took only 28m 57s and saw a further 5 minutes sliced off the schedule with an average speed of 76.6m p h. We were only 30 seconds late on arrival and this was easily regained by Junee, despite waiting


2m 13s to cross the X P T service to Melbourne at Harefield. The four following sections to Gunning were all cleared with time in hand whilst the final length to Goulburn (33.55 miles) took 38m 15s to give a satisfying on-time arrival just as darkness was falling. Overall, this was an interesting insight into X P T operation on the Australian Interstate and it will be intriguing to see what will replace the X P T on this challenging route in the future. Perhaps a renewed case can be made for trains of the tilting variety. Finally, I would like to thank David Turner for permission to use his 1985 log for comparison purposes and to Malcolm Simister for his welcome advice.

Run 3: ALBURY to GOULBURN Dist. Sched. Actual Speed Avge

Date 13/09/2016 Cootamundra 0-00 Train 0830 Melbourne SC-Sydney Cen 13.65 Wallendbeen 15 - 54 61.5 51.5

Loco XP2013/15 23.65 Demondrille J 27 - 02 47 54.1

Load 2 + 5 / 212 / 230 25.60 Murrumburrah 29 - 32 45 46.8

Recorder M J Burrow 3/7 27.50 Harden $ 35 32 - 03 / 63.5

Dist. Sched. Actual Speed Avge 12.80 Galong 14 - 47 52.5 / 56 51.9

0.00 ALBURY 0 0 - 00 12L 19.70 Binalong 22 - 18 53 55.2

9.45 Table Top 8 - 26 94 67.1 28.40 Goondah 32 - 01 59 / 50 / 68 53.8

18.65 Gerogery 15 - 43 *62 / 99 75.6 35.20 Bowning 39 - 08 57 57.1

30.90 Culcairn $ 32 25 - 33 ~ / 93 42.25 Yass Junc. 50 47 - 49

10.35 Henty $ 10 10 - 09 5L 12.80 Jerrawa 15 - 24 61 / 50 49.9

9.50 Yerong Creek 7 - 57 99.5 71.7 18.90 Oolong 21 - 45 60.5 57.6

18.70 The Rock $ 16 14 - 07 *61 89.8 24.65 Gunning $ 31 29 - 43 / 55.5

27.85 Uranquinty 20 - 33 100 85.1 10.35 Km 262 13 - 28 43.5 46.2

36.95 Wagga Wagga 34 28 - 57 19.05 Breadalbane 23 - 28 61 / 85 52.2

4.65 Bowen 6 - 53 65 / 83.5 40.4 27.15 Yarra 30 - 23 56 70.4

10.40 Shepherds 11 - 30 72.5 / 86.5 75.0 30.05 Joppa Junc. 33 - 32 *53 55.2

14.70 Harefield 16 - 29 ! ss2m13s 33.55 GOULBURN 38 38 - 15 T

22.20 Junee 28 28 - 02 T Comments ! Crossing southbound XPT for Melbourne.

4.95 Marinna 6 - 24 71 46.4 $ Prebookable Stop

10.75 Illabo 10 - 43 82.5 80.9 (D) Diverted northbound track to ease gradients increase sectional distance by 1.7 miles

18.50 Bethungra 17 - 05 60 / *30 73.2

27.90 Frampton (D) 30 - 10 43.1 37.20 Cootamundra 46 41 - 54

HIGH SPEED – ITALIAN STYLE Frank Collins

Along with several countries in Western Europe – and elsewhere – Italy has been investing heavily in high speed rail links over the past 30 or more years. The shape of the country means that there are substantial distances between the north and the south; Milan and Rome for instance are 350 miles apart, while Naples is 140 miles further south again – and there is a lot more of Italy south of Naples. The topography makes transit quite challenging, with the country south of the Po valley being almost universally hilly and mountainous, and the Apennine Mountains forming a formidable barrier across the country on the south side of the generally east-west Po. This terrain of course is what gives Italy much of its scenic charm – but at the same time posed formidable obstacles to the country’s original railway builders, meaning that the traditional rail routes can be quite meandering and speed restricted.


Construction of what has become the high-speed network commenced with the section between Rome and Florence – commonly known as the Diretissima. This was built as a faster, direct line to accelerate journeys between these two major cities, and relieve the classic route via Arezzo. As a consequence, it was built as a route available to all traffic, albeit with a line speed of 250 km/h. Even quite local services will use it where relevant to their stopping pattern – there are no intermediate stations between Settebagni in the outskirts of Rome and Rovezzano in the suburbs of Florence 237 km later, but lots of connections to and from the main line. As a result of needing to be universally accessible, it was also electrified on the standard Italian 3000v dc system – something which hampers modern high-powered high- speed services. Construction, in true Italian style, took many years; work commenced in 1970 and the first section opened for traffic in 1977, but it was not until 1992 that the line was open throughout, after many engineering and political delays. From Florence, the journey to Milan via the classic route took the better part of a further three hours – so in order to achieve a 3-hour journey between Milan and Rome the high-speed line has now been extended through to the outskirts of Milan, this time as a dedicated high speed route, electrified at 25kv ac. Trains for the south depart from the higher numbered platforms Milano Centrale – a vast, old-style rather scruffy terminus – heading due north, and then immediately execute a long sweeping 120 degree turn to head south east. In engineering and operational terms, the opening section to Bologna is straightforward – the line follows the wide, flat valley of the Po the whole way. The alignment is very direct and level, and the countryside flat and uninteresting - there are some lengthy sections on viaduct, to keep the line clear of the floodplain of the river. When the Milan – Bologna section first opened in 2008, trains still used the classic surface station at Bologna Centrale – and this was still the case with my 2011 run. More recently however, a low level station has been completed for high speed services beneath the original station, and the station tunnel continues for around 7.5 km south of the station itself. This heralds the start of the most dramatic engineering of the whole route, across the Apennine range; of the 85km from Bologna Centrale to the outskirts of Florence, barely 5km are above ground. Excluding the station tunnel, there are 9 major tunnels in all (plus a host of short ones), 4 of them over 10km long, and the longest, Galleria Vaglia at the southern end, extending to 18.7km. The gaps between most of the tunnels is extremely short – many are under 200m, and one is as short as 60m. Only in the 5km between Gallerias Firenzuola and Vaglia is there any significant distance above ground – and even that is punctuated by two tunnels each of 700m and a couple of shorter ones! Determined engineering indeed – but the trains do reach 300km/h through the tunnels, and the route halves the journey time compared to the Firenze-Bologna ‘Diretissima’ built in the 1930s – itself involving some serious tunnelling through the mountains. Those trains calling at Florence generally do so at Santa Maria Novella station – another north facing terminus, so anything continuing south will reverse there and execute a near 180 degree swing through Campo di Marte station to reach the Diretissima for Rome. Some services – particularly those operated by open access operator Italo – will bypass the SMN terminus and call instead at Campo di Marte. At the moment non-stop services take the classic avoiding curve between Rifredi and Campo di Marte stations to bypass SMN, albeit something of a trundle, at no more than 80km/h. A new – underground – route is under construction, together with a multi-level through station, rumoured to open in 2017. South of Florence, trains pick up the Diretissema after Rovezzano station – and almost immediately plunge into the 11km San Donato tunnel, the longest on this section of line. While the terrain is nothing like as mountainous as the Apennine transit, it is nevertheless hilly


country the whole way, and finding a route through the ‘gently rolling hills of Tuscany’ suitable for continuous high speed running involved a lot of tunnelling and other significant engineering work. I have not seen a gradient profile for this section, but it would be safe to assume that the line is a long way from level either. Maximum speed between Florence and Rome is currently limited to 250 km/h, but the current draw to attain these speeds with heavy trains must be very considerable from 3000v dc. Unsurprisingly therefore there is currently talk of upgrading this part of the line by re-electrifying at 25kv AC, and releasing a higher speed potential. That will be complicated given the amount of local – dc only – traffic that currently uses the line, and no doubt will take many years to come to fruition. The tables cover the three runs I have had to date on the system. The first (run 1) was in 2011, on a Sunday evening train. This was for me the final leg of a journey which had started that morning in Paris with a TGV to Geneva, then a Swiss IC along the Rhone Valley to Brig, and a EC service to Milan via the Simplon Tunnel. All proceeded according to plan as far as Milan. On arrival there a glance at the departure board confirmed that my scheduled 17.00 non-stop service to Rome had been cancelled due to strike action – along with all the non-stop trains to Rome that evening and a lot of other services – not exactly welcome news at that stage in the journey when your hotel room for the evening is 565 kms away. Fortunately, the 17.15 departure, making the Bologna and Florence stops, was operating, and not that busy in first class. This was operated by one of the ETR 500 sets first introduced in 1993. The original 30 sets – of which the set on my train was one – were built with 3000v dc only power cars. These were replaced from 2000 onwards by dual voltage versions – the original DC only power cars became single-ended locomotives of class 414 and can still be found operating IC trains in push-pull pairs on other parts of the network. The ETR 500 sets are heavy trains in 2+11 formation – and despite a continuous rating of 11,800hp and a power:weight ratio of 19.0 they have a reputation for being sluggish accelerators. Surprisingly, this wasn’t addressed when the replacement power cars and the second batch of 30 sets were constructed – the new power cars have exactly the same rating as the originals. The trains are comfortable and stylish enough inside – but compared to high-speed operations elsewhere in Europe, there is a slightly old-fashioned feel to the performance, given the sluggishness and lack of power at the high end of the speed range. I should perhaps at this point mention Italian distance markers. On classic lines, and the original Diretissima, there is a universal style throughout Italy – about 2 metres high substantial ‘U’ frame, with large black numerals on a white background and blue and white striped boards underneath. Commonly these are found on both sides of the line, and so are easy to spot – but only the whole kms are marked. On the Milan – Bologna line however they have adopted distance markers every 200m – and unfortunately, these by contrast are small, white boards with black numerals, so much more difficult to spot, and impossible to read when next to you. They have also adopted to unfortunate modern trend too of mounting them on the catenary masts – except for the whole km posts, which are accurately placed on their own separate post, which at least eases distinguishing the full posts from the intermediates when travelling at speed. Run 1 started off well enough and had just started to gather speed leaving Milan when we suffered an emergency stop – reasons unknown. From the restart it took well over 30 kms to reach full speed – but once there, maintained 300 km/h for over 100km down the Po valley. Extraordinarily, in a broad flat featureless landscape, the high speed line has to detour around the city of Modena on curvature that impose 240 km/h speed limits. Speed recovered to 275 before the gradual deceleration for the Bologna stop – at this time of course, still using the surface station. Despite the emergency stop, and a 5 ½ minute halt in Bologna, we were away from there only 1 minute late.


Table 1

Run 1 2

Date Sun 22/05/2011 Weds 21/09/2016

Train 17.15 Milano - Roma Termini 14.00 Milano Centrale - Napoli

Loco ETR500 set 15 ETR 400 set 06

Load formation 2+11/ 598/620/19.0 8/490/520/25.2

Recorder F G Collins F G Collins

Position/ GPS 2/13/ yes 7/8/ no GPS reception

km KP Timing Point Sch. m s kmh ave Sch. m s kmh ave

0.00 0.00 Milano Centrale 0 00.0 2L 0 00.0 2L/RBT

3.77 3.77 Milano Lambrate 4 38.0 96 48.8 4 55.5 102 45.9

9.58 9.58 Milano Rogadero 7 43.5 123/189 112.8 7 53.5 120 117.5

emergency stop 43s

16.00 16.00 KP 11 36.0 41 99.4 10 22.0 190 155.6

23.47 23.47 PC Melegnano 15 08.0 181 126.8 12 27.0 225 215.1

191.22

29.69 185.00 KP 17 01.5 200 197.3 14 05.0 244 228.5

39.69 175.00 KP 19 38.0 270 230.0 16 16.0 298 274.8

48.44 166.25 PC Livragna 21 31.5 299/302 277.5 18 09.0 246 278.8

58.69 156.00 KP 23 32.5 289 305.0 20 22.5 296/302 276.4

68.69 146.00 KP 25 35.0 295 293.9 22 23.5 300 297.5

78.84 135.85 PC Piancenza 27 38.0 299 297.1 24 26.5 297 297.1

85.69 129.00 KP 29 00.5 299 298.9 25 49.5 298 297.1

95.40 119.29 Bivio Fidenza Ouest 30 58.0 300 297.5 27 48.5 300 293.7

106.00 108.69 PC Fontanellato 33 05.5 305 299.3 29 56.0 299 299.3

117.69 97.00 KP 35 24.0 302 303.9 32 17.0 297/298 298.5

128.70 85.99 Bivio Parma Est 37 37.0 300 298.0 34 38.5 244/220 280.1

141.83 72.86 PM Campegine 40 15.0 300 299.2 37 56.0 284 239.3

150.69 64.00 KP 42 02.0 299 298.1 39 46.0 290 290.0

161.86 52.83 PC Rubiera 44 21.5 257 288.3 42 12.0 240 275.4

170.33 44.36 Bivio Modena Ouest 46 27.5 241 242.0 44 19.5 236 239.2

178.69 36.00 KP 48 33.0 241 239.8 46 25.5 237 238.9

186.69 28.00 KP 50 26.0 272/275 254.9 48 24.5 248 242.0

194.69 20.00 KP 52 18.5 239 256.0 50 21.0 233 247.2

201.07 13.62 PM Anzola 53 56.0 236 235.6 52 03.0 206 225.2

205.17 9.52 PM Lavino 55 04.0 192 217.1 53 16.0 195 202.2

211.69 3.00 KP 58 16.5 81 121.9 55 40.5 117 162.4

214.69 0.00 Bologna Centrale 61 42.0 52.6 57 22.0 106.4

91.48 68.0 67 13.0 I late

222.14 84.03 Galleria Bologna S 61 01.0 122.5

233.25 72.92 Galleria Pianoro S 12 06.5 186 64 50.5 174.3

237.82 68.35 Galleria Sadurano S 13 33.0 190.2 66 01.5 231.7

247.12 59.05 Galleria Monte Bibele S 16 13.5 208.6 68 16.5 248.0

257.79 48.38 Galleria Raticosa S 18 51.0 243.9 70 32.0 283.5

261.72 44.45 Galleria Firenzuola N 19 41.0 283.0 71 20.5 291.7

277.00 29.17 Galleria Firenzuola S 22 53.0 286.5 74 24.0 299 299.8

282.01 24.16 Galleria Vaglia N 75 25.0 -/sigs 295.7

300.22 5.95 Galleria Vaglia S 81 03.5 sigs v sev 10 193.7

303.41 2.76 Firenze Rifredi 32 09.0 50/sigs 171.0 85 01.5 48.3

4.82

Firenze Santa Maria Novella

37 36.0

47.0 57 55.0 12 late

308.23 0.00

Firenze Campo di Marte

6 15.0 50/sigs 89 20.5 67.0

257.10

311.95 253.38 Rovezzano 9 03.0 97 79.7 92 02.0 82.9

313.63 251.70 Galleria San Donato N 10 01.0 108 104.3 93 19.0 78.5

324.63 240.70 Galleria San Donato S 14 57.0 164 133.8 97 35.5 154.4

330.53 234.80 Bivio Figline 17 00.0 198 172.7 100 28.5 80 tsr 122.8

337.63 227.70 PC Renacci Est 18 59.5 217 213.9 103 35.5 193 136.7


km KP Timing Point Sch. m s kmh ave Sch. m s kmh ave

347.33 218.00 KP 21 38.5 215 219.6 106 21.5 215 210.4

355.53 209.80 Galleria north 23 59.5 203/tsr 84 209.4 108 35.5 217 220.3

365.73 199.60 Bivio Arezzo N 28 51.0 161 126.0 111 19.0 237 224.6

376.23 189.10 Bivio Arezzo S 32 06.5 214 193.4 113 52.5 252 246.3

381.73 183.60 PC Rigutino W 33 35.5 227 222.5 115 11.0 248 252.2

391.33 174.00 KP 36 02.0 242/235 235.9 117 31.5 247 246.0

398.83 166.50 PC Fameta S 37 56.0 243/251 236.8 119 21.0 250/206 br 246.6

409.03 156.30 PC 40 22.5 250 250.6 122 03.0 220 226.7

419.83 145.50 Galleria S 42 59.0 245/251 248.4 124 46.0 250/248 238.5

426.83 138.50 PC Citta della Pieve 44 40.0 249 249.5 126 26.5 250 250.7

434.93 130.40 Galleria south 46 40.0 242/235 243.0 128 26.0 246 244.0

444.13 121.20 PC Allerola 48 53.5 251/252 248.1 130 39.0 250 249.0

450.63 114.70 Orte line ub 50 27.5 250 248.9 132 13.0 250 248.9

461.23 104.10 Galleria Castaglione N 53 00.0 245/251 250.2 134 46.0 249 249.4

468.63 96.70 Galleria Castaglione S 54 52.0 242 237.9 136 34.5 250 245.5

477.33 88.00 KP 57 00.5 246/250 243.7 138 41.5 248 246.6

486.33 79.00 KP 59 10.5 248 249.2 140 52.0 248 248.3

493.13 72.20 Bivio Bassano 60 50.0 243/251 246.0 142 30.0 250 249.8

504.73 60.60 PC Gallese 63 39.0 249 247.1 145 23.0 247 241.4

512.33 53.00 KP 65 32.5 248 241.1 147 14.0 248 246.5

521.53 43.80 PC San Oreste 67 47.5 225 245.3 149 30.5 242.6

527.63 37.70 Galleria San Oreste S 69 45.5 br 186.1 151 08.5 224.1

533.53 31.80 PC Capena 73 34.0 81 tsr 93.0 152 38.5 236.0

542.83 22.50 Galleria south 77 17.5 207 149.8 154 52.0 250.8

549.13 16.20 Settebagni 79 50.5 111 148.2 157 18.0 155.3

552.53 12.80 Fidene 159 10.0 109 109.3

558.13 7.20 Nomentena 84 48.0 98/109 108.9 162 16.0 112 108.4

560.63 4.70 Roma Tibertina 86 17.5 105/sigs 100.6 163 50.0 95.7

565.03 0.30 Roma Termini 93 31.0 36.5 175.0 170 34.0 39.2

The distances shown in the table are for the modern route through the underground station, which is very slightly shorter than the route run 1 took, following the 1930s line before joining the new high-speed line via a tunnelled spur – the junction between the two being deep underground in the middle of the Pianoro Tunnel. Given that this line is almost entirely in tunnel, ‘point’ speeds are almost impossible to obtain, whether from posts or GPS, but the overwhelming impression on this section was of a struggle to reach full speed through the tunnels – if we did so at all, it would only have been in the Vaglia tunnel nearing Florence. For reasons unspecified, the reversal in SMN took over 20 mins – so despite a generous allowance anyway for this in the timetable, we departed Florence 12 mins down. The lack of power on these sets is again evident; it took the better part of 50 kms and around 13 mins to recover from the 84 km/h tsr a little north of Arezzo north Jn to attain the full 250 km/h line speed – and that was 100 km out of Florence before line speed was attained for the first time. Even after that, he seemed to struggle at times to maintain the full 250. Another tsr shortly before the end of the high-speed line did not assist the overall journey time, and we eventually arrived in the vast terminus that is Roma Termini around 10 mins late – for me, about 55 mins down on my original schedule. I would gladly have taken that though if offered just over 4 hours earlier! Moving forward to 2016, there is now a surprising density of services between Milan and Rome – and also south to Naples – with the offering of the state-owned FS the subject of competition from private open access operator Italo. Between the two operators there seem to be at least 3 trains an hour running the Milan – Rome – Naples core alone, and sometimes rather more than that; when I returned from Naples a couple of weeks later my train was one of a flight of three departures to Milan within 10 minutes. I cannot think of three other major population


centres in Europe a similar distance apart which are linked by such a frequent rail service – and yet the FS trains are busy, and the Italo services well loaded and making a profit. My 2016 run (run 2) was with one of the almost new ETR 400 sets – marketed by FS as Frecciarossa 1000 - that are displacing the ETR 500s onto other workings. These are much more efficient people movers than the older units – a distributed power design that accommodates 600 people into their 8-cars compared to 656 into the 2+11 formation of their predecessors, yet managing comfort, quality and modern Italian style inside nevertheless. The power:weight ratio is improved to 25hp/tonne thanks to a combination of less weight and more power – though still not up to the levels of the latest TGVs. They are billed as the fastest trains in Europe with a 400 km/h design rating with the intention to operate them at 360 km/h at some point in the future. When they do get to operate that fast, we will be timing by old-style methods – these trains have definitively no GPS signal internally whatsoever! A combination of a running brake test and my position at the rear rather than the front makes the initial start appear slower than it actually was. While we quickly gathered speed onto the HSL, we appear also to have suffered a couple of minor checks, firstly to 246 km/h around Livragna and then to 220 km/h around Parma. But we were nevertheless passing through the subterranean gloom of the underground High-Speed platforms of Bologna in a little over 57 mins from Milan, having averaged almost 225 km/h start to pass. The performance difference compared to run 1 is very evident over the section through the mountains, with run 2 running at full line speed for a significant part of the distance. Our non-stop chances were almost ended as we crawled around the Florence avoiding line, but the superior power is again evident when tackling the Diretissima. Our arrival into Rome was a couple of minutes ahead of schedule, at an average of just under 199 km/h start to stop – respectable, but of course nowhere near what is being achieved in France with TGVs over similar, and much shorter, distances. After 2 weeks on the Amalfi coast my return journey commenced from Naples, which gave the chance to sample the main section of the high-speed line south of Rome. Napoli Centrale has a spectacular modern station building – an air of smartness which no more extends to the platforms than it reflects the surrounding neighbourhood; be warned too that the poor choice of eateries within the station cannot be overcome by exploring the adjoining streets either.

Table 2 km KP Timing Point Sch. m s kmh ave

Run 3 79.95 142.35 Galleria Montelungo N 23 56.5 300/304 299.6

Date Tues 04/10/2016 89.41 132.89 PM S Angelo 25 50.5 297/304 298.7

Train 9640 14.10 Napoli - Milano 101.30 121.00 KP 28 13.5 300 299.3

Loco ETR 400 set 24 110.31 111.99 PM S Giovanni 30 01.5 300/298 300.3

Load formation 8 120.71 101.59 PCF 32 07.0 300 298.3

Recorder F G Collins 133.90 88.40 PC Ceccano 34 46.0 297 298.6

Position/ GPS 6/8/ no GPS reception 142.80 79.50 Galleria Macc Piana N 36 32.5 300.8

km KP Timing Point m s kmh ave 153.63 68.67 Galleria Sgirgola south 38 43.0 298.8

0.00 222.30 Napoli Centrale 0 00.0 10L/ sigs 161.12 61.18 PM Anagni 40 13.0 300 299.6

6.96 215.34 PM Cassoria 6 44.0 124 62.0 170.10 52.20 Galleria Castello south 42 00.5 300 300.7

12.31 209.99 PM Napoli 1 8 57.5 150 144.3 175.80 46.50 Galleria Pelliciccione N 43 09.0 299.6

19.00 203.30 Galleria Calvano 1 N 11 22.5 166.1 185.93 36.37 Galleria Colli Albani S 45 45.5 233.0

26.62 195.68 PC Gricignano 13 14.0 298/304 246.0 192.56 29.74 Galleria Colli Albani S 47 21.0 249.9

32.89 189.41 substation 14 29.5 296 299.0 202.30 20.00 KP 49 42.0 249 248.7

45.52 176.78 Biv Casserta north 17 01.5 301/299 299.1 210.15 12.15 PM Salone 51 52.0 -/sigs 217.4

53.89 168.41 substation 18 42.0 300/296 299.8 216.05 6.25 Gallerian Ser'ssima S 54 33.0 131.9

62.29 160.01 Galleria Cananello N 20 24.5 297 295.0 218.04 4.26 Prenestina 55 57.0 80 85.3

70.42 151.88 Galleria Camp'llona S 22 02.0 300 300.2 220.30 2.00 KP 58 04.5 63.8

221.97 0.33 Roma Termini plat 6 70.0 62 25.0 23.1


My train was again an ETR 400; we were part of a closely flighted batch heading north, and got away just over 10 mins late. The exit from Naples is confusing to the uninitiated; it appears there are two different routes that head towards the high-speed line; while on the outskirts of the city a large new main line station is under construction, the purpose of which, apparently, is to avoid the need for trains heading further south to have to reverse in the terminus. Speed is restricted for the first 12 kms or so, but we then quickly reached full line speed, and stayed there for the next 30 mins – the 149.18km between Gricignano and the north end of Pelliciccione tunnel were covered in 29m 55s at an average of 299 km/h. We had a signal check as we rejoined the classic infrastructure approaching Rome, but even so we had recovered 7½ mins of the late start, and I very comfortably made my intended connection to the Airport. My experiences of Italian Railways over the years have not been successful punctuality-wise – until the two 2016 runs here, I have not had a single train that was on time, some with unfortunate consequences for onwards connections. Nevertheless, there is much of interest, not just on the high-speed network, but on the classic lines too, with a very high proportion of loco-hauled working that looks set to remain for many years yet, and a number of lines with sections of up to 200 km/h running. I would be interested to hear from other members with experience of the high speed services. My thanks go also to Ian Umpleby for assistance with the distance information especially that supplied at short notice while I was already in Italy.

A Recorder’s Guide to the SNCF – the Sud-Europe-Atlantique and Bretagne-Pays de la Loire LGVs Alan Varley

The opening early in July of these two extensions to the LGV-Atlantique branches marks both an enormous step forward for the French high-speed network and a virtual full stop. The lines from Monts to Ambarès and Connerré to Rennes total over 563 kms of new high-speed line, mostly passed for 320 km/h running. This is the biggest-ever single enlargement of the network, but it may also be practically the last, at least for many years to come. For apart from the short and relatively low-speed Nîmes-Montpellier avoiding line, soon to be opened, there are no other LGV projects in the pipeline that have got beyond preliminary planning stages.

Meanwhile the system has gained 467 route-km of 320 km/h track, almost doubling the national total. 277.75 kms of the 537 kms between Paris and Bordeaux can be run at 320 km/h – not as long as the 355.47 kms between Paris and Strasbourg, but in the latter case the high-speed sections are discontinuous and gradients make it difficult to maintain full speed all the way. On the Bordeaux line, on the contrary, there are no major topographic obstacles; the ruling gradient is 1 in 40, with the exception of two very short stretches of 1 in 27 either side of the hump at PK 75. There are several spikes of this sort in the profile but no real banks; the line rises above the 150m contour on just three occasions, to a maximum altitude of 158m. On the Rennes branch the 320 km/h limit is also continuous and the profile is similar; if anything even more spiky but with a summit point at no more than 143m. So, a flying average of over 300 km/h is now possible over 490 kms or so continuously on the Bordeaux line, despite the fact that this necessarily includes the 270 km/h section between Vouvray and Monts and 170 km or more of 300 km/h track. The LGV-Est, where this average is possible only over some 375 km, is thus thoroughly beaten.

On the other hand, there are no stations on these new lines. The relative lack of success of the ‘greenfield’ stations on other high-speed lines has led SNCF to prefer connections to the classic infrastructure in order to serve St-Pierre, Poitiers and Angoulême on the Bordeaux line


and Le Mans and Laval on the Rennes branch. In addition, the latter runs well to the south of the old route in order to approach Sablé, on the line from Le Mans to Angers; this is the itinerary now followed by trains to Nantes. (See the Line Chart/Profile for details of connection to the LGVs and full descriptions and profiles). The consequence is a severe time penalty for trains leaving the LGV to make intermediate stops and a clear division of trains into two categories: those running non-stop to Bordeaux or Rennes, for traffic to those towns and beyond, and those making intermediate calls, with times that become relatively unattractive for the end-to-end journey. To/from Bordeaux the times are 2h 4m for 320 km/h trains, 2h 8m for those worked by the TGV-A sets with their 300 km/h limit. By way of comparison, the Paris-Bordeaux time with three stops is 2h 51m. To Rennes the TGV-D/TGV-A times are 1h 25m and 1h 28m respectively, or 1h 27m (WTT 1h 26½m) and 1h 29m in the up direction. The up/down difference is justified by the fact that the exit from Montparnasse is faster than the approach and arrival, whereas the contrary is true in Rennes – and also Bordeaux, so it is curious that the differential does not apply to Bordeaux trains.

The headline item in the new timetable is of course this 124-minute time to/from Bordeaux - a pity this could not be brought down to a round 2 hours, but as the logs show this would not be realistic. High standards were set right from the start as our Fastest Time was recorded by Tony Leopard on the first weekday of the new service (Run 1). This was a superb performance throughout, regaining a slightly late start with speeds close to the limit and no time lost when slowing for the 270 km/h section or at the end of the LGV. A slight signal check spoiled the end of the run; the net time would be a fraction under 117½ minutes - hard to beat. The distance run at an average of 300 km/h must have been almost exactly 500 kms. On Run 2, Richard Neville-Carlé and Paul Johnstone also benefited from a late start when one unit of their train had to be replaced. Their run, too, suffered a slight signal check approaching Bordeaux, and it made a slower start. The low-numbered platforms in Montparnasse give direct access to the down LGV line over 60 km/h crossovers; the last platforms before the suburban block also connect to the down fast but with a 30 km/h exit and a 30-50 second handicap depending on the length of the train; the high numbers after the suburban platforms also involve a slow exit and then running on the north side of the layout to a flyover to cross the old Ouest main line, delaying acceleration onto the LGV and costing a good minute. Run 2 left from Platform 9, so lost almost a minute compared to a fast start; net time was 119 minutes, or a little over 118 with a favourable start.

Run 3 on the contrary started very fast; 10 minutes to Villejust tunnel exit is unusual, and also a good minute faster than the best possible inward time. My driver then eased a little through Vendôme, maybe because the train was back on schedule, or perhaps because the cab signalling was already showing problems ahead. At all events, we made an early slowing to 270 km/h well before the end of the 300 km/h section and came down to below 230 on the Loire viaduct. Despite a 319 km/h maximum in Maillé tunnel, quickly checked by brakes, we ran rather more slowly than the others runs as far as PK 98 where the brakes came on again for a check to 40 km/h before Marçay followed by running at around 280-290 before another check to 200 at Juillé. My run was then marginally the fastest of the three from Asnières to Laruscade with several 320 maxima, but like the others it was checked into Bordeaux. Allowing 45 seconds for the slow running between Vendôme and Loire the net time for this run would be just under 118 minutes. In the up direction I have had two very similar runs following slightly late starts from Bordeaux. Run 4 turned in an excellent performance on the 320 km/h stretch; the time from Laruscade to Ste-Catherine was fractionally quicker than that of Run 1 in the other direction and high speed was maintained to PK 11, so we averaged 316.4 km/h for 268 kms. There were four minima of 300 to 305 km/h on neutral sections, but frequent maxima of 320 or 321. On the 300 km/h section speeds were marginally slower and following a checked approach to the terminus we stopped in two hours exactly. From my very forward position we would have taken almost six minutes unchecked from the last tunnel, so the net time is 119m 20s. Run 5 started


briskly but then accelerated a little more slowly, and after an encouraging initial burst of speed it settled to a slightly slower cruising rate on the new LGV, falling to a minimum of 292 km/h on the neutral section after Cressec. However, once past Vouvray (with another low minimum of 253) there was a spell of near-perfect 300 km/h running and Run 5 then ran faster through the tunnels, practically catching up with Run 4 and now perfectly on time. Once again signals checked the entry; the net time was identical to that of Run 4, and a combined time suggests a possibility of a run in 119 minutes. Table 1 Paris - Bordeaux

Run 1 1352 Paris-Bordeaux/Toulouse, M 3.7.17, 2xTGV, 798 tare, sets 852/864, AL, ?

Run 2 0952 Paris-Tarbes/ Hendaye, W 13.9.17, 2xTGV, 798/865, sets 852/869, RNC/PDJ, 14/20

Run 3 1252 Paris-Hendaye, Tu 11.7.17, TGV-D, 399/420, set 861, AV, 7/10

PK Dist m s ave m s ave m s ave

00.65 00.00 Paris Montp Run 1 5½ late Run 2 38 late Run 3 1½ late 06.38 05.73 Fontenay T E 05 24 63.7 04 26.6 77.4 14.36 13.71 Massy Tunn E 07 31 109.4 08 18 165.1 07 20.8 164.9 23.59 22.94 Villejust T W 10 54 213.0 09 58.4 210.8 25.35 24.70 Marcoussis 10 39 210.4 10 27.0 221.5 44.62 43.97 St-Arnoult 14 43 284.3 15 30 274.3 14 33.2 281.8 67.50 66.79 St-Léger 19 20 297.4 20 10 294.2 19 12.7 294.7 92.31 91.60 Rouvray 24 21 296.7 25 10 297.7 24 13.4 297.0

114.05 113.34 Dangeau 28 44 297.6 29 36 294.2 28 37.3 296.6 130.43 129.72 Courtalain 32 01 299.3 32 54 297.8 31 55.1 298.1 138.20 137.49 Droué 33 36 294.4 33 30.7 292.6 145.28 144.57 OB 35 54 297.0 34 57.3 294.3 162.06 161.35 Vendôme 38 23 299.3 39 19 291.7 38 22.2 287.5 178.67 177.96 St-Amand 41 44 297.5 41 49.1 289.1 188.21 187.50 St-Cyr 44 36 297.0 43 57.9 266.6* 210.89 210.18 Vouvray T E 49 17 290.6 49 06.4 264.7* 215.21 214.50 Loire 49 23 286.6 50 11.3 239.6* 221.16 220.45 Les Courances 51 35 267.9 51 33.7 260.0 22.03 244.31 Ste-Catherine 55 48 278.7 56 43 278.8 56 36.7 283.5 38.82 261.10 Maillé 58 59 316.5 59 56 313.2 59 49.3 313.8 61.37 283.65 Thuré 63 16 315.9 64 16 312.2 64 10.2 311.2 79.32 301.60 Marigny 66 40 316.8 67 42 313.7 67 39.5 308.7 98.34 320.62 CAI 98 71 21 312.7 71 19.2 311.7*

112.57 334.85 Marçay 73 00 314.9 74 04 314.3 77 26.8 139.4* 131.72 354.00 OB 131.72 77 43 315.6 82 05.1 247.7* 147.26 369.54 Pliboux 79 35 316.2 80 41 314.3 85 22.9 282.8* 171.51 393.79 Juillé 84 11 316.3 85 17 316.3 90 38.5 276.6* 198.96 421.24 Asnières 90 33 312.7 95 59.2 308.1* 214.73 437.01 Claix 92 19 318.8 93 34 313.7 98 59.2 315.4 229.18 451.46 Cressac 96 19 315.3 101 43.4 316.8 254.38 476.66 Neuvicq 99 54 313.7 101 09 312.8 106 31.5 314.9 279.10 501.38 Laruscade 104 35 316.7 105 51 315.6 111 12.9 316.2 570.45 523.49 La Gorp 110 12 236.2 116 56 232.0 571.09 524.13 Ambarès 301.85 111 57 223.8 574.62 527.66 Bassens 111 46 159.7 118 31 158.0 576.64 529.68 Lormont T N 114 06 154.9 119 18.5 153.1 579.92 532.96 Cenon 114 08 90.9* * 120 55 122.4* 583.85 536.89 Bordeaux 118 46 RT 120 08 34 late 125 46 3 late

Average Ste-Catherine-Laruscade 316.2 313.9 St-Arnoult-Laruscade 305.4 303.8

Run 6 illustrates the running of a TGV-A formation with a three minutes-late start to recover. With a brisk exit from Bordeaux the Atlantique sets were level with the Duplex runs at Laruscade but the differential was then slightly greater than the 20 km/h MPS difference, perhaps reflecting the effect of the gradients on this train with its lower power/weight ratio. The neutral sections also have more impact, as witness a minimum of 267 km/h around PK 161. Maximum does not seem to have exceeded 298 km/h, and from Courtalain onwards the driver


perhaps selected 295 rather than 300 on the cruise control as the train was now virtually on time. Entering Villejust tunnel in 113 minutes from Bordeaux it was set for a time of a bit over 124 minutes but severe signal checks intervened, caused probably by the repercussions of the Massy stop of an inter-sector TGV. Table 2 Bordeaux - Paris

Run 4 0849 Toulouse-Paris, M 10.7.17, 2 x TGV-D, 798/850, sets 861/856, AV, 2/20

Run 5 1804 Bordeaux-Paris, Tu 3.10.17, 2 x TGV-D, 798/850, sets 860/85X, AV, 7/20

Run 6 1612 Arcachon/1355 Tarbes-Paris, Su 10.9.17, 2 x TGV-A, 888/980, sers 323/403, RNC/PJ, 7/24

PK Dist m s ave m s ave m s ave

583.85 536,95 Bordeaux Run 4 8 late Run 5 4 late Run 6 3 late 579.92 03.93 Cenon 03 38 03 31 576.64 07.21 Lormont T N 05 13.5 123.6 05 08 121.7 04 57 87.4 574.62 09.23 Bassens 06 03.5 145.4 06 00 139.8 571.09 12.76 Ambarès 301.85 07 10 150.2 570.45 13.40 La Gorp 07 40 155.6 07 37.5 154.0 279.10 35.51 Laruscade 13 34.8 224.3 13 36.0 222.0 13 34 213.3 254.38 60.23 Neuvicq 18 16.3 316.1 18 16.8 316.9 18 38 292.7 229.18 85.43 Cressac 23 02.5 317.0 23 04.3 315.5 23 49 296.6 214.73 99.88 Claix 25 47.3 315.7 23 53.2 308.0 26 49 289.0 198.96 115.65 Asnières 28 46.0 317.7 28 52.4 316.8 30 03 292.6 171.51 143.10 Juillé 33 58.6 316.1 34 06.4 312.7 35 45 288.9 147.26 167.35 Pliboux 38 34.9 316.0 38 44.1 314.4 40 46 290.0 131.72 182.89 OB 131.72 41 30.7 318.2 41 40.5 317.1 43 56 294.4 112.57 202.04 Marçay 45 08.3 316.8 45 18.7 315.9 47 53 290.9 98.34 216.27 CAI 98 47 50.1 316.6 48 01.0 315.6 50 47 294.4 79.32 235.29 Marigny 51 26.5 316.4 51 38.1 315.4 54 41 292.6 61.37 253.24 Thuré 54 51.4 315.4 55 04.4 313.2 58 22 292.4 38.82 275.79 Maillé 59 07.7 316.7 59 21.7 315.5 62 59 293.1 22.03 292.58 Ste-Catherine 62 19.8 314.6 62 34.2 314.0 66 28 289.2 08.45 306.16 CAI 8 64 58.0 309.0 65 13.9 306.1

221.16 316.44 Les Courances 71 40 275.3 215.21 322.39 Loire 68 36.6 267.3 68 55.2 264.0 210.89 326.71 Vouvray T E 69 35.9 262.3 69 55.1 259.6 74 02 260.4 188.21 349.39 St-Cyr 74 11.0 296.8 74 30.7 296.3 78 42 291.6 178.67 358.93 St-Amand 76 06.5 297.4 76 25.9 298.1 162.06 375.54 Vendôme 79 28.0 296.6 79 46.8 297.6 84 03 293.3 145.28 392.32 OB 82 50.9 297.7 83 09.1 298.6 87 31 290.4 138.20 399.40 Droué 84 16.4 298.1 84 34.4 298.8 130.43 407.17 Courtalain 85 51.7 293.5 86 09.7 293.5 90 33 293.7 114.05 423.55 Dangeau 89 09.8 297.7 89 27.0 298.9 93 54 293.4 92.31 445.29 Rouvray 93 34.2 296.0 93 50.3 297.2 98 20 294.2 67.50 470.10 St-Léger 98 34.3 297.5 98 49.4 298.6 103 23 294.8 44.62 492.92 St-Arnoult 103 10.9 297.0 103 24.8 298.5 108 02 294.5 23.59 513,95 Villejust T W 108 00.1 261.8 108 11.0 264.5 112 59 254.9 14.36 523.18 Massy 110 39.2 208.8 110 49.3 209.9 118 36 98.6* 06.38 531.16 Fontenay T E 113 24.1 174.2 113 27.3 181.8 122 08 135.5* 00.65 536.89 Paris Montp 120 00 4 late 121 30 1½ late 128 16 3 late

Average Laruscade - Ste-Catherine 316.4 315.0 291.6 Vouvray Tunnel - St-Arnoult 297.0 297.7 293.3 Laruscade - St-Arnoult 306.3 305.6 290.5

Run 7 is an illustration of what happens to trains making intermediate calls. My shuttle from Tours was delayed and I boarded the TGV in some haste, omitting to note the number of the unit, a 1st-generation Duplex. We seemed to take some time to accelerate after a normal exit from St-Pierre, but we touched 175 km/h on the old line before coming down to 149 on the neutral section on the link. Running on the LGV seemed fast but speeds were irregular, so despite some 320+ km/h maxima the averages were not notably high. At Marigny brakes were already on for the junction at Chasseneuil, taken at 195/204, and we braked to 138 before


joining the old line. The start from Poitiers was fast but from 126 km/h we came down to 60 for the junction at St-Benoît, as the LGV link is located eight kms down the La Rochelle line. St-Benoît junction is immediately followed by a neutral section, so we fell from 92 to 73 here. As well as these first 12½ km on classic infrastructure there are another 22 kms at the Angoulême end. Here, after 172 km/h on the link we touched 198 at St-Amant and then ran for 15 kms at 158/159. We made another excellent start from Angoulême, 140 km/h in two minutes, 169 max and then 131 on the neutral section before rejoining the LGV after almost 30 km on the old line, 40 km off the LGV proper. We made an unchecked and quite fast approach to Bordeaux, so almost all the late start had been regained. More than half the running time - 49 minutes out of 96 - was spent off the LGV, on the links or the old line.

Schedules on the Rennes line seem to be somewhat tighter than on the Bordeaux route - or is this an impression, due to smarter running by drivers on the latter? In the early days of the LGV-Atlantique it was suggested that Bordeaux drivers, raised on electric traction, ran harder than those from the Brittany depots, used to nursing their diesels. It seems unlikely that such differences, if they ever existed, should persist today, but the fact remains that four of my six arrivals in Rennes to date have lost time or failed to regain it: times of 86m 45s and 85m 39s on the 85-minutes TGV-D booking, a TGV-A starting 3½ minutes late but still taking 87m 39s on an 88-minutes timing, and a late-running TGV-R on an inter-sector train taking 44m 19s from Le Mans, schedule 43. Another inter-sector train with a much easier booking gave me my only on-time arrival, and I had one good run with a TGV-D that arrived late due to signal checks but made a net time of 83½ minutes. My up runs have been equally unpunctual though not necessarily for the same reasons. The first two both reached Paris significantly late: one triggered a hot-box detector and was switched to the loop at Le Plessis for inspection - a

Table 3 St-Pierre-des-Corps - Bordeaux

Run 7 0616 Lille-Bordeaux, M 10.7.17

TGV-D 2+8/390/420, A Varley, 4/10

PK Dist m s ave

233.02 00.00 St-Pierre-des-C Run 7 7 late 240.49 04.90 Bif Joué 04 17 249.16 13.57 Monts 07 35 157.6 16.79 22.21 Sorigny 10 46.2 162.7 22.03 27.45 Ste-Catherine 12 05.3 238.5 38.82 44.24 Maillé 15 24.1 304.0 61.37 66.79 Thuré 19 42.7 313.9 79.32 84.74 Marigny 23 09.0 313.2 85.50 90.92 Chasseneuil 24 42.0 239.2

333.33 97.62 Jct old line 27 03.3 145.2 336.56 100.85 Poitiers 29 03 6 late

00.00 32 31 5½ late 340.84 04.28 St-Benoît 03 41 08.25 12.59 Jct LGV link 08 17.5 108.2

112.57 20.52 Marçay 11 29.3 186.4 131.72 39.67 OB 131.72 15 21.2 297.3 147.26 55.21 Pliboux 18 19.3 314.1 171.51 79.46 Juillé 22 56.5 314.9 178.24 86.19 Villognon 24 26.3 269.8 430.64 94.85 St-Amant 27 08.5 192.2 435.83 100.04 Vars 29 00.5 166.8 442.89 107.10 OB 31 41 158.4 449.38 113.59 Angoulême 34 49 4½ late

00.00 38 39 4½ late 452.30 02.92 Bif Saintes 02 03 457.00 07.62 La Couronne 03 54.5 151.7 214.73 14.34 Claix 06 38.5 147.5 229.18 28.79 Cressac 09 55.1 264.6 254.38 53.99 Neuvicq 14 45.3 312.6 279.10 78.71 Laruscade 19 29.6 313.0 570.45 100.82 La Gorp 25 04 238.0 574.62 104.99 Bassens 26 40 156.4 579.92 110.29 Cenon 29 09.5 127.6 583.85 114.22 Bordeaux 32 20 ½ late


lengthy process with a train of 24 vehicles! - and the other, after a fast run from Rennes, lost contact with the signalling system at the end of the 320 km/h section and was brought to a halt by emergency braking. The chapter of accidents continued with my third run: a TGV-D unit was running with only one power car in operation and took 89m 15s instead of 87m to Paris. Another run on this 87-minutes train was checked when the preceding inter-sector TGV left late just in front of us, causing us to lose our path at Courtalain. And my most recent run, made like the first with a double TGV-A formation, left Rennes slightly late but regained nothing, taking 89m 6s on an 89-minutes schedule. Net times of the two TGV-A runs were about 88¾ minutes, despite maxima that were around 300 km/h, more or less sustained after Courtalain but only fleetingly achieved before that. Table 4 Paris - Rennes

Run 8 0656 Paris-Brest/Quimper W 4.10.17, 2xTGV-D, 780/795, sets 742/738, AV, 8/20

Run 9 1056 Paris-Quimper, W 12.7.17, 2 x TGV-A, 888/945, sets 369/311, AV, 15/24

PK Dist Sch m s ave Sch m s ave

00.65 00,00 Paris M’tp’nasse Run 8 1 late Run 9 3 late 06.38 05,73 Fontenay T E (1) 04 44.3 (½) 05 11.5 14.36 13,71 Massy 8 07 53.0 152.0 8 08 18.6 156.5 23.59 22,94 Villejust T W 10 38.0 201.0 11 00.9 200.4 44.62 43,97 St-Arnoult (½) 15 18.0 270.4 15 44.1 267.3 67.50 66,79 St-Léger 20½ 19 57.0 294.5 20½ 20 31.7 284.9 92.31 91,60 Rouvray (½) 24 56.7 298.0 (½) 25 43.4 286.5

114.05 113,34 Dangeau 30 29 19.8 297.5 30 (½) 30 13.7 289.5 130.43 129,72 Courtalain 34 33 16.8 248.8 34 34 19.8 242.6 149.68 148,97 Le Plessis 37 50.0 253.7 39 23.9 227.9 162.45 161,74 CAI 40 25.4 295.8 42 00.6 293.4 172.79 172,08 Dollon (½) 42 30.6 297.3 (½) 44 20.2 266.6 179.54 178,83 Le Parc (00.22) 45 43 53.9 291.7 45 45 45.7 284.2 05.07 183,68 Montfort 44 53.6 292.5 46 46.5 287.2 17.41 196,02 CAI 47 15.2 313.7 49 17.3 294.6 28.86 207,47 Aigné (1½) 49 26.3 314.4 51 38.4 292.1 39.94 218,55 CAI 51 36.7 305.9 53 59.9 281.9 52.78 231,39 CAI 54 03.1 315.7 (1) 56 35.5 297.1 69.80 248,41 Auvers 59½ 57 17.2 315.7 60 07.1 289.6 80.89 259,50 CAI 59 23.4 318.9 62 23.7 292.3 91.41 270,02 CAI 61 22.9 313.3 64 33.6 291.5

100.57 279,18 Argenté 63 08.6 312.0 66 25.0 296.0 112.07 290,68 CAI 65 23.2 307.6 68 48.3 288.9 123.92 302,53 Loiron (½) 67 37.8 316.9 71 71 16.3 288.2 132.78 311,39 St-Cyr 69 18.5 316.7 73 02.7 299.8 145.25 323,86 CAI 71 41.5 313.9 75 38.9 287.4 156.97 335,58 Louvigné 73 56.5 312.5 (1) 78 01.8 295.3 168.20 346,81 CAI 76 07.2 309.3 80 19.0 294.7 371.60 361,87 Poste 2 82½ 84 43 sigs 85½ 85 14.5 183.5 373.23 363,50 Rennes 85 87 35 4 late 88 87 39 3 late

I have indicated typical schedules for the two timings. The running times are odd: seven minutes net to Massy is clearly impossible, nine minutes net from St-Léger to Dangeau represents an average of 310 km/h – on track limited to 300 – and the 13 minutes of the 320 km/h schedule from the origin of the BPL line to Auvers requires an average of 322 km/h – starting at 300 and with a neutral section! The next section is also too tight, for even an average of fully 320 km/h from Auvers to CAI 168 would leave only four minutes for the next 15 kms, impossible to cover in less than 4½ minutes. So, a lot of the recovery margin simply compensates for these unrealistic times. The 85-minutes schedule (net 81) is slightly more difficult than the 88 as the 320 km/h MPS offers an advantage of less than 2½ minutes, and the difference is concentrated in the second half of the journey following a standard timing of 34 minutes to pass Courtalain. My driver in Run 8 accelerated less vigorously through the tunnels than the runs in Table 1 but maintained good speeds across the Beauce plateau so that with the aid of the recovery time he was spot on time at the start of the new section. We touched some high maxima, with 322 km/h either side of Loiron for example, but there were two minima of 295, on the neutral and sharp rise after Aigné and at PK 108. Unfortunately, we were almost stopped towards the end of the LGV; net time would be about 83½ minutes. The TGV-A of Run 9 started slowly but then accelerated almost as well as the TGV-D through the


tunnels. On the level section after PK 55 we reached 299/300 km/h on several occasions but suffered enormous speed drops on the neutral sections – minimum 268 at St-Léger – and made a coasting approach to Courtalain with a minimum after the junction of 194. Then after another 299 in the dip after Le Plessis we fell to below 260 on the hump at PK 165. After Le Parc, speeds were better sustained, though with several minima below 280 km/h (and one surprising max of 304 after Loiron) so it is tempting to imagine that the earlier running was hindered by a train that turned off at Connerré towards Le Mans. There was no sign of this on the traffic reports though, and it is difficult to see how an inter-sector TGV could have been slotted in in front of us at Massy. Averages from Montfort to Louvigné on these two runs were 313.7 and 291.6 km/h respectively. Table 5 Rennes - Paris

Run 10 1129 Brest-Paris W 12.7.17, TGV-D, 390/400, set 738, AV, 3/10

Run 11 0906 Brest-Paris, Su 10.9.17, 2 x TGV-A, 888/960, sets 365/348, RNC/PJ, 23/24

PK Dist Sch m s ave m s ave

373.23 00.00 Rennes 0 Run 10 RT Run 11 4¼ L 179.03 05.86 Tunnel E 05 13.9 05 19 168.20 16.69 CAI 08 36.6 192.3 09 05 175.7 156.97 27.92 Louvigné 10 46.6 310.2 11 42 257.5 145.25 39.64 CAI 12 58.9 318.9 14 09 287.0 132.78 52.11 St-Cyr 15 19.5 319.3 123.92 60.97 Loiron 16 59.6 318.6 18 28 296.5 112.07 72.82 CAI 19 03.9 317.6 100.57 84.32 Argenté (1) 21 26.1 313.2 23 13 294.9 91.41 93.48 CAI 23 10.0 317.4 80.89 104.00 CAI 25 08.1 320.7 27 11 297.7 69.80 115.09 Auvers 27 14.0 317.1 63.70 121.19 Poillé 28 22.8 319.2 30 41 294.7 45.88 139.01 OB 31 46.0 315.7 34 17 297.0 28.86 156.03 Aigné 35 04.9 308.0 37 45 294.6 17.41 167.48 CAI 37 14.7 317.6 05.07 179.82 Montfort 39 35.5 315.5 42 36 294.3

179.54 184.67 Le Parc (00.22) 40½ stops 172.79 191.42 Dollon 64 37.6 44 59 292.0 149.68 214.53 Le Plessis (½) 69 28.5 286.0 49 42 294.0 130.43 233.78 Courtalain 52 73 50.8 264.2 54 07 261.5 114.05 250.16 Dangeau 56 77 25.7 274.4 57 55 258.6 92.31 271.90 Rouvray (½) 81 51.0 296.1 62 19 296.5 67.50 296.71 St-Léger 65½ 86 53.1 295.7 67 19 297.7 44.62 319.53 St-Arnoult 91 31.3 295.3 71 55 297.7 23.59 340.56 Villejust T W (½) 96 09.7 271.9 76 40 265.6 14.36 349.79 Massy 78 98 45.4 213.4 79 18 210.3 06.38 357.77 Fontenay T E (1) 101 22.4 183.0 81 54 184.2 00.65 363.50 Paris M’tp’nasse 86½ 107 28 20½ L 87 07 2¼ L

The first 40 minutes of Run 10 constitute the most spectacular piece of high-speed running I have yet timed on the extensions to the Atlantique network. Speed only once fell below 300 km/h, on the steep rise to PK 40, and maxima were frequently in the low 320s - note the average of over 320 for 10 km between CAI 91 and 80, and 317.8 for over 110 kms from Louvigné to PK 46. But a problem with the track-train signalling transmission halted us just before the end of the new line, causing a loss of almost 23 minutes. Despite the fast running, the net time was not less than 84¾ minutes and even with a faster approach to the terminus it is difficult to imagine a run getting near the 82½-minutes net timing. The schedule shown is for this train, (public booking 87 minutes); Run 11 was booked in 89 minutes. This was an excellent TGV-A effort timed by Richard Neville-Carlé and Paul Johnstone, making a good start and touching 300-301 km/h several times. There were five sub-290 minima, down to 280, on the new section, and 288 and 283 on two of the neutral sections after Courtalain between more stretches at around 300. Average speeds were 295.0 km/h from Louvigné to Montfort, 297.3 from Dangeau to St-Arnoult. The run concluded with an unusually fast finish but the time was still well outside the 85-minute net schedule. The BPL line does indeed seem to offer more of a performance challenge than SEA.


LETTERS

Dear David No more fastest Times? – a postscript. In his October 2017 Milepost article Charles Foss refers to the separation of Liverpool to Preston services at Ormskirk in 1970 by the installation of back to back buffer stops preventing through running, a scenario subsequently adopted at nearby Kirkby. However, an emergency connection was left in place between the singled stub of the Liverpool line and the singled Preston line north of the station using the former northbound platform line. Over the weekend of the 1st – 3rd December 1973 the lines at Broad Green, between Liverpool and Huyton, were closed due to the construction of a motorway (M62) bridge there. Most unusually, the hours of closure were from 2300 Saturday to 1100 Monday, but services ran on their normal routes on Monday morning with some re-timings and a few bus substitutions. However, on Sunday trains were diverted via the time-honoured diversionary route from Liverpool to St Helens Junction/ Manchester Victoria via Ditton Junction, Widnes No 7 and Clock Face to Sutton Oak Jn (dmus reversed to St Helens Junction) and St Helens Shaw Street (loco hauled only); the latter continued via the Ince Moss to Bamfurlong Junction and Golborne to Parkside East curves to regain their normal route. With no Sunday services over the Huyton – Wigan line there were only 14 services each way to fit through the Widnes to Sutton Oak single line operated by tablet. There was only one Anglo-Scottish direct service pair from Liverpool on Sunday supplemented by a DMU connection to/from Blackburn into a Manchester – Glasgow pair diverted via the Settle & Carlisle line. The latter had the 0840 Liverpool Lime Street to Blackburn train altered to start from Exchange and run via Wigan Wallgate to Bolton to connect with the Glasgow train and the 1555 Blackburn – Lime Street ran as booked to Wigan NW gaining Lime Street via Clock Face. The Branch Line Society’s Branch Line News advised a most unlikely routeing for the through Glasgow trains via Edge Hill, Spellow, Bootle Junction, the North Mersey Branch to Aintree and over the Ormskirk Emergency Connection to Preston. The 2042 Preston to Liverpool Lime Street DMU was also to be diverted this way. Your scribe caught the 0755 Leeds to Liverpool via Clock Face and sampled the Mersey Electrics before boarding the 1640 to Glasgow. I left obtaining the class 47’s number until Preston in favour of ensuring a seat but, in the end, forgot. The distances shown in the log are as shown in the original and I think I located the closed stations through the darkness by reference to an OS map. The 1640 was normally timed to Preston in 60 minutes with a Wigan stop and that schedule was maintained on the revised routing. Our lightweight 4 coach load set off almost on time up the bank to Edge Hill where we turned onto the Bootle Branch which retained a residual Lime Street to Southport service at the time, and had a 45 mph PSR. The LMR embargo on railtours operating over Goods Lines, such as the next section to Aintree, was in force at the time and not lifted until the end of the decade; thus, the train therefore grabbed the attention of track bashers. The Weekly Notice advised that 20 mph was not to be exceeded over the Goods Lines but the driver did not adhere to this - 30 mph was the normal maximum. The line survives as a 20 mph single track available for engineer’s trains only, but vegetation is slowly reclaiming it, a far cry from busy Grand National Days with its many excursions, including those off the Liverpool Overhead Railway. The next section to Ormskirk had a 60 mph PSR which was liberally interpreted until the procedures to operate the emergency connection were faced with four stops. The train was 3 minutes early leaving Ormskirk, but the Weekly Notice showed 12 minutes to passing


Farington Curve Junction 13¾ miles away; the maximum speed over the single line was 70 mph then, but the Rufford token exchange and 15 mph PSR at Midge Hall over the single to double track connection made it impossible. Arrival at Preston was 8 minutes late on what was probably the last northbound passenger express working over the line with the southbound working due to leave Preston at 2115. The emergency connection lived on into the 1980’s but this may have been its last use by passenger trains.. .

Date Sunday 2nd December 1973

Train 1640 Liverpool LSt-Glasgow Cen

Loco 47xxx

Load 4/138/150

Rec/posn I.Umpleby; ?/5

Weather Cold/dry

Miles location Sch m s mph average

0.00 Liverpool Lime Street 0 0 00 Time

sigs 32

1.40 Edge Hill 5 3 37 10 23.2

2.55 Edge Lane 7 22 36/43 18.4

5.65 Walton 12 26 39 36.7

7.60 Bootle Oriel Road 15$ 16 15 20/36 30.7

10.50 Ford 21 12 32 35.2

11.35 Aintree 29# 23 26 25 22.8

13.90 Maghull 26 07 71 57.0

16.65 Town Green 29 09 37 54.4

Stops 199/5/47/8 secs

18.70 Ormskirk 42/44 40 49 * 10.5

21.25 Burscough Junction 44 30 55/58 41.5

24.15 Rufford 48 29 43.7

(Token exchange) 48 58

26.75 Croston 52 45 65 36.6

29.60 Midge Hall 57 12 10/47 38.4

32.45 Farington Curve Junction 56 62 56 20 29.8

34.05 Preston 60 68 20 8L 17.8

$ - Bootle Junction # - Sefton Junction.

Ian Umpleby

Dear David Liverpool Exchange-Preston Three things in Charles Foss’s recollections of the L&Ys Liverpool-Preston main line interested me as deserving further comment. Firstly, the appearance of a Hughes 4-6-0(it was the same one) in each direction reminds me of something CJ Allen wrote about footplate trips on the Manchester-Southport club train although, despite some searching, I cannot give a reference to it. His first run was on an engine as originally built and he was less than impressed by the performance of what was a potentially very powerful engine for 1908. It was one of several designs provoked by the GWR “Star” class and was missing what made those engines so outstanding. It was twelve years before Hughes sought to improve these engines by fitting them with much-improved valve arrangements using Walschaerts gear and a better side-windowed cab. Repeating his cab trip, Allen wrote that he was impressed and had said to the driver that he now had an engine that could do the job. However, they were still nowhere near as good as a “Star” and although the class was extended to 75 examples by the LMS they were still not up to the WCML task – little better than the LNW “Claughtons” and quite quickly replaced, although the last one did get its BR number 50455 and BR lined livery.


Second is the log of the “Clan” Pacific. Charles restates the opinion that the “Clan” was an indifferent performer, but the log is quite the best, having regard to the load and a speed of 45mph up 1:132 with 380tons is creditable, and perhaps 1,400edhp – a very sound figure for a Class 6 engine. I encountered a “Clan” only twice: once from Carlisle to Perth competently completed, and the other on the 1158 Hellifield-Carlisle stopper with only 95tons, but from 10 late at Settle, extremely rigorous running of the kind which only a crew confident of their engine would attempt – they were just 1½minutes late at Garsdale. I believe the critical view of the “clan” derives from a description of an early footplate trip from Glasgow to Carlisle where the longer cut-off need on an engine with relatively small cylinder volume (9.68cu ft compared with 10.24cu ft on a “Jubilee”), but with a largish grate and boiler and where boiler pressure was only 190lbs at Beattock summit - probably deliberate, having regard to the minimal demand for steam over the next ten or more miles - was judged somewhat wanting. Third, is Charles’s question “why was the line severed at Ormskirk?” (and he might have added Kirkby, which is similar). The answer is local politics. When the six Passenger Transport Executives(PTEs) were set up in 1974 they developed differing policies for the British Rail services over which they were given considerable control and financial responsibility, Merseyside PTE took probably the most constructive attitude, investing heavily in joining the north and south side electrified systems at the same time linking them with Lime Street station and so enabling furtherance of BR policy to concentrate services in one station at major cities. Thus, Liverpool Exchange and Central High-Level stations could be closed, But the PTEs had rigid boundaries and a rather-blinkered view that their task was to develop public transport usage within their area and paid little regard to journeys made beyond it. So, the new cross-city electrified services terminated at the boundaries which were very firmly delineated, and with no city centre terminal available through trains across them became impossible. As far as long-distance journeys from Liverpool to the north are concerned, this sadly caused a major extension of journey time, as Charles rightly point out. Since then, the third rail has reached Chester and perhaps common sense will one day see it extended to Preston and Wigan. Noel Proudlock

Electronic Archive Our electronic archive has just scored a big hit - thanks to Lee Allsopp’s unstinting efforts of course. The story began with a letter to The Railway Magazine from someone, who used to record trains in the Huddersfield area, saying he had enjoyed a Practice and Performance articles about WDs. When I contacted him to thank him for having taken such trouble, it transpired that he had been in the same stream at the same school but a year ahead of me. In fact, his aunt used to be my mother’s hairdresser. We also shared many memories -including our mutual disappointment of an eagerly anticipated Royal Train in 1958 being hauled by nothing more exotic than two Black 5s. One of his clearest memories was the assault of the 1-in-105 bank to Standedge, through Linthwaite, one summer Saturday afternoon in 1966, when he was tape recording, and how the loco’s noise could be heard much further away than normal. The date, the loco, the train, the load and the estimated speed of 40-45mph had stuck with him for over fifty years. I speculatively turned to the archive and entered No. 44896, only to find that very run timed by our late friend Martin Barrett. Needless to say, my friend was completely thrilled to find evidence that precisely confirmed his cherished memory after such a passage of time. Thanks Martin and thanks Lee! An extract of Martin’s archive entry is shown below.


Date 16/07/1966 sch m s mph sch m s mph

Train 1355 Leeds-Prestatyn mp29 25 35 Greenfield 28 22 05 53

Loco Class 5 4-6-0 44896 sigs 15 mp12 22 53 56

Load 10,330/345 mp28 28 55 22/29 mp11 23 57 56

sch m s mph mp27 30 57 33/36 Mossley 24 28 59

Leeds City 0 00 mp26 32 45 29 mp9.75 25 13 59

sig stop 1 37 Huddersfield 30 33 48 mp9 26 03 54/46

1 52 Huddersfield 0 00 mp8 27 37 sigs

mp 41.75 5 35 27 Gledholt J 2 . 2 37 sigs

Farnley J 5 7 20 mp24.50 4 42 25 Stalybridge 37 28 05 10

mp40 9 02 34/37 Longwood 5 50 31 mp7 30 43 26

mp39 10 38 38/39 mp23 7 35 36 Ashton 32 05

Morley Low 9 11 40 40 Golcar 7 58 41 0.A.& G.B.J 41 32 47

mp36 15 00 43/46 mp21.75 9 25 42 mp6 32 55 32

Batley 16 10 Slaithwaite 10 05 43 Ashton Moss 33 50 sig

mp35 16 15 48 mp21 10 30 42/40 Nth.Jn. 34 20 stop

mp34 17 37 39 mp20 11 58 39 mp5 36 44 25

Dewsbury 17 58 46 mp19 13 32 Droylesden 37 27 33

mp33 18 57 47/36 Marsden 15 14 05 36 mp4 38 34

Ravensthorpe 19 20 00 24 (in tunnel) 46 max Clayton Bridge [3] 39 36 45

mp31.75 20 45 32 Diggle (2) 19 08 mp3 39 56 38

mp 31 21 58 41 Diggle J 24 19 38 46 Park 41 15

Mirfield 22 55 mp14 20 34 48 mp2 41 43

mp 29.75 23 48 37 Saddleworth 20 45 50 Miles Platting 50 42 51 28

Heaton Ldg J 24 24 46 28 mp13 21 44 50 3 signal stops

MANCHESTER Exch 55 56 20

That 110mph Log Dear David You ask for readers’ comments about the 110mph claim, and I find this interesting. As John says, it is always possible to adjust passing times to a more accurate figure but this then moves away from the actual record, so I show the following chart which relates to the original record speeds directly to the gradients. Whilst not particularly long or steep, they are not

I know we have converted the archive into a charity but this sort of event makes it virtually a social service. Best Wishes John Heaton

44897 is maintaining 42½mph on the 1-in-105 gradient through Linthwaite Goods, climbing to Standedge Tunnel with Leeds-Llandudno train in July 1966 and being timed by Martin Barrett.


insignificant – 329tons of train plus a 145tons of locomotive requires 733dbhp to overcome gravity climbing 1:385 at 100mph. This plot makes me very suspicious about the quoted speeds rather than the times for several sections. 1 From Basingstoke, acceleration over the first ¾mile down 1:249 is less than over the subsequent mile. I would have much preferred to see at least 90mph at mp47. 2 Mp44 to 43 is uphill at 1:386 and speed was recorded to increase from 100 to 103mph. 3 Mp 43 to 42 is downhill at 1:480 but speed was recorded to decrease from 103 to 101mph 4 Mp 42 to 40 is largely level and speed was noted as rising from 101 to 107mph then the two miles of 1:337 down raised it to the claimed 110mph. 5 Finally, on level track to mp36 speed fell to 100mph. Another oddity is the ten seconds shown (quite impossible of course) from mp41 to Winchfield at 39.7miles which would give 105mph average if it was from mp40! Later, 29seconds are shown from mp37 to Fleet at 36.5miles , only 62.5mph average, so perhaps 44.15 was really for mp36 when the average still would be only 90mph. All this makes me join those who feel that this is a not-too-cleverly constructed fabrication. I have also plotted on the graph by dotted line, Don Benn’s 104mph run on 12th December 1966 which matches neatly the gradient profile, emphasising the failure of the run under discussion to do so.

Yours Noel Proudlock

Hi David, I thought the 35028 run on 14 December 1966 had been killed off, but obviously not!


My response for the RPS MP magazine is as follows: First the facts about the 17.30 ex Weymouth, 20.51 into Waterloo, on 14 December 1966. Much respected timer, Alan Rawlings, still going strong with his timing, tells me: “If this is the 2051A on 14/12/66 then I was on it. It was Merchant 8 with Driver Wright. We ran from Soton to Wloo in 107 min 25 sec including a 17 min signal stop outside of Basingstoke. A max of 64 up the bank and 79 before we were checked at Woking”. Now some background and a likely explanation for the 110 mph claim. I was a member of the so called top link of timers back in those wonderful SR steam days. That group had direct contact with all the key drivers, and amongst ourselves, and travelled on virtually all the really fast crew runs, sometimes by invitation of the crews to ensure runs were properly recorded. If Gordon Porter had worked his rest day (highly unlikely he would have been allowed to take an extra bite at a high mileage turn as claimed), he would have told one or more of the group, and some of us would have certainly timed it. And I know first-hand that Don Benn’s notes for the period and his subsequent research from amongst the top link of timers, most of whom are still in almost daily email contact, provide a comprehensive record that is unparalleled for that era. Don’s summarised notes on page 191 of MP 38 II, as well as that from Alan Rawlings above, should be enough to end the discussion, but I will go further, as below. There were other groups of timers around whose results were highly questionable. I will give two examples. One of those groups, very young lads only just in their teens and ‘led’ by an older gentleman, ‘recorded’ 34025 reaching 106 mph on the 08.30 Waterloo behind 34025 on 29 April 1967. I think they ‘produced’ that result because of a highly inaccurate loco speedometer reported to them by the crew. I was on that run and the maximum speed was between 88 and 89 mph at Winchester Junction. The same group later showed me a run ‘recorded’ by them in 1967 behind 35029, some months after its 1966 withdrawal, that claimed a speed of 109 mph approaching Brookwood in the up direction on a fast Southampton to Waterloo train. I briefly checked the average speeds from their ‘log’ which supported a maximum in the 80’s and no more. For obvious reasons I suspected they had fabricated that log, as all the data was so far from reality. It is a very short step from that, to form the conclusion that the same group had also produced the 110 mph Clan Line run. I was aware that Sid Nash was collating fast runs, seemingly from any source and clearly without checking any aspect of them, and that must be how the claimed 110 mph run with 35028 appeared on his list. Presumably the 109 mph behind 35029 did not get on that list, as he may not have come in contact with that timing group again close to the end of steam. Or that he could see even at a glance it was total nonsense and ignored it. And that is what I strongly feel a highly reputable organisation like the RPS should now do. Regards, Bryan Benn RPS member

Hi David. John Heaton wrote an interesting piece in the latest MP and I really can't add very much to the debate. One fact though is irrefutable: the alleged run did not take place on 14th December. On that day I went down to Southampton on the 435 pm from Waterloo, which was worked by 34104


standing in for a failed class 47 and driven by Sydney Cull. The 714 pm up was worked by 35008 and the load was 9 coaches and 2 vans, 364 tons tare and 395 tons gross. The driver was Wright of NE MPD covering Gordon's rest day. It was raining but 35008 did well up the bank at first running at 64-65 mph until the engine started slipping in the cutting before Wallers Ash tunnel and continued to slip to Roundwood where speed was down to 52 mph. We then got stopped for 17 minutes outside Basingstoke due to the failure of 73087 on the 638 pm from Salisbury. Our train then went slow line to Woking reaching 75 mph before a long tsr past Winchfield and Fleet then just touching 80 mph at Pirbright before being slowed to regain the main line at Woking. The overall tine from Soton to Waterloo was 107/28, net about 78 minutes. At least one other train timer was on the train that evening. So that part of the alleged 110 mph run, ie the date can be discounted and I have been unable to find another date on which the alleged run could have taken place. It has always been my belief that this run is a fabrication based on the run with Clan Line on the 530 pm Weymouth on Monday 12th December, which I was on. Attached are the details of the high-speed section. Alan Wild calculated that Clan Line was getting close to 3,000 IHP in reaching 103 mph and so the power needed to get to 110 mph anywhere on this stretch with such a load would have been beyond a Merchant Navy or indeed any other British steam loco. So here indeed is a second reason why the alleged run can be discounted.

DETAIL FROM WORTING JUNCTION TO FARNBOROUGH miles sched mins secs speed

Date 12th December 1966 34.25 MP 45 41 59 92

Train 530 pm Weymouth-Waterloo 35.25 MP 44 42 38 95

Loco MN 4-6-2 35028 'Clan Line' 35.55 Newnham Siding 42 51 94

Load 9+ 2 bogie vans, 348/375 36.25 MP 43 43 16 92

Driver Gordon Porter 37.08 Hook 43 48 93

Fireman R Lee 38.25 MP 41 44 34 95

Timed by Don Benn 39.41 Winchfield 45 19 98

Weather dark, damp, light rain, light SW wind 40.25 MP 39 45 49 99

miles sched mins secs speed 41.25 MP 38 46 25 102/103

28.98 Worting Jct 39.5 38 05 62 42.25 MP 37 47 00 101

30.25 MP 49 39 11 76 42.76 Fleet 47 18 100

31.5 Basingstoke 40 07 83½ 44.25 MP 35 48 15 93

32.25 MP 47 40 39 86 brakes

33.25 MP 46 41 20 93 46.05 Farnborough 49 40 74

average speeds:-

Winchfield to Fleet=101.35 mph

MP 41 to MP 35=97.74 mph

MP 46 to MP 35=95.42 mph

Basingstoke to Fleet full regulator 20-25% cut off 210 lbs of steam in steam chest

Best wishes Don (Benn)

Dear David I thought I would have my two-penny-worth on this. I am convinced it never happened, certainly not on that day. Here is for why: - Some readers are aware that in 1966 the 19:14 Southampton to Waterloo was known as the club train. There were at least 30 members, and certain drivers were revered almost as cult heroes. Driver Porter was in this category. I would be surprised if any run on that trails in 1966 and 1967 went unrecorded on this train. It was steam worked until the end.


I was somewhat on the periphery of this due to lack of funds, but was of course aware of the "gossip". The alleged run occurred on the 14 December 1966, a Wednesday On the Saturday the 18:15 from Southampton was worked from Basingstoke by Gordon Porter. A log of this run appears in Winkworth in Table 72 and 74. The engine was 34104 with 11 for 357/385. Many recorders transferred their loyalty from the 19:14 to this train. I would suggest that there were about 20 on board. This was because of driver Porter's reputation. I was on the train. To my mind it is inconceivable that if Porter had achieved anything like 110 mph on the Wednesday that it would have been the talk of the train. It wasn't. The only other explanation to my mind is that the date is wrong. I have never heard of Inspector Andrews, but this is not to say he did not exist. I suspect RAH Weight would have been very senior in 1966. I believe he died at 92. To my mind for whatever reason, this log is a fantasy. I am not saying that it could not have taken place, although I find it unlikely, I am sure it never happened on 14 December 1966. Yours David Lloyd Roberts

David Ashley Esq., Editor, ‘Milepost’ Dear David, The inclusion of some details of a high speed run behind Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 No.35028 ‘Clan Line’, in the ‘Southern Steam The final flourish’ supplement to Milepost 38¼, has aroused considerable comment. Our President John Heaton, as an interested and much respected bystander, reviewed the issue in his article in the following ‘Milepost’ under the heading. “Clan Line 110mph true or false?” As the instigator, of what to some of the RPS Membership is a contentious issue I perhaps may be allowed to recount some personal history. I first became aware of some attempts at very high speeds in the Winchfield Fleet area in December 1966. I do not remember from whom, but I was told during that month that “Driver Porter had been attempting to exceed the post WWII steam speed record”. Despite the passage of 50 years I remember it well, and indeed that the speaker added words to the effect “You know the one behind an A4 descending from Stoke”. I think the conversation took place on the forecourt at Waterloo and based on my then notes, on the morning of December 16 before I joined the 10.30. Why do I remember it: because I thought at the time that a Merchant Navy could not exceed 112mph in the Fleet area, even with a light train. My then knowledge, primarily based on a run timed by the Reverend J.E.T.Phillips suggested 100mph, although that had been with a Salisbury train ie not limited to 60mph at Worting Junction when the century was attained before Hook, after 4 miles down at 1/249, albeit with 430tons. [I was also aware that Drivers Rabbetts and Hooper had exceeded 100mph past Winchester Junction, this after 8-9 miles down at 1/252. There were also persistent rumours of past three figure maxima in the Axminster area. Southern maximum speeds were very much a personal preoccupation). Subsequent to the December 1966 conversation, during 1967 & 1968 Norman Harvey stated that the 106mph attained by No.35003 in late June 1967 was not the highest speed attained by a Merchant Navy. [I knew Norman Harvey via SLS meetings].


I was also shown some notes that suggested 110mph. As I wrote in 1997 “There is an unsubstantiated claim for 110 by No.35028 0n 14/12/66 at Winchfield. The timing seen by the author does not withstand rigorous examination”. [ref ‘Twentieth Century Southern Steam Volume III p.611, available as a pdf on the RPS data base] There my interest might have remained had I not come across the note that I referred to in my contribution to the ‘The Final Flourish’. I have always believed that something unusual happened, exactly what ie how fast remained unclear, indeed unproven. Just to recap: the note is located in a file of papers from the late S.C.Nash [an eminent photographer who had a long involvement with people and matters relating to the SR], the hand writing is that of R.A.H.Weight [a distinguished railway commentator]. The note is on the following page to a copy of a Don Benn log behind 35003 when reaching 106mph. There is also in the same file a list of runs when high speeds were achieved including the 110mph. They, other than the 110mph, are I believe all consistent with known detailed logs There have been various objections to the authenticity/accuracy/credibility of the RAHWeight note [copied from a note book presumably?]. The key objection I think is the firm statement that the 17.35 ex Weymouth was hauled by No.35008 on the 14th not 35028 and the maximum speed was 80mph. Recognising that the note has the date14/12/67 with the seven crossed out and overlaid with a six the natural thought is, ‘is the date wrong?’. I have sought further information, without success, concerning 35028’s movements during the week commencing Monday December 12. 35028 worked the 17.35 Weymouth Waterloo on the Monday 12/12 - there are three separate logs on the RPS data base confirming 103 mph at Winchfield. It worked the 10.30 from Waterloo to Weymouth on Friday the 16/12 - I travelled on the train to Bournemouth; my log is on the data base. Driver Fred Prikett was ‘on the Regulator’ and reported a defect at Bournemouth. 35028 returned to London that evening on the 17.35 from Weymouth and reached 97mph at Winchfield - there is one log. What did 35028 do between the Monday evening and Friday morning? Could the 14/12 be Tuesday 13/12 or Thursday 15/12? Also, could the 14/12 actually be Monday 14/11? I believe Driver Porter was rostered that week. John Heaton considered other concerns and possible interpretations. There are two additional points I would like to explore. The actual data does not provide evidence to support a specific speed; readings to the nearest second over a mile. A reading of 34 seconds, actually suggests at the best 33.51 to 34.49 seconds ie: c.107.4 to 104.4mph. John Heaton’s further reconciliation gives a possible maximum speed of 107 to 108 mph and a credible speed profile. This then begs the question could a Merchant Navy have delivered sufficient power to reach such a speed with a 350-ton train. The tests carried out before that time by BR with Mark1 stock were particularly noteworthy to some of us because they showed the effects of comparatively light winds on power requirements. (7.5mph cross wind at 45degrees compared to still air at 70mph representing an increase of 10%). The prevalent South Westerly trade winds favour trains between Basingstoke and Farnborough. With a favourable wind the DHP might be 1800, or less. I am always nervous calculating IHPs but a figure of 3,000-3100 seems likely under such conditions. There are records of Merchant Navy’s developing such outputs, albeit at lower speeds? And then there were the recently laid long welded track sections between Worting Junction and Pirbright Junction to reduce the resistance further. I had hoped that more information might be forthcoming after the RAHW note was included in the ‘Final Flourish’, there has not been. It is unfortunate that the likes of Messrs Bloxam, Webber et al are no longer with us, let alone Harvey, Nash and Weight. There have been many suggestions as to why it could not have occurred; whilst I recognise it is very difficult to


prove a negative I am not convinced these are conclusive. My proposition remains: there was a special attempt made to achieve a very high speed. Quite naturally in terms of observers, for obvious reasons, it was kept very low key. But the verdict for now must remain ‘not proven’. Yours sincerely Michael Rowe, Porlock, Somerset.

NEWS

Edinburgh-Glasgow Electrification Martin Robertson

Martin Robertson has completed his first journey with electric traction between Glasgow and Edinburgh. He says: It is not an understatement to say that it should be a revolution compared with the current traction, with around 55mph out of Queen Street Tunnel and 90mph through Bishopbriggs and already over a minute and a quarter up on what was a reasonable Class 170 run earlier in the week. However there was woeful braking into Croy, and average approaches into Falkirk and Linlithgow. I returned with the same units in rapidly descending darkness. Excellent accelerations but truly awful braking into stations. Haymarket-Linlithgow 13m19s, Linlithgow-Polmont 4m 45s and Polmont - Falkirk High 4m23s, all times which a Class 170 should achieve easily.

Glasgow - Edinburgh :- Electric Traction

Run 1 2

Date 10/12/2017 05/12/2017

Train 1500 GLQ-EDB 1045 GLQ-EDB

Loco 380115/004 170451

Load 7/xxx/+30 3/133/145

Pos/GPS 5/7 Y 1/3 Y

miles m c Location m s mph s mph

0.00 0 03 Queen St D (P7) 0 00.0 (-1) 0 00.0 (-4)

0.15 0 15 Tunnel (in) 0 30.5 0 29.5

0.71 0 60 Tunnel (out) 1 17.5 55 1 41.0

1.21 1 20 Keppochhill Road 1 49.0 52 e'd/48 2 34.0

1.89 1 74 Cowlairs (ex PSB) 2 32.5 60 3 32.5 44 e'd

3.20 3 19 Bishopbriggs 3 34.0 90 4 57.0 63

4.04 4 06 Cadder West 4 26.5 96/101 6 03.5 78

6.22 6 21 Lenzie 5 28.5 97 7 16.5 89

7.35 7 31 Woodilee Ob 6 09.0 100 8 00.5 95

8.25 8 23 Waterside Jn (Viad W) 6 41.5 96 8 34.0 97

9.84 9 70 Gartshore Ob 7 41.0 97 9 32.5 100

10.90 10 75 Croy Viad 8 31.0 57

11.41 11 36 CROY a 9 41.0 vvse 10 30.5

0.00 d 11 10.0

1.39 12 67 Dullator 1 36.5 83 11 21.5 98

2.55 14 00 Mp 14 2 22.0 100 12 04.5 98

4.05 15 40 Castlecary 3 17.0 99 12 58.0 99

5.90 17 28 Greenhill U JN 4 24.5 94 4 05.0 101

6.96 18 33 Bonnybridge 5 08.5 86e'd 14 45.0 96

8.55 20 00 Mp 20 6 11.0 97 15 44.0 97

10.20 21 62 Falkirk High a 8 13.0 17 42.0

9 58.0 18 27.0

0.65 22 34 Falkirk Tunnel Out 1 02.0 67 1 20.0 50

2.22 24 00 Redding 2 12.0 85/82 e'd 2 50.0 73


miles m c Location m s mph s mph

2.21 24 79 Polmont 2 54.0 86 4 15.0 86

4 53.0

4.44 26 17 Ob 3 44.0 94 1 56.0 56

5.35 27 10 Boness Jn 4 19.5 90e'd 2 44.5 74/82

Underbridge 5 37.0 58 (veb) 4 05.0 72

7.87 29 52 Linlithgow a 7 02.0 5 33.0

8 18.0 6 12.0

1.54 31 15 Ob 1 46.0 86/98 2 17.0 64

3.15 32 64 Philipstoun 2 48.5 94 e'd 3 39.0 76

5.10 34 60 Winchburgh Jn 4 08.5 85 e'd 5 03.5 88

5.84 35 49 Winchburgh T'l out 4 42.5 92/96 5 38.5 88

6.87 36 42 Winchburgh 5 18.5 92/85* 6 18.0 84

9.41 39 05 Ratho 7 03.5 82 e'd 8 02.0 91

10.70 40 28 Und Br 7 54.5 96 8 50.5 97

11.30 40 76 Obr 8 18.0 93 9 13.0 100

12.12 41 62 Gogar 9 01.5 51sc 9 42.5 101

12.75 42 32 Edin Park 9 46.5 47sc/35 10 05.0 100

14.39 44 03 Saughton Jn 12 16.5 48 11 05.5 92

15.29 44 75 Haymarket W Jn 13 22.0 50

16.40 46 04 Haymarket a 15 23.0 13 26.0

Treasures from the RPS Archive-the ECML 1959-1963 Andrew James

The era which perhaps fascinates me most was the transition phase between steam and diesel on the BR network. The ECML was perhaps the place to be during this period. The Gresley Pacifics enjoyed a final flourish courtesy of the Kylchap double chimney programme, ironic at the period where dieselisation was either on the horizon or had already been implemented. Of course, like most things in life, this was justified more by economics than anything else, as Peter Semmens has said in his book: Speed on the East Coast Main Line: A Century and a Half of Accelerated Services (Patrick Stephens limited, 1990) the late 1950s saw the lapse of the patent and therefore the alteration could be justified even though steam had a limited lifespan left. Table 1 feature an A4, class 40 comparison on the “up” morning Talisman. Actual runs on such services in the RPS archive are surprisingly rare, but given the time and expense involved to the recorder, perhaps not. Recorder Ian Carr was a distinguished photographer from Sunderland who passed away in 2015, many of his photographs have appeared in a plethora of railway publications over the last six decades, but very little has been printed of his efforts with a stopwatch, apart from a stunning effort behind 60030 Golden Fleece on the racetrack between Darlington and York on the up Talisman which was published in the May 1959 issue of Trains Illustrated. The first run from this pantheon is a fine effort behind 60006 Sir Ralph Wedgewood on the up Talisman. A not very inspiring run to Darlington was the result, although 75 between Bradbury and Aycliffe wasn’t bad. The subsequent running on to York was vastly better and redolent of the Coronation in the pre-war era, unfortunately a tsr in the Pilmoor area retarded progress. After passing through York, further excellent running ensued to Doncaster, particularly on the level at Shaftholme Junction where 85 was attained. The ascent to Stoke by contrast was quite unenergetic, but the pace thereafter became blistering to Helpston, a maximum of 105 mph was of course ‘exceptional’ by the Standards of 1959, corroborated by an average of 103.4 mph between Essendine and Tallington. Doug Landau has done a power estimate of this run from Corby Glen-Tallington amongst other stretches and calculates that 60006 was developing 1110/2125 EDHP/IHP. This would indicate a level of power above the norm on the ECML at this period, but not undue thrashing. The driver gave his name to the recorder as ‘Jones’ which was the standard reply when he wished to preserve his anonymity.


Run2 is behind the new breed on the ECML at the time in the form of a class 40, or an English Electric Type Four to give them their correct pre-TOPS designation. In comparison D206 didn’t do at all badly with the best running occurring through the Vale of York where 90 was attained at Raskelf. The loco was obviously eased at places but still managed to arrive nearly 20 minutes early at Kings Cross. This I suspect is in the top 10 fastest runs in the Post-War era between the County Durham town and the London termini. The net time probably didn’t exceed 200 minutes for the 232.2 miles. The transition from steam to diesel didn’t affect the former like it did on other parts of the BR network, it would seem.

Table 1 M C m s mph m s mph

Run 1 2 160 23 Shaftholme J 67 53 85/84 62 17

Date 23/10/1959 23/09/1959 155 79 Doncaster 71 28 50 66 54 35/60

Train 7.50 Edinburgh- 7.50 Edinburgh- 151 26 Rossington 76 44 63/58 72 13 49/tsr

Kings Cross Kings Cross 147 57 Bawtry 80 12 66/62/74 77 56 51/tsr

Motive Power 60006 D207 141 55 Sutton 82 43 64/sigs 80 48

Load 9/300/323 9/300/323 138 50 Retford 89 53 42 87 19

Recorder I Carr I.Carr 131 10 Dukeries J 100 06 68/84 94 53 72/86

M C m s mph m s mph 127 36 Crow Park 103 06 85/88 97 35 82

80 19 Newcastle 0 00 0 00 124 56 Cromwell 105 50 84/sigs 66

79 43 King Edward Br J 2 46 2 36 120 09 Newark N'gate 109 11 42 103 29 34/tsr

78 77 Bensham 3 54 37/52 3 37 46 115 30 Claypole 114 02 70/76 109 33 67/63/70

76 55 Lamesley 6 52 60/57 6 35 57 111 50 Hougham 117 08 77/76 113 03

74 58 Birtley 8 35 55 8 22 55/52 108 26 Peascliffe N 119 43 72 115 52 69/65

71 73 Chester-Le-Street 11 44 57/53 11 32 58/57 105 37 Grantham 122 08 69/70/66 118 21 73

70 02 Plawsworth 14 13 44/45 1345 53/49 102 06 Great Ponton 125 18 66 120 21 67

66 12 Durham 18 14 24*/21 18 26 24* 100 07 Stoke 127 20 55/72 123 09 60

65 16 Relly Mill J 22 01 26*/25 20 56 28 97 07 Corby Glen 129 56 80/95 125 30 85/84/88

62 00 Croxdale 25 49 65 24 19 69/65 92 16 Little Bytham 133 12 100/103 128 52 90/84

59 08 Tursdale J 28 41 57/54/58 26 57 67/66 88 53 Essendine 135 18 101/105 130 17 85/86

57 00 Ferryhill 30 50 63/65 28 48 67/70 84 65 Tallington 137 32 105 132 59 85

54 00 Bradbury 33 25 68/75 31 11 72/74/tsr 81 70 Helpston 139 13 97

49 46 Aycliffe 37 29 69/sigs 35 26 tsr 79 39 Werrington J 141 14 53/sigs 138 13 60*

44 08 Darlington 44 39 45 16 76 29 Peterborough N 147 40 140 36 25*

44 08 0 00 0 00 75 02 Fletton Junction 151 16 144 45 46

41 40 Croft Spa 4 37 52 3 57 60 72 49 Yaxley 154 08 61/72 147 22 61/80

38 73 Eryholme J 7 48 60/65 6 22 66 69 32 Holme 156 57 76 150 03 77

37 14 Cowton 9 27 70/74 7 51 74 63 38 Abbots Ripton 162 08 44/tsr 155 03 70/69

33 60 Danby Wiske 12 22 76/tsr 10 26 81/80 61 00 Stukeley 165 19 50/66 156 53 73/80

30 00 Northallerton 16 21 54/68 13 15 80/83 58 67 Huntingdon N 167 19 70*/73/72 158 53 77*/68

26 42 Otterington 19 36 74/81 16 39 86 55 75 Offord 169 46 73/70 161 07 67

22 16 Thirsk 22 37 84 18 41 81/84/83 51 58 St Neots 173 19 67/50/tsr 164 38 74/tsr

18 03 Sessay 25 46 84/87 21 44 86 47 42 Tempsford 176 53 80 167 54 84/82

16 05 Pilmoor 27 08 44/tsr 23 07 85/87 44 10 Sandy 179 26 78 170 20 82/79/83

13 26 Raskelf 30 12 62 25 01 90 41 13 Biggleswade 181 42 80/76 172 31 84/80

11 14 Alne 32 20 66 26 28 87 36 70 Arlesey 184 55 80 175 36 80/sigs ?

9 58 Tollerton 33 38 70/72 27 29 83/82 35 55 Three Counties 78

5 42 Beningbrough 37 05 72/78 30 25 83 31 73 Hitchin 188 57 65/62/63 180 31 48

1 50 Skelton J 40 07 33 20 28 45 Stevenage 192 12 63/sigs 184 25 57/55

0 00 York 42 28 30*/47 36 07 24* 25 03 Knebworth 195 32 sigs 188 17 61/63

188 12 23 40 Woolmer Green 197 48 sigs

186 15 Chal Whin 45 26 51 38 58 52 20 26 Welwyn GC 217 19 43 192 21 77

183 78 Naburn 47 43 63/74 41 04 71 17 56 Hatfield 220 01 68/65/66 194 25 67/66

181 09 Escrick 76 43 23 74/78 14 39 Brookmans Park 222 48 70/72 197 11 71

178 38 Riccall 52 02 83/86/85 45 25 66 12 59 Potters Bar 224 19 68/73 198 25 71/70/69

174 25 Selby 55 46 42* 49 55 38* 8 28 Oakleigh Park 228 00 67 200 29 71/sigs

169 60 Templehirst 60 37 68 54 48 67/73 6 39 New Southgate 229 43 67 202 24 44

167 15 Heck 62 43 77 56 58 80 4 77 Wood Green 231 02 68/67 204 10 58

165 75 Balne 63 45 77/82 58 00 80/82 2 40 Finsbury Park 233 30 sigs 206 27

163 00 Moss 65 57 82/84 60 14 81/79 0 04 Kings Cross 240 02 214 24

Schedules: Newcastle-Darlington 46, Darlington Kings Cross 232


Table 2 shows D207 again, but this time the comparison is with a Peppercorn A1, Balmoral. The run behind the pacific was recorded about a fortnight after regular steam operation had ceased out of Kings Cross, but showed that steam could still put in a decent effort. The ascent to Potters Bar by the standards of the time was truly exceptional behind this form of traction and anything over 60 mph at this location with this sort of load was a rarity to be savoured. A power output estimate between Wood Green and Potters Bar works out at around 1650 EDHP, not undue thrashing, but a cut above the norm in the hurly-burly of the steam era. The attainment of 90 mph at Hitchin was also in the ‘very good’ category, but the ascent to Stoke was even better with 64 attained at this location after only falling from 66 mph at Corby Glen which is worth around 1970 EDHP. Such an effort would put in the top 5 percent of

Table 2 M C sch m s mph m s mph

Run 3 4 41 13 Biggleswade 42 35 72 38 08 75

Date 29.6.63 1.8.58 44 10 Sandy 42.5 44 39 82 40 26 78

Train 11.30 Kings Cross- 2 PM Kings Cross 47 42 Tempsford 47 04 85/19/tsr 42 55 84/82

Scarborough -Newcastle 51 58 St Neots 50 00 48 45 56 82

Motive Power 60140/A1 D207 55 75 Offord 56 52 71* 49 13 75*

Load 12/414/444 11/349/370 58 67 Huntingdon N 53.5 59 17 76 51 30 78

Recorder T.Pearson? T.Pearson 62 00 Leys Summit 61 54 67 54 00 72/88

Driver Gates Hoole 63 38 Abbots Ripton 63 12 76

M C sch m s mph m s mph Connington S 65 56 88

0 04 Kings Cross 0 00 0 00 67 00 Mp 57 46 85

2 40 Finsbury Park 6 02 42 5 00 46 69 32 Holme 67 30 65* 59 30 76

4 77 Wood Green 8 42 65 7 44 60 72 49 Yaxley 62 24 43/53

6 39 New Southgate 10 09 57 75 02 Fletton J 72 22 70 65 23 sig stops

9 14 New Barnet 12 51 60 76 29 Peterborough N 73.5 74 27 21* 75 20

12 59 Potters Bar 16.5 16 17 62/75 15 48 56 79 39 Werrington J 79 02 64 sch 80

14 39 Brookmans Park 17 50 54/tsr 81 70 Helpston 81 05 70

17 56 Hatfield 21.5 20 27 69*/70 20 48 73/80 84 65 Tallington 83 30 74

20 26 Welwyn GC 22 37 68/72 22 48 75/76 88 53 Essendine 86 32 75

23 40 Woolmer Grn 25 21 74 92 16 Little Bytham 89 27 71/65

25 03 Knebworth 26 37 75/80 97 07 Corby Glen 3.0 93 47 66

28 45 Stevenage 29 27 70* 29 18 78 100 07 Stoke 99.0 96 29 64

31 73 Hitchin 33.5 31 55 90 31 39 90 102 06 Great Ponton 98 07 78

35 55 Three Counties 35 17 20/tsr 35 03 105 37 Grantham 104.5 102 17

performances recorded behind steam, one would guess. The Gold Standard behind steam on this section was to attain 60 with 11 on at the summit. This service had been accelerated by the time of this run, schedules prior to this had as fast a schedule but with a lighter load which was reflected by a 9/315 timing load, I do not have the 11/385 schedule in the late fifties but would guess it was around 10 minutes slower. Legendary ECML driver Bill Hoole had D206 earlier in August 1958 on the 2.00 pm to Newcastle in run 4. I suspect he wasn’t unduly impressed with the new diesel in comparison with his own exploits behind A4s. However, it is important to stress that in at least 90 percent runs during the BR steam era the Class 40 equalled the more esteemed Pacifics, in terms of performance; although extremity of power is a different matter. For some reason these locomotives nearly always found the grind up to Potters Bar difficult, and full power ascents are something of a rarity from the perspective of been able to develop their nominal 2000 BHP. D207 was no different and from 60 at Wood Green gradually fell to 56 mph at the summit or 1250 EDHP/ 1440RHP. The climb from Huntingdon to Leys was better and much more in keeping with their rating, the effort was worth around 1320 EDHP/1670/RHP a bit above specification where a maximum of 1550-1600 RHP would be expected, but given the myriad of variables and perhaps a slight underestimate of the speed at the latter or incorrect engine setting which could cause over revving, something that wasn’t unknown in the early years of dieselisation. The recorder Terry Pearson estimated a net time of 66 minutes to Peterborough. It is worth pointing out that the allowance for a class 47 on an 11/385 timing was 65 minutes


in the immediate pre-HST era. Of course, by then the line limit was higher and the 70 restriction at Offord had been removed. Table 3 is about as prestigious as it got for a class 31 or Brush Type 2s as they were known at the time this run was timed. Mr Pearson was fortunate to get a member on the prestigious Master Cutler. Initially this was allocated for a class 40, but 31s did periodically appear and I believed were actually rostered for this turn for a short period in the early sixties. The loco’s were from Sheffield Darnall and an effort was made to provide this working with one of the higher 1,600 BHP variants, but on the day in question one of the more common lower powered 1,365 BHP members was utilised. The loco kept time without difficulty on the easy 78-minute schedule. The climb to Potters Bar was top notch and worth around 950 EDHP/1140/RHP on the section from Wood Green. The recorder estimated a net time of 68 minutes to Peterborough. This is a classic example of how a modest motive power can achieve a fast time when full power is uniformly applied. It would have been considered to be an excellent effort for a similarly powered B1, or an earlier generation of express power such as large Ivatt Atlantic.

Table 3 M C sch m s mph

Run 5 25 03 Knebworth 28 15 58/sigs

Date 9.5.61 28 45 Stevenage 31 43 70

Train 11.20 Kings Cross- 31 73 Hitchin 34 17 85

Sheffield Victoria 35 55 Three Counties 36 57 87

Motive Power D5689 36 70 Arlesey 37 52 88/83

Load 6/230/240 (est) 41 13 Biggleswade 40 45 90

Recorder T.Pearson 44 10 Sandy 42.5 42 50 83

M C sch m s mph 47 42 Tempsford 45 10 87

0 04 Kings Cross 0 00 51 58 St Neots 48 13 80/84

2 40 Finsbury Park 5 17 50 55 75 Offord 51 35 65*

4 77 Wood Green 7 53 60/58 58 67 Huntingdon North 54 05 73

9 14 New Barnet 12 07 60 62 00 Leys Summit 57 12 38/tsr

12 59 Potters Bar 16.0 15 40 61 63 38 Abbots Ripton 59 10 60/78

17 56 Hatfield 22.5 20 01 69 32 Holme 64 03 64*

20 26 Welwyn Garden City 23 05 40/tsr 72 49 Yaxley & Farcet [5] 67 00 68/70

23 40 Woolmer Green 26 42 60 75 02 Fletton Junction 69 10

76 29 Peterborough North 78.5 72 17

Table 4

Run 6

Date 28.2.59

Train 8.20 Kings Cross-

Doncaster

Motive Power ‘Deltic'

Load 7/240/250

Recorder P.G.Barlow

M C [sch] m s mph

76 29 Peterborough North 0 00

79 39 Werrington Junction 4 20 72/65

81 70 Helpston 6 16 84

84 65 Tallington 8 15 97

88 53 Essendine 10 39 94/100

92 16 Little Bytham 12 50 96

95 00 Mp 14 34 96

97 07 Corby Glen 15 51 100

100 07 Stoke 17 46 93

102 06 Great Ponton 19 04 87

105 37 Grantham [32] 22 19


Table 4 features the prototype Deltic on the 8.20 Kings Cross-Doncaster a regular turn for this loco in 1959, by later Deltic standards this would seem small beer, but by the standards of 1959 would have been regarded as ‘sensational.’ Details of this run were given by Norman Harvey in the May 1959 issue of Railway World, but no log. Although the ascent from Corby Glen to Stoke suggests an easing in power, the quantum leap provided by 3300 BHP had been amply demonstrated south of this point and a gain of nearly 10 minutes over no more than 29 miles says it all. I would like to thank David Lloyd-Roberts for his comments and suggestions regarding this article.

THE GREAT WESTERN CASTLES 4-6-0’s - A false reputation? - By Swedebasher

There are two kinds of revisionist history: one is the type all too familiar in the last thirty years where academics of sometimes questionable backgrounds attempt to rewrite events to suit a particular social or political perspective whilst the other, less common, is when some hitherto unknown evidence turns up which puts into question an established reputation. The evidence in this case is a mass of data which has been used to examine how the principal classes of British locomotives ran in relation to their power classification and which begs some serious questions about the GWR Castle class. The system developed by the Railway Executive soon after nationalisation was a variation of that used by the LMS - hardly surprising since the entire RE design organisation was actually that of the LMS moved 150 miles to the south - in which, for example, 6P referred to an engine that could produce 1000hp at 60 mph when working reasonably hard and an engine that could produce 1000dbhp at 70 mph was designated 7P and so on. The process used to assess engines in traffic was to calculate the dbhp between each pair of successive points and then to weight it to allow for the inverse relationship with speed. In order to smooth out timing inaccuracies, the running was then summarised over longer sections of track, especially those where the engine could be seen to be working hard. The results were then processed in a database and in most cases the results were what might have been expected. The ‘average’ 7P engine maintained a power output of 7 in most cases with peaks of 8 and 9 being reached when the engine was being pushed. Similarly output of less than 7 were recorded when the running did not require the full power of the engine: a LMS Royal Scot working one of the more lightly loaded Limited Load expresses out of Euston would not normally be required to exceed an output of 5. The results for several class 7 engines are shown in the accompanying table and generally give the results that might be expected with the LM 4-6-0’s and the Britannia 4-6-2’s producing an output of 7 or more for about a third of the time whilst the West Country managed two-thirds.

Class LMS 7P GW CASTLE WC 4-6-2 BR 7 4-6-2 CLASS 40 DSL

Miles % Miles % Miles % Miles % Miles %

I2P 3 0 0 0 0

11P 9 1 11 1 0

I0P 87 6 9 1 0 1

9P 38 2 0 121 9 46 5 71 5

8P 156 10 32 1 293 22 25 3 416 32

7P 316 20 58 2 325 24 156 17 354 27

6P 363 24 487 16 211 16 137 15 270 20

5P 414 27 794 26 179 13 176 19 116 9

4P 161 10 1199 39 104 8 167 18 61 5

3P 100 6 397 13 12 1 160 17 0 0

2P 20 1 67 1 0 0 26 3 0 0

IP 3 0 12 2 0 0 14 1 0 0

1571 100 3046 100 1344 100 925 100 1288 100

7P +

32 3 62 27 65


The class 40 diesel electrics have been included for good measure and these managed an 8P performance for a third of the time. The mystery surrounds the much-vaunted Castle class which, for the most, could barely manage an output of 6, let alone 7 with over a third of their work being in the class 4 range. Introduced in 1923 as an improved Star 4-6-0, Castle construction continued for twenty-seven years until 171 engines had been completed including many members of the Star class which were rebuilt as Castles. The first duty of the Castles was the working of the West of England services between Paddington and Plymouth and this included the 10.30 Cornish Riviera which in terms of weight and speed was probably the most challenging turn on the Great Western and the run by 4090 illustrates a typical performance by one of the class on the 10.30. For some reason two minutes were lost between Paddington and Southall and forty miles were then spent in recovering this loss and while the running was in a higher class from anything that could be found elsewhere else in the country, it nevertheless fell some way short of what we were later to be accustomed to by class 7 engines. Indeed, had it not been for the need to make up time, it is possible that nothing more powerful than a Hall was needed for the job.

Train 1030 Paddington-Penzance

Point Gradient Schedule Actual mph dbhp

Date 1924 Thatcham 616 52.05 59 809

Loco 4090 (7P Castle) NEWBURY 1029 56.00 55.45 58 771

Load 14,495/530/656 Enborne Jcn 217 56.56 58 1620

Point Gradient Schedule Actual mph dbhp Kintbury 1065 61.05 61 1089

PADDINGTON 0.00 0.00 0 - Hungerford 357 64.10 57 1047

SOUTHALL 1347 11.00 13.00 61 1091 Bedwyn 534 69.30 69.15 60 1133

Hayes 2221 14.45 63 976 Savernake 227 73.25 48 924

West Drayton -1640 17.00 65 762 Pewsey -328 78.30 74 989

Langley -5719 19.45 67 913 Patney -990 83.20 72 550

SLOUGH -2013 20.00 21.45 69 930 Lavington -256 88.05 81 341

Taplow 3726 25.20 66 709 Edington -1130 91.40 72 191

Maidenhead 1588 25.30 26.55 65 861 WESTBURY -1491 97.30 95.35 30 -

Twyford 1320 31.30 33.10 65 966 97.30 95.35 60 -

Sonning 1636 36.00 65 957 SUMMARY

READING -2503 37.00 37.50 45 psr Southall - Sonning 3586 23.00 65 890

Theale 3738 43.40 61 1087 Reading - Newbury 958 19,00 17.55 58 960

Aldermaston 666 47.05 63 1138 Newbury - Savernake 395 17.40 58 1077

In 1925 and 1926 some the class spent some time visiting the LNER, where the A1 Pacifics were failing to meet expectations, and the LNWR which was at its wits end over the performance of the Claughton 4-6-0’s but seemed unable to decide upon a locomotive policy for the future. An extract from one of the LNER runs is shewn in which 4079 gained a minute in running whilst climbing Stoke bank yet did so without much more effort than a large boilered Atlantic would have made. The feat reflected more on the timings of LNER trains rather than any magic the Great Western could bring to bear.

Train 1330 Kings Cross-Leeds

Date 1925

Loco Castle 4079 (7P)

Load 14,453/475/601

m c Gradient Sch Act mph dbhp PO

0.00 PETERBOROUGH - 0 0 - - -

3.11 Werrington Jcn -3467 5.55 57.5 1076 3

8.38 Tallington 1741 11.20 64 915 5

12.22 Essendine 413 15.00 60 982 6

15.69 Little Bytham 394 18.40 54 819 5

20.58 Corby Glen 272 24.30 48 919 4

23.59 Stoke 189 28.25 44.5 1103 5

25.54 Great Ponton -200 30.40 60 - -

29.07 GRANTHAM -226 35 33.55 64 - -

29.07 35 33.55 51.4


SUMMARY

Werrington J-Stoke 374 22.30 54.99 931 5

A year later a Castle appeared on the West Coast main line as part of the process of allowing the LMS to decide whether to opt for simple or compound engines and, if the former, how many cylinders should be used. The question of Compounding arose because of the faith the company had in its fleet of Midland Compound 4-4-0’s which at the time of the exchange it was using in pairs on the principal Anglo-Scottish train between Glasgow to Carnforth with a Claughton 4-6-0 taking over for the relatively level half to London. Apart from solving the technical worries surrounding the Claughtons, the immediate problem was one of train weights since a Compound could only take nine standard coaches over Grayrigg and Shap and a Claughton twelve.

Train 1030 Euston-Manchester m c 1 in Sch m s mph dbhp PO

Date 1926 69.56 Weedon -3614 82.00 66.0 676 4

Loco 5000 Castle 4-6-0 75.20 Welton 390 87.45 53.5 708 4

Load 15,451,470/595 80.31 Hillmorton -871 92.50 62.5 681 4

m c 1 in Sch m s mph dbhp PO 82.40 RUGBY -302 92 95.20 30.0 psr

0.00 EUSTON - 0 0.00 0.0 88.00 Brinklow 102.15 57.5 939 4

0.5 sigs

93.40 Bulkington 1471 107.55 60.0 777 4

5.36 Willesden J 654 10 12.50 20.0 377 1 97.05 NUNEATON -338 108 111.15 70.5 610 4

30.0 pws

102.21 Atherstone -18474 115.55 65.0 504 3

8.06 Wembley 851 17.55 41.0 705 2 106.34 Polesworth -460 119.35 71.5 613 4

11.31 Harrow 339 22.35 44.0 831 3 109.79 TAMWORTH -1067 122 122.40 70.5 514 3

13.24 Hatch End 339 25.05 46.0 939 4 116.19 Lichfield 1399 128 128.20 56.5 417 3

17.37 WATFORD J 1532 24 30.00 57.0 880 4 120.78 Armitage 2574 133.10 64.0 924 5

20.75 K Langley 602 33.45 57.5 860 5 124.16 RUGELEY -2856 136 136.10 66.0 806 5

24.39 Hemel H 402 37.35 53.0 806 4 129.37 Milford 3230 141.10 61.5 565 3

27.76 Berkhamsted 335 41.35 49.5 860 4 133.41 STAFFORD 14536 146 145.40 40.0 psr 5

31.53 TRING 408 40 46.05 48.5 803 4 138.66 Norton Bridge 566 153 151.55 53.0 1063

36.10 Cheddington -352 50.30 71.5 924 5 143.30 Standon Br 561 157.00 55.0 878 5

40.15 Leighton B. -630 54.00 68.0 228 1 147.42 Whitmore 459 164 161.30 52.5 842 5

46.53 BLETCHLEY -1083 54 59.45 68.0 546 4 149.75 Madeley -724 164.15 52.5 198 1

52.33 Wolverton -1344 64.55 70.5 668 4 153.15 Betley Road -184 167.20 65.0 207 1

59.72 Roade 423 67 72.30 52.0 650 4 158.01 CREWE -281 175 173.25 0.0

62.66 BLISWORTH -812 70 75.40 65.0 939 5 158.01 175 167.00 56.8

.

miles SUMMARY 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO

9.4 Wemb-Watford 518 12.05 46.6 862 4

14.2 Watford J-Tring 417 16 16.05 53.0 830 4

15.0 Tring-Bletchley -598 14 13.40 65.8 614 4

13.2 Bletch-Roade 986 13 12.45 62.3 638 4

20.5 Roade-Hillmtn 7237 20.20 60.4 728 4

14.6 Rugby-N'eaton -2142 16 15.55 54.9 820 4

12.9 N'eaton-T'mwth -1020 14 11.25 67.9 540 4

19.5 T'mwth-Milford 2860 18.30 63.1 651 4

14.0 Staff-Whitmore 528 18 15.50 53.1 946 5

With its workshops unable to come to a solution - the disarray into which the CME’s organisation had fallen was the stuff of Ealing comedies - the Directors of the LMS obtained the loan of a GWR Castle for a few weeks, at the end of which they declared themselves so impressed that they wondered if fifty Castles could not be purchased for the West Coast. When


the illegality of the suggestion was pointed out they looked anew at their own resources which, fortuitously, had discovered the benefits of long lap valves and had incorporated them in the highly successful 2-6-4 tank engines of 1927 which in turn led to the Royal Scot 4-6-0 which to some extent was an express passenger version of the tank engines. The Royal Scots spelt the beginning of the end of the problems the LMS had had with its express passenger fleet and no further reference was made to the visit by 5000 One of the Castle runs is shown and depicts 5000 running non-stop from Euston to Crewe with an express that would have been double-headed had it been worked by a Claughton. The train was severely delayed in the early stages of the run and passed Watford six minutes behind time, a circumstance that presented the driver of 5000 with an opportunity to show what his engine could do when pressed. For some reason he took little advantage of the situation and recovery was a very slow and uncertain business, punctuality eventually being restored largely because of some hidden time between Nuneaton and Tamworth. As the summary table shows, the running was pretty desultory with nothing of an adventurous spirit being shown. Indeed, this sort of solid but rather uninteresting running characterised all the trips made on the LMS and the fact the host railway was impressed tells one more about the Claughtons than it does about the Castles. By way of comparison, a summary table shows the effort made by one of the Gresley Pacifics in its original form and whilst the output of 2561 was no more than one might have expected from an Atlantic on a good day, it still made a braver showing than 5000 did on the LMS.

SUMMARY

Date 1925

Loco 2561 A1 6P

Load 13,396/425/573

miles 1 in m s mph dbhp PO

7.4 Holme-Leys 317 7.30 58.3 927 5

17.7 Huntingdon-Biggleswade 2660 16.45 63.5 753 5

12.6 Biggleswade-Stevenage 323 12.50 58.8 928 5

15.9 Stevenage-Potters Bar 5095 15.25 61.7 712 4

The next chapter in the history of the Castle class came with the Cheltenham Flyer, the 14.40 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington which was given an extremely fast timing between Swindon and Paddington reputedly to suit the London-based District staff who wanted a fast journey back to Paddington after a day of meetings at Swindon works. In stages the timing was cut from 75 to 65 minutes and because of it the Castle class, which in the meantime had surrendered their West of England workings to the King class of 1927, gained something of a worldwide reputation for speed. The climax of the Cheltenham Flyer came in June 1932 when 5006 ran the train from Swindon to Paddington in a little less than 57 minutes.

Train 1440 Cheltenham-Paddington miles 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO

Date 1932 35.60 Pangbourne -6102 26.33 89 325 3

Loco 5006 7P 4-6-0 38.52 Tilehurst -1320 28.28 92 675 6

Load 6,186/185/321 41.25 READING -31238

34.00 30.11 92 649 6

miles 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO 46.23 Twyford -4293 33.31 89 666 6

0.00 SWINDON 0.00 0.00 - - 53.04 Maidenhead -1320 38.08 88 414 4

5.61 Shrivenham -822 6.15 80 1212 7 54.66 Taplow -1588 39.24 86 203 2

10.60 Uffington -995 9.51 85 528 4 58.67 SLOUGH -3726 47.00 42.10 87 557 5

13.37 Challow -855 11.42 87 529 5 61.05 Langley 2014 43.42 86 567 5

16.69 Wantage Rd -754 14.05 89 436 4 64.07 West Drayton 5719 45.51 84 424 3

20.61 Steventon -1027 18.30 16.40 90 501 5 68.15 SOUTHALL 6923 54.30 48.51 82 401 3

24.13 DIDCOT -786 21.00 18.55 91 459 4 71.47 Ealing Bdwy -1253 51.17 85 550 5

28.66 Cholsey -1508 21.59 92 532 5 77.23 PADDINGTON -1411 65.00 56.47 0 -

32.43 Goring -2481 24.25 92 649 6 77.23 -1602 70 56.47 82

.


SUMMARY

26.9 Shrivenham - Goring -1057 18.1 89 521 5

10.5 Pangbourne - Twyford -3063 6.58 91 561 5

25.3 Twyford - Ealing -3249 17.46 85 451 4

In terms of speed this was an extraordinary feat and suggests that the timing of the train could have been further reduced to 60 minutes which would have put it ahead of the LNER streamliners following their introduction in 1935. Masked, however, by the start to stop speeds which at the time were the fastest in the world there is a curious feature about the running of the Flyer which, whilst not detracting from the amazing feat of 5006, does beg some questions. The average outputs for the run can be seen in the summary at the foot of the log and these are extraordinary low - very much in the same class 5 league that characterised much of the Castle running looked at so far. There were two principal factors that contributed to the success of the Cheltenham Flyer (and, later, the Bristolian) one being the light weight of the train which was not much heavier than the engine and the other was the gradient fell for almost the entire seventy-seven miles. (Not for nothing was there no ‘uphill’ Cheltenham Flyer!). Thus, provided the engine could find the power to accelerate the train into the eighties fairly quickly, gravity then took care of the rest of the trip. In its record run, 5006 certainly left Swindon like a cork from a bottle - this was where four cylinders came in useful - but thereafter it was a question of sustaining the momentum and accelerating very slowly until the point arrived at which the valve events could no longer admit or exhaust steam effectively and the engine went into a state of equilibrium. A slight easing took place for Goring troughs and this was sufficient to allow power to be applied until, once again, the engine reached its limiting speed which was in the high eighties on level track. The suggestion from the log is that the Castle could probably have achieved much the same feat but with a significantly greater load or that the run with six coaches could have been carried out with a much smaller engine. If this last point seems fanciful, then take a look at the run made by Modified Hall when it had to be commandeered without notice to take over the up Bristolian. This train had a load one coach heavier than the Cheltenham Flyer but 7904 made an extraordinarily strong start and thereafter cruised for most of the way to London running from Swindon (pass) to Paddington in fifty-nine and a half minutes, demonstrating quite clearly that a Castle was by no means necessary when it came to high speed running. Another point of note is that the output of 7904 was far closer to the optimum for a class 5 engine than 5006’s had been to a class 7.

Train 1630 Bristol-Paddington m c Point 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO

Date 1954 36.51 DIDCOT -786 33 31.14 82 479 4

Loco 7904 Modified Hall 5P 41.24 Cholsey -1508 34.37 82 494 4

Load 7,230/245/367 45.01 Goring -2481 37.28 80 415 3

m c Point 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO 48.18 Pangbourne -6102 39.41 82 725 6

0.00 L SOMERFORD - 0 0 0 - 53.63 READING -2437 45 43.41 83 591 5

2.60 Brinkworth 2112 3.45 65 1606 7 58.61 Twyford -4293 49 47.18 83 570 5

6.71 W'tton Bassett 334 8 7.39 66 792 5 65.42 Maidenhead -1320 54 52.10 83 488 4

12.38 SWINDON 1202 13 12.33 79 859 6 71.25 SLOUGH -2634 58 56.25 82 489 4

18.19 Shrivenham -821 17.05 76 216 2 76.45 West Drayton 3204 60.22 80 553 4

23.18 Uffington -995 20.56 77 399 3 80.53 Southall 6923 65 63.35 75 321 2

25.75 Challow -855 23.02 78 399 3 84.05 Ealing Bdwy -1253 (4) 66.15 73 276 2

29.27 Wantage Rd -754 (4) 25.35 80 452 4 89.61 PADDINGTON -1411 79 72.10 -

33.19 Steventon -1027 31 28.43 80 329 2 89.61 71 72.10 75

.


SUMMARY

Point 1 in sch m s mph dbhp PO

Brinkworth - Swindon 570 8.48 66.3 824 5

Swindon - Didcot -868 20.30 18.41 77.6 359 3

Didcot - Reading -2307

12.30 12.27 82.6 548 4

Reading-West Drayton -3338

16.41 81.9 521 4

What of class 7 engines on other parts of the system and did their outputs mirror those of the Castle class? An example of class 7 running on the ex-LNW is given by the table of Rebuilt Scot 46129. The train was the 0850 Euston - Wolverhampton which was allowed two hours to Birmingham with a stop at Watford Junction. The majority of these XL trains were worked by 5XP Jubilee 4-6-0’s but the 0850 was a popular train and, liable to loading beyond the 350-ton limit for a Jubilee, was diagrammed to a 7P Royal Scot. This was especially useful since the train was not banked out of Euston and the additional power of a Scot made life a little more certain on Camden bank. (There were, however, no such fears on Mondays when the train was booked to be piloted by a Camden 5XP Jubilee). The run by 46129 could not have made a better contrast to either the memory of the Claughtons and the rather restrained efforts of the Castle in 1926 and where the output of the latter was measured in fours and fives, those of the Scot were sixes and sevens.

Train 0850 Euston-Wolverhampton m c 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO

Date 1957 45.29 BLISWORTH -812 43 42.32 72 956 7

Loco 46129 (7P) 52.22 Weedon -3615

49 48.02 76 866 6

Load 11,368/390/527 57.73 Welton 390 52.57 66 814 5

m c 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO 65.03 RUGBY -563 61 59.27 43 psr

0.00 WATFORD J 0 0.00 71.45 Brandon -565 66.00 72 847 5

3.38 K Langley 602 5.55 51 1158 4 30 pwc

7.02 Hemel H 402 9.41 56 1070 6 76.42 COVENTRY 701 74 72.47 50 1082 6

10.39 Berkhamsted 335 13.25 57 959 5 80.03 Tile Hill 325 76.47 55 1082 6

14.16 TRING 408 16 17.17 59 990 6 81.79 Berkswell 807 78.52 60 1025 6

18.52 Cheddington -352 21.05 80 1069 7 85.24 Hampton -344 81.37 78 1316 9

22.58 Leighton B. -630 24.07 83 740 6 88.76 Marston Green 1513 84.25 78 1000 8

29.16 BLETCHLEY -1083 29 29.05 75 308 2 91.51 STETCHFORD 660 86.39 72 552 4

34.76 Wolverton -1344 33.37 80 857 6 93.42 Adderley Park 937 88.29 61

42.35 Roade 423 40 40.04 65 762 5 95.36 BIRMINGHAM 332 94 91.10

95.36 94 88.3 65 .

SUMMARY

miles 1in m s mph dbhp PO

10.7 K Langley-Tring 379 11.22 56.6 1005 6

8.5 Tring-L Buzzard -446 6.5 74.8 948 7

28.6 Bletchley-Welton 1290 23.52 71.9 821 6

12.5 Coventry-Marston Grn 2018 11.38 64.4 1073 10

Of course, it might be pointed out that the Great Western main line was free of gradients except for a slight fall towards London and that this somehow absolved the Castles from the need to use their full powers. The answer to that it to look at a section of line with similar features and see how it was treated by its local class 7 engines. The line is question is the Darlington - York section of the East Coast and the table shows an up east coast train, moderately loaded by LNER standards and worked by one of the A3 ‘Super Pacifics’: a development of the original Pacifics modified with high pressure boilers and long lap valve travel. Once again, the contrast with the Castle in terms of work done could not be greater and the outputs of 7and 8 for the two sections in the summary underplay the very powerful work done between Otterington and Pilmoor.

The crew were clearly out to recover time and had just the engine to achieve it, making a net


time that was six minutes under the booked time. The actual demands of the timetable were rather modest and had the train maintained the normal running times from Eryholme to Alne, the power outputs called for would have been 4 from Eryholme to Northallerton, the train accelerating from 57 to 66 mph and then 3 from Northallerton to Alne, the timings requiring a average speed of 66 mph. It was the decision to gain four minutes between Eryholme and Alne that made the difference but whether a Castle could have done the same is not borne out by their performances on their own, similarly level, metals.

Date 1934

Loco 2597 A3 7P

Load 13,417/440/594

m.ch 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO

0.00 DARLINGTON 0 0.00

2.50 Croft Spa -513 4.28 56.0 1252 4

5.15 Eryholme Jcn 412 7 7.13 57.0 1032 6

6.74 Cowton -837 8.55 65.5 1225 7

10.32 Danby Wiske -850 11.51 73.7 1088 8

14.10 NORTHALLERTON 8924 16 14.56 72.5 802 6

17.50 Otterington -651 17.39 79.0 1039 8

21.74 THIRSK -1025 23 20.51 83.2 1090 9

26.10 Sessay level 23.55 81.7 1047 9

28.04 Pilmoor -1441 25.18 83.2 1047 9

30.62 Raskelf -939 27.23 75.0 - -

32.76 ALNE -1061 33 29.09 73.0 369 3

34.31 Tollerton level 30.23 67.0 - -

38.47 Beningborough level 33.53 70.0 998 7

44.10 YORK -2348 45 41.08

44.10 39.00 67.8

11.6 Croft Spa - Northallerton 21546 10.3 66.4 1006 7

13.8 Northallerton - Pilmoor -1283 10.2 80.2 1069 8

The run made by 5046 on a badly delayed up South Wales express ought to have produced results similar to those of 2597 especially as the weight of the train and lie of the track were both very similar. As an addition spur to great things, the Western Region had no upper limit to the speeds run and where other parts of British Railways imposed an upper limit of 80 or 90 mph the Western simply instructed drivers to run as fast as was necessary. It was not until the arrival of diesels that an actual limit was imposed.

Train 0820 Neyland-Paddington m c 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO

Date 06/03/1953 32.43 Goring -2481 35.32 60 564 3

Loco 5046 Castle 4-6-0 7P 35.60 Pangbourne -6102 38.47 61 509 3

Load 13,420/450/576 41.25 READING -2437 45 44.30 63 501 3

m c 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO 46.23 Twyford -4293 48.58 63 645 4

0.00 SWINDON 0 0.00 14L - 56.34 Burnham -1387 58.11 67 588 4

5.61 Shrivenham -821 9.30 58 698 2 58.67 SLOUGH level 63 60.29 65 484 3

10.60 Uffington -995 14.30 64 552 3 66.23 MP11 2503 67.37 61 598 4

13.37 Challow -855 17.00 66 547 3 68.15 SOUTHALL -2540 72 69.30 61 483 3

16.69 Wantage Rd -754 20.01 68 536 4 73.02 Acton -1238 (5) 74.06 65 580 4

20.61 Steventon

-1027

23.35 66 345 2

30 Signals

24.13 DIDCOT -786 28 27.05 55 Signals 77.23 PADDINGTON -1498 89 81.30 0 -

28.66 Cholsey

-1508

31.49 59 547 3 77.23

84 79.30 58 -

SUMMARY

miles 1in sch m s mph dbhp PO

15.0 Shrivenham - Steventon -909 14.05 64 497 3

12.5 Cholsey - Reading -2877 12.41 59 520 3

31.7 Reading - Acton -3128 29.36 64 581 4


To reach Paddington punctually all 5046 had to do was to run the 77 miles in 75 minutes which should not have been the hardest task in the world although from a glance at the log, one might have thought otherwise. The booked average from Didcot to Southall was only 60 mph yet the crew made almost no effort to exceed this - indeed, had they run a little more purposefully they might well have avoided the check at Didcot, not that it set them back very much. One could dismiss this run as being nothing more than an unfortunate instance of unenterprising driving except - I have quite a collection of similar logs - that it recurs time and time again until eventually one is forced to ask the question whether the fault lay with the engine and that there was some mechanical element within them that prevented them from blazing away in the manner of class 7 engines elsewhere. The hardest work done by the Castle class was over the Northern main line and although the King 4-6-0’s took the lion’s share of the work, some of the crumbs from the Royal table fell to the smaller engines as happened to 5006 when it was booked to work one of two race specials to Aintree in April 1931. Although the load was moderate, the timing - 110 minutes to Snow Hill - was extremely fast and after dropping six minutes in the early stages of the trip, 5006 was driven as hard as any Castle I have come across yet the average outputs shown in the summary are not especially impressive when set next to the work of other class 7 engines.

Train 0825 Paddington-Birkenhead Aintree special

m.ch Point 1 in WTT Actual mph dbhp PO

47.35 Brill 1540 55.28 60 583 4

Date April 1931 50.37 Blackthorne -531 57.51 79 1263 9

Loco 5006 Castle 7P 4-6-0 53.31 BICESTER 340 60.11 72 1263 9

Load 9,329/345/471 57.16 Ardley 209 63.35 63 1066 7

m.ch Point 1 in WTT Actual mph dbhp PO 62.33 Aynho Jcn -311 68.02 65 psr

0.00 PADDINGTON 0 0.00 0 67.38 BANBURY 1179 67 72.34 72 953 6

3.22 Old Oak Common W 1617 7 7.19 40 492 1 71.09 Cropredy 360 75.40 70 1056 7

7.64 Greenford 1760 12 14.58 15 sigs 76.20 Fenny Compton 2371 80.04 67 577 4

14.64 Denham 588 23.30 64 1190 6 81.17 Southam Road -500 83.49 83 1125 9

17.34 Gerrards Cross 188 26.14 55 818 5 87.28 LEAMINGTON SPA -262 85 88.42 45 psr

21.55 Beaconsfield 353 30.44 58 916 5 89.26 Warwick 1121 90.57 58 1134 6

26.44 HIGH WYCOMBE -603 29.5 35.21 40 psr 93.36 Hatton 130 95.49 45 1109 6

28.63 West Wycombe 234 38.10 55 1443 7 97.53 Lapworth 1205 100.09 65 1158 7

31.42 Saunderton 189 41.38 40 pwc 102.09 Widney Manor 414 104.50 35 pwc

34.54 PRINCES RISBORO -362 38 45.14 69 843 4 107.27 Tyseley -1010 110.40 67 893 5

40.07 Haddenham -306 49.16 87 977 8 108.26 Small Heath -790 111.36 70 919 6

44.04 Ashendon Jcn -1683 46 52.12 60 psr 110.53 BIRMINGHAM (SH) 196 110 114.01 30

110.5 1534 110 105.00 63

. SUMMARY

miles 1in m s mph dbhp PO

13.9 Greenford - Beaconsfield 366 15.46 53 1076 6

13.1 Ashendon Jcn - Ardley 558 11.23 69 984 7

24.0 Aynho Jcn - Southam Rd 2369 15.47 72 890 6

10.3 Leamington - Lapworth 278 11.27 54 1112 6

It is strange that in 3,000 miles of running only three instances of a Castle matching or exceeding its rated output could be found using the same analytical tools that showed other class 7 engines routinely achieving the sort of outputs expected from a class 7 engine. What the reason is for Castle class discrepancy is, I have not the slightest idea - which is a very good reason for laying the facts before the Railway Performance Society to reflect on, although it may have been that the class 7 designation was an over-assessment and 5P (or


5XP) might have been a more accurate classification. It may also have been the case that the high-speed runs such as the Cheltenham Flyer and the Bristolian - lightweight trains that needed a good turn of speed but no real power - gave the Castles a reputation that was overgenerous. As has been shown, the abilities of 7904 - together with several other examples of Hall 4-6-0’s of lightweight passenger trains - may suggests that 171 four-cylinder Castle locomotives was an embarrass de riches and that the Great Western Railway might have been better advised to have built instead 171 additional Hall 4-6-0’s. And then, of course, it may have been that the GWR/WR timings were so slack and the trains generally so light that an engine like a Castle rarely had to be worked to full capacity although the problem with this conjecture is that the class seemed incapable of rising to an occasion when faced with delays. One - very distant - memory is a recollection of Old Oak firemen telling me that when a Castle had to be pushed, its appetite for coal increased almost exponentially and more than once I heard tales of Castles arriving in Paddington from Plymouth with the fireman sweeping the bottom of the tender to find some dust to put on the fire. Perhaps this was a clue.

Network Developments – Ian Umpleby

This month marks the completion of the infrastructure work for the long-running Thameslink scheme. A new timetable will commence in May and until then trains will not call at London Bridge but may be routed that way without calling, subject to driver route knowledge. Cab signalling is available from Kentish Town/Belle Isle to Elephant and Castle overlaid over the remaining standard signalling. Crossrail proceeds with a view to the opening of the first section in December. The lines from Whitechapel to Stratford/Abbey Wood have been energised and work is ongoing outside Paddington with the GWML connection. The drawn-out Gospel Oak to Barking electrification should have been completed by the time you read this; also included is the ECML Harringay Curve. The Barnt Green to Bromsgrove scheme could be virtually complete also but despite the optimism in the October edition the North-West scheme suffered further delays between Manchester and Euxton Jn. due to awkward ground conditions for mast erection. Short sections of line immediately west of Preston and from Euxton Jn. to Buckshaw Parkway have been energised, but the latest prediction is a “big bang” introduction of electric trains from Stalybridge to Blackpool in May. Hopefully electric trains will have started running on the GWML to Didcot in early January with IEP trains changing traction east of the station. The Bedford to Corby scheme has seen its first mast erections north of Kettering although electric trains will not run until 2020. In Scotland electric trains were introduced on some Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh services in December. The Shotts scheme is well under way and work has just started on the Dunblane/Alloa extensions. The troublesome overhead headspans on the ECML are being addressed by the erection of portal structures between Connington and Holme. The initial work on remodelling Liverpool Lime St has been completed and will involve platform renumbering in July when the next stage is due. The Huyton quadrupling/Ordsall Chord opening were completed on time. A crossover was installed at Frodsham Junction, which will re-establish two-way working over the curve to Halton Junction allowing a new Liverpool-Chester service to be introduced in December. Work on a new loop to serve a yet-unopened platform one at Bristol Parkway is now complete and incudes an independent connection to Filton. Quadrupling of the line down to Temple Meads progresses. Removal of the Goods Lines outside Derby station at Christmas was a significant milestone in progress towards the summer remodelling of the station infrastructure. A new IEP-friendly turnback siding was constructed west of Worcester at Henwick which will allow extension of Paddington services to Foregate St. if required. A new platform zero has opened on the west side of Redhill station accessible from both Reigate and Earlswood. Platform one is now a south facing bay. Some realignment work at Kenilworth has completed work on the new station but other factors have delayed its opening. Penhelig station (Cambrian Coast) is being rebuilt from early January to the 30th March and Breich (Shotts line) has been “saved”


from potential closure. Construction of a new station at Maghull North is well under way and starting at Worcester Parkway and at Meridian Water, close to the existing Angel Road station on the Lee Valley line. Work on the long-delayed Reading Green Park station may start soon. The long disused Norton Bridge station on the WCML has been formally closed in December although the replacement bus service lives on. Resignalling work has commenced between Norwich and Yarmouth/Lowestoft and Shotton to Llysfaen on the North Wales Coast, the latter due to be commissioned in March. Greenhill Upper, Larbert North, Carmuirs East and Grangemouth Jn. boxes closed at the New Year. Resignalling is due of the Harrowden Jn. to Manton/Market Harborough lines on the 26th February and Ashton Moss (Manchester) on the 30th April. The area from Stechford/Duddeston through Aston to Hamstead, the Soho Road line and on to Tipton should have been resignalled over the Christmas period with the junction of the curve from Soho North to East Jns. moved westwards. A flashing yellow sequence will apply at Galton Junction for Stourbridge Jn. services. There are many PSR changes related to the Thameslink scheme, but the previous speed profile is basically the same, as with the Birmingham scheme. Small PSR increases on the Kyle/Far North lines at Balnacra, Lairg, Rovie and Brora will help running times. North of Bradford-on-Avon the northbound speed under the Dundas Aqueduct has been reduced from 70 to 60 mph. Finally, clarification of West London Junction’s location has been achieved by the addition of (Willesden). In Ireland track improvement work has allowed moderate acceleration of Cork Line services from the start of the 10th December timetable and remodelling of Limerick City’s platforms has taken place.

RPDF Database 500,000

Run 500,000th

Date Th Nov-23-17

Train 1029 Swansea

Paddington

Motive power 800008/009

Load 10,501/530

Recorder L A Allsopp

miles m s mph

0.00 READING 0 00 /sigs

4.97 Twyford 9 21 52/75/relief

15 42 sig

17 30 stop

11.74 Maidenhead 25 20 37/ML

17.56 Slough 29 45 124

22.77 West Drayton 32 19 120

26.92 Southall 34 22 123

30.36 Ealing Bdwy 36 08 100

35.85 Paddington 42 56

MEETINGS

THURSDAY 25th JANUARY 2018 THURSDAY 22nd FEBRUARY 2018

The Royal Oak, Borough, London The Beaufort Arms , Bristol Parkway

Area meeting Area Meeting

TUESDAY 20th MARCH 2018 SATURDAY 12th MAY 2018

The Grove Inn, Leeds The Brunswick Arms, Derby

Area Meeting AGM

The RPDF archivist, Lee Allsopp celebrated the 500,000th log on the database with a journey from Reading to Paddington on one of the new Class 800 bi-mode trains. Unfortunately, on a day of disruption on the GWR, the train was diverted to and from the relief line during its journey A press release has been issued to the railway press to celebrate the 500,000th log.


.


The electrification of the GW Main line seems a bit like Brexit – both projects have been around for years, and they both will happen - but it was never clear how or when - and there have been significant problems. Both of these projects have been influenced by politicians and civil servants - who perhaps know less than they think they know – and there are also similarities, with the concept of “spin” In the case of the GW electrification, visible progress has been made, with the introduction of the Class 800 IET. Here, we will look at the initial introduction of the units, and the effects they have had on the service. We will continue to monitor them in the coming months.

InterCity Express – Introduction to Traffic By Sean Emmett and Others

Great Western passengers got their first taste of the new Hitachi Bi-InterCity Express Trains (IET) before dawn on Monday 16 October 2017. Bristol residents knew something was up with an all-night laser light show from the station building at Temple Meads, and pyrotechnics as the train set off. Ex-Hurricane Ophelia was raging up the west coast of Ireland, however the feared speed restrictions due to the strength of wind did not materialise, but it must have been a factor on speeds up the Vale of the White Horse. Perhaps the most noticeable effect was the surreal deep red sky in the middle of the morning as Saharan dust was dragged up into the circulation of the depression. Originally conceived as power cars and trailers, the spec. for the Great Western trains was changed to five-car BiMode multiple units (Class 800), with three cars powered with MTU diesels restricted to 750 hp, and nine-car ‘all-electric’ units (Class 801) which nevertheless were to have one diesel engine for depot shunting and last mile and hotel power provision in an emergency. Delays to the electrification programme saw the all-electric units converted to BiModes, with 5 x 750 hp engines for nine cars, reclassified as Class 800/3. Similar units have been ordered for Great Western’s Devon and Cornwall Services (Class 802), but with the engines set at the maximum power rating of 940 hp to keep time on the banks and up to the 110 mph line speed of the Berks and Hants. There has been much speculation as to the likely performance of the IETs on diesel and electric (see postings on the RPS forum back in the spring) but we had the chance to see for ourselves. This has been complicated by lack of definitive information regarding weights and reports that the diesel engines on the 800s have been uprated back their nominal 940 hp – but with an engine management system that still doesn’t allow it to be exploited fully. I will leave the full assessment to our technical gurus, and will concentrate on the running. Two weekday diagrams were introduced, one pair of units starting from Bristol and ending the day in London and another pair doing the reverse. First public services were due to be the 0600 from Temple Meads to Paddington and the 0700 from Paddington to Temple Meads. I had balked at the £204 cost of an anytime return to London so I purchased a day return to Swindon and planned to follow the second diagram which would end up in Bristol, buying additional tickets as the day progressed as an insurance against failures. Delays to the electrification meant that 25 kV AC would only initially be available east of Maidenhead, for the rest the 800s would have to rely on their diesel power packs. Access to Platform 15 was subject to an additional ticket check and there was a sense of anticipation on the platform with the police and media in attendance. But as departure time


approached there was no sign of the stock, and Real Time Trains was not even showing a movement out of the depot. The delay was later revealed to be due to difficulties in setting up the train management system. An announcement was made that the 0600 would now depart from Platform 7, where an HST was ready and waiting. I reluctantly trooped over in the hope of picking up the down service at Swindon. But there was another announcement, and it was back to Platform 15, and another ticket check. Units 800 006 and 800 005 came into view and the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling appeared with various officials, and we were off, 26 minutes late, to the sound of pyrotechnics. The 0600 certainly grabbed the headlines as a coolant leakage from the air conditioning showered passengers in one coach and the diesel-to-25 kV overhead electric at Maidenhead didn’t go as planned. I avoided the shower, and by baling at Swindon was able to pick up the other diagram. First impressions of the train? GPS works! Rather than produce a travelogue of my first day’s meanderings I suspect most RPS members will want me to tabulate the logs in conventional fashion, so for the log of the first public service see Run 14 in Tables H and J. I am grateful to all members who have sent logs either direct or via the editor and I’m sorry if yours doesn’t appear. I have tweaked some logs to fit my templates based on the infrastructure. Adjusted times are shown in italics. Any errors are mine, not the recorders’. Starting with the down runs: Table A - Paddington to Swindon A comparison with HSTs is shown throughout. Run 1 shows the fastest post-2008 run from Paddington to Reading and Swindon. Run 2 was the final run on the initial day, 008 and 009 having behaved themselves, see Tables A and B. Through Slough in 12 minutes but checked so speed fell to 87 mph before the diesels kicked in and only recovered to 109 after Twyford. After Reading it only managed 107 at Cholsey before being checked into Didcot and another 107 maximum before Swindon. Continues to Bristol TM in Table B. The IETs were taken out of service on the Thursday of the first week but restored for the Friday runs. Run 3 was my get-me-home train, unusual in that whilst it came in with pantographs raised, the diesels were fired up during the layover at Paddington. They sustained 118 mph to Twyford, a couple of mph higher than runs changing over from electric at Maidenhead, maybe because the engines were already well warmed up. Whilst Reading to Didcot was an acceptable 13m 11s, the train lost time on every subsequent section. Again, the run continues to Bristol in Table B. Run 4 was another Friday evening train at the end of the third week of operation. It had the fastest start I have yet seen out to West Drayton, but was checked by the 1850 Paddington – Oxford 90 mph Turbo, which has a Slough call. Unchecked we could have been through Slough in, say, 11m 40s and arrived in Reading in under 22 minutes. On diesel, with one engine out, we reached 110 mph after Cholsey, then suffered a momentary check to 108, presumably as the Turbo was clearing off the main line, and reached 109-110 again before slowing for the Didcot stop. Away only two minutes late, there was a late maximum of 113 mph at Marston East. See Table B for the continuation to Bristol. After the failure of 005 and 006 on the first day, 008 and 009 in Run 5 had the honour of forming the first public service into Wales, see Tables A, C and D. Notice the drop from 123 to 113


mph changing over to diesel and a recovery to only 114 at Twyford. We were checked before Didcot, but with a slack schedule were only one minute late at Swindon.

A - PADDINGTON - SWINDON Run 1 2 3

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Fri 20/10/2017

Train Various post-2008 ft 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M

Units HST 800 008/009. Diesel from M'head 800 006/005. Diesel throughout.

Load formation 10 10

Recorder S C Emmett S C Emmett

Position/ GPS 8/10, GPS = Yes 3/10, GPS = Yes

miles M C Timing Point m s mph ave Sch m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave

0.00 0 12 PADDINGTON 0 00 0.0 0 00 P3, 1L 0.0 0 00 P4, 1.5L

0.43 0 46 Royal Oak 1 01 40/37 25.1 1 06 38/30 rbt 23.2

1.04 1 15 Westbourne Park 1 56 37 40.5 1 59 39 41.7

2.55 2 56 Mitre Bridge 3 56 67 38.9 3 45 68 49.6 3 54 57 47.3

4.09 4 19 Acton M L 6.5 4 51 95 84.7 6.5 5 13 77 69.7

5.54 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 6 02 99 85.4 5 42 108 100.8 6 18 86 80.8

6.39 6 43 West Ealing 6 10 113 111.8 6 51 91 91.3

7.20 7 28 Hanwell 6 35 120 115.9 7 24 94 91.1

8.93 9 06 Southall 7 56 113 107.0 8.5 7 26 122 121.9 8.5 8 27 100 98.3

10.78 10 74 Hayes 9.5 8 20 124 124.0 9.5 9 32 105 102.6

13.09 13 19 West Drayton 10 04 120 117.1 9 27 122 123.6 10 50 111 106.7

14.56 14 57 Iver 10 11 122 121.5 11 37 112 111.6

16.13 16 22 Langley 10 55 123 125.9 12 26 115 114.9

18.29 18 35 Slough 12 37 124/123 122.4 13.5 12 00 114 bks 120.3 13.5 13 33 116 117.1

20.78 20 74 Burnham 13 27 96 103.5 14 49 117 117.2

22.30 22 36 Taplow 14 34 124 123.5 14 26 88/87 92.6 15 35 118 118.9

24.11 24 21 Maidenhead 15 27 124 123.1 16.5 15 37 94 92.0 16.5 16 30 118 120.2

26.28 26 34 Waltham 16 58 100 96.0 17 37 118 115.9

27.89 28 03 Shottesbrooke 17 55 103 102.7 18 26 118 118.3

29.53 29 54 Ruscombe 18 49 106 107.2 19 15 118 119.3

30.88 31 02 Twyford 18 42 123 124.8 19.5 19 36 108 103.8 19.5 19 57 118 116.3

33.43 33 46 Sonning [1] 21 03 90 105.6 [1] 21 23 76 bks 106.3

34.85 35 00 Kennet Bridge 22 24 39 63.7 23 06 31 50.2

35.36 35 41 New Junction 23 11 40 38.8 23 56 38 36.8

35.84 35 79 READING 22 49 72.3 25.0 24 44 P8, 1L 18.5 25.0 25 37 P8, 2L 16.9

0.00 35 79 READING 0 00 28.0 27 26.0 0.5L 28.0 28 54 2L

0.70 36 55 High Level Jn 1.5 1 21 49 31.1 1.5 1 16 46 33.0

2.63 38 49 Tilehurst 3 02 90 51.9 3 07 78 65.5 3 04 78 64.2

5.55 41 43 Pangbourne 4 47 110 100.3 5 07 94 87.6 5 03 94 88.6

8.75 44 59 Goring 6 25 121 117.6 6.0 7 04 104 98.7 6.0 6 59 105 99.8

12.45 48 35 Cholsey 8 10 127 126.9 9 08 107/26 107.4 9 01 111 108.8

15.16 51 12 Moreton 9 38 118 111.0 (1.5) 11 49 47/61 60.7 (1.5) 10 28 106 bks 111.8

16.65 52 51 Didcot East Jn 13 28 45 54.1 11 47 46 68.0

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWAY 11 27 65.6 13.5 14 46 P1, 2L 23.0 13.5 13 11 P1, 2L 21.4

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWAY 15.5 21 42 6.5L 15.5 15 35 2.5L

17.85 53 67 Foxhall Jn 1 22 50 30.7 1 17 51 32.7 1 40 28/23 25.2

19.26 55 20 Milton Jn 2 42 78 63.6 2 38 72 63.3 4 23 52 31.1

20.49 56 38 Steventon 3 31 93 90.0 3 35 81 76.2 5 33 70 63.5

22.91 58 72 Ardington Lane 5 14 92 88.6 7 21 88 80.8

24.36 60 28 Wantage Rd 5 45 114 104.1 7.0 6 11 95 91.4 7.0 8 17 93 92.2

27.85 63 67 Challow 7 31 122 118.4 9.0 8 19 101 98.2 9.0 10 24 103 99.0

30.63 66 49 Uffington 8 52 124 123.3 10.0 9 56 104 103.1 10.0 11 59 107 105.6

32.93 68 73 Knighton 9 59 123 123.6 11 16 104 102.8 13 16 109 107.5

35.49 71 38 Shrivenham 11 13 125 124.7 12 44 107 105.1 14 40 111 109.0

36.39 72 30 Bourton Xovers [1] 13 14 107 108.0 [1] 15 10 112 109.7

37.75 73 59 Marston East 12 18 125 125.3 13 59 106 109.0 15 52 112 116.5

38.65 74 51 South Marston Jn 14 31 94 101.5 16 23 100 106.3

39.11 75 08 Stratton Park 12 58 124 124.2 14 49 86 90.9 16 41 80 90.4

39.79 75 62 Stratton Green 15 19 78 82.4 17 15 68 70.9

40.34 76 26 Highworth Jn 13 44 81 94.8 15 48 42 67.1 17 48 58 60.7

41.30 77 23 SWINDON 14 55 48.8 17.0 17 29 P4, 7L 34.4 17.0 19 36 P4, 5L 32.0


.

A - PADDINGTON - SWINDON

Run 4 5 6

Date Fri 03/11/2017 Mon 16/10/2017 Wed 18/10/2017

Train 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M 11.45 Paddington - Swansea 13.45 Paddington - Swansea

Units 800 006/005. 800 008/009 800 005/006

Load formation 10 10 10/501/520

Recorder S C Emmett S C Emmett D Adams

Position/ GPS 3/10, GPS=Yes 8/10, GPS = Yes 4/10, GPS = Yes

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave

0.00 0 12 PADDINGTON 0.0 0 00 P3, RT 0.0 0 00 P5, 1L AC 0.0 0 00.0 P2, RT diesel

0.43 0 46 Royal Oak 0 49 39 31.5 1 11 33/29 rbt 21.4 39/17* rbt AC

1.04 1 15 Westbourne Park 1 42 39 40.9 2 11 38 37.2 2 13.0 33/50/47* 28.1

2.55 2 56 Mitre Bridge 3 31 70 49.9 4 01 70 49.5 4 08.4 70 47.2

4.09 4 19 Acton M L 6.5 4 37 98 85.1 6.5 5 05 97 85.5 6.5 5 14.5 98 83.7

5.54 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 5 26 112 106.5 5 55 110 104.8 6 04.5 109 104.4

6.39 6 43 West Ealing 5 53 118 111.0 6 23 116 109.9

7.20 7 28 Hanwell 6 16 123 128.1 6 48 121 117.9 6 56.0 122 116.2

8.93 9 06 Southall 8.5 7 06 124 124.2 8.5 7 38 123.8 8.5 7 46.0 125 124.2

10.78 10 74 Hayes 9.5 7 58 124 126.8 9.5 8 32 124 122.7 9.5 8 39.5 124 124.5

13.09 13 19 West Drayton 9 06 124 123.7 9 40 124 123.4 9 46.5 125 124.3

14.56 14 57 Iver 9 51 119 118.4 10 23 123 122.0 10 29.0 124/126 124.9

16.13 16 22 Langley 10 41 95/7* 112.3 11 09 124 123.9 11 14.0 124 125.0

18.29 18 35 Slough 13.5 15 25 48 27.4 13.5 12 11 123 124.3 13.5 12 16.5 125 124.6

20.78 20 74 Burnham 17 16 103/104 80.3 13 24 122 123.1 13 28.5 125 124.4

22.30 22 36 Taplow 18 12 96 diesel 98.4 14 11 123/diesel 117.5 14 13.0 122/diesel 123.4

24.11 24 21 Maidenhead 16.5 19 21 88 94.3 16.5 15 09 113 112.7 16.5 15 06.5 120 122.0

26.28 26 34 Waltham 20 57 77 81.3 16 18 113 113.1

27.89 28 03 Shottesbrooke 22 18 69 72.2 17 09 114 112.3

29.53 29 54 Ruscombe 23 35 81 76.2 18 01 114 114.2 17 50.5 119 118.8

30.88 31 02 Twyford 19.5 24 32 88/91 84.7 19.5 18 43 114 114.2 19.5 18 31.5 118 118.5

33.43 33 46 Sonning [1] 26 18 81 86.8 [1] 20 06 103/35 110.8 [1] 19 50.0 110* 116.9

34.85 35 00 Kennet Bridge 27 23 67 79.0 21 02 38 92.2

35.36 35 41 New Junction 27 55 48 57.1 22 24 37 22.5

35.84 35 79 READING 25.0 29 05 P8, 4L 24.6 25.0 23 48 P9, RT 20.3 25.0 22 26 P8, 2.5E 55.7

0.00 35 79 READING 28.0 31 09 3.5L 27.0 26 01 27.0 0 00

0.70 36 55 High Level Jn 1.5 1 16 46 33.0 1.5 1 21 46 31.2 1.5

2.63 38 49 Tilehurst 3 05 78 63.8 3 09 78 64.0 3 03.5 79 37.8

5.55 41 43 Pangbourne 5 05 93 87.5 5 09 93 87.8 5 03.5 94 87.8

8.75 44 59 Goring 6.0 7 03 104 98.1 6.0 7 05 104 99.1 6.0 6 58.5 104 100.2

12.45 48 35 Cholsey 9 07 109/110 107.0 9 09 111 107.3 9 02.5 111 107.4

15.16 51 12 Moreton (1.5) 10 37 105 108.3 10 37 112 111.5 10 49.0 55*/5*/51 91.7

15.86 51 68 Fulscot Skew 11 02 99 100.8 [1] 11 00 113 bks 110.3 [1.5] XRL

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWAY 13.5 12 42 P1, 2.5L 46.5 12.5 11 47 84 98.3 13.0 14 36.0 46*/13* 31.5

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWAY 15.5 14 23 2L (0.5)

17.85 53 67 Foxhall Jn 1 16 49 33.1 (1) 12 21 61/67 73.7 XML

19.26 55 20 Milton Jn 2 40 71 60.8 13 44 56 61.3

20.49 56 38 Steventon 3 36 81 78.5 14 55 70 61.9

20.91 56 72 Causeway LC 3 55 84 80.5 15 17 74 71.4 21 50.0 64 31.2

22.91 58 72 Ardington Lane 5 16 93 89.1 16 46 85 80.5

24.36 60 28 Wantage Rd 7.0 6 12 98 92.9 17.0 17 46 89 87.3 17.0 24 26.0 89 79.6

27.85 63 67 Challow 9.0 8 14 104 102.7 19.0 20 00 97 93.9 19.0 26 38.0 103 95.1

30.63 66 49 Uffington 10.0 9 48 108 106.6 20.0 21 41 101 98.9 20.0 28 12.0 108 106.3

32.93 68 73 Knighton 11 04 109 108.3 [1] 23 03 101 100.1 [0.5]

35.49 71 38 Shrivenham 12 28 112 110.3 (1) 24 33 104 102.8 (2) 30 53.0 113 108.7

36.39 72 30 Bourton Xovers [1] 12 56 112 114.1 25 04 105 103.6

37.75 73 59 Marston East 13 40 113 112.3 25 51 104 104.9

38.65 74 51 South Marston Jn 14 09 111 111.1 26 29 62 86.4 32 36.0 98* 110.5

39.11 75 08 Stratton Park 14 25 106 108.8 26 57 55/54/58 58.1

40.34 76 26 Highworth Jn 15 15 76 87.2 28 15 60 57.0

41.30 77 23 SWINDON 17.0 16 35 P4, 1.5L 43.4 29.0 29 56 P4, 1L 34.2 29.5 35 00 5L 66.2


.

A - PADDINGTON - SWINDON

Run 7 8 19

Date Mon 23/10/2017 Wed 25/10/2017 23/10/2017

Train 13.45 Paddington-Swansea 11.45 Paddington - Swansea 1145 Paddington-Swansea

Units 800 005/006 800 008/009 800008/009

Load formation 10 10 10

Recorder D Ashley I Umpleby D Ashley

Position/ GPS Cloud/damp 1/10 Y 8/10, Sun Ints, GPS=Yes Cloud/damp 1/10 Y

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave m s mph ave

0.00 0 12 PADDINGTON 0.0 0 00.0 P10 1L 0.0 0 00.0 P4, 2L 0 00.0 P4 3L

0.43 0 46 Royal Oak 1 16.0 39/26 rbt 20.1

1.04 1 15 Westbourne Pk 2 28 41/30rbt 25.2 1 50.0 40 34.0

2.55 2 56 Mitre Bridge 4 40 41.3 4 12.0 69 43.5 3 50.0 69 45.4

4.09 4 19 Acton M L 6.5 5 44 95 86.1 6.5 4 52.0 96 89.3

5.54 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 6 36 109 100.4 6 08.5 108 92.3 5 41.0 110 106.5

6.39 6 43 West Ealing 7 05 115 105.5 6 10.0 115 105.5

7.20 7 28 Hanwell 7 29 120 121.9 7 00.5 121 115.1 6 35.0 120 117.0

8.93 9 06 Southall 8.5 8 19 124/122 124.2 8.5 7 51.5 124 121.8 7 26.0 124/123 121.8

10.78 10 74 Hayes 9.5 9 12 123/125 125.7 9.5 8 44.5 124 125.7 8 20.0 124/125 123.3

13.09 13 19 West Drayton 10 19 124 124.3 9 51.5 124 124.3 9 27.0 123/124 124.3

14.56 14 57 Iver 11 02 122/125 123.5 10 10.0 123 123.5

16.13 16 22 Langley 11 47 123/125 125.0 11 20.0 124 123.6 10 55.0 124 125.0

18.29 18 35 Slough 13.5 12 51 122/124 121.6 13.5 12 23.0 123 123.6 11 58.0 123/124 123.6

20.78 20 74 Burnham 14 04 122/112 122.7 13 35.5 124 123.5 13 10.0 123/124 124.4

22.30 22 36 Taplow 14 51 113/110 116.8 14 20.0 120/dsl 123.4 13 55.0 122 122.0

24.11 24 21 Maidenhead 16.5 15 50 112 110.6 16.5 15 14.5 118 119.7 15 00.0 51/st 4m54s 100.4

26.28 26 34 Waltham 16 59 112 112.8 23 18.0 59 15.6

27.89 28 03 Shottesbrooke 17 50 113/114 113.8 17 11.0 117 116.7 24 48.0 76 64.5

30.88 31 02 Twyford 19.5 19 24 114 114.4 19.5 18 42.5 116 117.5 26 52.0 89/95 47.5

33.43 33 46 Sonning [1] [1] 28 48.0 93 41.9

34.85 35 00 Kennet Bridge 22 08.0 19/12/28 69.6

35.84 35 79 READING 25.0 23 49 T 66.2 25.0 24 31 P?, 1E 24.9 31 24.0 11L 91.7

0.00 35 79 READING 27.0 0 00.0 1L 27.0 30 52.0 6L

0.70 36 55 High Level Jn 1.5 1.5 1 30 47 28.0

2.63 38 49 Tilehurst 3 28.0 78 45.4 3 18.5 78 63.9

5.55 41 43 Pangbourne 5 29.0 94 87.0 5 19.5 93 87.0

8.75 44 59 Goring 6.0 7 26.0 104 98.5 6.0 7 15.5 103 99.3

12.45 48 35 Cholsey 9 29.0 110/112 108.3 9 21.0 110 106.1

15.16 51 12 Moreton 10 57.0 111 111.0

15.86 51 68 Fulscot Skew [1.5] [1.5]

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY 13.0 12 01.0 113/114 111.8 13.0 11 52.5 112 111.7

17.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY (0.5) (0.5)

19.26 55 20 Milton Jn 13 08.0 113 113.5

20.49 56 38 Steventon 13 47.0 114 113.1 13 40.0 112 111.8

20.91 56 72 Causeway LC 13 53.5 112 113.3

24.36 60 28 Wantage Rd 17.0 15 49.0 114/113 114.3 17.0 15 44.0 113 112.4

27.85 63 67 Challow 19.0 17 40.0 114/113 113.1 19.0 17 36.0 112 112.1

30.63 66 49 Uffington 20.0 19 07.4 114 114.3 20.0 19 04.0 112 113.5

32.93 68 73 Knighton [0.5] 20 21.2 112.2 [0.5]

35.49 71 38 Shrivenham (2) 21 42.0 114 114.2 (2) 21 40.5 113 111.9

37.75 73 59 Marston East 22 54.6 106 112.2

39.11 75 08 Stratton Park 23 43.7 97 99.9 23 37.0 105 112.0

40.34 76 26 Highworth Jn 24 28.5 66 85.6

41.30 77 23 SWINDON 29.5 26 14 52.4 29.5 26 11 P4, 3L 33.8


. .

B - SWINDON - BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS (VIA BATH)

Run HST 1 2

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Mon 16/10/2017

Train Various post-2008 FT 07.00 Paddington - Bristol T M 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M

Units HST 800 008/009. Diesel from M'head. 800 008/009. Diesel from M'head

Load formation 10 10.0


Position/ GPS 1/10, Speeds from GPS 8/10, Speeds from GPS

miles M C Timing Point m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave

0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0 00 0.0 0 00 P4, 5.5L 0.0 0 00.0 P4, 7.5L

1.23 78 41 Rushey Platt [1] 1 50 61 40.0 [1] 1 54 64 38.8

3.13 80 33 Wroughton Rd 3 24 82 73.2 3 24 83 75.8

5.80 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 4 55 88 70.8 6.0 5 08 99 91.9 6.0 5 12 99 88.8

8.00 85 23 W. Basset Incline /127 6 25 107 103.9 6 30 107 102.1

10.45 87 59 Dauntsey 7 15 124 119.6 7 42 120 113.9 7 47 118 114.6

12.68 89 77 Christian Malford 8 19 125 125.2 8 48 121 121.9 8 53 120 121.0

15.39 92 54 Langley 9 38 118 123.6 10 16 89 110.9 10 21 86 111.2

16.66 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 10 50 63.8 12.5 12 38 5.5L 32.3 12.5 12 16 7L 39.9

0.00 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 0 00 15.0 16 51.0 7L 15.0 14 16.0 6.5L

1.46 95 33 Thingley East Jn 2 03 64 42.8 2 15 60 38.9 2 11 63 40.2

2.18 96 10 Thingley Jn 3.0 2 54 69 66.0 3.0 2 49 71 66.6

4.40 98 28 Corsham 4 05 98 86.7 4 37 85 77.7 4 30 86 79.3

5.20 99 12 Box Tunnel E 4 34 102 99.3 5 10 89 88.5 5 03 90 87.8

7.02 100 78 Box Tunnel W 5 38 103 102.7 [2] 6 17 100/101 97.8 [1] 6 10 99/100 98.1

8.01 101 77 Box 6 12 101 104.6 6 53 99 99.7 6 46 99 100.4

10.08 104 02 Bathford 8 11 92 95.0 8 03 97 96.0

10.74 104 55 Bathampton Jn 7 49 93 101.1 10.5 8 37 83 90.0 9.5 8 27 86 99.1

11.85 105 64 Hampton Row 8 48 66 67.9 9 31 59 74.0 9 22 58 73.4

12.35 106 24 Syd. Gds Tnls E 10 07 45 50.7 10 07 45 39.7

12.93 106 70 BATH SPA 10 27 39.1 13.5 11 49 5.5L 20.3 12.5 11 24 5.5L 26.8

0.00 106 70 BATH SPA 0 00 16.0 16 47.0 8L 15.0 15 24.0 7L

1.04 107 73 Oldfield Park 1 54 53 32.8 1 42 58 36.7 1 45 60 35.4

2.31 109 15 Twerton Tnls W [1] 2 35 72 86.5 [1] 2 52 97 69.0

4.84 111 57 Salford Tnl E 4 25 100 90.6 4 36 93 75.1 4 38 94/38 sigs 85.4

6.90 113 62 Keynsham 5 38 101 101.7 5 51 98 98.1 6 44 57 59.2

8.85 115 58 St Annes 3 Tnl E 6 52 88 94.9 7 06 87 93.8 8 24 73 70.2

9.72 116 48 St Annes 2 Tnl W 7 43 bks 86.8 9 18 49 58.2

10.71 117 47 North Somerset Jn 8 30 30 68.4 9.5 8 48 50 54.8 9.5 10 38 29 44.3

11.14 118 01 Bristol East Jn 9 24 24 28.3 10.5 9 38 22 30.4 10.5 11 40 22 24.7

11.50 118 30 BRISTOL T M 10 49 15.4 12.5 11 33 P15, 7L 11.3 12.5 13 00 P13, 7.5L 16.3

In Run 6, David Adams reached Reading in 22m 26s, the same time I had recorded on the previous day (not tabulated) which are the best we have yet seen for that section. An amalgam with Run 4 would indicate that 22 minutes is possible with the current setup. The train was diverted to the relief line at Moreton due to emergency engineering works on the Down main, but still reached 113 mph at Shrivenham. Our Editor recorded Run 7, a typical performance. Ian Umpleby’s Run 8 had the edge, especially given his recording position in the train, and produced the best Reading-Swindon time with IET so far of 26m 11s. Run 19 may have been a failed attempt to achieve an automatic transition from electric to diesel, and resulted in a much later deceleration and a 4m 54s stop. Table B – Swindon to Bristol (via Bath)


Run 1 is the first down public service. With a 5½ minute late start from Swindon, the initial acceleration was good but then fell behind usual HST standards. I was willing a 125 mph maximum speed down Dauntsey bank but the best it could manage was 121. Despite only 85 at Corsham and a maximum of 101 mph around Box, a little time was regained to Bath only to be lost at a prolonged stop whilst staff were getting to grips with the procedure for opening the doors. The result was a seven minutes late arrival for the Bristol commuters.

B - SWINDON - BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS (VIA BATH)

Run 3 4

Date Fri 20/10/2017 Fri 03/11/2017

Train 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M 19.00 Paddington - Bristol T M

Units 800 006/005. Diesel throughout. 800 006/005. Diesel from M'head



Position/ GPS 3/10, Speeds from GPS 3/10, GPS=Yes

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave

0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0.0 0 00.0 P4, 4.5L 0.0 0 00.0 P4, 1.5L

1.23 78 41 Rushey Platt [1] 1 47 62 41.2 [1] 1 47 63 41.2

3.13 80 33 Wroughton Rd 3 20 83 73.3 3 21 83 73.2

5.80 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 6.0 5 05 101 92.1 6.0 5 05 100 91.9

8.00 85 23 W. Basset Incline 6 21 107 104.7 6 22 107 102.9

10.45 87 59 Dauntsey 7 38 119 114.2 7 39 119 115.6

12.68 89 77 Christian Malford 8 44 121 121.4 8 45 121/122 120.8

15.39 92 54 Langley 10 22 59 99.1 10 07 98 118.5

16.66 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 12.5 13 09 5.5L 27.6 12.5 11 50 1L 44.7

0.00 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 15.0 15 44.0 5.5L 15.0 14 22.0 1L

1.46 95 33 Thingley East Jn 2 32 56 34.6 2 04 63 42.4

2.18 96 10 Thingley Jn 3.0 3 12 66 64.8 3.0 2 42 70 67.4

4.40 98 28 Corsham 4 57 79 75.8 4 24 86 78.8

5.20 99 12 Box Tunnel E 5 30 88 88.3 4 57 89 87.3

7.02 100 78 Box Tunnel W [1] 6 40 96 93.1 [1] 6 03 99.2

8.01 101 77 Box 7 17 96 96.1 6 39 99/100 100.1

10.08 104 02 Bathford 8 38 89 92.0 7 54 99 98.0

10.74 104 55 Bathampton Jn 9.5 9 08 80.0 9.5 8 19 92 96.6

11.85 105 64 Hampton Row 10 15 45 60.2 9 11 63 77.6

12.35 106 24 Syd. Gds Tnls E 11 01 38.8 9 44 43 53.7

12.93 106 70 BATH SPA 12.5 12 52 6L 18.6 12.5 11 01 0.5E 26.9

0.00 106 70 BATH SPA 15.0 18 21.0 9L 15.0 13 30.0 0.5E

1.04 107 73 Oldfield Park 2 18 55 27.0 1 37 59 38.4

2.31 109 15 Twerton Tnls W [1] 3 28 75 65.7 [1] 2 44 77 68.4

4.84 111 57 Salford Tnl E 5 16 93 84.3 4 30 93 85.7

6.90 113 62 Keynsham 6 32 97 98.2 5 45 101 99.5

8.85 115 58 St Annes 3 Tnl E 7 49 74 90.3 6 58 90 95.5

9.72 116 48 St Annes 2 Tnl W 8 50 51.9 7 34 87 87.9

10.71 117 47 North Somerset Jn 9.5 10 56 20 28.2 9.5 8 27 35 67.0

11.14 118 01 Bristol East Jn 10.5 12 04 21 22.5 10.5 9 25 24 26.6

11.50 118 30 BRISTOL T M 12.5 13 48 P13, 10L 12.5 12.5 10 59 P13, 2E 13.9

News had already filtered through that 800006 and 800005 had failed to change over to electric at Maidenhead and had been taken out of service at Paddington. Run 2 is the continuation of the final trip on the initial day. More confusion regarding the doors and further time lost to Swindon with a maximum speed of only 107/108 mph around Bourton. The units weren’t pressed down Dauntsey bank, but had a smarter run into Chippenham and similar to Run 1 up to Corsham. .


C - SWINDON - CARDIFF CENTRAL

HST 5 6 Mon 16/10/2017 Wed 18/10/2017

Train Various post-2008 FT 11.45 Paddington - Swansea 13.45 Paddington - Swansea

Units HST 800 008/009. Diesel. 800 005/006. Diesel.

Load formation 10 10/501/520

Recorder S C Emmett D Adams

Position/ GPS 8/10. Speeds from GPS 4/10, GPS = Yes


0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0 00 0 0 00 P4, 1L 0 0 00 4.5L

1.23 78 41 Rushey Platt 1 51 63 39.7

3.13 80 33 Wroughton Rd /102 3 24 83 73.5 3 13 81/91

5.80 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 5 12 69 66.9 5.5 5 37 66* 72.6 5.5 5 07 69* 84.5

6.88 84 13 Whitehill 6 31 78 71.6

8.09 85 30 Callow Hill 7 22 88 84.9

9.66 86 76 Brinkworth 8 22 98 94.6 7 58 101 81.1

12.58 89 69 Little Somerford 8 55 110 109.4 10 06 105 101.3 9 37 110 106.4

15.06 92 28 Cabbage Lane 11 31 103 104.5

17.06 94 28 Hullavington 11 20 123 111.4 12 12 43 101 100.7 12 12 04 108 109.3

18.21 95 40 Happy Land 13 23 101 102.2

19.30 96 47 Fosse Rd [1] 14 02 101 100.5 [0.5]

20.14 97 34 Alderton Tnl E 13 06 109 104.4 14 32 101 100.5 13 49 105 105.7

21.23 98 41 Littleton Drew 15 10 101 102.6

22.71 100 00 Badminton 14 29 115 111.7 16 03 104 101.6 15 16 108 106.6

23.79 101 06 Sodbury Tnl E 15 01 120 120.9 16 40 108 105.6 15 52 111 109.0

26.31 103 48 Sodbury Tnl W 16 17 120 119.6 18 02 111 110.8 17 12 115 113.6

27.38 104 53 C Sodbury W 16 49 118 119.5 18 36 103 110.0 17 45 113 114.2

29.86 107 12 Westerleigh Jn 18 11 100 109.2 20 20 07 96 98.4 19.5 19 10 100/105 106.0

31.21 108 40 Coalpit Heath 18 57 108/114 105.7 20 56 102 100.2

32.54 109 66 Winterbourne 20 49 77* 96.8

32.60 109 71 Winterbourne OB 19 43 108 108.6 (1) 21 45 96 101.5 22 59 / 23 30 sigs/31

34.49 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 21 49 53.9 25 24 34 P2, 1L 40.3 23.5 25 09 6L

0.00 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 0 00 27 27 21 1.5L

1.07 112 68 Patchway Jn 1 44 59 37.4

1.29 5 77 Patchway 2 01 66 38.3 2 1 57 59 55.7

3.02 7 56 Patchway Tnls W 3 15 86/91 84.5 3 23 88/90 73.3

4.86 9 43 Pilning 4 34 89/90 83.7 5 4 40 60/21* 85.3

6.34 11 01 Severn Tnl E 5 37 75 84.3 6 6 51 62 40.4

10.69 15 29 Severn Tnl W 9 06 73 74.9 9.5 10 38 67 69.1

11.80 16 38 Severn Tunnel Jn 10 02 70 71.5 10.5 11 37 68 68.0

13.23 150 15 Undy 12 51 74 69.3

14.23 151 15 Magor 12 13 40 77 73.6

16.06 153 02 Bishton LC 13 14 89/91 79.9 14 59 88 83.7

17.90 154 69 Llanwern 16 15 86 86.9

19.09 156 04 Llanwern West 16 17 08 73 81.7

20.08 157 03 East Usk Jn 16 09 68 21.7 18 03 56 64.2

20.96 157 74 Maindee East Jn 17 20 28 45.0 [1] 19 21 20 40.8

21.23 158 15 Maindee West Jn 19 20 22 7/? 15.7

21.65 158 49 NEWPORT 19 07 23.1 20.5 21 53 P2, 3L 16.7

0.00 158 49 NEWPORT 0 00 22.5 23 55 3L

0.70 159 25 Newport Tnls W 1 41 37 24.9

1.47 160 07 Ebbw Jn 2 51 58 31.1 3 2 43 49 44.9

5.26 163 70 Marshfield 5 30 94 85.8 6 09 85/87 66.1

7.74 166 28 St Mellons W 8 17 54 70.0

9.14 167 60 Rumney Bri Jn 8 09 74 87.7 9 36 72/73 63.1

9.64 168 20 Pengam Jn (0.5) 10 02 72 70.9

10.48 169 07 Roath 9 17 51 70.8 10 49 47 64.5

11.74 170 28 CARDIFF CEN 12 15 25.5 14 14 15 P3, 3L 22.0


.

C - SWINDON - CARDIFF CENTRAL

Run 7 8

Date Mon 23/10/2017 Wed 25/10/2017

Train 1345 Paddington-Swansea 11.45 Paddington - Swansea

Units 800005/006. Diesel. 800 008/009. Diesel.


Recorder D Ashley I Umpleby

Position/ GPS Cloud/damp 1/10 Y 8/10, Sun Ints, GPS=Yes


0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0.0 0 00.0 0.0 0 00.0 P4, 3.5L

1.23 78 41 Rushey Platt 1 58.0 63 37.4

3.13 80 33 Wroughton Rd /87 3 31.0 83/87 73.5

5.80 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 5.5 5 26 70 64.0 5.5 5 32.0 69 79.6

6.88 84 13 Whitehill

8.09 85 30 Callow Hill 7 07 87 81.5

9.66 86 76 Brinkworth 8 07 100 94.5 8 16.0 99 84.8

12.58 89 69 Little Somerford 9 48 109/107 104.1 9 58.0 107 102.8

15.06 92 28 Cabbage Lane 11 10 108 109.2 11 21.0 107 107.9

17.06 94 28 Hullavington 12.0 12 17 107 106.5 12.0 12 29.5 105 105.1

18.21 95 40 Happy Land 12 56 107.0

19.30 96 47 Fosse Rd [0.5] 13 33 106 105.8 [1]

20.14 97 34 Alderton Tnl E 14 02 105.8 14 15.0 104 104.9

21.23 98 41 Littleton Drew 14 39 105.8

22.71 100 00 Badminton 15 29 107/113 106.0 15 44.0 107 104.2

23.79 101 06 Sodbury Tnl E 16 20.5 110 106.0

26.31 103 48 Sodbury Tnl W 17 41.5 113 112.2

27.38 104 53 C Sodbury W 17 59 110 111.9 18 15.0 110 114.2

29.86 107 12 Westerleigh Jn 19.5 19 26 98 102.9 20.0 19 42.0 98 102.9

31.21 108 40 Coalpit Heath 20 15 96 99.2 20 30.0 104 101.3

32.54 109 66 Winterbourne 21 09 88 88.3

32.60 109 71 Winterbourne OB (1)

34.49 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 23.5 23 49 25.0 23 50 P2, 2.5L 59.0

0.00 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 25.5 29 15 27.0 27 23 4L

1.07 112 68 Patchway Jn [0.5]

1.29 5 77 Patchway 2.5 2 05 56/87 37.1 2.0 2 02.0 61 38.0

3.02 7 56 Patchway Tnls W 3 26.0 86/89 74.5

4.86 9 43 Pilning 5.5 4 54 85 76.2 5.0 4 42.5 84 86.5

6.34 11 01 Severn Tnl E 6.5 5 57 73 84.3 6.0 5 52.0 63 76.4

10.69 15 29 Severn Tnl W 10.0 9 42 60 69.6 9.5 9 46.5 58 TSR 66.8

11.80 16 38 Severn Tunnel Jn 11.0 10 49 51 59.8 10.5 10 53.0 66 60.2

13.23 150 15 Undy

14.23 151 15 Magor 12 53 82/87 70.4 12.0 12 52.5 81 73.1

16.06 153 02 Bishton LC 14 10 86/88 85.9 14 08.0 89 87.6

17.90 154 69 Llanwern 15 27 87 85.9 15 24.0 87 87.0

19.09 156 04 Llanwern West 16.5 16.0 16 15.0

20.08 157 03 East Usk Jn [2]

20.96 157 74 Maindee East Jn (0.5) [1]

21.23 158 15 Maindee West Jn 20.5 19.0 18 51.0 30 57.8

21.65 158 49 NEWPORT 22.5 20 05 48.6 20.5 20 11 P2, 3.5L

0.00 158 49 NEWPORT 24.5 (22 11) 22.5 (23 38) 5L

0.70 159 25 Newport Tnls W 2 03.5 39 20.4

1.47 160 07 Ebbw Jn 3.0 2 55 54 70.5 3.0 3 04.0 57 46.1

5.26 163 70 Marshfield [1] 5 50 91/95 77.9 5 59.5 93/94 77.7

7.74 166 28 St Mellons W 6.5 7 26 92 92.8 7 34.5 92 93.8

9.64 168 20 Pengam Jn 8 54 72 77.7 (.5) 9 02.5 77.7

10.48 169 07 Roath 11 55 / 12 25 sig stop

11.74 170 28 CARDIFF CEN 13.0 12 41 2L 33.3 14.0 14 24.0 P3, 5.5L 23.5


Run 3 on the Friday of the first week lost time on every section and was 10 minutes late into Temple Meads. The virtual HST was ahead on every section, and the virtual Castle on the Bristolian simmering as we arrived at Temple Meads. Run 4 was the Friday evening run on the third week of IET operation. Despite one engine out and leaves falling all around, the running was noticeably more determined than hitherto - perhaps a more experienced driver and/or uprated engines. Table C – Swindon to Cardiff (via Badminton) Run 5, timed from Paddington, is the first public IET into Wales. We left Swindon only one minute late but I was disappointed with only 101 mph on the 1/300 to Badminton, but no further time was lost to Bristol Parkway. Checks to 21 mph after Pilning and 54 at St Mellons meant late arrivals into Newport and Cardiff. For the continuation to Swansea see Table D. Run 6 timed by David Adams is included as it was the best of the bunch until the final check into Parkway. There was a sustained 106 mph on the climb to Badminton. Our editor timed Run 7, which produced the best time to Parkway of 23m 49s, but it was nearly caught by Run 8, timed by Ian Umpleby. Both runs were similar to Newport, suffering a 60 mph TSR exiting the Severn Tunnel but neither reaching 90 past Llanwern. Thankfully Run 7 was unchecked to Cardiff, so it beat the Newport-Cardiff time of 14m 10s set by the Hastings unit, which Runs 5 and 8 failed to achieve... Table D - Cardiff to Swansea With the pausing/cancellation of the electrification of the Cardiff – Swansea line it will be interesting to see how the BiModes cope in the longer term. But even on diesel, the relatively low speeds and start-stop nature of the service may give IET an advantage over HST, but there is no evidence of this yet. Run 5, the initial public run into Wales, reached 100 mph at Pyle but was eclipsed on every section by Run 8 timed by Ian Umpleby. Now for the up runs. Table E - Swansea to Cardiff Run 9 is the first public run from Swansea to Paddington. An explained slowing before Skewen and door problems at Neath put us 6½ minutes late. Speed fell from 85 to 80 mph at Stormy. For the continuation to Paddington see Tables F and H. Ian Umpleby’s Run 10 was consistently better but suffered checks approaching Bridgend and Cardiff. Table F - Cardiff to Swindon (via Badminton) Run 9 is the first IET out of Wales, continued from Table E. Accidental triggering of the emergency alarm immediately on the restart from Newport caused further delay. Times are from the re-start in the platform. Efforts to regain time were hampered by a 50 mph TSR into the Severn Tunnel and more checks around Patchway. Now 16 minutes late from Parkway, we emerged from Sodbury Tunnel at 95 mph and achieved a full 125 on diesel at Little Somerford. .


D - CARDIFF CENTRAL - SWANSEA

Run HST 5 8

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Wed 25/10/2017

Train Post 2008 FT 11.45 Paddington - Swansea 11.45 Paddington - Swansea



Recorder S C Emmett I Umpleby

Position/ GPS 8/10. Windy. GPS = Yes 8/10, Sun Ints, GPS=Yes


0.00 170 28 CARDIFF CEN 0 00 0.0 0 00.0 P3, 3.5L 0.0 0 00.0 P3, 5.5L

0.35 170 56 Cardiff West Jn 1 37 16 12.9

0.65 171 00 MP 171 2 04 46 18.9

1.33 171 54 Leckwith N Jn 3 12 64 24.8 2.5 3 15 52 36.0 2.5

1.65 172 00 MP 172 3 11 65 53.7

2.30 172 52 Cowbridge Rd 4 12 70 62.1

4.06 174 33 St Fagans LC 5 26 75 73.5 5 39 74 72.9 5 11 73 72.7

5.41 175 61 St Georges LC 6 29 76 77.1 6 44 74 74.3 6 16 74 74.2

6.50 176 68 Peterston 7 37 74/73 73.3 7 10 74 73.2

8.14 178 39 Pontsarn LC 8 38 77 76.0 8 58 74 72.9 8 29 74 74.2

9.28 179 50 Miskin 9 55 72 72.6

11.16 181 41 Pontyclun 11 05 70 74.1 11.0 11 27 73 73.7 11.0 10 57 74/73 73.6

13.56 183 73 Llanharan 13 03 72 73.2 13 24 75/74 73.6 12 55 75 73.2

16.34 186 55 Pencoed 15 06 87 81.2 15 31 85 78.7 15 02 86 78.7

18.11 188 37 Corychurch 16 24 82 81.9 16 48 81 83.6

19.15 189 40 Tremains 17 36 67 77.8 17 07 58 81.0

20.19 190 43 BRIDGEND 18 52 50.5 19.0 19 35 4L 31.3 19.0 19 12 6L 29.9

0.00 190 43 BRIDGEND 0 00 21.0 21 50 4L 21.0 20 54 5.5L

0.99 191 42 Tondu Rd 1 45 55 33.8 1 44 56 34.2

2.72 193 21 Laleston 3 12 74 51.1 3 26 67 61.9 3 24 68 62.5

3.89 194 34 Stormy East 4 25 74 71.7 4 23 74 70.9

4.26 194 64 Stormy 4.5 4 43 78 75.3 4.5 4 41 77 75.0

4.41 194 76 Ivor Mills 4 49 81 81.3 4 48 83.1

5.90 196 35 PYLE 5 24 99/100 86.6 5 48 99/100 90.5 5 46 100 91.5

7.06 197 48 Water Street 6 30 97 100.0 6 28 96 99.6

8.21 198 60 Margam Moors Jn 6 55 89/90 91.5 7.0 7 16 89 89.8 7.0 7 15 89 89.0

9.20 199 59 Heol-y-Deliaid LC [1] 7 57 86 87.5 [1] 7 55 87 87.8

9.86 200 32 Margam East Jn (1) 8 25 86 86.0 (1) 8 22 88.3

10.11 200 52 Margam 8 35 84 87.7 8 33 81.8

12.13 202 53 PORT TALBOT 10 15 70.4 12.5 11 12 3L 46.1 12.5 11 07 4L 47.0

0.00 202 53 PORT TALBOT 0 00 14.5 14 23 4L 14.5 13 11 4.5L

2.01 204 54 Baglan 2 35 82 46.7 2 32 73 47.6 2 35 73/82 46.7

2.70 205 29 Briton Ferry E Jn (1) 3 04 78/82 78.0 (1)

3.79 206 36 Briton Ferry 3 46 92 90.0 3 54 73 78.5 3 56 75 79.4

4.06 206 58 Court Sart Jn 4 07 68 73.6

4.58 207 19 Penrhiwtyn O/A 4 36 57 64.7 4 38 58 66.7

5.63 208 23 NEATH 5 57 50.5 7.0 6 41 3.5L 30.2 7.0 6 36 4L

0.00 208 23 NEATH 0 00 9.0 9 40 4.5L 9.0 9 10 4.5L

0.33 208 49 Vale of Neath Rly 1 07 33 17.6 1 16 30 15.4

1.43 209 57 Hill Rd 2 49 47 38.9

2.06 210 28 Skewen 3 31 62 35.2 3 36 51 48.7 3 42 54 42.8

3.46 211 60 Skewen Arches E [1] 5 01 64 58.8 [1] 5 09 59 58.3

3.83 212 09 Llansamlet 5 09 67 64.7 5 21 66 67.0 5 32 59/70 56.7

4.25 212 43 Llansamlet (old) 5 44 68/71 67.3

5.46 213 60 Swansea Valley Jn 6 47 64 69.4 6 57 61 10.5

6.50 214 63 Landore Jn 7 54 41 58.4 8 23 32 38.7 8 28 33 41.3

7.24 215 42 Loop East Jn 10.0 10 05 21 26.0 10.0 9 58 21 29.5

7.69 215 78 SWANSEA 10 31 27.2 12.0 12 01 P2, 4.5L 14.0 12.0 11 42 P2, 4L 15.5


E - SWANSEA - CARDIFF CENTRAL

Run HST 9 10

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Wed 25/10/2017

Train Post 2008 FT 15.29 Swansea - Paddington 15.29 Swansea - Paddington



Recorder S C Emmett I Umpleby

Position/ GPS 3/10. Windy. GPS = Yes 3/10, Sun Ints, GPS=Yes


0.00 215 78 SWANSEA 0 00 0.0 0 00 P2, 0.5L 0.0 0 00 P2, RT

0.45 215 42 Loop East Jn 1.5 1 51 19 14.5 1.5 1 21 27 20.0

1.19 214 63 Landore Jn 2 45 40/70 25.9 3 13 39/30 rbt 32.5 2 35 40 35.9

2.22 213 60 Swansea Valley Jn 4 39 58 43.3 3 57 61 45.8

3.44 212 43 Llansamlet (old) 5 50 65 61.6 67

3.86 212 09 Llansamlet 5 28 61 59.1 6 15 61 61.6 5 25 65 67.0

4.22 211 60 Skewen Arches E 6 36 62/15* 61.9 5 47 63 58.0

5.63 210 28 Skewen 7 04 74 66.1 9 19 56/65 31.0 7 05 69 65.0

6.26 209 57 Hill Rd 9 55 62 bks 62.3

7.36 208 49 Vale of Neath Rly 11 36 32 39.4

7.69 208 23 NEATH 10 18 38.3 10.5 13 00 3L 13.9 10.5 10 41 RT 34.3

0.00 208 23 NEATH 0 00 12.0 17 51 6.5L 12.0 11 56 RT

1.05 207 19 Penrhiwtyn O/A 1 46 55 35.7 1 38 58 38.8

1.56 206 58 Court Sart Jn 2 18 61 57.5 2 08 64 60.5

1.84 206 36 Briton Ferry 2 16 75 48.6 2 33 66 59.9 2 23 69 63.0

2.92 205 29 Briton Ferry E Jn 3 28 76 70.1 3 15 73.2

3.61 204 54 Baglan 3 30 92 86.4 3 59 82 74.8 3 45 85 77.5

5.63 202 53 PORT TALBOT 5 53 27.5 6.5 6 33 6.5L 52.5 6.5 6 14 0.5E 54.3

0.00 202 53 PORT TALBOT 0 00 8.0 8 44 7.5L 8.0 8 34 0.5L

0.80 201 69 Central Rd 1 38 50 29.5 1 27 52 33.1

2.01 200 52 Margam 2 47 72 63.1 2 37 74 62.4

2.26 200 32 Margam East Jn [1] 3 02 76 62.4 [1] 2 51 78 64.3

2.92 199 59 Heol-y-Deliaid LC 3 29 80 78.1 3 17 91.7

3.91 198 60 Margam Moors Jn 3 47 91 62.0 5.0 4 12 85 85.2 5.0 3 59 89 84.6

5.06 197 48 Water Street 5 00 85 84.4 4 46 88 89.0

6.22 196 35 PYLE 5 18 94/95 91.5 5 49 84 85.1 5 33 88 89.0

7.71 194 76 Ivor Mills 6 55 81 83.1

7.86 194 64 Stormy 8.0 7 02 80 cst 81.0 8.0 6 42 84 84.8

8.24 194 34 Stormy East 7 18 78 81.8

9.40 193 21 Laleston 7 29 78 87.3 8 12 75 78.8 checks

11.14 191 42 Tondu Rd 9 38 70 74.4

12.13 190 43 BRIDGEND 10 30 12.0 11 18 6.5L 52.8 12.0 13 09 1.5L

0.00 190 43 BRIDGEND 0 00 13.5 13 30 7.5L 13.5 15 35 2.5L

1.04 189 40 Tremains 1 42 59 36.6 1 40 58 37.3

2.07 188 37 Corychurch 2 39 73 66.1 2 36 74 66.7

3.85 186 55 Pencoed 4 19 77 53.5 4 00 78/45 TSR 78.6 3 57 79/48 TSR 78.9

6.63 183 73 Llanharan 6 38 67 71.9 7 00 56 55.5 6 32 57/77 64.5

9.03 181 41 Pontyclun 8 42 75 69.7 8.5 9 03 74 70.2 8.5 8 35 75/73 70.2

10.91 179 50 Miskin 10 35 74 73.8

12.05 178 39 Pontsarn LC 11 09 76 74.1 11 30 73 73.8 11 00 75/73 75.1

13.69 176 68 Peterston 12 50 74 73.7 12 19 74 74.6

14.78 175 61 St Georges LC 13 18 76 76.0 13 43 74 73.6 13 11 76 75.3

16.13 174 33 St Fagans LC 14 48 75 75.3 14 15 75 75.9

17.89 172 52 Cowbridge Rd 16 15 74 73.1

18.19 172 28 Footbridge 16 02 75 74.9 16 30

73.5 15 55 73 74.6

18.86 171 54 Leckwith N Jn 16.5 17 03 68 73.0 16.5 16 31 63 66.6

19.54 171 00 MP 171 [1]

[1]

19.84 170 56 Cardiff West Jn 18 33 17 38.9 sigs

20.19 170 28 CARDIFF CEN 19 37 33.5 20.0 20 37 P1, 8L 10.2 20.0 20 59 P1, 3.5L 17.8


F - CARDIFF CEN to SWINDON

Run HST 9 11

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Mon 23/10/2017

Train Post 2008 FT 15.29 Swansea - Paddington 15.29 Swansea-Paddington

Loco HST 800 009/008. Diesel. 800008/009. Diesel


Recorder S C Emmett D Ashley

Position/ GPS 3/10. Windy. GPS = Yes Cloudy, 9/10 GPS=Y


0.00 170 28 CARDIFF CEN 0 00 0.0 0 00 P1, 8.5L 0.0 0 00 P1 2L

0.35 170 00 Cardiff East 1 33 13 13.5

1.26 169 07 Roath 2 40 3 02 53 36.9

2.10 168 20 Pengam Jn 3 22 37.4 3 52 67 60.3 3 19 70 38.0

4.00 166 28 St Mellons W 4 39 88.8 5 22 83 76.0 5 00 86 67.7

6.47 163 70 Marshfield 6 13 94.8 6.5 7 01 93 90.0 6.5 6 36 96 92.8

8.28 162 06 St Brides 7 21 95.3 8 10 94 93.9

10.26 160 07 Ebbw Jn 8 48 82.2 9.0 9 40 59 79.5 9.0 9 20 55 83.1

11.04 159 25 Newport Tnls W 10 35 35 50.7

11.74 158 49 NEWPORT 11 42 30.5 12.0 12 29 P3, 9L 22.1 12.0 14 38 16.7

0.00 158 49 NEWPORT 0 00 14.0 20 48 17.5L 14.0 16 59

0.43 158 15 Maindee W Jn 1.5 1 25 25 18.0 1.5

1.58 157 03 East Usk Jn 2 59 56 44.0

2.56 156 04 Llanwern West Jn 3.5 3 57 71 61.3 3.5

3.75 154 69 Llanwern 4 48 90 46.9 4 52 83/90 77.7 4 43 85/91 47.7

5.59 153 02 Bishton LC 6 01 90 90.6 6 07 89 88.2 5 57 90 89.4

7.43 151 15 Magor 7 14 90 90.6 7 25 81 84.8 7 10 89 90.6

8.43 150 15 Undy 8 03 77/69 73.5 8 13 71 75.0

9.85 148 61 Severn Tunnel Jn 9 16 74 70.3 9.0 9 28 68 68.4 9.0 9 07 69/68 74.6

10.96 15 29 Severn Tunnel W 10 10 76 74.2 10.0 10 48 50 TSR 50.1 10.0 10 05 75 69.1

15.31 11 01 Severn Tunnel E 13 38 77 75.3 13.5 14 38 70 68.1 13.5 13 37 73 73.9

16.79 9 43 Pilning 14 46 81/88 78.1 14.5 15 53 73/76 70.8 14.5 14 50 75/79/49 72.7

18.63 7 56 Patchway Tnls W [1] 17 41 44/47/38 61.3 [1]

20.36 5 77 Patchway 17 21 71 83.0 18.5 20 02 44 44.4 18.5

20.58 5 60 Patchway Jn 20 19 56 45.0 18 24 56 63.7

21.65 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 19 12 41.8 20.5 22 11 P3, 17L 34.6 20.5 20 29 31.0

0.00 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 0 00 23.0 23 52 16L 23.0 22 29

0.99 110 63 M4 1 36 57 37.0

1.89 109 71 Winterbourne 2 47 78 40.7 2 27 67 63.5 2 23 69 47.5

3.45 108 26 Halfpenny 3 44 78 73.1

4.63 107 12 Westerleigh Jn 4 33 98 93.0 4.5 4 35 83 82.9 4.5 4 37 85 73.5

7.11 104 53 C Sodbury W 6 18 91 86.9

7.21 104 45 C Sodbury 6 22 92 88.7

8.18 103 48 Sodbury Tnl W 6 34 111 105.6 6 59 94 93.3

10.70 101 06 Sodbury Tnl E 7 57 112 109.5 8 36 95 93.7

11.78 100 00 Badminton 8 30 113 117.3 9 20 98 88.0 9 13 98 96.1

13.26 98 41 Littleton Drew 10 09 103 109.3 10 05 106 103.0

14.35 97 34 Alderton Tnl E 9 55 110 109.1 10 46 109 105.8

15.19 96 47 Fosse Rd 11 14 112 107.7

16.28 95 40 Happy Lane 11 48 115 115.1 11 44 114 109.5

17.43 94 28 Hullavington 11 34 125 111.8 11.5 12 24 119 115.0 11.5 12 20 120/126 115.0

19.43 92 28 Cabbage Lane 13 24 122 120.0

21.91 89 69 Little Somerford 13 43 120 125.2 14 35 125 126.1 14 32 125 122.4

24.83 86 76 Brinkworth 15 10 111 120.5 16 04 108 117.8 16 00 119.7

26.40 85 30 Callow Hill 16 59 95 103.1 16 57 98.8

27.61 84 13 Whitehill 17 47 83 90.9

28.69 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 17 39 69 93.3 18.0 18 43 65 69.1 18.0 18 31 70/90 87.6

31.36 80 33 Wroughton Rd 19 32 95 85.2 [1] 20 49 85/88 76.4 [1]

33.26 78 41 Rushey Platt 20 54 76 83.4 22 14 73 80.5

34.49 77 23 SWINDON 22 55 36.4 24.5 24 31 P3, 16L 32.2 24.5 24 04

62.7


F - CARDIFF CEN to SWINDON

Run 12 13

Date Thu 26/10/2017 Mon 06/11/2017

Train 10.55 Cardiff - Paddington 15.29 SWA - PAD

Loco 800 009/008. Diesel 800 009/011. Diesel


Recorder D Adams S C Emmett

Position/ GPS 7/10, GPS=Y 2/10. GPS=Y


0.00 170 28 CARDIFF CEN

0.35 170 00 Cardiff East

1.26 169 07 Roath

2.10 168 20 Pengam Jn

4.00 166 28 St Mellons W

6.47 163 70 Marshfield

8.28 162 06 St Brides

10.26 160 07 Ebbw Jn

11.04 159 25 Newport Tnls W

11.74 158 49 NEWPORT

0.00 158 49 NEWPORT 14.0 0 00 P3, 0.5L

0.43 158 15 Maindee W Jn 1.5 1 26 23 17.8

1.58 157 03 East Usk Jn 3 03 58 42.7

2.56 156 04 Llanwern West Jn 3.5 4 00 73 62.2

3.75 154 69 Llanwern 4 54 84 79.7

5.59 153 02 Bishton LC 6 08 89 88.5

7.43 151 15 Magor 7 23 89 89.2

8.43 150 15 Undy 8 08 73 78.9

9.85 148 61 Severn Tunnel Jn 9.0 9 21 67 70.1

10.96 15 29 Severn Tunnel W 10.0 10 20 73 68.9

15.31 11 01 Severn Tunnel E 13.5 13 51 72 74.2

16.79 9 43 Pilning 14.5 15 03 73/79 72.9

18.63 7 56 Patchway Tnls W [1] 16 29 75 77.3

20.36 5 77 Patchway 18.5 18 02 45 67.0

20.58 5 60 Patchway Jn 18 21 35 40.4

20.58 112 68 19 41 / 21 36 sigs stop

21.65 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 20.5 23 24 P3, 3.5L 12.8

0.00 111 62 BRISTOL PKWY 0.0 0 00 12L 23.0 25 21.0 3L

0.99 110 63 M4 1 32 57 38.7

1.89 109 71 Winterbourne 2 29 69 45.6 2 24 68 62.4

3.45 108 26 Halfpenny 3 40 79 74.1

4.63 107 12 Westerleigh Jn 4.5 4 32 87 80.1 4.5 4 32 84 80.2

7.11 104 53 C Sodbury W 6 13 91 89.0

7.21 104 45 C Sodbury 6 21 94 85.5

8.18 103 48 Sodbury Tnl W 6 58 95 93.6 6 54 94 93.0

10.70 101 06 Sodbury Tnl E 8 34 95 94.7 8 30 95 94.5

11.78 100 00 Badminton 9 14 98 96.8 9 12 92.6

13.26 98 41 Littleton Drew 10 05 102 100.8

14.35 97 34 Alderton Tnl E 10 45 108 101.9 10 42 104.8

15.19 96 47 Fosse Rd 11 10 111 108.0

16.28 95 40 Happy Lane 11 44 115 115.6

17.43 94 28 Hullavington 11.5 12 23 118/123 113.0 11.5 12 21 118 111.5

19.43 92 28 Cabbage Lane 13 21 122/125 120.7

21.91 89 69 Little Somerford 14 36 120 121.5 14 34 122 123.0

24.83 86 76 Brinkworth 16 09 105/67* 113.4 16 06 108 113.8

26.40 85 30 Callow Hill 17 00 99 104.9

27.61 84 13 Whitehill 17 46 90 94.8

28.69 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 18.0 18 47 70/86 87.7 18.0 18 38 68 74.2

31.36 80 33 Wroughton Rd [1] [1] 20 41 86/90 78.5

33.26 78 41 Rushey Platt sigs 22 04 70 82.8

34.49 77 23 Swindon 24.5 24 54 P1, 11L 56.9 24.5 24 14 P3, 2.5L 33.8


G - BRISTOL T M - SWINDON (VIA BATH)

Run 14 15

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Mon 16/10/2017

Train Various post 2008 FT 06.00 Bristol T M - Paddington 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington

Loco HST 800 006/005. Diesel 800 008/009. Diesel



Position/ GPS 3/10. Speeds from GPS 3/10. Speeds from GPS


0.00 118 30 BRISTOL T M 0 00 0.0 0 00 P15, 26L 0.0 0 00 P15, 1L

0.29 118 07 East Gantry 1 07 13 15.5 1 10 15/14 14.8

0.79 117 47 North Somerset Jn 1 46 2.5 2 20 38 24.5 2.5 2 37 37/5* 20.8

1.41 116 77 Bristol East Yard 2 31 62 50.0 3 08 54 46.8 3 26 47/40 rbt 45.8

1.78 116 48 St Annes 2 Tnl W 3 32 61/rbt tnl 55.7 3 57 47 41.5

2.65 115 58 St Annes 3 Tnl E 4 24 64 60.0 4 53 66 56.2

4.60 113 62 Keynsham 4 52 98/101 81.4 5.5 6 00 81 73.5 6 29 82 73.6

6.66 111 57 Saltford Tnl E 6 05 100/102 101.7 7 26 92/97 86.5 7 53 93/96 88.1

9.19 109 15 Twerton Tnls W 7 40 98 95.7 9.0 9 02 92 94.3 9 29 93 95.0

10.46 107 73 Oldfield Park 8 27 87 97.7 9.5 9 54 82 88.3 10 22 68 85.8

11.50 106 70 BATH SPA 10 03 38.9 11.0 11 43 26.5L 34.2 11.0 12 35 2.5L 28.1

0.00 106 70 BATH SPA 0 00 13.5 14 09.0 26.5L 13.0 14 52.0 3L

0.58 106 24 Syd. Gds Tnls E 1 14 47 28.0 1 09 46 30.0

1.08 105 64 Hampton Row 1 48 57 52.1 1 43 57 52.3

2.19 104 55 Bathampton Jn 2 41 84/102 48.9 3.0 2 49 73 65.9 3.0 2 44 73 65.9

2.85 104 02 Bathford 3 21 78 76.0 3 15 78 76.1

4.91 101 77 Box 4 49 90 84.3 4 44 89/91 83.9

5.90 100 78 Box Tunnel W 5 00 100 96.2 5 29 89 88.2 5 24 89 89.7

7.72 99 12 Box Tunnel E 6 06 98 99.5 6 45 83 86.1 6 39 84 86.7

8.53 98 28 Corsham 7 19 88 86.6 7 13 88 86.1

10.75 96 10 Thingley Jn 7 47 118 107.8 8 43 100 94.6 8.0 8 37 99 94.6

11.46 95 33 Thingley East 8 08 122 122.1 8.5 9 09 98 98.9 9 04 88 bks 97.2

12.93 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 9 43 67.5 10.5 11 08 27.5L 44.3 10.5 11 18 3.5L 39.2

0.00 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 0 00 13.0 13 26.0 27L 12.5 13 22.0 3.5L

1.28 92 54 Langley 1 48 42.5 1 53 65 40.7 1 53 63 40.7

3.99 89 77 Christian Malford 3 56 88 79.0 3 58 87 78.2

6.21 87 59 Dauntsey 4 47 99.3 5 22 96 93.5 5 24 95/97 92.3

8.66 85 23 W. Bassett Incline 6 55 94 95.1 6 58 92 94.6

10.86 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 7 14 113.9 8.0 8 15 99 98.8 8.0 10 09 44 41.4

13.54 80 33 Wroughton Rd [1] 9 49 104/105 102.1 [1] 12 44 77 62.2

15.44 78 41 Rushey Platt 11 07 65 88.1 14 21 32/25/30 70.2

16.66 77 23 SWINDON 11 48 76.2 14.0 13 38 P3, 26.5L 29.2 14.0 18 27 P3, 8L 17.9

David Ashley’s Run 11 produced the best Newport-Bristol Parkway and Bristol Parkway-Swindon times yet seen with IET, with a 126 mph maximum speed before Little Somerford. Runs 12 and 13 were every similar indeed, allowing for the different positions in the train. Table G - Bristol T M to Swindon (via Bath) Run 14 is the first public run with the Transport Secretary on board. Despite the 26 minutes late start, further time was lost to Bath. The restart out to Sydney Gardens was confident, but a good HST would have caught it up by Bathampton Junction and then simply romped away with speeds 10-15 mph faster coming out of Box Tunnel and at Thingley Junction. There was a similar story on Dauntsey; speed fell from 96 to 94 mph and a 105 maximum compares with 120 from a good HST. I left the train at Swindon to return to Bristol.


Run 15 is my first through run from Bristol TM to Paddington, the second up IET on the opening day. John Heaton was also aboard and has reported snippets in his Railway Magazine column. It was checked after North Somerset Junction and lost time to Run 13 on the run in to Chippenham. This time, speed fell from 97 to 92 mph on Dauntsey, and we were then checked by the late running 0759 Swansea – Paddington. For the continuation to Paddington see Table H Run 16 had its running brake test later than the previous two runs and was checked into Bath. It was very similar up through Box Tunnel and Dauntsey. This run continues to Paddington in Table H. Run 17 produced the best Bristol – Bath time of 11m 39s, but it’s nothing to write home about. Just check the archive to see the motley collection of traction that has done it quicker! It was checked by the Bristol – Felixstowe Freightliner at Wootton Bassett, which was held on the Up through road at Swindon.

G - BRISTOL T M - SWINDON (VIA BATH)

Run 16 17

Date Tue 17/10/2017 Tue 24/10/2017

Train 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington

Loco 800 005/006. Diesel 800 005/006. Diesel



Position/ GPS 8/10. Speeds from GPS 8/10. Speeds from GPS


0.00 118 30 BRISTOL T M 0.0 0 00 P15, 0.5L 0.0 0 00

0.29 118 07 East Gantry 1 27 15 11.9 1 19 15 13.1

0.79 117 47 North Somerset Jn 2.5 2 38 40 25.2 2.5 2 25 41/37 rbt 27.2

1.41 116 77 Bristol East Yard 3 25 55 48.4 3 18 50 42.5

1.78 116 48 St Annes 2 Tnl W 3 47 63 58.5 3 43 57 52.1

2.65 115 58 St Annes 3 Tnl E 4 34 73 67.2 4 32 71 64.7

4.60 113 62 Keynsham 6 02 86/75 rbt 80.3 6 02 85 78.1

6.66 111 57 Saltford Tnl E 7 33 87 80.9 7 23 94 90.8

9.19 109 15 Twerton Tnls W 9 13 91 90.9 8 57 98 97.2

10.46 107 73 Oldfield Park 10 18 38* 71.3 9 51 68 84.8

11.50 106 70 BATH SPA 11.0 13 53 3.5L 17.3 11.0 11 39 1L 34.6

0.00 106 70 BATH SPA 13.0 16 00.0 3.5L 13.0 14 42.0 2L

0.58 106 24 Syd. Gds Tnls E 1 17 52 27.0 1 17 53 26.9

1.08 105 64 Hampton Row 1 50 59 53.9 1 51 57 53.2

2.19 104 55 Bathampton Jn 3.0 2 50 74 66.8 3.0 2 51 73 66.6

2.85 104 02 Bathford 3 21 79 77.5 3 22 79 77.3

4.91 101 77 Box 4 49 83 84.8 4 50 89 84.3

5.90 100 78 Box Tunnel W 5 28 89 89.6 5 29 89 90.4

7.72 99 12 Box Tunnel E 6 44 85 86.4 6 45 84 86.8

8.53 98 28 Corsham 7 17 89 87.1 7 18 90/100 87.0

10.75 96 10 Thingley Jn 8.0 8 41 102 95.5 8.0 8 42 99 95.2

11.46 95 33 Thingley East 9 07 90 bks 99.2 9 10 82 93.1

12.93 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 10.5 11 13 41.8 10.5 11 20 40.4

0.00 93 76 CHIPPENHAM 12.5 13 07.0 12.5 13 17.0

1.28 92 54 Langley 2 00 66 38.2 1 58 65 39.0

3.99 89 77 Christian Malford 4 02 89 79.8 4 00 89 79.7

6.21 87 59 Dauntsey 5 27 97/98 94.2 5 25 97/94 94.2

8.66 85 23 W. Bassett Incline 6 59 94 96.6 6 57 95 96.3

10.86 83 07 Wootton Basett Jn 8.0 8 19 100 98.4 8.0 9 31 36/26 51.6

13.54 80 33 Wroughton Rd [1] 9 53 104 102.9 [1] 13 50 53/73 37.1

15.44 78 41 Rushey Platt 11 17 80.8 15 33 70 66.5

16.66 77 23 SWINDON 14.0 13 45 P3, 0.5L 29.9 14.0 17 52 6.5L 31.6


. H - SWINDON-PADDINGTON

Run HST 9 11

Date Mon 16/10/2017 Mon 23/10/2017

Train Various post 2008 FT 15.29 Swansea - Paddington 1529 Swansea-Paddington

Loco HST 800 009/008. Diesel. 800 008/009


Recorder S C Emmett D Ashley

Position/ GPS 3/10. Windy. GPS = Yes Cloudy/ 9/10 Y

miles M C Timing Point m s mph ave Sch m s mph ave Sch m s mph ave

0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0 00 0.0 0 00 P3, 16L 0.0 0 00

0.96 76 26 Highworth Jn 1 50 53 31.6

1.51 75 62 Stratton Green 2 23 64 59.5

2.65 74 51 South Marston Jn 3 20 78 71.8

3.55 73 59 Marston East 3 59 86 83.2 3 50 87 55.6

4.91 72 30 Bourton Xovers 4 53 94 90.6

5.81 71 38 Shrivenham 5 27 109 64.0 5 26 99 97.3 5 17 101 93.6

8.38 68 73 Knighton UB 6 55 107 103.4 6 46 108 103.7

10.68 66 49 Uffington 7 57 123/122 116.7 8.0 8 11 113 109.7 8.0 8 03 115 107.5

13.45 63 67 Challow 9 17 124 124.9 9.0 9 38 117 115.2 9.0 9 26 119 120.4

16.94 60 28 Wantage Rd 10 59 123/126 123.1 11.0 11 24 121 118.6 11.0 11 10 122 120.7

18.39 58 72 Ardington Lane [1] 12 07 121 120.9 [1]

20.81 56 38 Steventon 12 51 123/105 124.6 (0.5) 13 19 122 121.6 (0.5) 13 03 123 123.5

22.04 55 20 Milton Jn 13 55 123 120.2 13 39 124/125 122.5

23.45 53 67 Foxhall Jn 14 36 123 124.4

24.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY 14 38 114 112.3 16.0 14 57 123 122.0 16.0 14 40 124 124.7

24.65 52 51 Didcot E Jn (2) 15 11 123 125.5 (2)

26.14 51 12 Moreton 15 54 123 124.0 15 38 124 123.4

28.85 48 35 Cholsey 17 01 118/121 118.3 17 16 118 118.9 16 58 117 122.1

30.60 46 55 Ferry Rd 18 10 118 117.8

32.55 44 59 Goring 18 53 119 118.9 22.0 19 09 119 118.2 22.0 18 50 119/118 118.9

34.43 42 69 Basildon Skew 20 06 119 119.7

35.75 41 43 Pangbourne 20 28 125 121.3 20 46 119 116.9 20 28 119 117.6

37.15 40 11 Westbury Lane [1] 21 28 120 121.1 [1]

38.68 38 49 Tilehurst 21 56 116 119.7 22 13 119 121.1 21 59 110 115.7

39.48 37 65 Scours Lane 22 21 112 115.2 [1] 22 39 104 112.5 [1]

40.60 36 55 High Level Jn 28.5 23 29 81.6 28.5

41.30 35 79 READING 24 28 51.7 29.5 25 11 P10, 12L 24.6 29.5 24 53 1E 54.3

0.00 35 79 READING 0 00 33.0 27 51.0 11L 33.0 0 00 2L

0.99 35 00 Kennet Bridge 2.0 1 43 56 51.3 2.0

2.41 33 46 Sonning Cutting 3 00 74 66.4 3 56 68 36.8

4.96 31 02 Twyford 5.0 4 48 93 85.3 5.0 5 46 92 83.5

6.31 29 54 Ruscombe 5 38 100 97.2

7.95 28 03 Shottesbrooke 6 35 105 103.0 7 36 103 97.8

9.56 26 34 Waltham 7 30 109 104.9 8 31 108/110 105.5

11.73 24 21 Maidenhead 7 46 90.6 8.5 8 41 107/101 109.0 8.5 9 43 107/102 108.1

13.54 22 36 Taplow 8 38 125.5 (1.5) 9 43 107 AC 106.2 (1.5) 10 44 109/116 107.0

15.06 20 74 Burnham 9 22 124.8 10 32 120 112.2 11 34 88br/14s 109.8

17.55 18 35 Slough 10 35 122.7 11.5 11 44 124 124.7 11.5 15 47 59sigs 35.4

19.71 16 22 Langley 11 37 125.6 [0.5] 12 46 124 125.2 [0.5] 17 23 101 81.1

21.28 14 57 Iver 12 22 125.0 13 31 124 bks 123.7 18 13 113/115 112.5

22.75 13 19 West Drayton 13 05 123.5 14 15 115 121.3 19 01 95/28sig 110.6

25.06 10 74 Hayes 14 12 124.3 16.5 15 24 125 121.0 16.5 22 33 47sig 39.3

26.91 9 06 Southall 15 05 125.7 18.0 16 17 125 124.8 18.0 24 01 97sig 75.7

28.64 7 28 Hanwell 15 56 121.8 17 08 121 bks 123.5 25 00 115 105.3

29.45 6 43 West Ealing 16 20 121.9 17 33 110 114.6 25 25 118 117.0

30.30 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 16 45 122.4 18 07 75 90.2 25 53 108 109.3

31.75 4 19 Acton M L 17 38 98.5 20.0 19 39 49 56.6 20.0 26 46 83 98.5

33.29 2 56 Mitre Bridge [1.5] 21 35 46 47.9 [1.5] 28 12 54sig 64.4

34.80 1 15 Westbourne Park 20 30 63.8 (1.5) 23 40 41/28/31 43.4 (1.5) 30 15 39sig 44.3

35.84 0 12 PADDINGTON 22 52 26.3 28.0 26 44 P3, 9.5L 20.3 28.0 32 51 6L 23.9


. H - SWINDON-PADDINGTON

Run 13 14 16

Date Mon 06/11/2017 Wed 08/10/2017 Mon 16/10/2017

Train 15.29 Swansea - Paddington 10.55 Cardiff - Paddington 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington

Loco 800 009/011. Diesel 800 006/800 005 800 009/008. AC from M'head

Load formation 10 10.0 10

Recorder S C Emmett D Adams S C Emmett

Position/ GPS 2/10. GPS=Y 4/10, GPS=YES 3/10, Speeds from GPS

miles M C Timing Point Sch m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave

0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0.0 0 00 P3, 2L 0.0 0 00 P3, 8.5L

0.96 76 26 Highworth Jn 1 38 54 35.5 (3) 1 55 52 30.2

1.51 75 62 Stratton Green 2 11 64 59.7 2 28 64 58.8

2.65 74 51 South Marston Jn 3 08 78 71.9 3 26 79 71.1

3.55 73 59 Marston East 3 46 86 84.7 4 05 85 82.9

4.91 72 30 Bourton Xovers 4 41 95 89.6 5 01 93 88.2

5.81 71 38 Shrivenham 5 15 98 94.8 5 34 97 97.3

8.38 68 73 Knighton UB 6 43 107 104.7 7 05 105 101.5

10.68 66 49 Uffington 8.0 7 59 113 109.0 11.0 8 22 110 106.7

13.45 63 67 Challow 9.0 9 28 117 112.4 12.0 9 51 114 112.8

16.94 60 28 Wantage Rd 11.0 11 11 120 121.6 13.0 11 40 118 115.4

18.39 58 72 Ardington Lane [1] 11 55 121 117.9 [1] 12 24 118 118.1

20.81 56 38 Steventon (0.5) 13 07 122 122.4 13 38 115 117.5

22.04 55 20 Milton Jn 13 56 60 sigs 89.1 14 34 46/27 78.6

23.45 53 67 Foxhall Jn 15 16 73 63.8 17 01 41 30.2

24.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY 16.0 15 48 80 77.6 0.0 0 00 23L 19.5 18 55 P2, 8L 44.5

24.65 52 51 Didcot E Jn (2) 16 10 84 83.2 0 59 45 30.8

26.14 51 12 Moreton 17 10 93 89.5 2 30.0 72 47.7 2 28 71 59.6

28.85 48 35 Cholsey 18 48 104 99.5 4 25.5 94 84.5 4 27 91 82.5

30.60 46 55 Ferry Rd 19 48 108 105.5 5 33 98 95.3

32.55 44 59 Goring 22.0 20 52 111 108.9 6.5 6 38.0 105 100.5 6.5 6 42 104 101.4

34.43 42 69 Basildon Skew 21 52 113 112.4 [2] [2] 7 46 108 105.6

35.75 41 43 Pangbourne 22 34 114 113.6 8 23.5 113/114 109.2 8 30 110 109.4

37.15 40 11 Westbury Lane [1] 23 19 110 112.5 9 15 113/115 111.9

38.68 38 49 Tilehurst 24 10 102 107.0 9 56.0 109 113.8 10 03 110 114.0

39.48 37 65 Scours Lane [1] 24 39 97 99.4 10 32 91 99.4

40.60 36 55 High Level Jn 28.5 25 26 66 85.7 13.0 13.0 11 32 49 67.7

41.30 35 79 READING 29.5 27 02 P11, 0.5E 26.3 14.0 12 31.0 61.0 14.0 13 12 P10, 8L 25.1

0.00 35 79 READING 16.0 0 00 16.0 15 24.0 8L

0.99 35 00 Kennet Bridge 2.0 1 42 56 49.9

2.41 33 46 Sonning Cutting 2 52.0 75 50.5 2 57 74 67.9

4.96 31 02 Twyford 5.0 4 40.0 94 85.0 5.0 4 45 89 85.0

6.31 29 54 Ruscombe 5 35 99 97.5

7.95 28 03 Shottesbrooke 6 28.0 104 99.6 6 32 105 103.5

9.56 26 34 Waltham 7 27 109 105.1

11.73 24 21 Maidenhead 8.5 8 33.5 112/107 108.3 8.5 8 40 105/100 106.5

13.54 22 36 Taplow 9 33.5 112 108.8 9 44 107 103.0

15.06 20 74 Burnham 10 19.0 124/125 113.9 10 32 119 113.8

17.55 18 35 Slough 11.5 11 32.0 123 121.9 11.5 11 43 125 125.3

19.71 16 22 Langley 12 36.0 123 122.2 12 46 124 125.2

21.28 14 57 Iver 13 21.0 122/118 123.0 13 31 125 124.9

22.75 13 19 West Drayton 14 05.0 123/125 122.9 14 14 121 122.4

25.06 10 74 Hayes 15.0 15 12.0 124 122.8 15.5 15 22 125/126 122.6

26.91 9 06 Southall 16.5 16 05.5 124 124.4 16.5 16 15 125 125.8

28.64 7 28 Hanwell [1] 16 55.5 125 124.3 [1] 17 05 118 125.0

29.45 6 43 West Ealing 17 36 70 91.9

30.30 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 17 46.5 107 117.4 19 05 13 34.4

31.75 4 19 Acton M L 18.0 18 39.5 96* 98.5 18.0 20 37 86/94 57.0

33.29 2 56 Mitre Bridge 19 42.0 67* 93.1 21 43 52/45/49 83.2

34.80 1 15 Westbourne Park [1] 21 31.0 42*/diesel 64.0 [1] 23 57 40 40.6

35.84 0 12 PADDINGTON 25.5 24 19.0 P2, 18.5L 33.1 25.5 26 59 P5, 9.5L 20.6

.


Run 17 18 20

Date Tue 17/10/2017 Tue 24/10/2017 23/10/2017

Train 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington 09.30 Bristol T M - Paddington

Loco 800 006/005. Ac from M'head 800 006/005 800008/009 Def dsl powr

Load formation 10 10 10

Recorder S C Emmett S C Emmett D Ashley

Position/ GPS 8/10, Speeds from GPS 8/10, Speeds from GPS Cloudy/damp 10/10 Y

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave Sch. m s mph ave m s mph ave

0.00 77 23 SWINDON 0.0 0 00 P3, 4L 0.0 0 00 P3, 6.5L

0.96 76 26 Highworth Jn (3) 1 53 54 30.7 (3) 1 45 55 32.9

1.51 75 62 Stratton Green 2 26 65 60.6 2 18 65 61.0

2.65 74 51 South Marston Jn 3 22 79 72.2 3 14 79 73.0

3.55 73 59 Marston East 4 01 87 83.9 3 52 87 84.3

4.91 72 30 Bourton Xovers 4 55 95 91.3 4 46 95 91.6

5.81 71 38 Shrivenham 5 28 99 97.6 5 19 100 98.0

8.38 68 73 Knighton UB 6 56 108 104.3 6 47 108 104.8

10.68 66 49 Uffington 11.0 8 12 114 110.1 11.0 8 02 114 110.8

13.45 63 67 Challow 12.0 9 37 118 116.3 12.0 9 27 118 116.7

16.94 60 28 Wantage Rd 13.0 11 22 122 119.8 13.0 11 12 122 120.4

18.39 58 72 Ardington Lane [1] 12 05 123 122.2 [1] 11 54 123 122.3

20.81 56 38 Steventon 13 16 120 122.9 13 06 120 122.8

22.04 55 20 Milton Jn 14 10 79 81.5 13 44 103 113.5

23.45 53 67 Foxhall Jn 15 14 43 69.2 14 53 47 64.5

24.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY 19.5 17 01 P2, 1.5L 47.4 19.5 16 25 P2, 3.5L 55.1

24.15 53 11 DIDCOT PKWY 21.5 19 22 21.5 17 59 3.5L

24.65 52 51 Didcot E Jn 1 06 48 27.4 1 05 48 27.8

26.14 51 12 Moreton 2 32 73 61.9 2 32 73 61.7

28.85 48 35 Cholsey 4 28 93 84.4 4 28 92 83.9

30.60 46 55 Ferry Rd 5 33 100 96.4 5 34 99 95.6

32.55 44 59 Goring 6.5 6 41 106 102.7 6.5 6 43 105 101.8

34.43 42 69 Basildon Skew [2] 7 44 109 108.2 [2] 7 46 109 107.3

35.75 41 43 Pangbourne 8 27 111 109.7 8 30 111 108.0

37.15 40 11 Westbury Lane 9 12 114 112.8 9 14 114 113.0

38.68 38 49 Tilehurst 10 03 97 108.2 10 03 110 113.6

39.48 37 65 Scours Lane 10 35 87 90.4 10 31 99 103.8

40.60 36 55 High Level Jn 13.0 11 35 46 67.3 13.0 11 30 50 68.1

41.30 35 79 READING 14.0 13 24 P10, 1.5L 23.0 14.0 13 09 P10, 2.5L 25.5

0.00 35 79 READING 16.0 15 30 1.5L 16.0 15 18 2.5L 0 00 2.5L

0.47 35 41 New Jn 1 02 46 27.8 1 09 46 24.9

0.99 35 00 Kennet Bridge 1 38 58 50.3 1 44 57 51.5

2.41 33 46 Sonning Cutting 2 54 75 67.8 3 00 75 67.5

4.96 31 02 Twyford 5.0 4 40 94 86.2 5.0 4 47 95 86.2 5 10.0 88 57.6

6.31 29 54 Ruscombe 5 30 101 98.3 5 36 101 97.9

7.95 28 03 Shottesbrooke 6 27 106 103.2 6 33 106 104.4 7 04.0 99 94.3

9.56 26 34 Waltham 7 22 109 106.3 7 27 111 107.4 8 01.0 103 101.8

11.73 24 21 Maidenhead 8.5 8 35 103/98 106.7 8.5 8 39 104/98 107.9 9 17.0 107/101dsl 102.4

13.54 22 36 Taplow 9 39 106 101.6 9 43 103 101.9 10 18.0 108 107.0

15.06 20 74 Burnham 10 28 119 112.1 10 33 117 109.2 11 08.0 120 109.8

17.55 18 35 Slough 11.5 11 40 124 123.3 11.5 11 46 122 122.9 12 20.0 125/126 124.4

19.71 16 22 Langley 12 43 124 124.7 12 49 124 124.2 13 22.0 124 125.6

21.28 14 57 Iver 13 50 52 83.5 13 34 125 125.5 14 07.0 125 125.0

22.75 13 19 West Drayton 17 22 / 20 10 sigs 14 17.2 122 122.3 14 50.0 121 123.5

25.06 10 74 Hayes 15.5 34 30 3 15.5 15 25 124 122.6 15 57.0 125 124.3

26.91 9 06 Southall 16.5 38 42 58 26.4 16.5 16 18 125 125.8 16 50.0 124 125.7

28.64 7 28 Hanwell [1] 40 38 50 53.3 [1] 17 08 125 124.3 17 40.0 125 124.2

29.45 6 43 West Ealing 41 41 45 46.9 17 31 124 126.0 18 03.5 121 124.5

30.30 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 42 46 42 46.7 17 57 118 120.8 18 31.0 115 111.3

31.75 4 19 Acton M L 18.0 44 52 42 41.4 18.0 18 47 97 102.5 19 20.0 95/25sig 106.5

33.29 2 56 Mitre Bridge 46 49 47 47.3 19 48 69 90.7

34.80 1 15 Westbourne Park [1] 48 55 38 43.4 [1] 21 41 40 48.5 22 48.0 35/38 52.8

35.84 0 12 PADDINGTON 25.5 51 52 P4, 28L 21.1 25.5 24 20 P4, 1.5L 23.5 25 26.0 P4 9L 23.6


Table H – Swindon to Paddington Run 9, the first IET from Swansea, continues from Tables E and F. Despite the late start, and by now with a following wind, it managed no more than 123 mph at Didcot. Run 11, continued from Table G and recorded by David Ashley, managed a full 125 mph before Didcot and achieved a respectable 24m 53s between Swindon and Reading. Run 13 had a similar start from Swindon but was checked before Didcot, yet still regained more than enough time to arrive early at Reading. I have squeezed in David Adam’s Run 14 here as it has the best Didcot – Reading (12m 31s) and Reading – Paddington (24m 19s) times that I have yet seen. Run 16 is the second public Up service, timed on the opening day. Despite 8½ minutes late away from Swindon, it could only pick up half-a-minute on the generous schedule to Didcot. A little more time was recovered to Reading, but only 109 mph maximum speed was achieved on diesel before a minimum of 100 at the changeover. It was checked in towards Paddington. Runs 17 was much livelier to Didcot with a maximum of 123 mph. Is a maximum of 125 mph possible for up IETs calling at Didcot? Run 17 suffered an even greater speed loss of 109 down to 98 mph on the changeover to AC, then signal problems caused a late arrival into Paddington. Run 18 was the run delayed by the Freightliner and easily the best of the bunch, although the drop from 111 to 98 mph on the changeover should be capable of improvement. An amalgam with Run 14 shows that 24 minutes is possible under the current arrangements.

An appraisal of early Class 800 IET performance Dr David Stannard The performance characteristics for the Inter-City Express Programme train sets were key elements of the detailed specification drawn up by the DfT, and the Hitachi Class 800 bimodes for the GWML were originally designed to meet this in diesel mode with MTU 1600 R80L engines set at 750 hp. Delays and deferrals of the planned electrification programme have however led to a requirement for more time to be spent operating on diesel power and, in order to maintain the current HST running schedules, agreement has been reached for modifications to the sets to utilize the full 940 hp rating of the engines – albeit quite possibly selectively and in a manner which under a reputedly expensive maintenance-orientated set operational availability contract minimizes engine wear and tear. So it was with great interest that the early service running of the Class 800 sets was monitored by RPS timers and given here is a summary technical appraisal of performance during the first few weeks of public service with set pairings 800005+06 and 800008+09 (with further details to be found on the Railway Performance Society website at www.railperf.org.uk/index/iet). Electric running from Paddington Following a running brake test and clearance of the prolonged 50 mph ‘signal-sighting’ speed limit out of Paddington, there is good acceleration which tracks well the maximum acceleration rate curve defined in the DfT specification – indeed this is such that the IETs now better the infrastructure provision and generally need to be eased briefly around Acton ahead of the increase in the maximum permitted running speed from 100 mph to the full 125 mph line limit. In comparative terms, after an initial more rapid start, IET acceleration is intermediate between

http://www.railperf.org.uk/index/iet


that of a Pendolino operating with full traction power and one running as more normally these days in eco-mode. Line speed running is generally reached by Hanwell, which is around 5 miles sooner than with 2+8 HSTs which normally only begin 125 mph cruising around West Drayton. A foretaste of high speed diesel running further down the line was given by the timing of a rare run on diesel power out of Paddington recorded at the end of the first week of IET service operation with a maximum speed on the journey to Reading whilst apparently being driven ‘flat out’ of only 118 mph. The comparative run-times out to Slough make for an interesting read, with on diesel power the IET just managing to keep to the current HST scheduled start-to-pass run-time (although by Reading it did in fact drop half a minute on the 25 min start-to-stop sectional run time which includes 1 minute of added time for recovery).

Speed at MP 7.5 following main acceleration after Ladbrooke Grove

Paddington (start) – Slough (pass) WTT scheduled run-time 13.5 min

IET (electric) HST IET (diesel)

124 mph 108 mph 95 mph

12.0 min 12.75 min 13.5 min

Mode transition Electric running was initially only available to just before Maidenhead, with then an apparently manual switch-over to diesel power carried out on a specially signed section of track designated by Network Rail. Changeovers were carried out at speed and involved typically around a minute of coasting between power modes. Switching between electric and diesel power generally resulted in a speed drop of around 10 mph to just over 110 mph, followed then by very slow reacceleration adding only a few mph back to the running speed. In the opposite direction IETs generally reached little more than 110 mph on diesel power before the transition zone following the Reading restart, but once on electric power there was then rapid acceleration up to line speed. Performance on diesel power Here a sense of disappointment really set in, in that westbound between Reading and Swindon on Brunel’s moderately graded Great Western main-line the IETs struggled to reach more than about 114 mph. Eastbound and down grade around 124 mph was being attained, but only just and it taking a long time to get there. This is again reflected in the differential run-times compared to those of HSTs, particularly noticeable of course when IETs were operating with one of the six engines out in a twin 5-car pairing (a not particularly rare occurrence in early running).

Westbound: Reading – Didcot (pass) WTT scheduled run-time 12.5 min (includes 1 min of allowances)

Eastbound: Swindon-Wantage Rd. (pass) WTT scheduled run-time 11.0 min (no recovery allowances)

HST IET (diesel) IET (eng out)

11.0 min 11.75 min 13.0 min

10.5 min 11.25 min -

Detailed modelling of all of this strongly suggests that the obvious explanation is the correct one, namely that the IETs operating as initially configured in diesel mode are under-powered for high speed running with an apparent balancing speed on level track of only around 118-119 mph. There are difficulties in assigning absolute power outputs from the modelling due to uncertainties in set weights and resistance (the resistance curve used being adapted from that determined from extensive coasting measurements of Voyagers). Allowing for auxiliary loading and assuming modern equipment efficiency factors suggests that MTU engines are certainly not set to provide more than 750 hp in standard operating mode, and indeed the tractive power at the rail may be somewhat conservatively controlled by a traction management system allowing a generous overhead for auxiliary supply.


Power enhancement? Most of the analysis carried out here was of measurements at speeds above around 50 mph. Careful examination of a set of precision timings of an IET starting off on diesel power (where the initial ‘kick’ in acceleration is most impressive, if somewhat short-lived) showed no evidence for any augmentation of power at low speeds. If additional power were to be made available one might think that this might include when sets were operating with degraded engine output. It was not at all uncommon in the early weeks of operation for an engine to be out on one set of a double set combination (with the pairing of sets 08+09 seemingly particularly troublesome) but in general the performance could be well modelled with a power factor of 83% (=5/6) rather than perhaps something like 92% which might be expected if the two remaining working engines of the affected set were up-rated to provide at least partial compensation. Better things to come? There have been suggestions made that on introduction into service the Class 800s were operating on diesel power with engines set to provide their full 940 hp rating. There was no evidence for anything like this level of power output (which would give better rather than worse performance than that of the 40 year old HSTs that they are replacing) in the first few weeks of service running. A possibility is however that the early-delivered sets may not have received the modifications required to permit this (with it being understood that in addition to changes to the engine management software, greater capacity fuel tanks need fitting and changes made to the heat-dissipation resistor banks used for rheostatic braking). Later sets (and there are rumours about factory modifications made on 800016 onwards) may thus perhaps in due course have better performance – time will tell. And time-keeping? IETs running under electric power are game changers for the GWML and will enable significant improvements to be made to journey times. As presently configured on diesel power however it is apparent that current net HST sectional running times can at best be only just about met, and a timetable cannot be in any way robust which depends on the full availability of recovery allowances and presumed shorter station dwell times (from the use of power-operated doors) for on-time running. As electrification spreads westwards to Thingley Junction on the Bristol route and to Cardiff for South Wales services then there will admittedly be less of a requirement to run in diesel mode at high line speeds, but re-acceleration from mid-speeds after any checks and after station calls both at the end of the day rely on sheer traction power to get up to line speed and it will be interesting to see what sort of changes there might be if improvements are made. Will there be for instance increased general baseline power available or will sophisticated traction control software be used to deliver a power boost when somehow deemed to be required? Interesting times ahead. But really, we are talking about next generation trains here! After weeks of solid computer analysis (including production of the comparison IET and Voyager acceleration curves given on the website) I finally managed to find time to ride on an IET in mid-November. The Swansea-bound lunchtime service that I was travelling on departed Reading as booked on the fast line but running two minutes late. Somehow however it didn’t seem at all right that the XC Voyager service to Manchester which left on schedule a minute after us then quite literally shot past us before Pangbourne at the 100 mph line speed on the Down relief line travelling around 9 mph faster than the IET. I only caught a brief glimpse of the XC driver’s face but could swear that it was covered with a broad grin! Revenge came however eventually just under 5 minutes and around 8 miles later when the IET had built up


speed to 110 mph (whereby of course an HST would have been romping along cruising at the full 125 mph line speed). Is this really progress?

IET - LOG ANALYSIS David Ashley

The initial IET logs have been analysed to see how diesel operations at the initial power levels have reflected on overall performance. The analysis is based, as with similar ones on Mass Timing Days, on calculating “standard” times on unrestricted sections and comparing them with actual times and the WTT. We have confined our analysis to the diesel-operated sections west of Reading. This is because, westbound, any time saved - and it could be up to two minutes - will be dissipated in extra dwell time at Reading (There is no indication that the timetable will change during 2018). Eastbound, there will be little opportunity to recover time, as running times equate to WTT times. WTT The initial claims were that the overall timings could be achieved using IETs under diesel, although there was some uncertainty whether this related to sectional running times only, or also included all the recoveries as well. There is certainly no evidence of IETs achieving HST WTT times (apart from Cardiff to Bristol Parkway). However, when recoveries are included, they are able to meet the timetable, but leaving less time for other delays and speed restrictions en-route. However, based on our recent experiences on our Mass Timing Days on both the ECML and WCML, this is not unusual, as we found that deficiencies in the WTTs were sometimes wiping out all recoveries before other delays were able to be covered. This may be an indication that ECML and WCML WTT times are based on optimum driving or that driving has deteriorated in recent years, but not apparently on the GWML where there can still be evidence of DAS cruising with HSTs, even when there is no recovery in the timetable before the next stop. Certainly, some initial services were well-stocked with recovery time: the 1529 Swansea omits the normal Didcot stop but still maintains the standard schedule, so it builds up a total of 13½ minutes recovery to Paddington – 11½ minutes east of Swindon Efficient Running Most trains were running in the 97%-102% corridor of performance, although there were a few outliers: 1345 Paddington on 13th November (102.4%), 0930 Bristol on 13th November (102.2%), and 1900 Paddington on 20th October (90.3%) mainly due to very cautious arrival and departures at station stops. Trains running with an engine out seemed to return an efficiency of around 95% Dwell Time There is little evidence that major savings are being achieved in reduced dwell times – in spite of most station stops being allowed at least two minutes. This may be due to passenger unfamiliarity with the new arrangements, and certainly due to the problems for the passenger with selective door opening at stations with short platforms. Signal checks and TSRs


Whilst there were few delays due to TSRs, perhaps surprisingly, 75% of trains were affected by signal checks/stops, and these can cause significant problems. The poor acceleration of the IET above 50mph, compared with an HST, together with the inability of the trains to run at line speed on most sections, means that once a train has reduced its speed for any reason, it will probably continue to lose time until the next stop. Although diesel running on some sections is a transitional problem until full electrification is complete, it could cause difficulties if these units are operating away from the electrified main lines, on secondary routes with frequent stops and speed restrictions – either in formulating the timetable or in handling TSRs and signal checks. Note: Not all the runs analysed here are shown in Sean Emmett’s article, although they are available from the IET section of the RPS web-site Conclusions At the current levels of power availability, there could be significant problems in achieving a punctual timetable. Whilst some of the time deficiency can be absorbed with recoveries, there does seem to be a disproportionate amount of signal checks on the route, on which the time lost is compounded by poor accelerating away from them. Based on our limited data, and the fact that we are only monitoring part of the journey, arrival punctuality is nothing to be proud of, but it is hoped that arrangements are implemented to improve the performance of the diesels until full electrification is completed.

Punctuality Count %

Early 6 25

T 1 29

1-2 2 38

3-5 5 58

6-10 6 83

11+ 4 100

24

Based on this, our own data was better than average. It is also worrying, that the total GWR HST punctuality figures for the first four weeks period was 35% RT and 78% PPM, which was also in line with the first two IET diagrams. (82% in second four weeks compares with IETs at 74%)

FREQUENCY 1st 2 wks % 2nd 2 wks % 3rd 2 wks % 4th 2 wks % Total %

Time 14 14 30 30 34 34 19 19 97 24

1-5 late 37 51 36 66 32 66 32 51 137 59

6-10 late 27 78 12 78 12 78 18 69 69 76

11-15 late 8 86 5 83 5 83 11 80 29 83

16-29 late 7 93 13 96 8 91 12 92 40 93

30+ late 3 96 2 98 2 93 6 98 13 96

Cancelled 4 100 2 100 7 100 2 100 15 100

100 100 100 100 400

So, there is no indication that IET performance appears significantly worse than the current HST activity, but it cannot be denied that the poorer acceleration of the IET will cause a deterioration. But it does beg the question of why HST punctuality is so poor, particularly with the perception that there is excess recovery in the schedules. One reason could be that there do seem to be regular problems with the signalling systems on the busiest section of their route between Reading and Paddington. It would be interesting to know how this problem is being addressed. Also, there are some fairly tight turnaround times at the London end which could

In trying to gauge how representative our data is, a survey of the first two diagrams over the first eight weeks of operation has been carried out (see below). It can be seen that the “on-time” punctuality throughout has been poor, particularly in the first and final periods. However, the <10-minute punctuality was relatively stable throughout, until it dipped in the final fortnight. Consequently, there is no indication of any improvement as the new rolling stock settles in


have knock-on effects, particularly as GWR tend not to confine HST sets to specific routes, which could “spread the misery”. It looks like there could be fairly interesting times on the GWR in the coming months. .

IET LOG Analysis

Down Date 13.11.17 16.10.17 20.10.17 3.11.17 16.10.17 13.11.17 26.10.17 23.10.17 18.10.17 13.11.17 25.10.17 16.10.17

Train 1730 0700 1900 1900 1900 1345 1411 1345 1345 1145 1145 1145

PAD PAD PAD PAD PAD PAD RDG PAD PAD PAD PAD PAD

Unit 800 011/013 008/009 006/005 006/005 008/009 008/009 008/009 006/005 006/005 005 008/009 008/009

Load 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10/501/520 5 10 10

Recorder SCE SCE SCE SCE SCE SCE DA DA Dad Jhe IU SCE

Effcy 100.0 97.2 90.3 101.7 99.5 102.4 94.2 99.2 97.1 100.3 98.9 97.4

Def Dsl

Monitored SWI SWI RDG RDG RDG SWI RDG RDG RDG RDG RDG RDG

BRI BRI BRI BRI BRI CDF BPW CDF BPW BPW CDF CDF

Saved time

Early start 00:00:30

Dwell time 00:00:06 00:00:29 00:02:00 00:01:43

Efficiency 00:01:06 00:01:18 00:00:09

WTT recovery 00:04:00 00:04:00 00:05:30 00:05:30 00:05:30 00:04:30 00:05:00 00:09:00 00:05:00 00:06:00 00:09:30 00:09:30

00:04:06 00:04:00 00:05:30 00:07:05 00:05:30 00:05:48 00:05:00 00:09:30 00:07:00 00:07:52 00:09:30 00:09:30

Lost time

Late start 00:05:00 00:05:30 00:02:24 00:03:09 00:00:26 00:15:54 00:04:00 00:05:52 00:00:01

Effic/Eco drvng 00:00:01 00:01:01 00:06:53 00:00:20 00:03:03 00:00:41 00:01:30 00:00:57 00:02:13

Dwell time 00:04:11 00:03:19 00:06:12 00:01:52 00:01:02 00:03:48 00:03:27 00:00:52

TSR 00:08:58

sigs 00:00:51 00:00:19 00:01:30 00:00:00 00:04:22 00:00:36 00:01:31 00:06:17

Insuff Recov 00:00:40 00:00:10 00:00:42 00:00:42 00:00:42 00:01:34 00:01:41 00:02:38 00:01:41 00:01:41 00:03:08 00:03:08

00:06:32 00:11:11 00:14:48 00:03:51 00:12:02 00:03:26 00:21:40 00:07:07 00:12:09 00:06:17 00:14:55 00:12:31

Late arrival 00:02:26 00:07:11 00:09:18 00:06:32 00:16:40 00:05:09 00:05:25 00:03:01

Early arrival 00:03:14 00:02:22 00:02:23 00:01:35

Up Date 23.10.17 13.11.17 24.10.17 17.10.17 16.10.17 16.10.17 23.10.17 31.10.17 26.10.17 6.11.17 23.10.17 16.10.17

Train 0930 0930 0930 0930 0930 0600 1055 1055 1055 1529 1529 1529

BRI BRI BRI BRI BRI BRI CDF CDF CDF SWA SWA SWA

Unit 800 009/008 005 005/006 005/006 009/008 005/006 005/006 005/006 009/008 009/011 009/008 009/008

Load 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Recorder Jhe SCE SCE SCE SCE SCE Jhe Jhe Dad SCE DA SCE

Effcy 93.6 102.2 99.6 96.3 97.2 100.4 96.8 101.7 98.7 100.9 101.7 99.1

Def dsl

Monitored BRI BRI BRI BRI BRI BRI SWI CDF BPW NEW CDF CDF

Monitored RDG RDG RDG RDG RDG SWI RDG BPW RDG RDG RDG RDG

Saved time

Early start

Dwell time 00:00:16 00:01:08 00:00:40

Efficiency 00:01:24 00:00:08 00:00:33 00:00:36 00:01:22

WTT recovery 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:01:00 00:04:00 00:01:00 00:05:00 00:08:30 00:08:30 00:08:30

Excess Recov 00:00:10

00:07:00 00:08:24 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:07:00 00:01:24 00:04:00 00:01:43 00:05:00 00:10:14 00:10:32 00:08:30

Lost time

Late start 00:00:30 00:01:00 00:26:00 00:08:10 00:05:00 00:12:00 00:00:30 00:02:00 00:08:30

Effic/Eco drvng 00:04:29 00:00:16 00:02:33 00:01:56 00:00:58 00:00:41 00:00:44

Dwell time 00:02:35 00:00:43 00:00:30 00:00:57 00:00:15 00:00:21 00:04:36 00:05:19

TSR 00:00:21

Door problems 00:16:26

sigs 00:02:44 00:04:53 00:04:05 00:00:39 00:06:27 00:00:03 00:00:35 00:05:13 00:03:18 00:01:08

Insuff Recov 00:04:04 00:04:04 00:04:04 00:04:04 00:04:04 00:00:10 00:01:24 00:02:29 00:04:03 00:04:08 00:04:08

00:13:52 00:08:57 00:09:08 00:08:16 00:14:24 00:26:13 00:10:47 00:05:21 00:36:47 00:09:46 00:09:26 00:20:11

Late arrival 00:06:52 00:00:33 00:02:08 00:01:16 00:07:24 00:24:49 00:06:47 00:03:38 00:31:47 00:11:41

Early arrival 00:00:28 00:01:06


STOP PRESS – Another target missed? David Ashley

At this point, dear reader, I was going to use the final two pages to present the first logs covering the introduction of electrification to Didcot behind the Class 800 bi-modes. Unfortunately, as with so many milestones associated with the GWR IEP, this is not going to be possible. It was widely understood that electrification to Didcot would be introduced from 2nd January 2018, and whilst Class 387s were running happily to Didcot, Class 800s were still transitioning to/from diesel at Taplow/Maidenhead. This is thought to be due to problems with axle counters in the Sonning area, which affects the Class 800s. This is not to suggest that performance is suffering: the driver of the 0900 Bristol-Paddington must have just discovered the Class 800 DAS system and didn’t exceed 100mph all the way from Reading to Paddington, and still arrived punctually. Similarly, the 1056 Cardiff did not exceed 116mph under electric, but arrived three minutes late. On the other hand, drivers on the down line were transitioning to diesel at 110mph, which was something that was alluded to a month or so ago, and which caused problems in increasing speeds west of Maidenhead due to the lost momentum.

Date 02/01/2018 miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave

Train 1421 Paddington-Worcester F St 20.15 56 19 Culham 16 31 87/29 84.9

Loco 800011 22.38 58 37 Radley (4.5) 20 20 30/66 35.0

Load formation 5 24.96 61 04 Kennington J 23.5 23 01 57 57.9

Recorder D Ashley 26.49 62 46 Hinksey (1.5) 25 25 24/ss 15s 38.1

Position/ GPS 27.41 63 40 Oxford 28.5 29 19 14.2

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave 0.00 63 40 Oxford 30.5 34 01 3L/62

0.00 0 12 PADDINGTON 0.0 0 00 P10 1L 40/30 2.88 66 30 Wolvercot J 4.0 4 06 40 42.1

1.04 1 15 Westbourne Pk 2 10 42/81 28.7 3.81 67 25 Yarnton 5 16 55/80 48.2

4.09 4 19 Acton M L 6.5 5 01 49/25x 64.2 7.00 70 40 Hanborough 8.5 8 42 55.7

5.54 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 6 58 73 44.6 0.00 70 40 Hanborough 10.0 10 17

6.39 6 43 West Ealing 7 36 90 80.5 1.06 71 45 Combe 1 44 59 36.8

7.20 7 28 Hanwell 8 05 101 100.9 4.64 75 11 Finstock 4 34 84/88 75.7

8.93 9 06 Southall 8.5 9 03 115 107.1 6.25 76 60 Charlbury 6.5 6 25 52.3

10.78 10 74 Hayes 9.5 9 58 124 121.1 0.00 76 60 Charlbury 8.0 7 43 /80

13.09 13 19 West Drayton 11 05 125 124.3 3.68 80 34 Ascott 4.0 3 52 75/73 57.0

14.56 14 57 Iver 11 48 124 123.5 4.96 81 57 Shipton 4 55 76 73.6

16.13 16 22 Langley 12 35 111 119.7 6.44 83 15 Bruern 6 04 81 77.0

18.29 18 35 SLOUGH 14.5 15 04 52.2 7.99 84 59 Kingham 8.0 7 46 54.7

0.00 18 35 SLOUGH 16.0 16 24 0.00 84 59 Kingham 9.5 9 18

2.49 20 74 Burnham 2 20 99 64.0 2.66 87 32 Adlestrop 3 05 77/90 51.8

4.01 22 36 Taplow 3 13 106/109 103.6 7.01 91 60 Moreton/Marsh 8.0 6 50 69.6

5.83 24 21 Maidenhead 5.0 4 14 106 107.0 0.00 91 60 Moreton/Marsh 9.5 8 08 /70

7.99 26 34 Waltham 5 28 107 105.2 1.97 93 58 Aston Magna 2 24 68 49.4

9.60 28 03 Shottesbrooke 6 22 109/108 107.5 3.20 94 76 Blockley 3 25 76/73 72.3

11.24 29 54 Ruscombe 7 16 109 109.2 5.21 96 77 Campden 5 02 74/75 74.7

12.59 31 02 Twyford 8.0 8 00 110 110.5 7.45 99 16 Mickleton 6 51 74/76 73.9

15.14 33 46 Sonning Cutt [1] 9 40 90 91.8 9.97 101 58 Honeybourne 10.0 9 30 57.2

17.55 35 79 READING 13.5 12 36 49.3 0.00 101 58 Honeybourne 11.5 10 59

0.00 35 79 READING 15.5 14 20 2.65 104 30 Littleton 2 18 75 69.1

2.63 38 49 Tilehurst 3 00 78 52.5 4.96 106 55 Evesham 6.5 5 21 45.5

5.55 41 43 Pangbourne 5 01 94 87.0 0.00 106 55 Evesham 11.5 16 45 6L

8.75 44 59 Goring 6.0 7 00 102 96.8 3.13 109 65 Fladbury 3 18 83/91 56.8

12.45 48 35 Cholsey [1] 9 06 107 105.7 5.95 112 51 Pershore 6.0 5 43 70.1

15.16 51 12 Moreton 11 57 26sigs 57.1 0.00 112 51 Pershore 7.5 7 02

17.84 53 74 Didcot NJ 14.0 14 49 72 56.0 2.27 114 73 Stoulton 2 50 72/77 48.2

19.11 55 16 Appleford 15 47 83 79.1 4.69 117 26 Norton J 5.5 6 12 19/st 1m/70 43.0

7.86 120 40 WORCESTER 10.0 12 47 7L 28.9


Date 02/01/2018 miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave

Train 1726 Worcester F St-Padd 0.00 70 40 Hanborough 8.0 7 05 /82

Loco 800011 3.19 67 25 Yarnton [1] 3 15 77 58.8

Load formation 5 4.13 66 30 Wolvercot J (9.5) 4 15 38/62/st 8m 56.3

Recorder D Ashley 7.00 63 40 Oxford 19.0 17 21 13.2

miles M C Timing Point Sch. m s mph ave 0.00 63 40 Oxford 21.0 19 22

120 40 WORCESTER 0.0 0 00 /62/10sig 5.04 58 37 Radley 6 11 87/89/81 48.9

3.18 117 26 Norton J 3.5 5 25 45 35.2 7.26 56 19 Culham [1] 7 46 82 84.3

5.59 114 73 Stoulton 7 27 82/93 71.2 8.30 55 16 Appleford 8 33 75 79.5

7.86 112 51 Pershore 7.5 9 54 55.7 9.58 53 74 Didcot NJ 9.5 9 45 61/47/58x 63.8

0.00 112 51 Pershore 9.0 11 01 14.96 48 35 Cholsey 14 30 89 68.1

2.83 109 65 Fladbury 2 56 79/87 57.8 18.66 44 59 Goring 16.0 16 48 101 96.5

5.95 106 55 Evesham 7.0 6 03 60.2 21.86 41 43 Pangbourne [2] 18 40 108/110 102.9

0.00 106 55 Evesham 8.5 8 12 24.79 38 49 Tilehurst 20 16 99 109.7

2.31 104 30 Littleton 3 15 74/75 42.7 27.41 35 79 READING 23.5 23 57 42.8

4.96 101 58 Honeybourne 6.0 5 40 65.8 0.00 35 79 READING 25.5 25 40

0.00 101 58 Honeybourne 7.5 7 00 4.96 31 02 Twyford 5.0 4 36 93 64.7

2.52 99 16 Mickleton 3 24 60 44.6 6.31 29 54 Ruscombe 5 27 99 95.3

4.76 96 77 Campden 5 28 69/76 65.0 7.95 28 03 Shottesbrooke 6 25 103 101.6

6.77 94 76 Blockley 7 06 74 73.9 9.56 26 34 Waltham 7 19 108/110 107.5

8.00 93 58 Aston Magna 8 11 65/71 67.8 11.73 24 21 Maidenhead 8.5 8 30 108/105 109.6

9.97 91 60 Moreton/Marsh 11.0 10 30 51.2 13.54 22 36 Taplow 9 32 110 105.2

0.00 91 60 Moreton/Marsh 12.5 12 01 17.55 18 35 SLOUGH 12.5 13 27 61.5

4.35 87 32 Adlestrop 4 04 89/90 64.2 0.00 18 35 SLOUGH 14.0 14 30

7.01 84 59 Kingham 7.0 6 34 63.9 2.16 16 22 Langley 2 08 92 60.8

0.00 84 59 Kingham 8.5 8 07 3.73 14 57 Iver 3 00 109 108.2

1.55 83 15 Bruern 1 59 67/74 46.9 5.20 13 19 West Drayton 3 48 120/125 110.6

2.99 81 60 Shipton 4.0 4 02 42.1 7.51 10 74 Hayes 6.0 4 55 127 124.3

0.00 81 60 Shipton 5.5 5 16 9.36 9 06 Southall 7.0 5 52 91/74tsr 116.8

1.33 80 34 Ascott 2.0 2 47 48/81 28.6 11.09 7 28 Hanwell 7 09 98 80.6

5.00 76 60 Charlbury 6.5 6 44 55.8 11.90 6 43 West Ealing 7 35 104 112.5

0.00 76 60 Charlbury 8.0 15 20 12.75 5 55 Ealing Bdwy 8 06 99/95 98.7

1.61 75 11 Finstock 2 04 69 46.8 14.20 4 19 Acton M L 9.0 9 02 97 93.2

5.19 71 45 Combe 4 36 97 84.7 17.25 1 15 Westbrne Pk [2](1) 11 58 41 62.4

6.25 70 40 Hanborough 6.5 6 05 43.0 18.29 0 12 PADDINGTON 17.0 14 53 21.3

A change that was achieved was the operation of one diagram behind a single Class 800 on the Cotswolds line: the 0652 and1421 Paddington and 0954 Great Malvern and 1726 Worcester Foregate St. Whilst most of the problems associated with the diesel operation of the 800s on the main line are only temporary, the Cotswolds Line Class 800s will operate on diesel indefinitely. I was concerned that the deficiencies in diesel power at medium and high speeds would cause punctuality problems. This does not seem to be the case, and the trains seem to be reaching the first timing point after a stop up to half a minute earlier than a HST due to the initial boost, and that seems to absorb deficiencies in speeds later on. What does seem to be a problem is the intensive service on the line: there are three services over the Norton Junction-Evesham 11-mile single line section between 1559 and 1636, and my trains were affected in that section (both ways) and from Charlbury to Wolvercote J. The inadequacy of Oxford station was also well demonstrated. So, while there is some hope for improvement, it seems that GWR’s journey to the sunlit uplands continues, and there is still a long way to go


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MILEPOST III 28 - Rail Perfthat compared members experiences closely with the DfT IEP specification....

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