7029 Clun Castle stalls on Hemerdon Bank with Z48 'The Great Western'! + Dawlish & GWML | 10&11/5/24
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- Today's video is of WR Castle Class 4-6-0 7029 Clun Castle on arguably the most exciting tour of 2024! 1Z48, or "The Great Western" was a 60th anniversary rerun of the 1964 Ian Allen special of the same name where 7029 set the record for the fastest steam hauled Plymouth to Bristol journey; the record was beaten as recently as 2014 by her sister Castle 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. It was also 120 years since 3440 City of Truro hit 100mph coming down Wellington Bank.
2024's Z48 would traverse much of the old GWR (Western Region for BR folks!) network around the Midlands, London and the South West, where Castle class steam locomotives used to operate! Beginning on Friday morning at Birmingham Snow Hill, the old main GWR Birmingham station, it would head south via Tyseley, Leamington and Banbury, splitting off to Oxford at Aynho Junction and joining Brunel's 1841 Great Western Mainline at Didcot. 7029 steamed to Bristol Temple Meads via Swindon and Bristol Parkway, taking a break. She then ran unassisted via Taunton, Exeter, the Dawlish Sea Wall and over the South Devon Banks to an overnight stop in Plymouth. Saturday morning saw the train leave Plymouth, unassisted, to again tackle the fierce climbs of the South Devon Banks, returning via Friday's route to Bristol. Once arrived at Bristol Temple Meads, she took another break before running nonstop along the length of the Great Western Mainline, nicknamed 'Brunel's Billiard Table' via Bath, Swindon and Reading to London Paddington. After that, the part that mattered was over and diesel dragged the tour back to Birmingham.
I started out from my local on Friday at 07:50, having travelled from the North East the day before. Firstly I headed to Birmingham Snow Hill to get some stills of 7029 in Platform 2. What a pity Birmingham Snow Hill doesn't look like it did in GWR days! Then I headed to Moor Street to catch her getting underway and powering through Platform 1. I then caught the 8:42 to Cheltenham, changing, and arriving in Filton Abbey Wood on the outskirts of Bristol at 10:48. Because the tour didn't do the route I initially assumed from Swindon to Bristol, my planned shot at Box Tunnel sadly wasn't doable so I compromised by doing Constable Road overbridge near Lockleaze on Filton Bank. I witnessed 7029 coasting down the incline, gathering pace approaching Bristol Temple Meads. After this I caught the 14:09 to Bristol Temple Meads, changing for the 14:45 XC service. On board it was nice to have a catch up with some mates. At Exeter St Davids I changed for the 15:58 service to Dawlish where I set up on a bridge overlooking the sea wall. 7029 came through, looking fabulous in the sun and opening up after a speed restriction at Dawlish. After that I headed down into Plymouth for an overnight stay.
An early morning start saw me get to Hemerdon Bank, the tough 1 in 42 climb out of Plymouth from Plympton to Hemerdon Summit. With 7029 climbing unassisted on load 9, this would be a real test for the locomotive! Despite giving it her best, she stalled due to vegetation getting tangled in the brakes on the coaches. Eventually 47773 came to her rescue and gave the train a shove to complete the ascent, now 30 minutes late. Thankfully the drama had no lasting consequences for the tour, so with the 11:14 off Plymouth and then the 14:00 off Temple Meads dropping us at our next locations, we headed East. I chose Grove Wick Crossing near Wantage Road between Swindon and Didcot. Here 7029 appeared in the very distance, roaring along her old racetrack at speed (77mph). Afterwards I had to race to London, huge thanks to Ben for giving me a lift back to Didcot! I got the next available IET straight to London Paddington, arriving at 18:14. Shown are a few closing shots of 7029 simmering under the roof of London Paddington station for the first time since 1965; where castles like her were once an everyday appearance. With that, Avanti West Coast took us homeward.
I want to thank everyone involved in making this tour such a joy to chase! Thank you to Vintage Trains, Network Rail, the train operators, the crew of 7029 and the mighty Castle herself for pulling off such an epic feat despite late release of timings which was a headache and the hiccup at Hemerdon. Thanks to the weather, and to my company: @blackcountrysteamvideos8021, @LiamsLocos, @adtrainvids9569, @GreatBritishRailways1, @themodster, @danielstrainsukofficial9133, @TheSouthernerYTChannel, @MarshSteamVideosTM, @FullSteamAhead, @SpeedToTheWest, @harrymorris5748, @steamtothewest-trecanrail and @westcountrysteamvideos. Thanks also to my secondary planner - she's helped me a lot! This tour was a perfect package of authentic, unique and enjoyable! I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:03 Birmingham Snow Hill
00:30 Birmingham Moor Street
01:20 Filton Bank
02:34 Dawlish
05:34 Hemerdon
11:26 Grove Wick Crossing
12:34 London Paddington
13:29 Thanks for Watching
Superbly filmed mate!
Was an absolute pleasure to spend the 2 days with you! We’d had the weather for it for sure too
Liam
Thank you very much mate! Yes it was a fantastic couple of days with everyone and the weather was a right treat. Regards, Dan
I managed to track that tour down and I saw it at dawlish via the railcam and this is my first time seeing that headboard Z48
That's great Scott, I hope you enjoyed it! Regards, Dan
Dan, You had quite an adventure and ended with an excellent video. Regards, John
Cheers John, I certainly covered quite some mileage! I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Regards, Dan
Great video as always! I was on Langstone Rock yesterday. A trip down memory lane for me and Clun making up time made it even better!
Thank you very much! Hopefully you enjoyed that, I've seen a few videos from there and it looked good! Regards, Dan
I was also on Langstone, nearly got seriously bowled by 1V44, the footage is on my channel.
@@thatlocomotiveguy it was a close one!
Great video as always mate, was good to see you as well, love the shot speeding along the GWML! Kind regards Tom
Cheers mate! That was my favourite, and deffo good to see you and everyone. Regards, Dan
Nicely filmed mate. Another good weekend 👌🏻
Cheers Luke, fantastic couple of days as always. Looking forward to the next one as always. Regards, Dan
Brilliant video! I saw her at Drayton Green.
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed that. Regards, Dan
Hi.
Well captured indeed.
Would you be interested in having your shots included in a 'Steam Driver’s Eye View' project we are working on?
Kind regards
David
Hi David, yes I'd be happy to have some of my shots featured on your production! Which clips are you looking to include? Regards, Dan
Well done video :)
Thank you very much! Regards, Dan
12:36 this is where 60 years ago pendennis castle came to Paddington to haul the tour out of this station going to Plymouth
Indeed she did Scott. Regards, Dan
@@crunchynutsteamfilms5043yeah and unfortunately she never made it to Plymouth she was removed from the train at westbury due to fire on the metal fire bars
First castle to had that headboard 60 years ago was 4079 pendennis castle and 40 years later city of Truro did the tour to celebrate a centenary anniversary of its world record
10 years later it was nunney castle and the earl on that tour
and now it’s clun castles turn for that headboard for this year
Yes, the Z48 reporting number was special to see. Regards, Dan
@@crunchynutsteamfilms5043indeed