Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Themostfamouscrosses thelongest

ByCedric Johns

THE RailwayTouringCompany(RTC)
marked 52years sincethe endofs team
traction on theSouthern Re gion on
July 9,by runningaday excursion with
an appropriate locomotive.
Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No.35018
British India Linehauled the‘The End
of SouthernSteam’fromLondon
Victoria toWeymouthand back.This
wasNo. 35018’ssecond visit along
the Dorset coast sinceits heavy
overhaulat Carnforthroughlyayear
ago.The Pacific ’s first runwas made a
fewdaysearlier whenheading RTC’s
‘BournemouthBelle’onJuly6.
TheappearanceofBritish India Line
down south sawSouthernenthusiasts
turn out in numberstosee the engine
passing down theSouthWest Main Line
twiceinamatter of days.
The‘Belle’, of course,took the
Bournemouthline atWorting Junction
andcontinued along throughits
old haunts–Winchester,Eastleigh,
Southampton, Brockenhurst and the
New Forest.
TheJuly 9tripheadedforSalisbury,
wherethe usual crowdturned out
at platform4toget aclose-upof
the engine,the firstofi ts classto be
redesigned andrebuilt (1956)
at Eastleigh, outshoppedminus

its air smoothcasing.

DepartingSalisbury, the train faced

the long climb fromWilton South up

to Semington, beforedashing down

throughGillingham (Dorset)enr oute

forTemplecombe andYeovil Jun ction,

where the enginewent inside theYeovil

Railway Centre’s yard forturning and

servicing, the traincontinuing diesel-

hauledtoWeymouth.

The‘Merchant’then travelled

downtoWeymouthtender-firstto

couple onforthe returntoWaterloo.

DepartingWeymouth 47 minutes late,

the trainwas60minutes down off

Bournemouth, beforeawater stopwas

madeat Brockenhurst.

Givenaclear road and determination

on thefootplate, the 4-6-2produced a

fine performance,arrivingWaterloo

just 13 minuteslate.

The‘DorsetCoast Express’also runs

fromLondonVictoria to Bournemouth

andWeymouth onAugust 8and 22,

plus September 5.

Other forthcomingRTCtoursinclude

‘The CotswoldVenturer ’onSaturda y,

August 24, which is dueto run from

LondonPaddington toWorcester,

callingat Sl ough, Reading and Didcot.

ByRobin Jones

THE combination of theworld’ smost
famous steam locomotiveand the
longestmasonryviaductacrossavalley
in theUKmade forsomething of a
carnivalatmosphere. Crowds gathered
as A3 No.60103FlyingScotsman
headedthe RailwayTouringCompany’s
sell-out‘TheYorkshireman’fromEaling
Broadway to York across the 1275-yard-
long Grade II listed Harringworth
Viaduct on Saturday, June 29.
Afarme ropened his fieldoverlooking
the northern end of the viaductas
it en ters Rutland,England’ssmallest
county,sos ightseerscould parkthere.
Scores took up the offerand parked in
returnfor donations to Seaton parish
church, beforepositioningthemselves
in the fieldbelowtotake picturesin
unbrokensunshine.
Thespecial passedoverthe 82-arch
structurebetween Corbyand Manton
Junctionshortly before10am.There
wasnorepeatofp revious incidents
of lineside trespasswhichhad
hamperedFlyingScotsmantrips
in recent months.Thetriparrived
at itsdestination on time,again
without incident.
Many of th ose whowatched the
train stayedontoattend the nearby
Harringworth villagefete.

Theviaductismainly usedfor freight,

but in 2009,EastMidlandsTrains

beganasingle daily passenger service

between Melton Mowbray and St

Pancras viaCorby.The line is also used

as adiversionaryroutefor th eMidland

Main Line.

Builtin1878 by contrac torLucas&

Aird, the viaductcrosses theWelland

Valley and its flood plain. Each arch

havinga40ftspan, the structure

neededabout 30 million bricks,most

of whichwerefired on site. Several

of the 3500workers died during

its construction.

NationalCollection-ownedA3PacificNo.60103FlyingScotsmancrossesHarringworthViadu ct,alsoknownasWellandor

SeatonViadu ct,onJ une29.ROBINJONES

Forthefirsttimesince1964, MerchantNavyNo. 35018BritishIndiaLinepassesthroug hsouthernEngland,att heheadof

RailwayTouringCompany’s ‘TheEndofSouthernSteam’charteronJuly6.ThePacificworkedth etripthroughout–from

LondonVictoriato Weymouthandre turn.SeenpassingtheiconicBattledownflyovernearBasingstoke,thehotmorning

robbedthelocomotive ofan ysmoke.PETERHOLLANDS

Southern steamrememberedthankstoRTC daytrip

58 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway

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