No.44871 arrivesat Read ingwiththeSteamDreams’9.15amLondonVictoria to Worcest erShrubHillMay 23.
DONBENN‘BlackFive ’No. 44871roarsuptoSapp ertonTunnelpassingFramptonManselingloriousevenin glightast hesun
dippedtowardstheapproachingbankofcloudonMay23. The5MT wasahauling aSteamDreamsexcu rsionfrom
LondontoWorcesterandreturn.ROBERTFALCONERDate Saturday, February23, 2019
Train 7.10amEuston to Carlisle
Loco AL6 class 86/2Bo-BoELNo. 86259LesRoss
Load 10 coaches,378 tons tare395 tons gross
Recorder DonBenn
Position 1st coach
Weather Mistmiles sched mins secs speed
Nuneaton0.00 0.00 00 00 5mns la te
MP 100 2.91 03 02 93
Atherstone 5.25 04 23 92½
MP 105 7.91 06 16 92/90
Polesworth 9.44 07 15 93/94
Armitage Jct11.95 9.00 08 52 93
Tamworth TV 12.97 09 30 92½/94½
MP 112 14.91 10 48 92/89
LichfieldTV 19.20 14.00 13 35 92½
MP 118 20.91 14 45 91/94
Armitage 24.02 16 40 93
Rugeley 27.22 18.00 18 50 84
Colwich Jct30.01 21.00 20 52 65*/90
Staffor d36.47 27.00 25 54 75*/96
MP 136 38.91 27 34 94
Norton Bridge 41.77 31.00 29 30 92½
MP 141 43.91 30 49 91
StandonBridge 46.32 32 19 97
MP 145 47.91 33 21 95½
Whitmore50.49 34 57 91
Madeley 53.12 38.00 36 40 97½
MP 154 56.91 39 02 95
sigs 14*
Crewe61.01 47.00 44 19 2¼ mins late
starttos topaverage: 82.6 mph*brakesors peedrestrictionDate Thursday, May23, 2019
Train 9.15amLondonVictoria to Worcester Shrub Hill
Loco ‘BlackFive ’4-6-0 No.44871
Load 9coaches,315 tons tare, 340 tons full
Driver RayPoole
Fireman MathewEarnsh aw
Recorder DonBenn
Position 9thcoach
Weather Sunnyspellsmiles sched mins secs speed
Cheltenham 0.00 0.00 00 00 1¼ mins early
HighStreet LC 0.46 01 46 37
Morris HillLC 1.69 03 19 58½
Swindon RoadLC 2.41 04 03 63
Cleeve3.80 05 18 64½
TredingtonLC 5.19 06 35 63½
Fiddington 6.23 07 34 64
HomedownLC 6.63 07 57 65½
Ashchurch 7.26 9.00 08 33 63
NorthwayLC 7.78 09 03 62/61
Bredon 9.45 10 39 62½
Eckington 12.15 13 18 58½
Deffor d13.19 14 32 61½
Pirton LC 16.08 17 10 60
WadboroughLC 16.70 17 49 54*
Abbotswood Jct17.98 20.00 19 48 30*
Norton Jct18.78 22.00 21 18 33
M5 19.49 22 22 46/50
A4440 20.11 23 05 48½
Worcester Shrub Hill21.98 31.00 27 27 4¾ mins early
*brakesors peedrestrictionTABLETHREE:NUNEATONTOCREWETABLETWO:CHELTENHAMTOWORCESTERexcept forashortstretch of 1-in-779 up afterCleeve.
Thenoise from No.44871 throughoutwas gorgeous
even from ninecoachesback.
Afte rthreadingAbbotswood and NortonJunctions,
we wereunch eckedintoWorcester ShrubHill,reach ed
near ly fiv eminutes earlyfollowingademonstration
of‘BlackFive’capabilityout of thetop dr awer. Details
of thereturn run werehighlightedini ssue 256.
Afte rarrival at Reading,where RayPoole and Chris
Birminghamwere relieved,Ihad afew word swith Ray
beforehewentoff to find his digsast his wasalodging
turn. Hewasobviously pleased with the engine and
thensaidtomerefer ring to Sapperton:“MrChurchill
does it withthe greenone (No.7029) andIdoitwith
the black one!”
HeritageElectricLesRoss
As regularreaders willknow, Itime anyformoftraction
and one ofmy favourit eclass of locomotives from the
past is the Class 86 electrics forwhatthey did insuch
arelia blemanner. Ihad manygoodrunswith them in
the post-1966 eraafter electrification of theWest Coast
Main line wascompletedfromLondon. Although
nominallyrestricted to 100mph, Ihad runs when this
wasexceededbydrivers making up time.
Probablymy fines trun was onSeptember 23,
1972 when E3194on13coach es for470 tons fullleft
Crewe36late and ranthe 158.1 milesto Eu ston in
116 minutes 23 seconds, despit easignal stop where
Milton Keynes is nowand adversesignals approaching
Euston, leavinganet time of 107 minutes,givingWritetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. Heritagerailway.co.uk 65
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