Don Benn recalls trips behind Clan Line and argues for an 80- minute Waterloo to Salisbury run
LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW
In his latest column, Don Benn reports on locomotive performances by SR Merchant Navy class 4 - 6- 2 No. 3 5028 Clan Line, ranging from 2018 back to 1964. He also argues there is a case for an 80-minute booking from Waterloo to Salisbury for this magnificent and powerful Pacific, now in top form after its last overhaul.
THIS time I am reporting on some performances of the Merchant Navy Locomotive PreservationS ociety's ( MNLPS) superb modified Merchant Navy class Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line.
I have used the word modified ast he terms ' rebuilt' and' un rebuilt' have caused controversy in the past, so I looked back at a set of papers on the Merchant Navy Pacifies w, hich I rescued from being dumped while I worked at Waterloo in the 1960s. Int hose papers the terms modified and unmodified are used, so that's good enough for me.
Clan Line has produced some quite amazing runs on the main line, not just recently but also in the past, including at leastt wo 100mph speeds, o ne of which I was on, which took place on December 12, 1966 when speed reached 103mph at Pale lane between Winchfield and Fleet, this giving an indicated horsepower figure in the region of 3000. T he other was during the course of a quite phenomenal run from Salisbury to Sidmouth Junction on the down ' Atlantic Coast Ex pr es so' n September 23,1%1, timed by Derek Winkworth, when the speed at the foot of the bank after Axminster was noted as 104mph. The whole run was a tour de force, resulting in the 53.7 miles between Semley( started at 60mph) and Honiton, finished at 62mph being reeled off in 39 minutes 54 seconds, a n average of 80.7Smph! The minimum over the Honiton incline was an estimated 54mph, after being eased from 59mph at the tunnel entrance. T his was I think possibly the finest ever run with Clan Line notwithstanding the many good runs in the post- steame ra.
Up from Salisbury in December 2018
On Thursday, D ecember 20, 2018 Clan Line worked a UK Railtours charter from London to Sherborne Abbey for a carol service. I covered part of the outward journey ( which I was on) and the return from Sherborne as far as Salisbury in Issue 252, and Table one now shows the detail of the return run from Sherborne to Victoria, timed by brother Bryan and my regular correspondent Alan Rawlings.
The crew comprised Graham Ward and Paul Major, with Bob Hart ast he traction inspector. Graham Ward is a quietly spoken gentleman, who always reminds me of Nine Elms driver Bert Hooker, both in his quietly
spoken way and his driving style. Bert Hooker was in charge of No. 35023 on its 102mph dash down through Andover on October 15, 1966. He also fired to Jack Swain both in the Locomotive Exchanges and on the Southern on normal trains. I remember being told by Bert Hooker, or maybe it was an uncle who was a government inspector, that on one occasion Bert was firing to Jack Swain on unmodified Light Pacific No. 3 4107 Wadebridge on an up express when approaching Woking the speed was the same as the number on the engine. Folklore or true? Who knows, but it sticks in my memory.
I digress - and my brother Bryan now tells the story of the run from Sherborne to Victoria, the detail of which is in Table one. "Salisbury was left nine late, but even with the usual very slow start over the crossovers to leave the platform road, and a no more than a steady ascent of Porton bank, we had recovered almost two minutes of that late start by Andover, which we passed at the maximum permitted speed.
The three miles or so of En ham bank's 1- in- 178 saw the locomotive very nicely opened up, topping the summit at just over a creditable 65mph. Steady running followed until signal checks after Oakley, but the pristine Pacific still got us past Basingstoke only two minutes late. Onto the wonderful racing stretch after that Hampshire town brought back, for those of us old enough, many memories of the last years of normal steam, and the incredible fast running that all the remaining varieties of Bulleid Pacifies had achieved back then. That was not to be repeated this evening of course, but it was still very enjoyable running at, or close to, 75mph for a little under 1 O miles, before another signal check after Fleet.
"There were further checks approaching Woking, passed a little over three minutes late, but those checks didn't herald the expected cross to the slow line. A very nice acceleration followed, before the inevitable end of any fast running as we finally left not only the up main, but also the direct route to London, when we took our scheduled route via Addlestone Junction to the booked stop at StainesT. hankst o an almost clear run from Addlestone, we arrived there nearly two minutes early, in a non- stop time of just over 95 minutes from SalisburyW. hich, for those who value such things, may be the fastest time behind steam for running that particular 73.30 miles without any intermediate stops. A regulation run into London Victoria followed, where we came to a stand at the buffer stops right on time:'
Heavy load climb to Roundwood
Going back further in time to 2010, I have picked the section between Eastleigha nd Basingstokea, s part of a run from Weymouth to Waterloo on Saturday, May 8, 2010. The morning had seen us go from London to
Yeovil with a load of 11 coaches plus a non- working diesel locomotive, Class 66 No. 66015, which had then hauled the train to Weymouth after Clan Line had been turned and serviced.
Table two shows the detail of the climb from Eastleigh up the 1- in- 252 to Roundwood and the lovely dash on to the Basingstoke stop. Brian Butcher and Rob Binstead were in charge of the train, which weighed about 520 tons full and they got this heavy load going very well with speed up to 54 ½ mph by Winchester, where the slight easing of gradient to 1- in- 349 for a short distance brought speed up to 58mph by the site of Winchester Junction.
From Weston, Clan Line was evidently given more steam as speed then increased nicely to 62 ½ mph at Roundwood summit. The four miles from Weston had occupied three minutes 57 seconds which I calculate resulted in a power output of 1850 equivalent drawbar horsepower ( EDBH) o r 2380 Indicated horse power ( IHP) - a high figure. It was good to see the locomotive being allowed to run fast up to its speed limit atWorting Junction, where I recorded a
"I can remember being told by Bert Hooker, or maybe it was an uncle who was a government inspector by trade, that on one occasion he, Bert Hooker, was firing to Jack Swain on unmodified Light PacificN o. 34107W adebridgeo n an up expressw hen approaching Woking the speed was the same as the number on the engine. Folklore or true? Who knows now with this distance in time, but it sticks in my memory."
very unusual 76mph. Despite this superb performance, the very tight 31 minute allowance for the 25.7 miles was only bettered by 20 seconds.
Going back even further in time to the days of steam, I have dug out a run on an up Bournemouth two hour train from Monday, December 28, 1964.
In charge of No. 35028 were the top Bournemouth crew of Varney and Condon, well- known at that time for their consistently good locomotive performances. This one was on the 11.30am from Weymouth, and Table three shows the section from Southampton to Waterloo timed in 84 minutes for the 79.24 miles. nme keeping of the up two hour trains was generally good, whether hauled by a light Pacific or a Merchant Navy and even- time runs were common, unlike the down trains where signal checks in the St Denys area were common and normally due to a diesel unit from Portsmouth which was timed in front. We were away three- and- a- half minutes late, but then got a severe signal check approaching Eastleigh, which put us six down by Winchester Junction. Then followed a good climb to Roundwood, with speed held at 60mph or more with this 12 coach 435 ton train. The easing before Worting may have been evidence of shortage of steam though we were inside the 37- minute booking to that point and gained more time by dint of the normal fast running to Surbiton, though an on time arrival at Waterloo was thwarted by a signal check at Wimbledon.
Net time was around 77 ½ minutes - good for an engine maybe not on top form.
Sub 50 minutes to pass Worting Junction
Table four shows the detail of a rare main line run from Waterloo with a good load and a clear road as far as Battledown. The occasion was the Eastleigh 100 celebrations and it was a splendid day out on the beautiful spring morning of Saturday, May 23, 2009.
Clan Line on 12 coaches for 460 tons ran well all day and this tabulation illustrates how the old SO minute booking of the' Atlantic Coast Express c'an be kept even with the current 75mph locomotive limit and a start from Platform 19, given a clear road.
Wayne Thompson and Paul Major were in charge up front and the 7.17am departure was one of the keys to this performance as we followed the 7.1 0am Waterloo to Exeter w,hich we caught up with before Andover, though we were by then running 10 minutes early and due to call at Grateley for water. The other things that mattered were getting a start across to the down main as soon as possible, even though it was from Platform 19, getting up to line speed as in good order and seeing green signals through Woking. The running wasf ully up to'Atlantic CoastE xpresss' tandarda nd given the running to pass Worting Junction in 49 minutes 1 0 seconds, Salisbury in 78 minutes would have been quite feasible.
So here is my plea to all those concerned. May we have a non- stop run from Waterloo to Salisbury timed in 80 minutesf or next year, 2 021 please? A Platform 19 departure is clearly a deterrent as we took eight minutes 34 seconds to pass Clapham Junction, whereas a lower platform with access straight onto the down main would savea bout 90 seconds. T his would help compensate for the 30mph speed restriction which now applies through Basingstoke. The train would also need to be limited to 11 coaches including the P. O. Bd ue to the platform lengths and this would also aid recovery from the Basingstoke check. However, Wayne Thompson has told me:" C/ an Line is in very good fettle since its last overhaul and has the strength to accelerate away from slower speeds in quite amazing fashion now:'
Departure from Waterloo would also need to be at 7.45am, in front of the 7.50am to Salisbury and a clear road would be required throughout. With all that in place, Wayne is of the view that 80 minutes is possible. He added: "Even with the 30mph restriction
at Basingstoke, I think it could do it- a clear run into Salisburyh elps of course!"
The 7.45am Waterloo to Portsmouth would need to be retimed to follow us at 7.47am, but as we should be past Woking in 25 minutes and the Portsmouth train calls at Clapham Junction, the delay to this train need be no more than a few minutes. No doubt there would need to be other changes as well but with the will to do it an 80 minute path to Salisbury should be possible. How about it all you good people in the MNLPSN, etwork Rail, D BC argo and UKR ailtours?
To finish this time I have included the continuation of the Eastleigh 100 charter from Grateleyt o the Southampton up goods loop. The detail can be found in table five.
After a slow start from Grateley up the 1- in- 165 and negotiating the LaverstockJunctions, a good climb was made up the 1- in- 150 to milepost 93 before we streaked away to a maximum of ?? ½ mph down the 1- in- 220/ 236 to Dunbridge - a lovely piece of well laid out railway through the Hampshire countryside. Final arrival at Eastleigh was on time.
I am grateful to correspondents Bryan Benn, Alan Rawlings, Paul Rowe and Wayne Thompson for their contributions. Next time I hope to cover more work of that Class5 XPt hat thinks it's a Class7 , No. 4 5699 Ga/ atea. In the meantime, stay safe everyone and hope for an early return of main line steam. l: Til
"The whole run was a tour de force, resulting in the 53.7 miles between Semley, s tarted at 60mph and Honiton, finished at 62mph being reeled off in 39 minutes 54 seconds, a n average of 80.75mph! The minimum over the Honiton incline was an estimated 54mph, after being eased from 59mph at the tunnel entrance. This was I think possibly the finest ever run with Clan Line notwithstanding the many good runs in the post- steam era."