With Full Regulator
Don Benn reports on the consistently good loco performances by LMS 8F 2- 8- 0 No. 48151 on the Southern Region, climbing steep banks out of Swanage and Weymouth, and also from its Carnforth base over Shap and Ais Gill.
In his latest column, Don Benn reports on the consistently fine performances by LMS 8F No. 48151
nineminutes late throughSouthampton, andcautious approaches to both EastleighandRomsey, meant wewere 14downat the latter, despite50mphafter Chandlers Ford.
FromRomseythegradients areadverseor level to asummitbeyondwhatwasAlderburyJunction, and onceagainthebig 2- 8- 0 didwell herewithaminimum of46mphupthe1- in- 236afterDunbridge( 49 ½ mph), followedby53mphonthe level toDeanprior to a minimumof42onthe final fourmiles of 1- in- 220, interspersed byamile of 1- in- 377. Thiswasgoodwork indeed, but couldnot preventus fromarriving in the cathedral city19minutes late afteraseverecheck outside.
Brakeproblem
Yeovil, albeit withNo. 48151, whichwasdefinitely not a Southern locomotive. Indeed, noLMS8Fswere allocated toaSouthernshed, though theydidwork throughon freight fromtimeto time.
TheplannedBulleidwasNo. 34046 Braunton, but as itwasn’t ready, No. 34067 Tangmerewassubstituted, andwith 10 coaches for345tons, it ranverywell all day. Waterloodeparturewasontimeat 7.55amfrom platform16, andwithDaveHewsonandJohnShawin charge, anecessarily slowstartwasmadefollowedby a temporaryspeedrestrictionof25mphatWimbledon. However, the runningwasthensuch thatWokingwas stillpassed in only 28minutes four seconds.
Afurther temporary speedrestrictionintervened under theaqueductnear SturtLane, but then with a clear roadas far as Eastleighandasuperb flightdown Roundwoodbank, Southamptonwaspassed in 84 minutes14 seconds or 77minutesnet for the79.25 miles. Thestopforwater in thedownloopwas reached in 87minutes29 seconds, again ofhalfaminuteonthe schedule. Furthergoodwork sawus intoWeymouth close to right time. OnedaymaybeIwill publishfull details of theWaterlootoSouthamptonsection.
Therewas time for thetraditional seasidelunch in WeymouthwhileNo. 34067 Tangmerewassent toYeovil forservicingready for thereturntoWaterloo, andthen back to the station ready forNo. 48151totake us to
Yeovil– details of which areshownin table three, which includes gradient information. Unfortunately, I did not record details of thecrewover this section. Upweybank isn’t very long, but it is steepat 1- in- 50, withnoreal chance to getarunat it fromthestart.
The8Fsettleddownto13mph, thoughspeedrose slightly beforethesummit at thenorthendofBincombe tunnel. Onceagain, Iwas at the rear of the train, so the thrash fromupfrontcouldonlybeheardoccasionally.
Tightschedule
However, fromlosingnearly nineminutes toDorchester Westontheimpossiblytightschedule, sometimewas regained to theMaidenNewtonstopasaresult of a verygoodclimbthoughGrimstontunnel to the summit beyond. Therestartwasgoodandspeedreached 40mphbeforethesteep1- in- 78/ 69/ 95 to Evershot tunnelwas hit.
Evenfromthe ninth coach, theheavy roar fromthe 8F couldnowbeheardasthecrewproducedan excellent climbwithaminimumspeedof 32mph. Easy running downtoYeovil PenMill sawmoretimeregained.
Here, No. 48151 ranroundits trainandtook us tenderfirst toYeovil Junction, running in past PeteRobertson thefootplate of Tangmere, whichwas blowingoff steam andeagerlywaiting to takeusback toWaterloo.
Therunningwashighquality throughout, the
“The engine ran well throughout, abiding memories being the absolute slog up the 1- in- 60 of Parkstone bank and the nice spell of running through Brockenhurst and the New Forest with this heavy train, speed being allowed right up to the maximumallowed. It seemed very strange to be doing this behind a 2- 8- 0 freight locomotive as opposed tomymany runs along this beautifully aligned stretch of line behind Bulleid Pacifics in the 1960s.”
Salisbury toWaterloonet timebeing80minutes for the 83.7 miles, thoughmorethan100minutesactual mainly downtoalongsignal stopoutsideWaterloo.
Highlightswereasustained50mphonPortonbank, 79mphafterAndover in20minutes 33seconds– plus someverygoodspeedrecoveryafter signal checks at Basingstoke, FarnboroughandWoking, with Pete thrashingtheengine into speedaftereachcheck. Does anydriverknowthisenginebetter?
This runwas includedinIssue197. Movingnowtohometerritory, No. 48151 hasbeen usedanumberof timeson‘ TheDalesman’evenwhen the train ranfromChester viaShaptoCarlisle, withits tightbookingfromCarnforthdesignedfora75mph locomotive. Alargeamountof lost time is, ofcourse, inevitable in this situation as tablefour shows.
Labouredclimb
Without theimpetus of speedintheseventies through the LuneGorge, alabouredclimbtoShapis tobe expected, thoughRonSmithandPeteJamesdid their bestandmanagedto keep speed fromfalling below 15mphwiththe12- coach 480- tontrain.
In the circumstances, theoverall time of97 minutes 51 secondswasremarkable, extracting fromtheengine aperformanceforwhich itwasn’t designedandatribute to Stanier’ssounddesign.
SandySmeatoncomments:“OriginatingatChester, this‘ Dalesman’randuringthe periodwhentherewas a signalling problematHellifield, causingtheoutward run tobedivertedfromtheSettleandCarlisletotheWest CoastMain Line overShap.
Theschedule fromCarnforthlooptoCarlislewas73 minutes, but thelocomotive providedwasNo. 48151, limitedto50, with aloadof 12coaches, 443 tons tare, grossingabout 480. RonSmithwasdrivingandPete Jameswas firing.
“OnaverywarmanddryJulyday, the 8F started out ofCarnforthloopsix minutes late. MP9 ½ was
passedat29mphandthemaximum beforeMilnthorpewas55mph, while Sedgewick ( MP17) waspassedat 49mph, Oxenholmewas passedat 41mph, seven minutesdownonthe schedule and13 minutes late.
Just north ofOxenholmestation, asmall linesidefirewas set off, causing temporaryclosureof thelineto all traffic. Although hardly causefor celebration, thismeant the‘ Dalesman’wouldnotbe put inside to let followingtraffic overtake.
“AtLambrigg, speedwas34 ½ mph, followedbyaminimumof30 ½ mph at Grayrigg. IntheLuneGorge, afteran initial rise to45mphbeforeLowGill, theenginewasclearlyeased, running at 40mphtoDillicar. Theexhausthad becomevery black aroundLowGill.
Theeffortwas increased at the foot of Shap, withMP31 ½ passedat49mphand MP33at44 ½ mph, but thereafteronthe 1in75therewasafall to22mphat Scout Green.
It fell toan absoluteminimumof 15mphatMP36 ½ , beforeamarginal recovery to17 ½ mphbeforeShap Summit. WethenrandowntoCarlisle atNo. 48151’ s line limit, stopping in 97 minutes51 seconds, 25minutes over the scheduleand31minutes late.
OnJune14,2014No. 48151worked the‘ CumbrianCoast Express’, also loaded to12coaches, 443 tons tare485gross.
It passedMosedale Hall, MP25 ½ , in 30m23s fromCarnforth, beforebeing turnedinto Grayriggloop. Afterafiveminutestand, MP31 ½ was passed at 58 ½ , Scout Green at29 ½ followedby anexcellentminimumof27mphbefore ShapSummit.
Justhowmuchdifferencethe five- minutewait in Grayriggloopmade to the performanceonthisrunis anopen question. Of the four Chester- Carlisle ‘ Dalesman’trips which randuring the summerof 2019, threewere diverted fromthe SettleandCarlisle to theWCML, andallwereworkedbyNo. 48151.”
Theoverall 60mphspeedlimitand various other restrictions, plus the long spells of relatively low- speeduphill slogsmeanthe8F ismore suited to the SettleandCarlisle route, which isamply demonstratedbytablefive, which shows tworuns with 13- coach trains.
Stormingrecovery
Onceagain, Iamindebtedto Sandy Smeatonfor the first runwhenonawet June27,2017 the 8F got pastAis Gill summitin 32minutes58seconds from theApplebyrestart, theminimumbeing 28mph.
Thesecondrun, oneofmanysent to mebyDavid BradburysawNo. 48151on asimilar 510 tonloadslightly fasteron the startbut then falling behind because aslowersection in the Griseburn/ Crosby Garret area beforeastorming recovery fromKirbyStephentochargepast the summitmoirethanaminutefaster than the first run.
Ihave yet tohavearunbehind the 8F over thefells, sohopefully this canbe rectifiedwhenthings returntonormal.
In the last issuesomewhereinthe production process, No. 34107got renamedasWadebridge, thoughitwas of course BlandfordForum, soapologies for this.
Finally, I ammost grateful to the followingwhohavewrittenor sentme emails or texts: Alan Rawlings, Bryan Benn, SandySmeaton, David Bradbury andPaulRowe. Next timeIhopeto cover moreworkbyLMSJubileeclass4- 6- 0No. 45699Galatea.
“The 8F settleddown to 13mph, though speed was rose slightly before the summit at the north endof Bincombe tunnel. Once again, I was at the rear of the train, so the thrash from up front could only be heardoccasionally. However, from losingnearly nine minutes toDorchester West on the impossibly tight schedule, some time was regained to theMaidenNewton stop as a result of a very good climb though Grimston tunnel to the summit beyond.”