TORNADO TAKES DEVON BANKS RECORD – CAN IT BE BETTERED?

‘A1’s’ time between exeter and Plymouth bloodies the noses of Great Western fans – but was it just luck?

The LMS has the long but steady climbs of Shap and Beattock, LNER types get excited by the slight ruffle in the landscape that is Stoke, and the Southern… well, whatever.

There is, though, nothing quite like the GWR’s South Devon Banks – the trio of short but vertiginous climbs of Dainton, Rattery and (eastbound) Hemerdon. Forget a marathon, this is a scramble up cliffs.

It’s perfect ground for grippy GWR 4‑6‑0s such as the ‘Kings’. Slippy ‘Pacifics’, with their fancy big fireboxes and trailing trucks, might be right for the longer drags of the north – but here?

Yet if the advantage is all GW, it seems nobody told the A1 Trust. For when Tornado breezed into Plymouth on June 23 it had covered the 52 miles from Exeter in just half a minute or so under 60 minutes. That’s believed to be the fastest steam journey and the first to do it in under an hour. Ever. That will hurt.

But take heart, Swindon fans. For all is not as it might appear. That’s because the raising of line speeds over the years has resulted in a railway that is itself ‘faster’ than it used to be when pilot engines came on at Newton Abbot. It’s hardly unique to this part of the network either: Bittern’s all‑time Newcastle‑ York record in 2013 (SR423) was made possible not only by its temporary 90mph

status, but also because various historic limits had disappeared. “We’re pretty sure it was the first ever sub‑60‑minute steam run from Exeter to Plymouth,” says my correspondent from No. 60163’s trip, who wants to only be known as ‘Shireman’.

“It was never possible in steam days owing to the number of speed restrictions.”

At least one organisation will have a keen interest in such things – the 6024 Preservation Society, whose charge

King Edward I has the honour of what’s believed to be the fastest run in the other direction. On August 31 2002 the Collett engine ran from Plymouth North Road to Exeter St David’s in 58min 6sec.

There is also some further news to dampen any glee in the LNER camp, for June 23’s trip “wasn’t the fastest climb of Dainton or Rattery.” In fact, it seems, success came down to having luck with signallers on the day – because the Peppercorn machine was able to sail straight into Plymouth rather than being held outside the station. Both Oliver Cromwell and King Edward I have come close to doing the trip inside the hour – the latter having once been “stuck under the bridge south of Mutley Tunnel in just over 57 mins looking at the station and a big red signal.”

So, ‘unfinished business’ looms in the South West for ‘KEI’ – which has been off the main line since 2012 but is under overhaul at Minehead on the West Somerset. Just as it does in a slightly different way for Clun Castle, which had its own record over the longer stretch from Plymouth to Bristol broken by Tyseley classmate Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in 2014 (SR428).

For now, though, the westbound honour lies with the ‘A1’. Not with the WR.

NICK GILLIAM another apple green engine that’s been putting in impressive work of late is David Buck’s ‘B1’ no. 61306 ‘Mayflower’, pictured hauling the steam Dreams rail co. ‘royal Windsor’ at vauxhall on July 2. it hasn’t all been plain sailing for ‘Mayflower’ however. the thompson 4‑6‑0 was stopped at ipswich on the return leg of sDrco’s Liverpool street‑Dereham charter on July 4 after a bunch of problems, none of which were down to the 4‑6‑0. We’ll come back to that one next time…