NORWICHINNINETY
IWith just 115 miles separating London and Norwich, journey times have tended to be 'relaxed'.JohnHeatonFCILTanalyses the performances spanning 80 years of steam, diesel and electric traction over the Great Eastern Main Line.
t is 1937 and a sleek, streamlined locomotive glides towards the buffers at the London terminus. But this is not King's Cross and the loco is not an 'A4'. It is not even a Pacific. No. 2859 is a 'Bl7' 4-6-0, named East Anglian, and is at London Liverpool Street with a train from Norwich named the 'East Anglian'; the kind of duplication that continues to confuse the general public about (the) 'Flying Scotsman'/ Flying Scotsman even afrer nearly a century.
In the wake of the 'Coronation' and 'West Riding' streamlined flyers the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) had succumbed to pressure from the eastern faction ofits empire to provide a train of similar rank for the Norwich line. No matter the population was sparse and the economy agriculturally based.
No. 2859 and sister 'Bl7' No. 2870 City of London were clad in a streamlined shroud to work a new rake of six varnished teak open coaches comprising two third-class open brakes, full first- and third-class vehicles and two dining kitchen cars (one first and one third).
Unlike the 'Coronation', the 'EastAnglian' set was not articulated. Students oflocomotive performance have traditionally cast doubt on the benefits of streamlining in lower speed ranges so the 'Bl7' experiment definitely smacked of style over substance, and arguably not even that, as the 4-6-0s were perhaps not long enough to carry off their new guise convincingly.
Even the authorities seemed to have their doubts about the experiment. Having considered the 'Norwich in 135' schedule for the 115 miles, an average speed of only 51mph, despite having just the one stop, at Ipswich, it was decided ordinary fares would apply, without supplement. Food and drink was served at all seats, but it is difficult to see how a peak train with a seating capacity ofl98 made economic sense.
Pedestrian
The following year, 1938, saw five minutes taken from the schedule, but this was still pedestrian by East Coast Main Line standards of the time, drawing criticisms from those who pointed out 'Claud Hamilton' 4-4-0s could run from Liverpool Street to Ipswich in 83min with 12 to 14 (admittedly lighter) vehicles and on to the Trowse stop outside Norwich city centre in a total of 134min. Surely, 'Norwich in 120' should be possible with the swish new train?
The exploits of the 'Clauds' were discussed by O S Nock in TheRailway Magazine of September 1978 showing some runs from as early as 1909. The 1910 timetable seems to have been a case of'Norwich in 159'.
The Holden 'Bl2s' that followed from
1911 were also competent locomotives and this opportunity has been taken to repeat the often-quoted run with the pre-Second World War 15.40 from Liverpool Street. It was claimed 'B12/3' No. 8535 (built to replace No. 1506 wrecked in the Colchester collision of 1913) with its 10-coach train reached 90mph at which point a door flew open causing an emergency stop at Diss. Unfortunately, the peremptory bralce application robbed recorder K BraineHartnell of corroboration for the top speed, but it was undoubtedly fast. Despite multiple publications, the schedule does not seem to have survived.
In the meantime, Table 1 shows a run from Liverpool Street to Ipswich with the Down
East Anglian and loco No. 2859 compared to a 1946 'Claud Hamilton', both exhumed from the Railway Performance Society (RPS electronic archive).
It is worth pausing to take a look at the man behind the name. Although chairman of the Great Eastern Railway, the name Claud Hamilton has lived on longer in popular memory through the locomotives class bearing his name than his endeavours on Great Eastern business, during which he was well known for surfacing anywhere at any time.
Many famous Victorian railwaymen were self made, and others later emerged from the new middle classes through the likes of 'premium apprentice' privileges, but Claud Hamilton was a genuine 'toff'. Mum was the Duchess of Abercorn, a title to be endowed on LMS Pacific No. 6234.
The two runs in Table 1 were recorded
'B174' -{i--02859 6/213/230 FridayJanuary28, 1938 P Proud 'D16'4-4-08808 11/375/18.40LivSt-Norwich 15.40LivSt-Norwich SaturdayMay14,1938 P Proud
1
'Britannia4' -6-270007 9/300 September15,1952 PSmith 000 3 23 7 36 1117 1353 1840 2206 2336 2446 27 52 33 01 3857 4120 4432 4838 5044 53 20 5907 6221 65 27 6712 6953 7113 000 4 31 655 1012 1317 1515 1831 2213 2444 2631 2855 31 34 33 27 3540 3809 41 52
T 59½ 61/63 62/63
41½
71/75½ 58 68½/62 71½ 66/60 63
69 54/tsr30 53
76
68½ 61/71½
T
51
64
66½ 74½
66 78/76 80
89
82½
72
82 85½/77 85½
41 2
'Britannia4' -6-270035 9/305
May21, 1953 Mickleburgh 000 330 7 40 1133 1409 1841 2149 23 06 2403 2653 31 26 3652 - 4141 45 06 47 02 5018 5545 5848 6217 6428 67 39 5911 000 425 644 645 1235 1424 1734 2113 2343 25 30 2800 3049 3243 35 04 3815 43 23 44 58 62 69 - 49
79/85
61/63 74/69½ 83½
81/73
76 72½/sigs34 37½
57
78
56
49/66
T
53½
68
73
77½
66 80/77 80
90
82½
70 81/79 84/74 ease77 26 3
'Britannia4' -6-270013 9/304
September1, 1953 Gibbs 000 317 7 34 1133 1554 2118 2450 2620 27 30 3111 3605 43 53 4622 4911 5240 5427 5633 6121 6423 57 28 6911 7140 73 02 000 411 632 9 38 1228 1417 1730 2121 2419 2616 2850 3143 3353 3651 3949 4402
T
-/51
48/55 tsr20
49
61
44½
41
53/tsr40 68/81 57/60/tsr19 61/58
76 77½/71½ 81
76/82½ 53/56/49 59
76
68/70 63/75
T
52
66
72
77 72½/65½ 77
70
77
75
68½ 76/70 74/58
67 47/sigs 4
'Britannia4' -6-270012 9/310
April 23, 1958 WSmith 000 317 714 1043 1451 1939 22 50 2406 2505 2804 33 56 4058 4312 4627 51 31 53 25 55 51 6027 63 20 6624 67 56 7040 7210 000 548 823 1128 1409 1553 1848 2217 2447 2633 2849 31 22 3317 35 34 3810 4217
T
-/57
56/63 tsr19
55
65½
53
50½
60 74/79/sigs30 42/54/tsr30 68/67
77/80 tsr27
76
72½/77½
48
67
74
68½/74 68/76
54
T-/tsr
43
63
74
83½ 77½/71½ 85/80 85/88
85
83
79
88/80 83½/75 85/86½ 40
country (between Ipswich and Norwich)- at least until the following timetable change. After demanding 25 brand new 'Britannia' Pacifies straight off the newly nationalised railway drawing board, the Eastern had to sacrificeonly two of them (nominally for the 'Golden Arrow' and 'Red Dragon') during their negotiations.
The Liverpool Street case said many more 'Bls' would have been needed; with lower coal and water capacity, longer journey times, extended turnarounds and more maintenance down time.
Ten 'Britannias' went to Norwich and 13 to Stratford for what I consider to have been 15 diagrams - split 6/9, respectively.Some sources claim the Norwich diagrams as seven, but it is believed two of these were on separate days of the week. To make full use of the fleet, the diagrams I have seen cover 10 evening/ night non-passenger trains as well. Seven of the loco diagrams required daily mileages in the 460 to 486 range.
The scheme involved each rostered locomotive with nine-coach sets running two trips per day between Liverpool Street and Norwich in 2hr and lOmin - xx.30hrs Down and xx.45 Up. In addition there was the intention to run the 15.30 Down train to a 2hr schedule and to name it the 'Broadsman'. It was a popular move.
Some ascribe the success of these measures to the 'Britannias' themselves, but tests had been conducted with unrebuilt Bulleid '7P'
Light Pacifies.Fiennes claims 'Bls' would gasp over lngrave Summit at the top of the l-in-80 gradient from Brentwood at 40mph, whereas the Bulleids would take anything you threw at them (especiallycoal), topping the bank at 56mph with the safety valves blowing off and 400tons in tow. Perhaps this is hubris because no logs of the 'West Country'/'Battle ofBritains' seem to have survived. Unless you have one in your attic perhaps?
Revolutionary
Southern aficionados might claim a follow-on order of Light Pacifieswould have fitted the bill. Had they by then been in their rebuilt, albeit heavier, form perhaps that might have happened. On the other hand, a test with '6P' 'Clan' No. 72009 Clan Stewart in August 1958 resulted in its hurried consignment back north.
The new timetable was revolutionary.
Its strength was that, in modern terms, it was resource-based, but it was also revenue generative. Some 'sector' managers in the 1980s, soon followed by privatised franchisees, kidded themselves they would introduce market-led timetables, but they soon realised their proposals had to be more resource-based than ever. After a year of relative conservatism the lid was lifted on the 1952 timetable with, at long last, 'Norwich in 120'.
No. 70035 Rudyard Kipling famously ran the Ipswich to Norwich section in 39min 7sec, covering 26miles at 84.4mph with a maximum of 94mph, but I now want to turn to the contemporary account of my RPS friend Paul Walker, whose family knew Gerard Fiennes well enough for him to stay at their house.
Paul Walker was at Cambridge University at the start of the new service in September
1952, discovering he could catch the 13.15 from Cambridge, the new 15.30 to Norwich, the 17.45 return and the 20.50 from Liverpool Street. Over the next two years he travelled by 0.00 0.76 4.86 8.38 11.85 14.25 22.69 26.21 31.80 35.26 37.99 40.91 43.26 44.14 45.11 46.16
IPSWICHd
EastSuffolkJct Claydon
NeedhamMarket Stowmarket
HaughleJyct Mellis
Diss
Tivetsha/1 Forncett Flordon Swainsthorpe MP112 TrowseUJct Trowse
NORWICaH 0 14½ 29 [2] 46
000 1 50 608 916 1204 13 58 2040 2310 2717
31 34 3512
37 40 4031
T
66
72 75/76 73/65 82/92 88 77190
88/84/92 90 - the 15.30 19 times, but unfortunately National Service brought regular travel to a close. It says much for the reliability of the 'Broadsman' that only once did he miss the 17.45 Up - and this was the only occasion he did not have time for a discussion with the crew of the 'Broadsman' at the end of a run.
Referring to Table 3, the four runs Paul has selected are not because they were the 'best', but because each had particular features that contribute to the 'Britannia' story. Run 1 was the inaugural 2hr service, on which it is clear driver Percy Smith (with fireman Whiting and inspector Slack) was getting the hang of the schedule.
The Norwich driver was a colourful character, known to put on a show when appropriate, but there were a lot of prying eyes on the fullinaugural train. Timekeeping was relatively easy to Ipswich, with one 30mph temporary speed restriction (tsr) and a perhaps disappointing 41 ½mph minimum speed on Brentwood Bank. Speeds nearly 10mph higher were subsequently recorded there. 13½ 26 [4]
0 142 5 33 812 1037 1217 1815 2037 2424 2641 2825 3023 000
78
82
87 80/78 90/85 90
84
94
95 80/88 5½L 10½ 17½ [4]
0 144 458 708 910 1035 1518 1716 2023 2218 000 26.4 76.1 97.3 102.5 101.6 107.3 107.5 107.6 108.4
25 25 108.8 2646 104.4
Continuing in the same vein Haughley, in the middle of the two-mile climb at l-in-131, was passed ¾min late. The climb was begun at 74½ and finished at 66. Realising he was losing time, the following 20 undulating miles were run mainly in excess of the 80mph line limit, with maxima of89 and 85½mph.
Thus the 46.3miles to Norwich were completed in 4lmin 52sec -with an arrival 3¼min early. On two subsequent runs with the same driver, Haughley was passed on time or early. On another occasion, when Paul timed driver Percy Smith, No. 70035 Rudyard Kipling touched 95 mph near Diss as shown in Table 2. The photograph on pl5 captures the driver's personality as he cooperatively agreed to pose on the 'Britannia's' buffer beam.
Run 2 was far more vigorous south of
Marks Tey, passed 5min early in 45m 06s from Liverpool Street, 46.06 miles. The early runuing allowed for what was expected to be a lengthy 20mph tsr after Colchester, but which was found to have been lifted when reached.
Vigorous
The subsequent almost 4min early arrival at Ipswich shows the margin available on this section. This time Haughley was passed on time, 90mph reached near Diss and, despite considerable easing after Swainsthorpe, the arrival at Norwich was more than 1½min early. Run 3 had delays before Witham, passed almost 3½ late, all recovered before Ipswich. A vigorous run to Haughley was followed by a relatively easy continuation to Norwich, not exceeding 77mph, and arriving on time after a final signal check costing around ¾min.
Run 4 was timed some two years later and suggests standards had not fallen. The driver was W Smith (thought to be no relation to Percy), one of the best time keepers at Norwich, on both Cambridge and Ipswich routes. The net time to Ipswich was around 66min, and on to Norwich 40min.
Of Paul's 26 recorded runs, 19 were in the period 1952 to 1954. The scheduled working time from Ipswich to Norwich for the first 13 was 45min, and for the final six reduced to only 44min after an extra minute allowed for the Ipswich station stop had been deducted from the runuing time. This had no effect on the timekeeping for which the figures for the 19 runs were: right time or early 14, l-5min late four, more than 5min late one (26min late owing to a points' failure Liverpool Street).
Paul managed a further four runs in 1955. Electrification work had resulted in 3min recovery being added between Shenfield and Chelmsford which, together with other work, was arguably insufficient resulting in one on time arrival, two more 'within 5min' and one 7½min late.
Three more runs after the removal of the electrification recovery time (two in 1956 and one in 1958) resulted in two being early or on time and one 3½min late.
The 20 century would bow out with the 'Broadsman' running at 18.00 with the same train weight, propelled by a Class 86 electric locomotive, and making three extra stops compared with 1952, completing the journey a whole 8min faster. 'Norwich in 112'; that's a 10sec a year improvement.
From 1958 the first English Electric Type 4 2,000hp diesel locos (later to become Class 40) were allocated new to the Norwich route. The narrative of how this further call on the newest loco build came about is not as clear as the 'Britannia' legend.
Dieselisation
If the 'Britannias' were as good as history believes, why were they replaced by locos that were arguably simply the equal of a well driven and maintained Pacific?In fact, a 'Britannia' was often capable of getting away from a dead stand just as quickly, although top speeds could be maintained for longer with the diesel and with no more than a flickof the wrist.
The policy of early dieselisation of the whole region appears to have been the driving force and of course a reduction to the number oflocomotives applied as had been the case when 'Britannias' ousted 'Bls'.
An examination of the Norwich express runs in the RPS electronic archive sorted by journey time shows 'Britannias' and .,_
90008 DVT+8/321/330 11.00LivSt-Norwich June5, 2019 of 10 000 90011 DVT+9/348/360 11.00LivSt-Norwich July 3, 2019 A Varley9th of 11
T 28/17/70 50 86220
7/246/257 11.28LivSt-Norwich Mays, 1987
B DJ Walsh ½E
aid of 4min recovery time - effectively2½min
'to the loco'. However, of the 158 years the Great Eastern Main Line has existed, no more than 27 were dominated by diesels.
Moving on to the electrified service from 1985, the goal of'Norwich in 100' was secured. In fact, a 1999 run I had on the East Anglian was timed for 'Norwich in 97', although it managed only 'Norwich in 105½'. An unrepresentatively fast run with a second-hand Class 86 is shown in Table 4 to demonstrate what might have been possible on better infrastructure.
The pinnacle of Class 86 performance came with a Round Table special in 1987 when the best time of'Norwich in 84' was achieved. The 83min 22sec run is shown in Table 5.
The RPS archive strangely shows different locos as being credited with the performance by different recorders, but No. 86220 has been given the credit. Peter Semmens published the log in RM October 1987, but the one reproduced here was taken by the official timer David Walsh. Unfortunately, the schedule details do not seem to have survived. Another attic collection to be raided perhaps?
The replacement for the Class 86 was the Class 90, made redundant by 'Pendolinos' from their West Coast Main Line work. I think it is fair to say their performance was not consistently good and they seemed to have real problems in wet weather. It is intended to look more closely at their work on intermediate stopping trains in a later article, in comparison with the new 'Flirt' Class 745s and 755s.
Consistent or not, the new Greater Anglia franchise saw fit to use them on their two flagship return 'Norwich in 90' expresses that were required under the terms of the award, a timing that had been a long held aspiration of stakeholders. Adoption of the idea was initially predicated on the arrival of the 'Flirts', but the train-operating company felt sufficiently confident to entrust the job to its Crown Point Class 90s.
Convenient
My first sample of the service using the convenient 11.00 from Liverpool Street occurred in May 2019. Incidentally, there is a train with a standard calling pattern that leaves at 11.02. The 11.00 requires 4min ofrecovery allowance to Ipswich, which is used as pathing if not required for engineering work, to allow the 10.46 Liverpool Street-Braintree and 10.34 to Colchester to run clear en route and before the 11.48 Ipswich-Liverpool Street crosses its bows, starting from platform 4. Just lmin station time is allowed at Ipswich, the achievement of which seemed uppermost in the minds of the staff on my journeys, when whistles were blown just a few seconds after the train had halted.
The Ipswich to Norwich run is allowed just 32min, plus 2min recovery time, but by Diss the 11.00 from Liverpool Street is close on the heels of the 10.30 Liverpool Street-Norwich. In normal circumstances it is therefore difficult to run early and get any time in hand for contingencies.
My first run had a severe check at Shenfield resulting in a 2min-late departure from
Ipswich, followed by three tsrs before Norwich, achieving in 'Norwich in 93'. The second one lost 2½min to signals before reaching Ilford, recovered 2min to Ipswich, but was beaten to the tune of 1½min to Norwich by signals leaving Ipswich and a tsr. 'Norwich in 92'.
My RPS French resident friend Alan Varley often comes to the UK to sample developments and, in contrast to my misfortunes, managed a run in just under 90min, shown in Table 5 alongside the better of my two trips. His return journey then managed 'Liverpool Street in 90' as well.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, the Class 90s slipped (pun intended) away from Greater Anglia to be replaced by the Class 745 'Flirt' units. Whether the predicted changes to travel habits resulting from the pandemic justify the long-term continuation of the 'Norwich in 90' flyers,much less the duplicated trains so close to each other, remains to be seen. ■
"Inmy research I did not find much in the way of spectacular Class 47 runs though. As on the East Coast Main Line in the 1970s, Class 4 7 runs where the 95mph locos touched 100mph speeds were rare."