Galatea takes on Shap, and more French ‘Pacific’ performance
Carnforth ‘Jubilee’ Galatea’s reputation on Shap is growing – even in the driving rain.
Railway Touring Company’s 2018 ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ programme got off to a good start on January 27 with ‘Jubilee’ No. 45699 Galatea adding to its growing reputation as a reliable performer. My colleague Sandy Smeaton was on board from Preston and has kindly supplied the log in Table 1. The demanding 11-coach train of 407 tons tare and 440 tons gross had started from Manchester Victoria with No. 45699 at the head, but with a Class 47 diesel on the rear. At Carnforth loop the diesel was detached and Galatea continued unaided. The West Coast Railways crew were Driver Mick Rawling and Fireman Frank Chippendale. Leaving Carnforth 8 mins late in persistent rain behind a Manchester Airport-Glasgow service, followed by a Daventry-Mossend container train, Galatea made a rather laboured start up the 1-in-134 to Milepost 9½ but matters soon improved and 63mph was attained on the level before the uphill gradient starts just short of Milnthorpe. Speed fell gradually as the gradient steepened, until at Milepost 25 on the 1-in-106 a minimum of 34mph was achieved before shutting off for an unusual booked pathing stop in Grayrigg loop. Oxenholme was passed at 47mph, just inside the scheduled 20 mins from Carnforth, but adverse signals caused a loss of 2½ mins on the tight 31-min schedule to Grayrigg loop. Sandy Smeaton calculated the edbhp at between 1,140 and 1,240 on this climb. More good work was to come as the ‘Jubilee’ accelerated along the level of the Lune Gorge to reach 67½mph at the foot of the Shap bank. Speed naturally began to tail off on the 1-in-75 to a minimum of 22mph at Milepost 37¼, recovering to 24½mph at the summit itself. This required a maximum of 1,260edbhp between Mileposts 34 and 35, according to my correspondent. I have not tabulated the run beyond Shap station as there was the usual speedy descent in the 70s without incident. Carlisle was reached in 46 mins 05 secs for the 42.77 miles from Grayrigg, against a 56-min schedule. Having left Grayrigg 2 mins late, the Carlisle arrival was 8 mins early.
ASCENT COMPARISONS
Galatea has continued to put in some sterling performances on the ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ since its initial run this year on January 27. My correspondent Sandy Smeaton has supplied a comparison between a more recent Galatea effort on February 17. Thanks are due to Alastair Wood and Dave Bradbury, who also supplied me with the details – and a very fine run last year on March 4, which I featured in Top Link in SR466. The times shown in Table 2 are at actual mileposts so there is a slight discrepancy between these and traditional timing points. Timings on the earlier run, recorded by Peter Gregory in the tenth coach, have been adjusted to equate to the second coach in order to provide an exact comparison with the later run. The fireman on both occasions was Chris Holmes, who deserves much praise for his efforts. It can be seen that while Mick Rawling was slightly quicker off the mark from Carnforth, Steve Chipperfield had caught up by Milepost 8 and proceeded to pull ahead to the extent of 22 seconds by Oxenholme. Thereafter Driver Rawling made a superb effort with Galatea to pull back to a deficit of only 2 secs at Lambrigg, but speed fell to 36mph at Grayrigg as against Driver Chipperfield’s 37mph, and the latter regained an 8-sec advantage by Tebay. The discrepancy was maintained
at between 8 and 14 secs on the 1-in-75 to the summit, where Driver Rawling finished the stronger at 29mph, as against Driver Chipperfield’s 27mph. Sandy Smeaton calculates the edbhps to have been consistently above 1,200 on the 1-in-134 climb to Milepost 9½, 1,420 at Hincaster, 1,250 on the 1-in-106 to Grayrigg and as much as 1,410 on the final 2 miles to Shap summit. These were brilliant efforts by the crews and the locomotive, as good – if not better – than historical records of ‘Jubilees’ over Shap and they were rewarded by being completely check-free. Indeed, in perfect conditions, taking the fastest sections of these two runs, Sandy suggests that a time of 40½ mins from Carnforth Loop to the summit is possible with a similar load. Both runs made a speedy descent to Carlisle, where Driver Rawling had an advantage of 42 secs to the final stop. Galatea is in truly remarkable form in the hands of West Coast’s crews, which is to the credit of its owners and maintainers at West Coast Railways. The valve settings must be just right!
THESE WERE BRILLIANT EFFORTS BY THE CREWS, AS GOOD – IF NOT BETTER – THAN HISTORICAL RECORDS OF ‘JUBILEES’ OVER SHAP