Railways in Parliament
‘A1’ and ‘A3’ meetings now set for October
THE third national lockdown has resulted in Tyseley-based Vintage Trains (VT) having to delay its much-anticipated return to main line operation, which will now commence with a string of ‘Shakespeare Express’ runs before the big railtours begin in August.
The ever-popular ‘Shakespeare Express’ resumes on July 17 between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford upon Avon, with all trains expected to be hauled by Tyseley’s flagship doublechimney ‘Castle’ No. 7029 Clun Castle, or sister engine
No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe; the latter making a welcome return to the main line following overhaul at Tyseley Locomotive Works.
Further ‘Shakespeare’ dates for this summer are: July 18;
July 24-25; August 1; August 8; August 14-15; August 21-22; August 29; September 5; and September 12. Two round trips will be made each day, with each train including Pullman, Club and Tourist accommodation.
Additionally, four Saturday trains will operate to a different schedule, out and back on the North Warwickshire Line via Henley in Arden.
On selected evenings, the theme will be ‘Murder on the Shakespeare Express’, including a dining option, while an afternoon ‘Mad Hatters Tea Party’ will also run for children.
Unusually for Vintage Trains, the first four full railtours of 2021 will be diesel-hauled. The first is the redated ‘Jolly Fisherman’, which will now run on August 4 and revives the once-regular Class 20-hauled Summer Saturday workings to Skegness. The train will start from Tyseley Warwick Road.
The ‘Choppers’ (courtesy of the Michael Owen fleet) will then be in action again on the ‘Saint Tudno Express’ from Tyseley to Llandudno on August 11, and again on the ‘Weston Venturer’ on August 18. In this instance it will work top-and-tailed between Tyseley and Westonsuper-Mare with VT’s own Brush Type 4 No. 47773.
The ‘47’ and a ‘20’ will pair up again for the ‘Scarborough Belle’ on August 25, which runs from Tyseley via Tamworth, Burton upon Trent, Derby, Clay Cross and Pontefract Baghill to York, where passengers may leave the train if they wish or continue on to the seaside town of Scarborough.
‘SLS Special’
Another redated tour is September 25’s ‘SLS Special’ to Swindon, which celebrates 70 years of the Stephenson Locomotive Society’s special trains. The original SLS Specials, organised by Arthur ‘Cam’ Camwell, became an annual event as they regularly featured the last examples of GWR loco classes and visited the famous Swindon Works.
Originally this tour had been planned to run with No. 7029 but instead will be hauled by No. 5043. This continues the tradition set by Cam as ‘Edgcumbe’ is the last of its class to be returned to main line service in the preservation era, and is a record-breaker in its own right.
The outward run will take
No. 5043 through the heart of Birmingham to Kidderminster, Worcester and Cheltenham, running through the Golden Valley and up Sapperton Bank to Kemble and Swindon.
It will return via ‘Brunel’s billiard table’ to Didcot before heading northwards towards Birmingham, including an assault of the famous Hatton Bank.
This October marks 50 years since No. 6000 King George V broke the British Rail steam ban and paved the way for the return of regular steam on the network. Therefore it is fitting that another Swindon-built 4-6-0 – Clun
Castle – pays homage to that moment with a ‘Return to Steam 50th Anniversary Special’on October 2.
The tour begins at Tyseley and heads out through Birmingham towards Shrewsbury via Wolverhampton. Taking the avoiding line at Shrewsbury, it then follows the Welsh Marches line via Craven Arms to Hereford for a three-hour break for city sightseeing.
The return leg will follow ‘KGV’s’ original route of half a century before, continuing south to join the South Wales main line, for a sprint through the Severn Tunnel to Swindon, a water stop at Didcot and a photo call at Banbury.
VT had hoped to operate a number of ‘Welsh Marches Expresses’ during the year, but the delayed start to the season has seen that number fall to just one. The October 9 tour sees the ‘Princess Coronation’ Pacific No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland return to VT duties courtesy of the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust.
The train will head to Worcester and Gloucester via Birmingham Snow Hill, then join the Welsh Marches line at Newport before following the Welsh border country to Hereford for an afternoon break.
The return leg takes the ‘Duchess’ on to Shrewsbury, then loops back to the Midlands through Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.
Lickey bankers
No. 6233 will then haul the rescheduled ‘Midland Bristolian’ on October 30, which begins with No. 47773 at Derby. The Type 4 will take the train south, picking up at Burton, Tamworth, Coleshill Parkway and Tyseley, and on to Dorridge where the ‘Duchess’ takes over for the onward run to Bristol. The return run will follow the Midland route and include an ascent of the Lickey Incline.
Lickey Incline history will be recreated on November 20 when a ‘94XX’ 0-6-0PT will act as a banker on the infamous 1-in-37 incline.
Two ‘Lickey Banker’ trains will depart from Tyseley that day. The first – headed by No. 5043 – will pick-up at Birmingham Snow
Hill and proceed to Worcester, where it will turn before heading for Bromsgrove. Here
JJP Holdings’ pannier No. 9466 will join the train on the rear to provide banking assistance as far as Blackwell. No. 5043 will return the train to Tyseley via Birmingham New Street. The second ‘Lickey Banker’ will run that same afternoon, following the same route and itinerary as the morning run. However, No. 5043 will hand over duties to sister engine No. 7029.
‘Castles’ on the Lickey Incline are a rare sight as it is, so two in one day is very rare indeed.
The final trains of the year will be festive specials returning to familiar VT destinations. Of these, December 5 will be the most significant as it will see
Nos. 5043 and 7029 pair up on the main line for the first time, albeit top-and-tailed.
The day’s destination is Melton Mowbray’s Victorian Christmas Fayre, but the trip will include an additional lunchtime excursion from Melton to Corby and back via Harringworth Viaduct.
December 11 will see No. 5043 take the ‘Merchant Venturer’ from Solihull to Bath for the Christmas market, with No.
7029 concluding the year on December 18’s ‘White Rose’ from Tyseley to York.
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“No. 5043 will hand over duties to sister engine No. 7029. ‘Castles’ on the Lickey Incline are a rare sight as it is, so two in one day is very rare indeed.”
THE coming together of ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado and ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman originally planned for September will now take place in October, also following different routes from those originally envisaged.
While these four tours will see the matchingliveried Pacifics come together at Carlisle, they will not feature Nos. 60103 and 60163 double-heading as each loco will haul one leg of each train.
The first, on October 20, will run electric-hauled from Tamworth to Preston, where Tornado takes over for the run to Blackburn and Hellifield, and over the Settle & Carlisle line to the former border city. At Carlisle, Flying Scotsman will take over for the return run to Preston, but not before the two locos have been photographed together.
Middlesbrough
The following day, October 21, sees the ‘A3’ return to Carlisle again, this time taking over at Preston from an electric that brought the train north from Birmingham New Street. As before, the locos will swap at Carlisle, with the ‘A1’ returning the train to Preston.
A week later, on October 27, Tornado will run from Middlesbrough to Carlisle via Yarm, York and Thirsk, the train returning with ‘Scotsman’ as far as York.
Then, on October 28, the last of the four tours will depart from Peterborough with modern traction as far as York, where the ‘A3’ will take over as far as Carlisle. As before, the two Pacifics will then swap with Tornado heading the homeward leg.