The best laid schemes…
After being postponed twice due to the pandemic, the much-anticipated four-day GBRf charity tour finally got underway in September, only to be hit by a mystery bug on board, as John Heaton FCILT reports.
PLATFORM 2 at London Victoria station has seen its fair share of special events and dignitaries over the years. Many readers will fondly remember it from their first venture to the Continent, perhaps a special celebration on the British Pullman, or even an Orient Express trip.
On the morning of Saturday, September 5 at 09.15 there was a gathering of a different nature as preparations were made for the departure of the GB Railfreight (GBRf) Charity Railtour. Aficionados will not need to be reminded that GBRf railtours are no ordinary out-and-back trips. This one was a four-day marathon plus one overnight leg on board the train, sitting up, no sleeping berths – a full train too, so no sprawling out across spare seats. The faint-hearted should not apply.
Paul Taylor has earned a reputation over many years as heading a team of GBRf volunteers which excels in designing and implementing imaginative itineraries. All railtours have their surprises, but Paul and his team endeavour to make them pleasant ones. As a charitable concern operating from within the industry, Paul freely admits he gets more cooperation and better prices than a commercial operator might otherwise have done. Indeed, it is not too much to claim that he enjoys the way in which the separate parts of the industry come together to support a good cause. The contribution towards teamwork within GBRf is considerable, featuring the efforts of, for instance, volunteer traincrew to staff the wide range of routes.
The proposed 2020 trip had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and it had been a close decision whether to run the 2021 trip – being put back from April to September to reposition itself firmly in a month when most people would have been vaccinated. The arrangements successfully rode the ‘pingdemic’ of key staff being instructed by the NHS ‘app’ to self-isolate, and here we all were on a Thursday morning at the end of the school holidays.
Much in prospect
What a mouth-watering array of journeys awaited the passengers. My particular interests usually centre on rolling stock or infrastructure operating as near to their design limits as permissible, but even I fancied a trip to London Gateway container terminal and Marchwood Ministry of Defence sidings.
Looking at the suitability of the four-day trip for Practice and Performance, what did it offer? Hmmm – day 1, a couple of the MTU 1600hp re-engined ‘73/9s’ up the Cambridge main line; Day 2, a Class 59 on the relatively
“What a mouthwatering array of journeys awaited the passengers”
steeply-graded Portsmouth line and an amble round Hamble to Southampton; overnight to Birmingham and a Class 86 banked by Class 73s up Lickey, then over Shap and Beattock with a Class 92 for Day 3 to start at Exhibition Centre in Glasgow taking two Class 20s to Oban with an extra Class 33 back; then Mossend-Motherwell-Edinburgh-Newcastle with a Class 91, a real rarity on Mk.1 stock.
Just look at Day 4 – perhaps not that much performance interest from a 60mph Class 60 to Carlisle, although undoubtedly unusual. Then a Class 66 to Crewe, no fewer than 3x50s ‘in triplicate’ to Birmingham and, after a few extra manoeuvres, capping the four-day trip with a brand-new Class 69 (Class 56 conversion) on its first passenger outing.
How do I book? Each day of the trip was separately priced with the overnight Day 2/3 being classed as ‘Day N’ and the top slot being the ‘Full Works’ package of all meals at seats in First Class at £860, with a free goodie bag included. On top of that, hotels were needed on two intermediate nights, and the nights at either end of the trip for those living a long distance from London. Some £1200 in all perhaps; a considerable investment.
It certainly felt better knowing that the vast majority of the £860 would be going to the nominated charity Prostate Cancer UK under the tag line ‘This Time It’s Personal’ in recognition of the illness from which organiser Paul Taylor suffered, and the untimely death of GBRf stalwart Des O’Brien. GBRf managing director John Smith was on hand at Victoria to supervise the naming of No. 73965 in memory of Des.
And we’re off…
With No. 73963 Janice accompanying Des O’Brien at the rear of the train, what was to be our other locomotive for the day, standing at the country end of the 12-coach Riviera Trains stock? Here was newly-named No. 66769 LMA League Managers Association (no apostrophes to be seen) reflecting the organisation’s adoption of Prostate Cancer UK as its official charity and continuing the footballing theme of the class. The loco also had cabside ’plates Paul Taylor Our Inspiration.
All aboard and ready for off, we skirted London via Latchmere Junction and Kensington Olympia before an 11min signal stop prior to joining the North London line at Willesden Junction. No harm done there, we were still 11min early. Our average speed for the 11½miles from Kensal Rise to Walthamstow Queen’s Road was only 22mph, but there had been no further stops. Even so, we were an hour into our journey before my GPS registered 30mph, although it had almost made it back at Kensal Rise. Nevertheless, we were 15½min early at Barking as we ventured onto the London, Tilbury & Southend metals, then via Grays, forking right at Thames Haven Junction before nestling into London Gateway container terminal. How the traffic has altered here. One of my first train planning jobs at York Headquarters in 1970 involved ways of moving the predicted huge upsurge in Thames Haven oil traffic. There are now only a few such flows on the whole network, pipeline technology having superseded rail. On the other hand, containerisation of general shipping cargo has played into the hands of rail, and today
the engines of two Class 66s are ticking over impatiently waiting to work the 12.18 to Hams Hall and the 12.56 to Garston.
I have a particular interest in container terminals as I spent my second to fifth weeks on the railway at Stourton, Leeds – but today I could not see much from where I was sitting, wedged into my seat, unable to stretch aching knees and accompanied by a party of three others who seemed mainly interested in marking off new track on their Quail maps.
‘EDs’ to Harwich
After a merciful 38min we were off again, on time headed by Des O’Brien and Janice. This time we were routed via the single track Ockendon line, then the main SouthendFenchurch Street line to Barking, not quite registering 50mph, past Woodgrange Park heading for a reversal at Bow Depot. Or so we believed.
Network Rail thought differently, or at least so did the signaller who insisted we did not have the correct paperwork. Our organisers said they did. The matter was elevated, but after 33min at a stand we gave up the unequal battle – not specifically against bureaucracy but against miscommunication. Either someone had wrongly told us we could go there or someone had not told the signaller we could. That is what happens with too many management layers and fragmentation of what is essentially a single task. Let us hope this kind of misunderstanding ends with the creation of Great British Railways. No, I am not confident it will either.
The compromise solution involved reversal at Stratford No. 10 platform. We should have in effect passed our return working to Harwich International before we reached Stratford, where we had to stand 17min before a path became available.
With No. 66769 leading, there was at least a theoretical chance of some fast running, in practice interrupted only by what I have ascribed to a running brake test to 61mph at Romford and 20mph at Witham for the 15.00 Braintree-Liverpool Street to cross our path.
At Harwich, I was assured that the Class
73s had not helped at all so the highlights were storming the 1-in-103 Ingrave bank with some 635 tonnes behind the 126-tonne Class 66 at a minimum speed of 56mph, from a maximum of 71½mph after Harold Wood, then 3½min of hard work lifting speed from 40mph to 70mph on the almost level track towards Kelvedon
(see Table 1). There was one more highlight – running through Colchester at the full 75mph and watching the look of surprise on the faces of unsuspecting passengers.
Table 1 also shows the log and a blast from the past with a Paul Walker log, taken from the Railway Performance Society (RPS) electronic archive, of Britannia 4-6-2 No. 70006 Robert Burns with the keen, but ultimately to be frustrated, Ipswich driver Goodchild on the 5.30pm from Liverpool Street in 1958.
Euston via Ely
“The best laid plans do indeed ‘gang aft agley’”
We had a full hour in the otherwise deserted passenger shipping terminal at Harwich International. Many railtourers took the service train to Harwich Town and back while others spent the time trying to make the two inscrutable vending machines cooperate with their desire for rehydration. It had been discovered well in advance there was no path from Bury St Edmund’s direct to Cambridge via Dullingham. No real surprise there. Instead, our Class 73 pairing took us to Ely making a good job of lifting the heavy load from 22mph to what appeared to be a balancing speed of 55mph on the 1-in-157 rising gradient from Bentley to Belstead summit. In the Flirt P&P article (February 2021 issue) I remarked that it was hard to tell there was a rising gradient, but we certainly felt it with our Class 73s (see Table 2). From a staff stop at Ipswich on allbut-level track to Claydon, the train was accelerated to 70mph, touching 73mph before a temporary speed restriction intervened, then the deceleration for Haughley Junction. 76mph was attained down the 1-in-147 after Higham and again on gently falling gradients to the construction site of the new Soham station. We seemed to approach Ely, where we had to reverse, at the busiest time in its 175-year history, for passenger trains at least. It was a surprise to regain 1½min between passing Ely Dock Junction on the way in and out, now again behind No. 66769. Running at 70mph on the level Fens was unexciting, leavened by 76mph at Spelbrook but then checked most of the way round from Cheshunt via Turkey Street to the North London line. The organisers had been far-sighted enough to arrange a stop at Highbury & Islington to allow passengers to reach their London hotels more quickly than by contending with the night-time jungle of Willesden freight yards. I had not considered bailing out until a 14min stop and stuttering progression reawakened my common sense. Off I jumped (21.38, 2½hrs from Ely, 4½hrs from Harwich) and two stops on the Victoria Line took me to my hotel. Perhaps railtours are not for me. More fairly, perhaps I am not for railtours.
Day 2 Euston
Suitably refreshed, and with every expectation of getting that ‘second wind’ long distance runners say they experience, I was on platform 15 at Euston at 07.00. The publicity had indicated No. 59003 Yeoman Highlander, repatriated from a 16-year sojourn in Germany and now on the GBRf roster, would be provided – and a splendid sight it made on the buffers at Euston. Nos. 73201 Broadlands and 73126 Mhairi were on the north end of the same coaching set as the previous day. After reversal at Willesden Up & Down Relief Lines, No. 59003 led us towards a Hounslow pick-up but not until three signal stops before Acton Central, all included in the timings. The 29 miles from Willesden to Woking took just over 92min at an average speed of only 19mph between the EMU service, but perhaps there would now be some opportunity for fast running with our bulk freight loco. It took almost three miles to reach 60mph with its 14-vehicle load, by which time we were only a few minutes from Guildford, carefully negotiated at 20mph.
The climb for nearly four miles at 1-in-80 from the dip after Witley almost to Haslemere brought our speed down from 52mph to 37mph before falling grades for around double that distance allowed us to bowl along at the loco’s maximum 60mph (see Table 3). The ‘Portsmouth Direct’ is a severely graded line and another stiff climb at 1-in-100/110 towards Buriton tunnel was taken at a balancing speed of 38mph on the 1-in-110 stretch and a maximum of 39½mph on the brief 1-in-205 towards the end of the ascent. Calculations suggest an equivalent drawbar horsepower (edbhp) of around 1900, but the unavailability of key resistance values cast doubt on this figure. Readers’ views would be appreciated. After full speed approaching Rowlands Castle, there was little of performance interest as we skirted the Solent with a 6min stop before Havant, a 3min stop before Cosham Junction and checks to single figures on three occasions. However, the arrival at Southampton Central was a welcome 2½min early; a triumph of computer planning reflecting reality.
I had been whiling away the time reflecting on the invidious position which I now occupied. When booking, I had somehow persuaded myself that I could manage an overnight trip, then day travel up to 19.30 at Newcastle, the opinion being based on long distance Amtrak roomette travel with my wife in the seat opposite. In the meantime, it had been decided to extend the day from Newcastle to Carlisle because hotel prices in ‘The Toon’ had risen sharply after publication of the football fixture list. Pity: I had already booked a good hotel at a decent, thankfully refundable, rate.
By now though it was obvious even to me that I could not exist another 36hrs without sleeping in a proper bed. What would I miss? Lunch and curry night, three hours sitting in Marchwood depot and some shunter haulage, some further time in Eastleigh Yard, my climb to Roundwood, the Class 86 and a Class 92 on the West Coast – but not the Class 86 up Lickey, the good intentions in that respect having been lost in timing mismatches to discover a path that would bring GBRf into Exhibition Centre station of Glasgow at 06.30 to take its West Highland path. It was time to bid farewell to my table mates; I think one of them might have acknowledged my departure, the others just spread out.
Early start
It is 06.30 on Saturday morning. There has been a signal failure at Motherwell and some local trains have been cancelled, including the one I would have caught to connect with the railtour had I not taken a taxi from my hotel. Our special is going to be about 25min late, but that is not the ‘really bad’ news. Paul Taylor has travelled specially to Exhibition Centre to tell us around a dozen passengers have been taken ill on the train overnight and it has been ascribed to norovirus. The best laid plans do indeed ‘gang aft agley’. Not coronavirus then? Not food poisoning either? We can go home if we prefer, but the tour is continuing to Oban.
Here comes the train – another pre-advised alteration concerning the unavailability of Class 20s and the Class 33, but this is inevitable when dealing with 60-year-old machinery six months in advance. We can accept it is in good faith, especially on a charity trip like this. Instead, we will have Class 37s Nos. 37425 Sir Robert McAlpine/Concrete Bob and 37407 – the somewhat incongruously named Blackpool Tower.
Had it been coronavirus I would go home, but we are assured it is not. If the victims were all in First Class dining I would go home, but they are not. I join, take my seat and prepare to take breakfast as Loch Long changes to Loch Lomond and then, after Crianlarich, Loch Awe to Loch Etive. The breakfast was nowhere near as good as yesterday. No cereal or fruit juice. Perhaps the kitchen staff are among those ill? If so it is worrying. The Class 37s proceed mainly at around 30mph but with the usual smattering of signal checks to Craigendoran Junction. My travelling companions beam as they colour in the loop line and the 05.21 Oban-Queen Street Class 156 comes off the West Highland. Starting up the 1-in-58 to Helensburgh Upper, with no deadweight on the back of the passenger stock today, our ETH-fitted Class 37s reach 37mph before another signal stop. The electronic token exchange at Garelochead comes next, then a stiff uphill climb through Whistlefield to Glen Douglas summit, about a mile before the passing loop and military siding installation. The gradient changes meant the locos did not quite reach a balancing speed, but 28mph on the 1-in-54 around Milepost 11 (from Craigendoran Junction) is representative with 32mph at Tombuoy viaduct. There are 18 gradient changes shown in the Ian Allan book in the 8½miles from Ardlui to the summit before Crianlarich, but the ruling gradient is 1-in-60 which the locomotives took at 27mph. Back in the 10th coach, the roar of the English Electric
engines could be clearly heard, even without the echo from the valley sides.
At Oban the locomotives ran round the train singly via the short headshunt and rejoined the train so that No. 37407 was leading. The two-hour break was much appreciated by the 450 or so passengers and staff before we rejoined the train after it had been shunted back to the main platform following the departure of the Class 156/ ‘bicycle’ ‘153’ combination on the 12.11 to Glasgow Queen Street.
Back to Carlisle
I have saved showing logged details of the hill climbing until the return journey, as I was now facing the engine and at the milepost side. Table 4 shows the effort needed to crest the 1-in-50 Glen Cruitten summit, then from Dalmally on the mainly 1-in-60 towards Lower Tyndrum. Speed was down to 25mph before the 840ft altitude summit. Finally, Table 4 shows the climb by the Class 37s from Arrochar to Glen Douglas – mainly at 26mph on the 1-in-57 stretch. Once again, within the parameters of the available data, edbhp on the climbs was around 2050 (plus or minus say 150). Figure 1 (page 20) shows how it was 67 years ago on the Oban line in 1954, with a Noel Proudlock log of ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 44995 and 45177 hauling the 4.45pm ObanGlasgow Buchanan Street conveying a London sleeping car and a heavy load of luggage with one of the ‘Black Fives’ needing water replenishment. Rather than transcribe Noel’s log into a prosaic modern table, I have chosen to publish a screenshot of the actual Railway Performance Society electronic archive entry in Noel’s own hand, giving a feel for the atmosphere of the period.
By now we had eaten a poor lunch. A ladle of mince, a dollop of mash, a tablespoon of cut green beans, a cup of tea and a chocolate mint. But lunch it was. Most of the toilets were now out of water and the assumed norovirus was spreading quickly.
It was announced that the Edinburgh/ Newcastle legs of the journey were to be cut out, dinner service would be abandoned, and the train would proceed directly to Carlisle from Mossend with the Class 91.
As we stood 45min outside Carlisle, I succumbed to whatever was causing the problem. Envisaging our fate through the miasma of illness, I could see the special being moored for weeks in the most desolate reaches of Kingmoor Yard, like last year’s Diamond Princess coronavirus ‘plague ship’ that was held for weeks in Yokohama, Japan.
The internet said 34 people were ill. It is impossible to tell – but I would guess at least twice that number. I for one was not on the official sick list.
After special cleaning, the train went forward the following day with its booked motive power but no catering at all. A little more about this next month and a detailed log of the Class 91 on the West Coast, which space precludes inclusion this month.
Lose/lose
Should the authorities have cancelled the train at Glasgow on Saturday morning? In a candid interview, in which the responsibilities of the volunteer organisers were clearly recognised, Paul Taylor said not. It would have been logistically difficult and over 400 would have been inconvenienced for the sake of perhaps 10.
Should the train have run from Carlisle on Sunday morning? Paul points out that the 10.15 special train was the first southbound express that morning. It was held back for even more extra-special cleaning, and the ordinary services could not have coped with the influx of passengers.
He also makes a fair point in that Network Rail and the other train operating companies would have known what problems were being foisted upon them.
The organisers were genuinely upset and stressed by the events and as one who suffered (and had to stay an extra ‘recovery’ night in Carlisle) I feel I am entitled to say I believe they could not have won whatever they had decided to do. ■
“The organisers were genuinely upset and stressed by the events… and I believe they could not have won whatever they had decided to do”