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7029 Clun Castle: Halted On Hemerdon Bank (Z48)

Ajouté le lun. 13 mai 2024 Auto/Moto Rectangular HD

On Friday 10th & Saturday 11th May 2024, Vintage Trains ran a two day excursion from Birmingham to Plymouth and back, celebrating 60 years since the legendary 'Great Western' high speed railtour that ran on Saturday 9th May 1964. Chartered by Ian Allan Railtours, the original 1964 tour was a celebration in itself, being a swansong for the Great Western 'Castles' and marking 60 years since 3440 'City of Truro' allegedly became the first steam locomotive to achieve 100mph, supposedly hitting 102.3mph whilst descending Wellington Bank on the 'Ocean Mails' special from Plymouth to Paddington. Motive power for the run consisted of 4079 'Pendennis Castle', 7025 'Sudeley Castle', 7029 'Clun Castle' and 5054 'Earl Ducie'. Of the four, 4079 and 7029 survive in preservation.

Nicknamed 'Z48', after its reporting number, the tour became famous for its high speed runs, with 7029 hitting 96mph on the descent of Wellington Bank, and an attempted 100mph by 4079 which caused her to melt her firebars, resulting in her being withdrawn from the train, and 6999 'Capel Dewi Hall' taking her place.

7029 would once again take the reigns for the 2024 incarnation of 'Z48', heading out on day one from Birmingham Snowhill for the long journey to Plymouth via Oxford, Swindon, Badminton and Bristol. Class 47 No.47773 would tag along on the rear of the train as normal until the layover at Bristol, where it would detach and continue ahead of the tour, allowing 7029 to run solo to Plymouth. Whilst also being Clun's first foray into Devon since the mid-1980's, this run would make her the first 'Castle' to work up and over the notorious South Devon Banks since 5029 'Nunney Castle' doubled headed with SR 'West Country' 34046 'Braunton' on a 'Steam Dreams' tour in September 2014, with the last solo 'Castle' run being Vintage Trains' previous 'Z48' anniversary tour earlier that same year, worked by 5043 'Earl of Mount Edgcumbe'.

More unassisted running was scheduled for day two, with 7029 working solo from Plymouth to London Paddington, via Bristol and Bath, with 47773 shadowing the tour. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be, as 7029 came to grief mere miles into the journey, stalling on Hemerdon Bank. 47773 soon arrived from Laira depot to attach to the rear and help restart the train. The trusty 'Sulzer' remained on the rear until the layover at Bristol, with 7029 continuing onto London on its own as planned. The tour would then return to Birmingham via Oxford and Banbury, with 47773 as the 'train engine' on the front.

Starting local for the first shot, we kick off the video along the Great Western Main Line at Bourton, where the calls of a lapwing can be heard before the imminent arrival of 7029 onto the scene, sauntering along towards its birthplace of Swindon enroute to Bristol. Moving 120 miles west, we're now deep into South Devon, ready to catch Clun attacking Rattery Bank. In the early evening sunshine, we catch the Castle a mile and half into the climb, at Dorsley Farm overbridge, with its double chimney producing an awesome soundtrack up the 1 in 50 gradient on this section.

Following an overnight stay nearby, an early start was required to secure the prime position down in the field along Hemerdon Bank, ready for day two's 09:30 departure from Plymouth. All seemed to be going well, with 7029 appearing right on time up the final half mile of the 2 mile long 1 in 42 gradient. Despite a bit of a slog, everything seemed fine until just after the train had passed, when speed dropped rapidly, culminating in a squealing of brakes and the train grinding to a halt just before the gradient eases to 1 in 51. At the time of writing, reports are that the brakes on two of the coaches were dragging, caused by lineside vegetation catching the butterfly pressure release valves for the vacuum brakes on said coaches, causing a loss of pressure. Supposedly, this was enough to drag the brakes but not show any indication on any gauges. However slight, though, the extra resistance was enough to bring the train to a stand, necessitating the need for assistance as mentioned earlier. After a short up back up the fields, the restart is captured in a similar position to where I filmed the previous Z48 run with 5043, 10 years ago.

Nearly 100 miles further northeast, we catch up with the train one final time at Newton St Loe, as 7029 runs solo up the Great Western Main Line between Bristol and Bath, recreating a classic sight from the days of steam.

Filmed using a Panasonic HC-X1500 with an Audio-Technica BP4025 microphone.

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00:00 Bourton
01:30 Rattery Bank
03:10 Hemerdon Bank
06:50 Stopped on Hemerdon
07:20 Restarting on Hemerdon
09:30 Newton St Loe