TRAIN Performance NOTES
by Mike Notley
Performance Analyst, Vintage Trains
A short tribute to
5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
re-enacting The Bristolian
on 17 April 2010
and to the people & organisations
that made it happen
Main Photograph
5043 racing through Hullavington
Edward J Dyer
Click on an image to enlarge
Introduction
The Bristolian of the late 1950’s became famous for three things, Castle haulage, non-stop running and a schedule that called for an average end to end speed of more than 67mph. When Vintage Trains decided to recreate the train in the 175th Anniversary year of the Great Western Railway they began with just one of these things, the superb former Bristolian regular ‘Earl of Mount Edgcumbe’, immaculately restored at Tyseley Locomotive Works. To recreate the non-stop quality of the Bristolian meant, firstly, supplementing the tender water supply of the Castle and, in conjunction with the West Coast Railway Company, this was overcome by the inclusion in the formation of a Parcels Van carrying over 2,000 gallons which was linked to the tender. But the achievement of a non-stop run along the intensely used main line also involved careful pre-planning to ensure that progress was managed to do everything possible to avoid the possibility of a signal stop. And on the day, representatives of First Great Western and Network Rail travelled on the train, in constant telephone contact with signallers and the crew to smooth our progress. But it seemed, thanks to modern speed restrictions on main line steam, the one thing that couldn’t be recreated was the end to end speed- or could it?
The Down journey
The months of scheming and planning came to an end shortly after 11.30 on a beautifully sunny April 17th morning as Driver Ray Poole opened the regulator on 5043 and moved the 8-coach train out of platform 3 at Paddington. Pathed along the main line to Maidenhead, speed reached into the mid 70’s and we were on the Relief Line as scheduled and out of the way of the following HST bang on time. And this precise running continued through Reading and Didcot. Another ‘pinch point’ came as we ran slowly along the Relief Line on the approach to Challow as we waited for another HST to overtake. It did and shortly after 1 o’clock and with speed in the 60’s, we cruised through 5043’s 1936 birthplace, Swindon. And now the ‘plan’ went out of the window and the on-board planners took over. Over a section where the train was booked to average little more than 50mph, speed began to increase and we were soon into the 70’s. The travelling controllers had seen an opportunity to get to Bristol earlier and had told the crew to go for it. 7 minutes early at Chippenham became10 minutes by Bath and a rousing 76 near Keynsham saw us arrive at Bristol Temple Meads almost 11 minutes early. We had taken 133 minutes 9 seconds for the 118 miles and 26 chains, an average speed of 53.3mph. We had our Castle haulage, we had our non-stop run, but as we enjoyed the sunshine, moves were afoot to add the third Bristolia’ element, sustained speed.
The Up journey
By the time 5043 and its train left platform 3 at Bristol Temple Meads shortly after 5 o’clock, some intense ad-hoc planning had arrangements in place to allow a much faster return to London than the schedule required. And what a run we had! Once over the tricky section to Bristol Parkway, Driver Andy Taylor took the Castle quickly into the 60’s. Soon after the minor summit at Badminton, 5043 was galloping along at around her permitted maximum of 75mph and there, with just a couple of minor fluctuations, we remained for the next 90 miles. This was as close to the experience of the high speed Bristolian as we are likely to get nowadays and the miles just flew by. Swindon station saw us running 12 minutes early and doing 72mph. By Didcot our advantage had increased to almost 21 minutes and by Reading, to a massive 25½ minutes. The miles flew by as we continued running under green signals almost all the way to Paddington. And just before 6.52pm and more than 44 minutes early, the 2010 version of ‘The Bristolian’ came to a stand in platform 1. We had taken just 2 seconds under 110 minutes, only 5 minutes longer than the schedule allowed in the ‘good old days’. Our end to end average had been 64.2mph and, for the 100 miles between Mileposts 108 and 8, we had averaged 72.8mph, an unprecedented achievement by preserved steam despite minor checks approaching Didcot and Reading. Indeed, from Swindon in, we had beaten the 66 minutes allowed for the 1958 train by 19 seconds. It had been a remarkable performance and 5043 and her crew deservedly took the spotlight. But such achievements depend on many people and organisations and none of this could have been achieved without the crucial and enthusiastic contributions of Network Rail, First Great Western, West Coast Railway Company and their staff. For a day, thanks to their professionalism, we had been able to turn the clock back more than 50 years and enjoy again the glamour, the atmosphere and the sheer excitement of the steam hauled ‘Bristolian’.
