RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 1, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 1, 2013 We had the sight of 2 main line steam charters through Starcross today (Sunday 1st September) within about 10 minutes of each other! I chose a little jetty over the tracks from Starcross station to get the right side for the sun - but you have to contend with some railings which spoil things slightly... First was West Country pacific 34046 Braunton heading the Torbay Express down to Kingswear - a nice surprise as UK Steam Tours website showed Nunney Castle as motive power. Braunton was running really smoothly & didn't seem to be expending much effort at all: Not much behind was Black 5 44932 haling the Royal Duchy tour down towards Par - seemingly working a lot harder! I don't know if the trailing class 47 was due to help out over the South Devon banks, but I got the feeling it was hindering here! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Are those Bachmann Mk1s, or the £3.99 Hachette jobs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 1, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 1, 2013 Nice ones Rich I Think thats the first time I have seen the railway from the river at Starcross! Now Im thinking of chips n fish! Cheers! Ah, Kenny's fish'n'chips - almost under the Up platform of the station! Although the last lot we had was from Chippy Chaps at the bottom of the Dawlish Warren station drive & they were really very good.... There's 2 options for seeing the railway from the riverside at Starcross - you can cross over the station footbridge & follow a path off the south end of the Down platform, this takes you onto the pier where the foot ferry to Exmouth leaves (there's good views from the ferry too as it runs parallel to the line for a while). Or there's a small foot crossing over the line just north of the station (before the car park) which leads onto a very small stone jetty & steps. Sarah was a bit worried about the kids wondering on the jetty as it got a bit crowded (8 people made a crowd!) so they retreated 'landside' and watched over the fence.... Are those Bachmann Mk1s, or the £3.99 Hachette jobs? Definitely Bachmann - see, footsteps & Commonwealth bogies on the first one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert17649 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 By the time it got to Saltash the 47 was in front and the Five was just coasting. Later it went back with the 47 at the back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted September 2, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 2, 2013 Nice photos from a lovely location. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted September 3, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2013 By the time it got to Saltash the 47 was in front and the Five was just coasting. Later it went back with the 47 at the back. Apparently what happened was that the Black 5 caused a number of lineside fires in that very area, certainly around Dawlish Warren, so the decision was made to put the 47 on the front at Newton Abbot (don't know why it was there in the first place, apart possibly to assist shunting at Par). Anyway, the 47 then ran short of fuel at some point, so the Black 5 had to work the train back again by itself... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mow Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Black Five left Bristol before Braunton. Will try and post some shots from Temple Meads later. Next weekend The Royal Duchy is hauled by Oliver Cromwell, and Braunton brings the Torbay Express down to Devon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Nice ones Rich I Think thats the first time I have seen the railway from the river at Starcross! Now Im thinking of chips n fish! It is a nice view, now I would have then headed to the Atmospheric Railway....... cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted September 3, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 3, 2013 Apparently what happened was that the Black 5 caused a number of lineside fires in that very area, certainly around Dawlish Warren, so the decision was made to put the 47 on the front at Newton Abbot (don't know why it was there in the first place, apart possibly to assist shunting at Par). Anyway, the 47 then ran short of fuel at some point, so the Black 5 had to work the train back again by itself... Sort of thing that you couldn't make it up if you tried. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 3, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2013 Apparently what happened was that the Black 5 caused a number of lineside fires in that very area, certainly around Dawlish Warren, so the decision was made to put the 47 on the front at Newton Abbot (don't know why it was there in the first place, apart possibly to assist shunting at Par). Anyway, the 47 then ran short of fuel at some point, so the Black 5 had to work the train back again by itself... Well, the black 5 was chucking out a lot more exhaust than Braunton! Interesting that the uk steam tours site said the Royal Duchy had a diesel pilot due to lineside fire risk, but the Torbay Express didn't - seems a bit strange.... Black Five left Bristol before Braunton. Will try and post some shots from Temple Meads later. Next weekend The Royal Duchy is hauled by Oliver Cromwell, and Braunton brings the Torbay Express down to Devon. The timings showed the Royal Duchy at Exeter St D for 50 mins for a water stop, whereas the Torbay Express went straight through & overtook! Same timings shown for this Sunday too, to a chance to see 2 steam trains in Exeter at the same time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted September 3, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2013 Thanks for the info I have been on the ferry, but I was with someone marginally more interesting that the railway at the time Also never tried the chips but we used to stop there on the Up about 5ish and it always smelt sooo good as I freefalled down from the train to the platform I was on that very ferry only last month and it's called 'Orcombe' and is the same one as used in the 50s.Lovely views.I never knew there was a foot crossing north of the station and I've parked there loads of times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 3, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2013 The jetty is arrowed on this google maps image: and the foot crossing is visible by the people on the left: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted September 3, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 3, 2013 You'll find yourself swamped with RMwebbers on Sun now Rich :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mow Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 The Black Five and Braunton departing from Bristol to Devon and Cornwall. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted September 3, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 3, 2013 Apparently what happened was that the Black 5 caused a number of lineside fires in that very area, certainly around Dawlish Warren, so the decision was made to put the 47 on the front at Newton Abbot (don't know why it was there in the first place, apart possibly to assist shunting at Par). Anyway, the 47 then ran short of fuel at some point, so the Black 5 had to work the train back again by itself... I trust the Bulleid behaved CK. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 3, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2013 You'll find yourself swamped with RMwebbers on Sun now Rich :-) Having used the site last week, I realise the railings kind of get in the way somewhat. If I get out next Sunday, I've another site in mind.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted September 4, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2013 Interesting that the uk steam tours site said the Royal Duchy had a diesel pilot due to lineside fire risk, but the Torbay Express didn't - seems a bit strange.... This would have been due to a decision taken by the train operator themselves, West Coast Railways... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Great pictures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR(S) Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 There were five charters through Starcross last weekend! Double header 20s on Friday (Torbay Flyer); 57/47 top-and-tail on Saturday (The Statesman); 34046 Braunton on Sunday (Torbay Express); 44932 on Sunday (Royal Duchy); Class 47 top-and-tail on Monday (The Devonian). No photos or videos from me as I watched them all from my armchair on the Dawlish webcam! Good footage here of the Class 47 being removed from the Royal Duchy at Newton Abbot: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 5, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 5, 2013 Now I'm even more puzzled The 47 was at the back at Starcross, so must have run to the front at Dawlish Warren (the only place with a loop before NA and there was a 20 minute stop in the timings?) - only to run low on fuel by NA? Then Robert (post 6) says the 47 re-appeared on the front by Saltash! It all seems very strange, the passengers must have been surprised by all the to-and-fro... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 This is the return trip, so presumably the Cl.47 failed somewhere west of NA. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 5, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 5, 2013 Ah, realisation dawns in the cloudy recesses of my addled brain.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted September 6, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 6, 2013 This is the return trip, so presumably the Cl.47 failed somewhere west of NA. I refer the Honourable Gentlemen to my comments in post number 8... The diesel was put on the front at NA on the outward trip, but was found to be low on fuel when it got to Par.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted September 6, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 6, 2013 Yep, understood - I was just fixated on the outbound run & hadn't twigged the video related to the return trip.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR(S) Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 While this thread's up and running, the Royal Duchy and Torbay Express are back again tomorrow. Times for Dawlish for those who want to watch them on the webcam (http://www.livestream.com/rcdawlish): Torbay Express 34046 Dawlish: Down: 11.29; Up: 17.42. Royal Duchy 70013 Dawlish: Down: 12.00; Up: a.19.53, d.19.56. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.