Freight, departmentals and specials in Sussex

[StuAllen]

I was only able to see it on Gaugemasters Railcam https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/railcam/ will tune in at 10pm to see it coming back.

 

Did grab a screen shot as it went past.

[40F]

Don`t bother 61306 went to Bishops Lydyard worked back by 47s topped and tailed  

[adb968008]

On 20/04/2024 at 08:48, StuAllen said:

Looking at the move from Southall looks like it hasn’t made it to Horsham yet, seems a bit confused - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U08837/2024-04-20/detailed

what a farce this was yesterday…
 

 

it got to Streatham, waited 30 mins.

Turns out no one forsaw that the Wimbledon to Sutton line was closed for engineeering works, and decided to also put a block on the P9 to Tooting section.

 

But it seems no one thought to use the Carshalton line, or the Norbury slow lines either, both which were open and ahead of it.

so … it waited 30 mins

Reversed to Latchmere junction via Brixton, it just happened to be the last train over the points at Brixton before a points failure canceled a dozen services immediately behind it, and onto Wandsworth road, waited 20 mins, then sat on the Thames for 15 mins blocking 2L11 and 6V07, continued back to kenny o, reversed forwards to Clapham p5 and them reversed again to Queenstown road, (delaying 2C18) and at now 2+ hours down… it then reversed again before heading mainline to Wimbledon/Epsom (delaying 2F15, 2D15 and 2k15), and hence Horsham (delaying 2I12 for 20 mins) just .to start its tour now 2h06 late.

 

Why it was routed via Ewell West (Wimbledon to Epsom) is beyond me in the first place, nothing ever goes that way (47830 went LE 2 years ago, 61306 in 2019),  this might have been LSLs first ever run on that line.
But  the farce was odd in that at Streatham, whilst hanging about it could just have gone is a regular route for 61306 anyway, via Carshalton on to Cheam to Epsom, following 2I02 and been at Epsom for 0655 , saving 15 odd minutes of its planned route… or via Norbury, following 2B04, and just ahead of 9J05 from East Croydon to Horsham (which is the usual ecs path anyway, indeed was in rtt originally last week) , putting it on time at Horsham, both routes were open and available and both have been used by 61306 many many many times before, so avoiding any delay at all… Theoretically it could have followed 2B04 as far as Sutton via Wallington and on to Epsom, though steams hasnt been that way since 2016, and only one other occasion since the 1960’s… this is a rare line… so it had 2, potentially 3 viable options in front of it, none of which are a stranger to 61306.. it could even have reversed Tulse Hill and hence via Crystal Palace, or Balham and hence Selhurst… so many options…. And empty space at 6-7am, but instead they waited 30 mins and went backwards and did a 4 point reversal around the nations busiest junction, then send it down the SWML.

 

But for some reason someone really wanted that Ewell West section for ecs steam mileage…and made everyone wait 2 hours for it to do so, whilst it clogged up all four compass points of Clapham at the businest time of saturday morning, delaying services for South Eastern, South Western and Southern.

Edited April 21 by adb968008

[John M Upton]

Another day, another shambles....

[SR71]

Never write off to malevolence what could have been caused by incompetence.

 

At least they got a run although there is mention here of it not completing the tour. Lack of crew/fuel after the issues in the morning?