Great Western Coffee Shop

I was lucky enough to be on this special yesterday between Plymouth and Bristol Temple Meads.

The train was another partnership effort between Vintage Trains, First Great Western and Network Rail and it was another amazing run.

Castle 5043 "Earl of Mount Edgcumbe" was the motive power.   We left Plymouth at 15 08 (3 minutes late on the revised timetable, to allow the 15 04 Paddington HST to get enough of a head start).  We took the banks well and were Right Time at Newton Abbot.

You could tell that the "Powers that be" intended a superlative performance, if possible, when the one stop we were booked (at Dawlish Warren), to get out of the way of a local and a CrossCountry train, didn't happen.  We sailed through, with the local in the platform.  Evidently the CrossCountry behind us was five minutes late.

Through Exeter and then up to Tiverton Junction, where we slowed a little because we had caught the Paddington HST up.

The HST must have just been pulling away from its booked stop at Tiverton Parkway as we didn't stop and after that, we were flying!   Mile after mile of high speed steam running.

Around Highbridge, it emerged that if we arrived in Temple Meads by 17 20, we would have beaten the time of the 1964 non stop run that yesterday's train was celebrating.  All that was ahead was a local at Yatton, 14 or so miles in front of us. 

The excellent run continued and we had greens all the way to and through Bedminster.  The local was on the relief line just south of Temple Meads, we passed it and pulled into Platform 4 at 17.17 - 32 minutes early (22 minutes faster than the booked schedule, taking out the 10 minutes we were meant to have spent at Dawlish Warren.)  We had done Plymouth - Bristol non stop in 2 hrs 9 mins behind steam (and with a mandatory top speed of 75MPH).

Many congratulations to all involved.

Here's a video of the train going through Teignmouth  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EcnjLplHoQ

and here's the Real Time Trains log
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50567/2014/05/10/advanced 

(This shows the train's booked departure time from Plymouth as 15 10 but it had been revised to 15 05)

Fantastic! I like the blinged-up buffers in the vid, too.

Terrific. I was monitoring it online to watch it come through Nailsea and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing on Real Time Trains.  Well done to all involved - wish I could have been on it.

With great timing, I arrived in Bristol Temple Meads four minutes after the train left on Saturday evening.  There was, however, the unmistakable smell of a steam loco hanging in the air.  Even more annoying - it must have passed my train as we came in - but I didn't notice it!

isn't that a sight for sore eyes?

Thanks for sharing the video..what a sight !

I haven't yet picked him out, but I'd rather like to think that member RichardB was to be seen, making suitably regal gestures out through the carriage window ...  ;) :D ;D

You just can't beat the sound and smell of a proper job train, can you?!  Lovely!

Richard. You use the word partnership which suggests the sharing of financial risk. Is that really the case, or is it down to Vintage Trains?

I have no idea re the finances but it was a real partnership as, had Network Rail and FGW not been real partners, I believe the best the train would have done would been to have run to its booked timings (or perhaps been slightly early).  It would have certainly stopped at Dawlish Warren, I'm sure of that.

One example of the close partnership was, as with the Bristolian, they had an on-board NR/FGW Control.  My view is that they as much as the fine engine and footplate work were the key to the superlative performance.

The now legendary 46 min early arrival of the up Bristolian in 2010 (only four mins slower than the 1959 time) was the first indication of what a partnership like this can achieve, all other things being well.

No, 37s were never my thing, Chris!