Great Western Coffee Shop

anybody got any times for paddington to bristol run

I take it you're refering to this Saturday's (17th April) steam railtour.

The tour promoter, Vintage Trains, states on their contact details webpage:

"Please note that Vintage Trains does not provide detailed train timings for our excursions, except to passengers on our trains."

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs10.htm is a good place to keep an eye on - they may well have the diagrams up in the next couple of days.

Someone out there in coffeeshop land may have access to the diagrams though. Fingers crossed as I would like the gen as well so I can go out to do some photting!

I've got the times for the FGW HST   :D

Not the steam leg though

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, runner!  :)

The Vintage Trains website (http://www.shakespeareexpress.com/vt2010_0417_down.htm) currently only offers the following information:

Not related to Saturday's train, but tomorrow, Clan Line should be operating from Victoria via Staines / Reading / Newbury to bath and Bristol and return on a VSOE special. The times listed on the aforementioned UK steam site are just showing as provisional.

Note that there are details at uksteaminfo of the timings for the loco positioning train on Friday afternoon from Solihull to Slough (then Southall depot in the middle of the evening peak) via Oxford, which seems to involve a lengthy stop at the less than scenic location of Hinksey loop.

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/t10/t0416a.htm

Handy for the photters though...might be able to get a good shot of it from the footbridge at Hinksey Pool/Lake Street.

The Bristolian times for Saturday are now posted here http://www.uksteam.info/tours/t10/t0417a.htm

Off to Sydney Gardens for some photting on Sat methinks!

Train stops to pick up/set down passengers at Oxford, and then pulls forward into the Up Down Passenger Loop to take on water.  I suspect the best place to see this will be from the footbridge over the Becket Street (station) car park, with the water being provided from the London-end of the car park.  Although the loop continues down towards the Isis bridge and the next footbridge at Hinksey Lake, the train will be moving off and crossing back onto the up main by then.

ANY GOOD SPOTS AROUND CHIPPENHAM TO PHOTO

Well I guess through the station at Chippenham would be favourite.  ;)

I treated myself to a ticket on the Bristolian on Saturday and it was a great day.

I travelled up on the special HST from Plymouth and returned on the down Bristolian.  While we slowed down through Reading, Chippenham and Bath, we didn't stop and arrived in Temple Meads 11 minutes early. 

I have it from a very good source that the up Bristolian was even better.  Running via Badminton, it did the 118 miles in 109 mins and arrived in Paddington a staggering 46 minutes early.  I make that an average speed of 64 miles an hour which given the maximum allowed for steam is 75MPH is a phenomenal feat.

Congratulations to all involved.  A great way to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the GWR.

46 early!?!?!  :o :o :o

Wow. Must've been some good work by the bobbies to keep it running under 'clear' signals with it running so far ahead of it's booked slots.

Just read on another forum that the bobbies shoved a HST out of the way onto the up relief between Reading and Slough to give the Bristolian the chance of a clear run into Paddington - which it duly got!

Interesting regulation there, 125 vs 75mph!