The Devon Quarryman

Daylight Railtours - Saturday 30th September 2000

A review by Rich Savage

This was quite a late start for me - the alarm only went off at 5.25am leaving me with plenty of time to get to Alton for the booked departure time of 07.24. The tour was to feature two engines - the main motive power for the day being West County 34016 "Bodmin" with support coming from D6593 (33208).

Surprisingly the gate was open at Alton and "Bodmin" duly rolled in about 10 minutes before its booked departure time. I settled down in my seat which was in the first passenger coach behind "Bodmin". She must have looked a magnificent sight appearing out of the mist and fog as we headed through the Hampshire countryside. We picked up further passengers at Aldershot before swinging right down to Guildford for a further pick-up. At this stage we were more or less right time all the way. At Guildford the train reversed direction wit h the Crompton leading the train up to Woking. I still have not been able to work out why we went via Guildford rather than direct via Ash Vale - but then again it was a railtour! At Woking we reversed again with "Bodmin" leading the way down the South-Western main line. The departure from Woking was very slow and gave an indication of what lay ahead. "Bodmin" was having difficulty getting to grips on the wet, leaf strewn rails with 10 coaches and a dead 33. A speed restriction at Farnborough cost us several minutes with the result that by Basingstoke we were already 8 down. As we headed towards Worting Junction we passed 57007 on a Freightliner heading towards Southampton.

It became steadily apparent that "Bodmin" was not having one of her better days. However on the down grades towards Andover and then Salisbury she picked up her heels and was flying, pulling back most of the lost time. In fact if it had not been for a signal check at Salisbury - the infamous SY43 then we would have been right time. At Salisbury Bodmin detached and ran into a siding to take water - very little chance of taking a decent photograph if you were on the train.

We left Salisbury right time but were already down by Wilton with the worst of the climbs still to come. Already the debate was raging about the reasons for lost time - although everyone was in agreement that the additional weight of the 33 was causing problems - after all the load would have been equivalent to 13/14 coaches for a class of engine known to be liable to slip badly. We passed an up service train at Gillingham and there were no further alarms - in fact with the sun coming out, "Bodmin" seemed to be in good shape and going well. A further water stop was made at Yeovil Junction where to the delight of many people the Station Buffet has been re-opened. The Eastleigh crew left at Yeovil to be replaced by a Barton Hill crew.

Departure from Yeovil was again right time - however we had already lost six minutes by Chard where we crossed another service train. The omens were not looking good for the ascent of Honiton bank. There is now a speed restriction at the bottom of 20mph across two bridges for all locomotives - with the upturn in traffic Railtrack is at some stage having to do some serious investing in this line with double track an absolute necessity. However, things were not well at the front and unlike 73096 last year which made a mockery of the bank, "Bodmin" was having problems. There appeared to be a distinct lack of communication between 34016 & 6593. The West Country's crew seemed to be under the impression that the 33 was going to bank the train up. The crew of the 33 understandably saw this as a steam tour with steam doing the work. The result was that "Bodmin" lost her feet time & time again. By halfway speed was down to walking pace and there was no way "Bodmin" was going to reach the summit. Finally the 33 burst into life and speed soon began to pick up. It seems amazing in this day & age of communications that there was no communication between the two engines. It was also suggested that the presence of Bodmin's owner John Bunch would have been of benefit. Get well soon John - your engines need you! The trouble with this incident is that Railtrack is now likely to insist that all steam tours over this route must have diesel assistance whereas the real cause of the problems lay in the fact that with the additional weight of the 33, the load was far too much.

By the time we had passed through Honiton we were 15 down. Then came another water stop at Feniton. Railtrack had insisted that we take water here - Feniton?!??! I wonder if this water stop was planned on paper only, because the only way "Bodmin" could be watered was to stop over the level crossing thereby closing the road for 12 minutes - this must have been an excellent PR! Lots of really happy motorists and pedestrians! By ignoring the booked 3 minutes stop at Exeter Central we were only 5 late into St.Davids. Here "Bodmin" took on sand for the climb up to Dartmoor. By the time we passed Crediton we were only 8 late - not bad for a railtour! However we were to encounter furthers problems on the climb towards Bow. On a little used line surrounded by dense vegetation it was hardly surprising that once again "Bodmin" lost her feet. This time the lack of communication was quite serious. 34016 came to a complete standstill and there was some frantic whistling by the crew to alert the crew of the 33 that they required power. In fact the train actually slipped back several feet before the 33 powered up to enable "Bodmin" to regain her footing.

Finally we made it to Okehampton where many passengers disembarked to go into the town on the complimentary buses. Finally we made to Meldon quarry or rather the reception sidings as we were not allowed any further or to detrain. There was always the chance to go back to the end of the line with 08937 on the Dartmoor Pony which it operates in push-pull mode from Okehampton. I decided that I did not want to get squashed onto the two coach train and took some photographs of "Bodmin" instead. After all it will not be too long before the line is extended westwards through Lydford Gorge and Tavistock to Bere Alston.

For the first part of the return leg it was 6593 leading back to Exeter. Although we were about 10 late leaving Okehampton by the time we rejoined the Exeter - Barnstaple line at Coleford junction we were all but right time - then disaster!

Approaching Crediton we were greeted by a red signal. Points failure! Just to make things even better, a quick phone call home to be greeted with the news that the mighty Red & White army had lost 3-1 at home to Middlesborough. Brilliant - just what I needed stuck outside Crediton. Eventually after 45minutes we set off again towards Exeter. Now there was the problem of our pathing to be overcome. After a quick water stop we were given the road probably due to the fact that the following Virgin service was running late - surprise, surprise. At last "Bodmin" could really open up although it has to be said that progress was steady rather than spectacular. One of the highlights of this section of line is where it is running alongside the M5. It is always very interesting watching drivers trying to keep their eyes on the road. In the end there were 5 or 6 cars all trying to run parallel to the train. Although the climb to Whiteball was good it was not overly spectacular, on the downward stretch Bodmin showed her true colours as we hammered through Taunton.

As darkness descended we made a further water stop at Frome where the Barton Hill crew were relieved by a second Eastleigh crew. If I had known that we were going to have to divert via Westbury to pick up a relief guard, I would have ensured that the rather attractive brunette waiting for the Westbury service had come with us. Never mind! 66162 was lurking in the sidings together with a 59 in the darkness: remember when 47901 used to be here? From here there was the long climb to Savernake summit, yet despite all the previous problems we raced over the top. Unfortunately it was impossible in the darkness to gauge speed or find out if 6593 was working at the back. A further water stop at Theale followed and we called additionally at Reading to set down passengers who needed to make connections. Interestingly enough we used platform 4 at Reading for this. I can not remember having ever gone eastwards out of this platform. True to form we were stuck behind a stopping service with the result that by Guildford we were 48 late. The final leg saw the Crompton storm up Guildford bank and head back to Alton reaching Alton 52 late at 23.27.

The verdict - these tours are always good value for money and this was no exception - 412 miles for 45 quid. Yes, there were problems but in the end it did not detract from a good day out and it is still fun watching jaws drop when a steam engine tears through a station. It was not one of Bodmin's better days - but nobodys perfect.

Rich Savage

Timings (Booked and Actual) :
(coutesy of Rich Savage)

Stock : 35329 (support coach)+5200+5125+1840+5174+9104+5249+5237+1659+5236 (D6593 end)

1Z96 07.24 Alton –Meldon Quarry

1Z27 15.00 Meldon Quarry – Alton

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