The Midlander. 18.2.06. Now With Pics!

Post by **madhattie** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 12:05 pm

http://www.past-timerail.co.uk/midlander.htm

Saturday 18th February 2006.

The infamous Lickey incline is the main feature of this railtour as ex LMS 4-6-2 No. 6201 Ã¦Princess Elizabeth' hauls this railtour from Derby to Bristol and return.

Leaving St Albans in the morning we head northwards along the Midland Main Line making further passenger pick ups en-route. On arrival at derby No 6201 Ã¦Princess Elizabeth' will be waiting to haul our train onwards towards the city of Bristol. Leaving Derby we steam towards Birmingham passing through Tamworth. We avoid Birmingham New Street and steam towards Barnt Green at the summit of the Lickey Incline. The 1 in 37 descent of the Lickey will see the train being braked hard to control our descent as we head for Cheltenham Spa. Once through Cheltenham we avoid Gloucester before heading through Bristol Parkway and arriving at Bristol Temple Meads.

Bristol is an exciting City with plenty to offer the visitor. What really makes it special is the mix of historic and new. Located in Isambard Kingdom Brunel's historic Old Bristol Station next to Temple Meads is the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum presenting the dramatic 500 tear history of the rise and fall of Britain's overseas empire offering 16 permanent and inter-active galleries, changing special exhibitions a cafe and shop. From Temple Meads Station a short bus ride or 25 minute walk will take you to Harbourside. This re-generated area is home to Brunel's steam ship SS Great Britain. The Dockyard Museum charts the ships history and the ship itself is bought to life through audio tours. Also at Harbourside you will find the Industrial museum and At-Bristol which comprises three new world-class attractions bringing science, nature and art to life. Of course you can always shop until you drop in the City Centre or simply spend your time train spotting at Temple Meads.

The return journey will see 6201 working hard as we climb out of Bristol Temple Meads before retracing our outward steps. Once through Bromsgrove all the power Ã¦Princess Elizabeth' can muster will be required as she attacks the incline. Both loco and footplate crew will work extremely hard to power the train to the summit. Once over the summit we steam on through the suburbs of Birmingham before arriving back at Derby. On arrival at Derby we bid farewell to Princess Elizabeth.

With a diesel loco in charge of our train we head back to St Albans setting down as outward.

Post by **madhattie** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:40 pm

Some timings posted on RailGen this morning:

CHARFIELD PASS 13:02
YATE PASS 13:09
WESTRLY J PASS 13:12
BRISPKWAY PASS 13:17
FILTON AW PASS 13:18
STAPLTNRD PASS 13:23
DR DAYSJN PASS 13:24
BRISTOLEJ PASS 13:25
BRISTOLTM 13:27

1Z63

BRISTOLTM 16:07
BRISTOLEJ PASS 16:09
DR DAYSJN PASS 16:11
STAPLTNRD PASS 16:13
FILTON AW PASS 16:18
BRISPKWAY PASS 16:21
WESTRLY J PASS 16:26
YATE PASS 16:29
CHARFIELD PASS 16:36

Post by **madhattie** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:30 pm

Eeek!!

This is a direct posting from sw gen by freetogrice:

Latest news of 1Z62/1Z63 "The Midlander" railtour hauled from Derby
to Bristol TM and return by Princess Elizabeth on Saturday,18/2/06.

"Ken Harris" wrote:

6201 + train outward to Newport via Chepstow, return via Severn
Tunnel and Yate. Does not go to Bristol. Clearance probs in Yate
area. For what it's worth, northbound via Chepstow would also be a
problem! KH

>From: "John Chalcraft" The Midlander 18.2.06

>I understand that 46201 has been declared 'out of gauge' at Coaley
>Junction' for the southbound working, loco likely to come off at
>Gloucester then run light to Newport and reach Bristol via Severn
>Tunnel. Apparently ok for the noerthbound leg.

Post by **James** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:55 pm

I was just about to post that!

Lizzie though the Severn Tunnel! Go and get some portal shots

Edit: oh wait...she'll be going backwards

Post by **madhattie** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:02 pm

More timings as posted on UK-Rail:

Confirmed L/E Gloucester-Bristol owing to clearance issues

gloster d 1305
lydney 1328
chepstow 1338
7 tunnel 1347
newport 1402 1407
7 tunnel 1427
pilning 1439
patchway 1444
stapleton 1454
dr days 1456
bristol tm 1458 1503
barton h 1508 1548
tm 1553
then as booked dept 14.07

Post by **madhattie** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:53 am

Currently reported as running 81 min late.

Post by **madhattie** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:38 am

Some pics from today:

Scarecrow!

Post by **James** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:38 am

Fantastic! Especially the second one with the birds! You can never make Pacers look this good

mow · Post by **mow** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:49 pm

large crowd at Temple Meads yesterday to see 6201, huge amount of steam masked the departure. Still good to see it running again. Great pictures.

Post by **madhattie** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:42 am

Here's the scarecrow pic posted full size. I've decided I like this a lot more than the original cropped version I posted. One of my fav pics now in fact!