Six Bells Junction

Locos	Route
33103 (1)	Preston - (WCML) - Crewe [P5] - Stafford [P4] - Rugeley - Hednesford - Walsall [P2] - Bescot Stadium - Aston - Birmingham New St [P2] - Stourbridge Jn - Kidderminster - Worcester Shrub Hill [P2] - Evesham - Oxford (UM) - Hinksey Sidings (No.1 Recp) - Kennington Jn (UGL) - Morris Cowley
66181 (2)	Morris Cowley - Kennington Jn (DGL)
33103 (3)	Kennington Jn (DGL) - Didcot Yard (Line 6)
66181 (2)	Didcot Yard (Line 6) - Appleford Sidings
33103	Appleford Sidings - Didcot North Jn - Foxhall Jn - Wantage Road (Down Relief) - Swindon (Up Main)
09101 (2)	Swindon (Up Main) - Austin Rover Group Sidings (Highworth branch)
33103	Austin Rover Group Sidings (Highworth branch) - Swindon [P3] - Stroud - Gloucester Yard Jn - Barnwood Jn - Worcester Shrub Hill [P1] - Droitwich Spa - Bromsgrove - King's Norton - Bordesley Jn - St Andrews Jn - Birmingham New St [P5] - Soho South Jn - Dudley Port - Wolverhampton - Stafford [P5] - Crewe [P11] - (WCML) - Preston

Sources : Gary Thornton (joined/left train at Birmingham New Street)
& Simon Bennett (on the train throughout)

Tour Review
(by Gary Thornton)

My first railtour of the new century! Not one I immediately rushed to book on as, in terms of track I require, it only covered two insignificant branches - Appleford near Didcot and Highworth at Swindon. For others there was the chance to score the Morris Cowley branch and Foxhall curve. The proposed use of "preserved" 33103 and 37029 however was enough to encourage me to book on it.

When the tickets came there was news that 37029 was "still not ready" for the mainline and, coupled with a lower than expected number of bookings, it had been decided to reduce the train to eight coaches and let 33103 work the train alone. A class 66 would assist in the Oxford/Didcot area and an 08 or 09 on the Highworth branch. With the prospect of 33103 on its own and being allocated a seat in coach A, I was hoping it would be the leading coach rather than the rearmost one!

I got out of bed about the time the train left Preston (it was even 30 minutes late departing!) as I elected to join at Birmingham New Street at 10.14, a nice respectable time. I made Birmingham (behind dud 87025) in time to discover that the tour was still 30 minutes late, though a series of text messages from a colleague on board confirmed 31 late through Bloxwich, 12 late through Walsall then on time at Aston! Shortly after watching 37426 depart with the 10.07 to Holyhead the familiar shape of a "shredder" appeared from the south. As 103 came level with me I was pleased to note the letter "A" in the leading window of the first coach.

I boarded to a pretty chilly coach - most windows were as open as they would go to allow maximum enjoyment of 33103's efforts. My seat was in the leading half of the coach too. Just time to say hello to a few friends and we were off. Departure was just 1 minute down and straight away the thrash began as we powered away through New Street North Tunnel. Loud? You bet!! We were routed via Stourbridge Junction and Kidderminster to our next pick-up point at Worcester Shrub Hill. A fairly slow journey (stuck behind a stopper I assume) but a good chance to view the traction at Kidderminster as we passed the Severn Valley Railway - including a Hymek, Warship, 4 x 50's and a new Alstom class 175 DMU. The new carriage shed being built was very impressive - when finished it should hold up to 56 carriages!

From Worcester we took the Cotswold line through Evesham to Oxford - nice scenery and a fair amount of on/off thrash from up front. About this time my first pint of real ale turned up from the bar (delivered by one of the Pathfinder stewards - how's that for service!). As we ran through Oxford station we passed stabled 37042 and then on entering Hinksey Yard 66181 was passed - our tail loco for the next hour or so. A quick check in the book confirmed it was also a sight scratch. We made it as far as the Railtrack limit on the Morris Cowley branch - the same as on previous occasions. The return to Kennington Junction had 66181 leading - being downhill it is questionable just how much the shed "powered" our train as opposed to free-wheeling and providing braking power.

Another reversal of direction and a short stagger to Didcot where we were pathed into the yard - good track-bashing for the BLS members but not something that exactly "lights my fire". At least we stopped alongside 66183 - another sight scratch and, with the use of a borrowed pair of binoculars, 66115 was also confirmed (another required shed) stabled at the station. A short pause here before shed 181 took over for an even shorter stagger back northwards to Appleford sidings (well, the word "Rambler" was part of the tour name). At least it was required track and we got pretty well all the way to the buffers. As we pulled round the curve into Appleford I noticed the train was actually 9 coaches rather than the 8 mentioned in the tour blurb that came with the tickets. Good - all the more for shredder 103 to drag up a certain rather steep gradient, of which more later :-)

A fairly lengthy pause here (waiting a path) and the time was used to drop the shed off, which then pulled up alongside the train on an adjacent track. Southwards again, this time to Swindon via the Foxhall curve. Still staggering, we were held at Challow to allow a couple of fGW trams past. As we finally approached Swindon we passed 09101 which would be our motive power for the rather short Highworth branch. The chance to get some photographs of either the gronk or shredder was scuppered as we stopped on the up main adjacent to the station - not at a platform!

At least with a gronk on we had time to "enjoy" the Highworth branch as we crawled along to the Railtrack limit (about a mile from the station and around 5/8 of a mile as a branch). For some on board who had done it before we at least got further than on the previous limits. At the end of the branch we lost the gronk and 33103 dragged us back to the station and our first set-down point.

On leaving Swindon we were routed via Stroud and Cheltenham to Worcester. This gave those of us in the leading coach the treat of Sapperton Bank which 33103 took in its noisy stride. After an operational stop at Barnwood Junction (railway speak for a deliberate stop to allow a slower train in front of us to hold us up!) we thrashed away towards Worcester, the next station stop. With the days likely highlight now fast approaching I felt a bit sorry for those leaving the train here - their choice though.

The days highlight? The assault on "The Lickey" of course! Anyone familiar with my write-ups will know I have a "thing" about those 3 or so miles of 1 in 37 gradient between Bromsgrove and Blackwell Summit - a severe test for any traction. Previous write-ups of mine have featured the performances of 50031, Deltic 9000, 59201 and a pair of DRS 20's. How would shredder 103 on "load 9" measure up?

The answer - very well indeed. As we approached the mainline at Stoke Works Junction we noticed a loco hauled service heading the same way - would this be given priority over us meaning a standing start? No it didn't as we got the road first. I guess this was actually sensible planning by "control" as, if we failed to make it to the summit, a helping shove would be available almost immediately from the following service train.

We hit the bottom of the gradient at a respectable lick (around 40mph at a guess) and, as expected, the speed soon fell away despite the best efforts of our driver. Our coach had suddenly filled up and everyone's attention was on 103's performance. With the speed down to about 15mph the thrash was simply superb and extremely loud. Any suspicions we had that 103 might stall on the gradient were proved totally unfounded and we just kept a constant 15mph right to the summit. I can tell you this though - my ears were actually ringing after the 10 minutes thrash it took to get there. yes, it was VERY loud indeed!

The remainder of the journey to Birmingham New Street (via Camp Hill) was quite uneventful and arrival was only around 10 minutes down - easily excused after the entertainment we'd experienced. Unfortunately no time to watch 103 depart and a quick leap over to another platform got me on the 20.06 departure behind 47847. Erm, not a good move. We only got a few coach lengths on our way when the brakes came on and we stopped. Apparently the police were after someone on the train. After 10 minutes waiting I baled off and went for the 20.18 local train to get me back towards Coventry but it was sitting with a red signal. Back to 47847, just as the local departed. Never mind I told myself, we'll overtake it at Birmingham International. Wrong! We staggered all the way from Stechford to Coventry behind it! Another case of stupid regulating - this turned a 15 minute late departure from New Street into a half hour late arrival at Coventry!

Verdict: Yet another enjoyable day out - helped in no small way by having a grandstand seat behind 33103. If you weren't there for "The Lickey" then you really missed a treat!

Gary Thornton.

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Gary Thornton and Simon Bennett)

M.C	Location	Booked	Actual	Booked	Actual	M.C
0.00	Preston	06.56d	07.25	22.14a	22.13	196.76
5.36	Euxton Jn	07/03	07/35	22/07	22/07	191.40
7.39	Balshaw Lane	07/05	07/39	22/05	22/05	189.37
15.10	Wigan North Western	07.13a ~ 07.15d	07.49 ~ 07.50	21.53a ~ 21.55d	21.54 ~ 21.55	181.66
--	Wigan South Jn	-	-	21/51	?	181.29
16.39	Springs Branch Jn	07/17	07/53	21/50	21/52	180.37
23.34	Winwick Jn	07/23	08/00	21/45	21/43	173.42
25.61	Dallam Jn	07/25	08/02	21/41	21/41	151.15
26.70	Warrington Bank Quay	07.26a ~ 07.28d	08.03 ~ 08.04	21.36a ~ 21.39d	21.37 ~ 21.39	150.06
28.57	Acton Grange Jn	07/32	08/09	21/34	21/34	168.19
33.61	Weaver Junction SB	07/39	08/14	21/39	21/31	172.36
43.40	Winsford SB	07/47	08/21	21/23	21/24	154.61
51.01	Crewe	07.58a ~ 08.01d	08.30 ~ 08.32	21.11a ~ 21.13d	21.11 ~ 21.13	145.75
52.65	Crewe Basford Hall Jn	08/07	08/36	21/07	21/06	144.11
59.07	Madeley	08/12	08/44	21/00	21/01	137.69
70.09	Norton Bridge	08/24	08/53	20/50	?	126.67
75.38	Stafford	08.31a ~ 08.34d	08.58 ~ 09.02	20.39a ~ 20.42d	20.38 ~ 20.43	121.38

M.C	Location	Booked	Actual
78.34	Whitehouse Jn	08/42	09/08
81.71	Colwich	08/46	09/11
84.42	Rugeley North Jn	08/51	09/14
84.59	Rugeley	08/52	09/15
86.11	Rugeley Town	08/54	09/19
90.26	Hednesford	09/00	09/29
96.79	Bloxwich	09/08	09/39
99.31	Ryecroft Jn	09/33	09/45
99.72	Walsall [P2]	09/38	09/47
100.59	Pleck Jn	09/43	09/51
101.46	Bescot Stadium	09/46	09/53
106.03	Perry Barr North Jn	09/53	09/58
108.25	Aston	10/02	10/01
110.25	Proof House Jn	10/06	10.04 ~ 10.08
111.01	Birmingham New Street [P2]	10.09a ~ 10.14d	10.11 ~ 10.15
113.02	Soho South Jn	10/18	10/21
114.60	Galton Jn	10/21	10/24
115.09	Smethwick West	10/24	10/25
117.66	Rowley Regis	10/28	10/29
123.04	Stourbridge Jn	10/41	10/38
129.63	Kidderminster	10/56	10/53
133.37	Hartlebury	11/00	10.58 ~ 11.04
139.19	Droitwich Spa	11/06	11/20
144.31	Tunnel Jn	11/12	11/27
144.78	Worcester Shrub Hill [P2]	11.15a ~ 11.18d	11.29 ~ 11.30
148.03	Norton Jn	11/23	11/35
158.33	Evesham SB	11t34 ~ 11t35	11.47 ~ 11.48
158.54	Evesham	1137 ~ 1147	11.49 ~ 11.50
163.50	Honeybourne	11/52	11/57
173.53	Moreton-in-Marsh	12.02a ~ 12.03d	12.11 ~ 12.13
184.73	Ascott-under-Wychwood	12/18	12/26
198.77	Wolvercot Jn	12/32	12/39
201.68	Oxford (Up Main)	12/40	12/43
203.07	Hinksey Sidings (No.1 Recp)	12L45 ~ 13L09	12.49 ~ 13.12
204.21	Kennington Jn (UGL)	13op13 ~ 13op17	13.14 ~ 13.18
206.62 0.00	Morris Cowley	13.27 ~ 13.37	13.28 ~ 13.34
2.41 0.00	Kennington Jn (DGL)	13.52 ~ 14.00	13.41 ~ 13.54
7.17	Didcot North Jn	14/12	14/11
7.46 0.00	Didcot T.C. (Line 6)	14.15 ~ 14.27	14.18 ~ 14.26
0.29	Didcot North Jn	14/30	14/33
1.06	Appleford LC	14/32	14/37
1.58 0.00	Appleford Sidings	14L36 ~ 15L25	14.42 ~ 15.12
0.52	Appleford LC	15/30	15.19 ~ 15.26
1.29	Didcot North Jn	15/32	15/30
2.09	Foxhall Jn	15/34	15/33
8.56	Wantage Road	15/41	15/41
??	Challow	1547 ~ 1602	15.50 ~ 15.59
14.73	Uffington	16/06	16/04
25.57 0.00	Swindon (Up Main)	16L18 ~ 16L33	16.18 ~ 16.36
??	Swindon Cocklebury	16/37	16/39
1.37 0.00	Swindon Auston Rover Group	16.45 ~ 16.55	16L50 ~ 16L56
??	Swindon Cocklebury	17L03 ~ 17L08	17.08 ~ 17.10
1.37	Swindon [P3]	17.11a ~ 17.13d	17.13 ~ 17.16
2.34	Swindon Loco Yard	17/18	17/20
15.13	Kemble	17/31	17/32
31.08	Standish Jn	17/52	17/56
37.18	Gloucester Yard Jn	17/58	18/01
38.05	Barnwood Jn	1801 ~ 1816	18.05 ~ 18.13
43.48	Cheltenham Spa	18/24	18/23
50.59	Ashchurch	18/32	18/32
61.46	Abbotswood Jn	18/43	18/43
62.28	Norton Jn	18/46	18/45
65.33	Worcester Shrub Hill [P1]	18.55a ~ 18.58d	18.54 ~ 19.04
66.00	Tunnel Jn	19/01	19/06
71.12	Droitwich Spa	19/07	19/14
75.27	Stoke Works Jn	19/14	19/21
77.40	Bromsgrove	19/17	19/24
81.03	Barnt Green	19/22	19/34
83.58	Longbridge	19/24	19/37
86.11	King's Norton	19/28	19/41
91.26	Bordesley Jn	19/34	19/49
91.52	St. Andrews Jn	19/41	19/50
92.49	Proof House Jn	19/44	19/54
93.23	Birmingham New Street [P5]	19.47a ~ 20.00d	19.58 ~ 20.03
95.24	Soho South Jn	20/05	20/08
97.02	Galton Jn	20/08	20/10
100.47	Dudley Port	20/15	20/14
106.07	Wolverhampton	20/21	20/21
106.50	Wolverhampton North Jn	20/23	20/23
107.61	Bushbury Jn	20/25	20/25

All distances, in miles and chains (M & C), are taken from the timing sheet given out on the train. No attempt has been made to verify the mileages given - clearly however someone in "Team Orange" hasn't worked out how to use a calculator (try following the mileages from Crewe back to Preston and you'll see what I mean!).

Back to "The Railtour Files"

Locos Used	09101, 33103 & 66181
Stock Used	4902+5040+4927+5009+1863+21272+3140+3098+17159