Six Bells Junction

Loco(s)	Route
34067 (1)	London Victoria - Grosvenor Bridge Jn – Stewarts Lane Jn – Longhedge Jn – Clapham Junction – Barnes – Hounslow – Feltham – Staines – Virginia Water – Woking – Guildford – Shalford – Redhill – East Croydon – Selhurst – Clapham Junction – Pouparts Jn – Longhedge Jn – Stewarts Lane Jn – Victoria - London Victoria

This tour was unusual for couple of reasons, namely;
a) I do not normally do “kettles”
b) I could get up at a sensible time and still have time to potter around the house before leaving for the tour.

Not being very trusting where trains on the WCML are concerned I left a little earlier than necessary and got to Victoria with over an hour to spare. There was no sign of the stock so a quick walk down the road was taken followed by an even quicker walk back when it started to rain, of course the sun came out by the time I got back to the station, typical British summer weather.

Time ticked by and it was nearly 1210 when 67002 hove into view with the coaches and 34067 bringing up the rear. Coach J turned out to be at the front rather than the rear (as I was expecting) and I could not have been any nearer the loco unless seated in the support coach, so settle back open the window to let the thrash (and cinders) in and enjoy.

We left slightly late with most of my fellow passengers assuring me that the 67 would bank us out of the station. Sure enough it was visible on the rear as we curved over Grosvenor Bridge but had gone by the time we dropped down past Stewarts Lane, bonus scratch!

Following a dead stand outside Victoria PSB, we managed to get through Clapham without actually stopping but were held as booked at Barnes for a few minutes.

Although the timings were not exactly taxing a load of 12 coaches (10 for passengers including kitchen car, one support coach and one staff / barrier vehicle) meant that the loco had to work quite hard. There was another pathing stop at Guildford, then we proceeded round to Shalford for a water stop where the Mid Hants Railway’s fire engine was on hand to pump the water from a convenient fire hydrant down to the platform.

Just east of the station was a very handy footbridge which enabled those who braved the sudden rain shower to get a reasonable photo before we all rejoined the train to enjoy the thrash up the bank to Gomshall.

The rest of the journey was unremarkable as we threaded our way back to Victoria through Redhill and East Croydon, passing two or three local trains with several bemused “normals” staring from the windows. A brief stop at Pouparts then the long way round via Longhedge and Stewarts Lane, finally arriving some 5 minutes early and giving time for another quick photo before the platform stasi started throwing their weight around.

Location	Booked	Actual
Victoria	12.28d	12.30
Grosvenor Bridge Jn	12/32	12/34
Stewarts Lane Jn	12/36	12/36
Longhedge Jn	12/40	12/40
Clapham Junction	12/44	12/46
Barnes	12.50a ~ 12.57d	12.52 ~ 12.57
Brentford	13/04	13/07
Hounslow	13/09	13/11
Feltham Jn	13.11a ~ 13.20d	13/13
Feltham	13/23	13/16
Staines	13/29	13/23
Virginia Water	13/37	13/33
Addlestone Jn	13/45	13/42
Byfleet & New Haw	13/51	13/44
Woking	13/58½	13/55
Woking Jn	13/59½	13/56
Guildford	14.09a ~ 14.24d	14.05 ~ 14.22
Shalford Jn	14/27	14/25
Shalford	14.29a ~ 14.50d	14.29 ~ 14.49
Gomshall	14/59	15/02
Reigate	15/14	15/14
Redhill	15/19	15/19
Stoats Nest Jn	15/30	15/28
Purley	15/33	15/30
South Croydon	15/36	15/33
East Croydon	15/38½	15/38
Windmill Bridge Jn	15/39	15/39
Selhusrt	15/40½	15/40
Balham	15/45½	15/45
Clapham Junction	15/48½	15/48
Pouparts Jn	15/50	15/50
Longhedge Jn	15/52	15/52
Stewarts Lane Jn	15/54	15/54
Grosvenor Bridge Jn	16/03	15/56
Victoria (E)	15.06a	16.06

Locos Used	67002 & steam: 34067
Stock Used	5037+5027+1832+4925+3146+3147+1679+3120+3123+1680+3121+2834