1st July 2023

UK Railtours
The Chessy Ned

Route :
1Z90 : London Waterloo to Tattenham Corner
1Z91 : Tattenham Corner to Caterham
1Z92 : Caterham to Twickenham
1Z93 : Twickenham to Windsor & Eton Riverside
1Z94 : Windsor & Eton Riverside to London Waterloo
1Z95 : London Waterloo to Chessington South
1Z96 : Chessington South to London Blackfriars
1Z98 : London Blackfriars to London Waterloo

Notes:
(1) 73119 on rear.
(2) 66794 on rear.
(3) 73119 was named 'Paul Taylor' by his widow during the break at London Waterloo.
(4) John Clifford's comments: When this tour was first advertised the stock was to be London Transport's 4TC unit. This was not available so Hastings Diesels' unit no.1001 was substituted, but still operating as hauled stock. In addition there were to be two Class 73s at one end and a class 66 at the other. On the day there was just one 'ED' instead of two. The reversal between travelling over the Tattenham Corner and Caterham branches was to be made at South Croydon, but when the timings appeared it was to be made at Purley and this is what happened. On the last leg from London Blackfriars to London Waterloo the route was to be via Canterbury Road Jn, but engineering work shut the line, so we went via Herne Hill instead. For reasons that I did not discover the coaches arrived late at London Waterloo, which meant a 22 minute late start. We travelled down to West London Jn on the down Windsor Fast line instead of the Windsor Reversible line. At Latchmere Jn we found ourselves behind the 08.34 Clapham Junction - Stratford, which we should have preceded. The reversal at Kensington Olympia took longer than booked, as we then had to wait for the 08.06 Stratford - Clapham Junction and the 08.10 East Croydon - Watford Junction to pass (the later having been routed via platform 3 instead of platform 2 where we were standing). We set off 24 minutes late. At Clapham Junction we were behind the 09.00 London Victoria - Epsom Downs, which we followed to Selhurst. Continuing onwards we followed the 09.08 London Bridge - Tattenham Corner, hence the stops outside Purley and at Coulsdon Town. We arrived at Tattenham Corner 27 minutes late. After reversal we left 28 minutes late, stopped outside Purley (again), then reversed in the station and went down to Caterham with the lateness down to 22½ minutes. Our route was now to Twickenham via Crystal Palace, Brixton, Clapham Junction, Wimbledon and Kingston. We waited at Tulse Hill to let the 10.52 St Albans - Sutton pass. The rest of the journey to Twickenham was uneventful, but we did make up the lost time and reached there 4 minutes early. A quick reversal was made so that we could get away in front of the 12.33 London Waterloo - Windsor. There was a stop outside Windsor to let the 13.23 Windsor - London Waterloo leave. After a break in Windsor we set off for London Waterloo via a convoluted route, going via Staines, Wokingham and Guildford. After Virginia Water we caught up the 14.50 London Waterloo - Reading. Reversal at Wokingham was achieved without problems. The train took us to Guildford, where we reversed. There was a slight delay as we waited for the 15.45 Portsmouth Harbour - London Waterloo to leave. Onwards to London Waterloo we went without problems, although there was a brief stop outside the station. The next line was the Chessington branch. We stopped outside Chessington South to let the 18.34 Chessington South - London Waterloo leave. After leaving Chessington South we were stopped at Motspur Park Jn to let the 18.32 Dorking - London Waterloo pass. Then there was a further stop at Raynes Park as the 18.54 Hampton Court - London Waterloo passed. At Wimbledon we reversed again, then covered the "Wall of Death" (the St Helier line) and the Mitcham Junction line. A very brief stop was made at Streatham South Jn to let the 18.37 St Albans - Sutton pass. We were now behind the 19.18 Sutton - St Albans which we followed. London Blackfriars was left slightly late. En route to Herne Hill we were passed by the 19.37 St Albans - Sutton, which was given priority, so we arrived at Herne Hill 12½ minutes late. We had to wait there until the 19.52 Sevenoaks - London Blackfriars and the 18.52 Ramsgate - London Victoria had passed. We continued to London Waterloo arriving 14½ minutes late.

Sources : John Clifford & David Lodwick (both on the tour throughout)

Photo Review

73119 & 66794 at Wokingham (photos: David Lodwick)

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from John Clifford & David Lodwick)

Mileages taken from tour brochure.

Associated E.C.S. & Light Engine Workings

01/07/23 :
5Z90 : (73119 + 1001 + 66794) : St Leonards T&RSMD to London Waterloo

5Z96 : (73119 + 1001 + 66794) : London Waterloo to Hastings
5Z96 : (66794 + 1001 + 73119) : Hastings to St Leonards T&RSMD

02/07/23 :
0Z23 : (66794 + 73119) : St Leonards T&RSMD to Tonbridge West Yard

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