26th August 2002

Pathfinder Tours
The Bone Breaker

Locos Used 58033 & 58045
Stock Used 3122+3112+3140+3098+21272+1863+5009+4927+5040+4902
EMU's Used 321329 & 321355

Route:
1Z58 : Crewe to Clacton
1G58 : Thorpe-le-Soken to London Liverpool Street
(1Z59 : Clacton to Crewe)

Loco(s) Route
58033 + 58045 Crewe - Norton Bridge - Stafford - Rugeley North Jn - Hednesford - Walsall - Bescot Stadium - Perry Barr North Jn - Soho South Jn - Birmingham New Street - St Andrews Jn - Bordesley Jn - Tyseley - Dorridge - Leamington Spa - Banbury - Aynho Jn - Oxford - (via Didcot Avoiding curve) - Reading - (via GWML) - Acton Main Line - Acton Wells Jn - Willesden West London Jn - Camden Jn - Camden Road Jn - Dalston Jn - Channelsea Jn - Stratford - Ilford - Chelmsford - Colchester Goods
58045 (1) Colchester Goods - Colchester - East Gate Jn - Hythe Jn - Thorpe-le-Soken - Walton-on-Naze (3)
Buses Walton-on-Naze - Thorpe-le-Soken
321329 + 321355 Thorpe-le-Soken - London Liverpool Street
(17.40 additional service)

Notes:
(1) 58033 on rear.
(2) 58045 on rear.
(3) 58045, leading, failed to stop on arrival at Walton-on-Naze station & collided with the buffers (at a speed reported to be less than 10mph) causing injuries to a small number of passengers on board. With the train impounded for investigation the tour was cancelled at this point and tour participants bussed to Thorpe-le-Soken for an additional service (booked 17.40 departure) to London Liverpool Street. Once in London passengers were to make their back to Ealing Broadway (via Paddington), Banbury (via  Marylebone) or Birmingham/Stafford/Crewe (via Euston) using service trains.

For reference, had the tour continued, the booked route (and anticipated motive power) onwards would have been as follows;

Loco(s) Intended Route
58033 (2) Walton-on-Naze - Thorpe-le-Soken
58045 (1) Thorpe-le-Soken - Clacton
58033 (2) Clacton - Thorpe-le-Soken - Hythe Jn - Colchester Town
58045 Colchester Town - East Gate Jn - Colchester - Colchester Goods
58033 + 58045 Colchester Goods - (reverse of outward route) - Camden Road Jn - Gospel Oak - Willesden Junction HL - Acton Wells Jn - Acton Main Line - West Ealing Jn - Greenford West Jn - South Ruislip - Princes Risborough - Bicester North - Aynho Jn - (reverse of outward route) - Crewe

Source : Gary Thornton.
 (only on the train between Birmingham & Banbury on the outward leg)

(Sort of) Tour Review
(by Gary Thornton)


Tour over (for me at least) - Banbury, outward leg. 58033 leads 58045.
Little did I realise as I left the tour how things would end up later in the day...

A tour I hadn't intended doing...and basically didn't!

As one of the farewell tours to the Class 58 fleet it didn't strike me as a "must do it" type of tour. It was only on the Wednesday before that my interest was sparked when I realised I only needed two serviceable "bones" for haulage - 58033 & 58045. Gen about on that day was that the tour may use 58033 & 58047, but this soon changed to the pairing I would not be able to resist going for - 033 & 045! An offer of an early morning lift to get me to Birmingham was all it then took...

... 5.30am ... Steve turned up at my front door.

A reasonable sprint up the M1/A45 soon had us at the dubious location of Tile Hill where Steve's car was dumped in favour of a 323 to New Street. "Why Tile Hill?" I can hear you asking...well its free parking and Steve "required" the station for catching a train from it!

With half an hours wait at New Street we arrived to find the tour arriving shortly behind us - it had a half hour booked stop! At this stage I actually hadn't decided if I would do the whole tour or just a "short leap" to the next booked stop (at Banbury). In the end I decided the short leap was preferable - cheaper than staying on all day and I'd be home many hours earlier. Short of a loco failing or some major incident I couldn't see there being any chance of me scoring any more locos or any track all day anyway. (Webmasters note: I wrote the above paragraph before receiving a text message from a colleague on board the train informing me of the unfortunate collision with the buffer-stops at Walton-on-Naze!).

The bones staggered all the way to Banbury (it was timed 90 minutes for 34 miles) where I duly abandoned the tour.

Um, so that's my review of the tour over...sorry!

I had to suffer plastic back to Coventry (pair of Vermin 220's) with a quick spin to New Street (a 221 out for 86254 back) only to discover the Ian Allan bookshop closed, then a dusty-bin (321) to Northampton. I was back home by 1pm.

Footnote : About 45 minutes after I walked through my front door the tour arrived into Walton-on-Naze station. Unfortunately, for reasons unexplained at the time of writing this review, the train failed to stop and collided with the buffers at a speed something under 10mph. A number of people were slightly injured with one person being taken to hospital (reports say injuries included fractured ribs and a broken leg - so not the best choice of tour name in the circumstances!).


A shot captured from TV news footage - 58045 at Walton-on-Naze after the
train had been backed away from the buffers - no damage evident.

The train was impounded for investigation and, as a result, the tour was terminated. Tour participants were got home using buses to Thorpe-le-Soken, then a special train (formed of 2 x class 321 EMU's) to London Liverpool Street. Once through London service trains from London to the various joining points were used - no doubt resulting in a very late arrival back for some.

A collection of three photos from Brian Basterfield:

Maybe not the best tour name!

Gary Thornton.

Timings : Booked & Actual
(by Gary Thornton & "Mr Mansfield")

M.C Location Booked Actual   Booked M.C
0.00 Crewe 05.30d 05.46   22.55a 227.23
8.06 Madeley 05/42 ??/??   22/42 219.17
19.08 Norton Bridge 05/53 06.04   22/31 208.15
24.37 Stafford 05.59a ~ 06.02d 06.11 ~ 06.13   22.18a ~ 22.22d 202.66
30.72 Colwich 06/09 06/20   22/07 196.31
33.41 Rugeley North Jn 06/14 06/23   22/02 193.62
39.18 Hednesford 06/26 06/49   21/41 188.05
48.30 Ryecroft Jn 06/39 07/04   21/26 178.73
49.00 Walsall 06/41 07/06   21/24 178.23
50.54 Bescot Stadium 06/45 07/09   21/18 176.49
55.11 Perry Barr North Jn 06/49 07/16   21/12 172.12
58.02 Soho South Jn 07/08 07/20   21/06 169.23
60.03 Birmingham New Street 07.13a ~ 07.43d 07.26 ~ 07.43   20.59a ~ 21.02d 167.22
61.54 St Andrews Jn 07/49 07/48   20/37 165.47
62.00 Bordesley Jn 07/50 07/50   20/36 165.21
64.06 Tyseley 08/03 07.55a ~ 08.03d   20/34 163.15
71.16 Dorridge 08/18 08/18   20/24 156.05
77.77 Hatton 08/31 08/26   20/18 149.24
83.66 Leamington Spa 08/50 08.37a ~ 08.47d   20/10 143.35
95.15 Fenny Compton 09/02 ??/??   20/01 132.06
93.75 Banbury 09.11a ~ 09.13d 09.09 ~ 09.13   19.51a ~ 19.52d 123.26
98.79 Aynho Jn 09/18 07/49   19/42 118.22
104.70 Heyford 09/24 09/23  
113.59 Wolvercote Jn 09/32 09/48  
116.50 Oxford 09/36 09/51  
126.17 Didcot North Jn 09/48 09/59  
127.22 Didcot East Jn 09/55 10/01  
144.04 Reading 10/23 10/23  
149.01 Twyford 10/30 10/25  
155.63 Maidenhead 10/38 10/35  
161.44 Slough 10/48 10/49  
170.74 Southall 10/59 11/02  
  Bicester North   19/31 109.20
  Haddenham & Thame Parkway   19/16 96.29
  Princes Risborough   18*51a ~ 19*05d 90.54
  High Wycombe   18/34 82.33
  Gerards Cross   18/25 73.22
  South Ruislip   18/17 66.11
  Greenford West Jn   18/12 65.39
  Greenford South Jn   18/11 65.08
117.39 West Ealing ??/?? ??/??   18/03 62.79
174.24 Ealing Broadway 11.03a ~ 11.05d 11.07 ~ 11.10   17.58a ~ 18.01d 62.14
175.59 Acton Main Line 11/09 11/13   17/55 60.59
176.31 ActonWells Jn 11/12 11/16   17/51 60.07
177.67 Willesden West London Jn 11/23 ??/??  
181.36 Camden Jn 11/27 ??/??  
  Willesden Junction HL   17/48 59.22
  Kensal Green Jn   17/46 59.00
  Gospel Oak   17/36 54.73
181.26 Camden Road Jn 11/31 11/33   17/31 53.62
184.24 Dalston Jn 11/40 ??/??   17/20 50.64
187.12 Channelsea Jn 11/46 11/46   17/09 47.76
187.54 Stratford 11/50 11.47a ~ ??.??d   17/05 47.34
190.79 Ilford 11/55 11/53   16/59 44.09
197.12 Gidea Park 12/04 12/02   16/50 37.76
203.67 Shenfield 12/13 12/18   16/44 31.21
222.19 Witham 12/29 12/33   16/24 12.69
230.20 Marks Tey 12/36 12/39   16/17 4.68
235.08 Colchester Goods 12L44a ~ 13L08d 12.47 ~ 13.06   15L46a ~ 16L11d 0.00

 

M.C Location Booked Actual
0.15 Colchester 13/13 13/08
2.12 Hythe 13/17 13/13
13.52 Thorpe-le-Soken 13/32 13.29a ~ 13.30d
16.16 Kirby Cross 13/39 13/37
18.54
0.00
Walton-on-Naze 13.46a ~ 13.55d 13.44a
2.38 Kirby Cross 14/01 ---
5.02
0.00
Thorpe-le-Soken 14.07a ~ 14.12d ---
4.48
0.00
Clacton 14.22a ~ 14.55d ---
4.48 Thorpe-le-Soken 15/05 ---
16.08 Hythe 15/22 ---
17.06
0.00
Colchester Town 15.28a ~ 15.33d ---
2.24 Colchester 15/42 ---

Timings continue in first table.

Key;
a : arrival time
d : departure time
L : loco change
* : operational stop
/ : passing time

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. The train did not proceed beyond Walton-on-Naze but the booked timings are still provided for reference.

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