17th March 1979

Hertfordshire Railtours
The Pines Express

Locos Used 37233, 46013, 47020, 47069 & 47090

Route :

Loco Route
47090 (2) London Paddington - Slough - Reading General - Didcot - Swindon
47069 Swindon - Thingley Jn - Bradford North Jn - Bradford West Jn - Bath Spa - Bristol Temple Meads (3)
46013 Bristol Temple Meads - Narroways Hill Jn - Avonmouth - Hallen Marsh Jn - North Filton - Filton Jn - Dr Day's Jn - North Somerset Jn - Bath Spa -  Bradford on Avon - Westbury
37233 Westbury - Clink Road Jn - Frome North Jn - Radstock West
37233 Radstock West - (reverse of outward route) - Westbury
47020 (4) Westbury - Clink Road Jn - Frome Avoiding line - Blatchbridge Jn - Castle Cary - Yeovil Pen Mill - Dorchester West - Weymouth (5)
47020 Weymouth - Dorchester South - Poole -  (6) - Bournemouth Central - Brockenhurst - Southampton Central - (7) - Winchester - Basingstoke - Woking - Surbiton - Wimbledon - Earlsfield - Clapham Junction - London Waterloo (7)

Notes :
(1) Originally uploaded as having been run by the 'Lea Valley Railway Club', the booking form was headed 'Hertfordshire Railtours'. The booking form advertised this train as having a class 40 from Paddington to Westbury where a 31 or 37 was to take the train to Radstock West & back. The 40 was then booked to Weymouth from where it was advertised for class 03 haulage to Weymouth Quay & back. Finally the 40 was booked to haul the train to London Bridge. Standard class fare was £5.95 and £8.45 for first class.
(2) Was to have been hauled by a pair of 31's but, once on the train, it was discovered their boilers weren't working. A swap to 47090 was made....after departure it was discovered that 47090's boiler wasn't working either! A swap to 47069 was made at Swindon...a no heat loco!!
(3) Booked route was direct from North Somerset Jn to Dr Day's Jn but went into Temple Meads for a loco change.
(4) Swap to 47020 (more no-heat traction!) was made as the DR refused to accept 46013.
(5) Should have gone to Weymouth Quay with a loco change at Weymouth Jn (to a 33/1) but did not do so as it was dark. The tour organiser tried to get the tour routed direct back to London owing to the severe late running but BR still insisted it go to Weymouth. The train had left Yeovil Pen Mill 239 minutes late! Alan Osborn adds: The train had to be shunted into a siding at Castle Cary so as not to obstruct the West of England Main Line while it was awaiting a train from Yeovil to arrive off the single line. When this train arrived the next service train to Weymouth also arrived and this took precedence hence we had to await this train to get out of the section before we were allowed to follow. A yet further delay occurred at Yeovil Pen Mill awaiting the next service train from Weymouth off the single track. As a result the tour was diverted to run into Weymouth Town station rather than the Quay and then run fast main-line to London Waterloo.
(6) Train was booked to go via Bournemouth West with further reversal at Branksome, but abandoned due to the late running.
(7) After Southampton the route should have been: Netley - Fareham - Cosham - Farlington Jn - Havant - Haslemere - Guildford - Effingham Junction - Leatherhead - Epsom - Sutton - West Croydon - Norwood Jn - Forest Hill - London Bridge but train was routed direct due to the late running.
(8) Due to all the on-the-day problems the tour had a free re-run on 13th May 1979 (actually described as the '90p Re-Run' on account the organiser charged just for postage & admin costs).
(9) Roger Jones comments: The intinerary which arrived with the tickets noted that the classes 40 and 03 parts had already been deleted and the haulage was to be;
Double-headed class 31s throughout, plus;
Class 37 to Radstock,
Class 33/1 to Weymouth Quay &
Class 73 or 33 to Bournemouth West/Branksome.
As an aside, my route to join it was down from Edinburgh. No sleepers left and a lot of snow. Penultimate train through Penmanshiel tunnel before the collapse. I remember seeing the work going on as we crawled through. 2hr17 late into Kings Cross, then on by HST from Paddington to Bath.

Sources : John Clifford, Stew Robertson, Dave Higson & Alan Osborn

Photo Review


On-board an HST to Bath; passing 47090 at Swindon (photo: Roger Jones)

 
47069 pulling into Bath, 90 minutes behind schedule (photo: Roger Jones)


Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Stew Robertson & Alan Osborn)

Location Booked Actual
Paddington 07.48d 08.32
Southall 07/59 ?
Slough 08/06½ ?
Maidenhead 08/11 ?
Twyford 08/16 ?
Reading 08.21a ~ 08.23d 09.00 ~ 09.05
Didcot 08/40 ?
Challow 08/50 ?
Swindon 09*03a ~ 09*15d 09L56 ~ 10L40 [TL]
Wotton Bassett Jn 09/22 10/44
Chippenham 09*30 ~ 09*31 10/53
Thingley Jn 09/35 10/57
Bradford North Jn 09/50 11/09
Bradford West Jn 09c51 ~ 09c53 11.12 ~ 11.14
Bath Spa 10.08a ~ 10.08d 11.38 ~ 11.42
North Somerset Jn 10/22 11/56
Bristol Temple Meads DIV 12L00 ~ 12L15
Lawrence Hill 10*24a ~ 10*25d 12/17
Stapleton Road 10/28 12/18
Clifton Down 10/3 12/24
Avonmouth Dock 10/44 12/36
Hallen Marsh Jn 10/50 12/40
Filton West Jn 11/15 ?
Filton Jn 11/20 12/56
Lawrence Hill 11c27 ~ 11c30 13/08
North Somerset Jn 11/32 -
Bath Spa 11.47a ~ 11.47d 13.21 ~ 13.22
Bathampton 11/52 13/27
Bradford West Jn 12/04 13/40
Westbury 12L12 ~ 12L25 13.52 ~ 14.12
Fairwood Jn 12/28 14/15
Clink Road Jn 12/32 14/21
Frome North SB 12c35 ~ 12c36 14.24 ~ 14.25
Hapsford Loop 12/48 ?
Mells Road 12/58 14.55 ~ 14.58
Radstock 13.10a ~ 13.20d 15.20  ~ 15.37
Mells Road 13/32 15/58
Hapsford Loop 13/42 ?
Frome North SB 13c54 ~ 13c55 16.27 ~ 16.28
Clink Road Jn 13/58 ?
Fairwood Jn 14/02 16/30
Westbury 14L04 ~ 14L15 16.39 ~ 16.50
Fairwood Jn 14/18 16/54
Clink Road Jn 14/22 16/58
Blatchbridge Jn 14/24 17/00
Castle Cary 14*37 ~ 14*38 17.16 ~ 18.01
Yeovil Pen Mil 14x52 ~ 14x53 18.15 ~ 18.50
Maiden Newton 15*12 ~ 15*13 19/02
Dorchester West 15/25 19/17
Dorchester Jn 15/26 ?
Weymouth SB 15L36 ~ 15L51 ?
Weymouth Quay 16.08a ~ 16.23d DIV
Weymouth Town DIV 19.28 ~ 20.00
Weymouth SB 16L40 ~ 16L55 ?
Dorchester Jn 17/10 ?
Wareham 17/28 20/28
Poole 17/38 20/37
Branksome 17/50 ?
Bournemouth West CS 17L53 ~ 18L03 DIV
Branksome 18L06 ~ 18L16 20/41
Bournemouth Central 18c21 ~ 18c25 20.46 ~ 20.54
Brockenhurst 18/41 21/10
Redbridge 19/00 21/20
Southampton 19/04 21/27
Northam Jn 19/07 ?
St Denys 19/09 21/33
Fareham 19/38 DIV
Cosham 19*46a ~ 19*48d DIV
Farlington Jn 19/51 DIV
Havant 19/55 DIV
Petersfield 20/12 DIV
Haslemere 20/25 DIV
Guildford 20.44a ~ 20.45d DIV
Effingham Junction 20*57a ~ 20*58d DIV
Leatherhead 21/04½ DIV
Epsom 21/10 DIV
Sutton 21/16 DIV
West Croydon 21/23 DIV
Norwood Junction 21/27 DIV
Forest Hill 21/31 DIV
Bricklayers Arms Jn 21/36 DIV
Basingstoke DIV 22.08a ~ 22.09d
Woking DIV 22.30a ~ 22.31d
Waterloo DIV 22.59a
London Bridge 21.40a DIV


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