3rd March 1979

6000 Locomotive Association Railtours
The Shakespeare Venturer

Locos Used 47111 & steam: 5900 'Hinderton Hall' & 7029 'Clun Castle'
Stock Used 10 ex-GW Great Western Society coaches (11 with 5900 & 12 with 7029)

Route : 1Z18 throughout

Loco Route
47111 Cardiff Central – Newport – Severn Tunnel Junction - Pilning - Bristol Parkway – Wootton Bassett Jn - Swindon – Didcot Parkway
5900 Didcot Parkway – Oxford – Banbury – Dorridge
7029 Dorridge – Hatton West Jn - Bearley Jn - Stratford-on-Avon
7029 Stratford-on-Avon – Bearley Jn - Leamington Spa
5900 Leamington Spa – (reverse of outward route) – Didcot Parkway
47111 Didcot Parkway – (reverse of outward route) - Cardiff Central

Notes :
(1) Brian Basterfield records this tour as having been run by the Great Western Society.
(2) The Didcot - Dorridge and Leamington Spa - Didcot sections were originally booked for haulage by 6000 'King George V'.
(3) Brian Basterfield comments: This was a tour to forget. Quite simply, 5900 Hinderton Hall was not up to the job. Whether there was a problem with the locomotive, or just poor coal, I don't know. Although the locomotive was blowing off most of the way to Oxford, by Wolvercot Junction speed was dropping, and we had to stop for 8 minutes before Kidlington for a blow up. Thereafter we ambled along clearly in trouble. So we were 51 minutes down by Banbury. Another 11 minutes were dropped to Leamington Spa, but then the loco gave us a surprisingly good run up Hatton bank, not falling below 40 mph. But we were 73 minutes late arriving at Dorridge. 7029 Clun Castle  backed down on to the rear, and we were heading south again 12 minutes later, a smart piece of work. But we were held at Hatton North, and as a result, were 71 mins late into Stratford. But by cutting an hour off the time allowed at Stratford, we were able to depart only 11 minutes down. A heavy bout of slipping on departure cost us 2 minutes. This was followed by signal checks at Warwick, and so 7029 was 24 late into Leamington, where 5900 was to take over. The big question was, would Hinderton Hall perform any better on the return journey?. The answer was no. 18 minutes late away, we immediately dropped another 17 minutes to Banbury, taking over 42 minutes unchecked for the 19.8 miles. After taking water, things slightly improved on to Oxford and Didcot, there was only another 5 minutes lost. We were 26 minutes late in (having saved 14 minutes taking water at Banbury).

Sources : Ian Monkton (joined/left the train at Bristol Parkway), Brian Basterfield
& Jim Sparks (joined/left the train at Newport)

Photo Review


7029 steams through Claverdon (photo: Bernard Mills)


7029 waits to leave Stratford-upon-Avon (photo: Bernard Mills)


Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Brian Basterfield & Jim Sparks)

Miles Location Booked Actual   Booked Actual Miles
0.0 Cardiff Central 09.10d ?   22.10a ? 160.7
11.8 Newport 09.24a ~ 09.26d ??.?? ~ 09.26   21.51a ~ 21.53d 21.59 ~ ??.?? 148.9
21.6 Severn Tunnel Junction 09/36 09/36   21/40½ 21/49 139.1
22.4 Severn Tunnel West 09/37 09/37   21/39½ 21/48 138.3
28.6 Pilning 09/43 09/47   21/34½ 21/42 132.1
32.1 Patchway 09/49 09/52   21/32 21/38 128.6
33.4 Bristol Parkway 09.51a ~ 09.53d 09.53 ~ 09.55   21.27a ~ 21.29d 21.33 ~ 21.36 127.3
38.1 Westerleigh Jn 09/59 10/00   21/23 ? 122.6
51.1 Hullavington 10/12 10/12   21/13 ? 109.6
62.3 Wootton Bassett Jn 10/22 10/20   21/05 ? 98.4
67.9 Swindon 10.33a ~ 10.41d 10.30 ~ 10.41   20.55a ~ 20.57d 21.1 ~ 21.04 92.8
81.8 Challow 10/54 10/53   20/39 ? 78.9
92.1 Didcot Parkway 11L02a ~ 11L27d 11.03 ~ 11.28   20L00a ~ 20L28d 20.26 ~ 20.37 68.6
102.9 Oxford 11/42 11/58   19/45 20/08 57.8
105.8 Wolvercot Jn 11/47 12/04   19/40 20/02 54.9
114.7 Heyford 11/58 12/36   19/23 19/51 46.0
120.6 Aynho Jn 12/05 12/49   19/16 19/39 40.01
125.7 Banbury 12w12a ~ 12w42d 13.03 ~ 13.35   18w39a ~ 19w09d 19.14 ~ 19.30 35.0
145.5 Leamington Spa 13/05 14.09 ~ 14.10   17L32a ~ 18L14d 17.56 ~ 18.32 15.2
151.7 Hatton 13/1 14/20   17/24 17/37 9.0
158.4 Dorridge 13L22a ~ 13L48d 14.36 ~ 14.48  
165.2 Hatton West Jn 13/59 14.58 ~ 15.03   17/22 17/34 8.9
169.8 Bearley Jn 14/06 15/17   17/14 17/27 4.3
174.1 Stratford-upon-Avon 14.12a 15.23   17.06d 17.17 0.0


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