As the very wise Aidan Moffat once sang "It was the first big weekend of the summer..." and as I made my way up to Crewe yesterday, via an uncharacteristic battle at the hotel, I couldn't help but feel that this was something of special event. It hadn't been a fantastic week for railtours, with stalwart operator Pathfinder publishing an entire season's list of trips with virtually no crank excursions and little info on their daytrips to help make a judgement about their value in track or loco terms. So, to arrive at a quiet Crewe station and watch 40145 manoeuvring ready for today's trip was a bit of a reminder that interesting stuff still happens. It's been interesting to watch this trip, ostensibly a joint effort with the DTG - but mainly organised by the CFPS via the irrepressible John Stephens, grow from a notion to a campaign to a reality over the past few months. It only really began to sink in that it was really happening when the stock drew slowly into Platform 5 at Crewe at an absurdly early hour behind 40145, closely followed by the Up Sleeper on the adjacent line!
I'd planned to do as much of the route as possible, to make up for bailing out at Bristol on the return tomorrow. So at 05:20 we set off northwards - exactly the wrong direction for Cornwall - to make pick-ups at Warrington and Manchester Victoria, before taking the line through Denton to gain the route south via Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. Skirting Birmingham, we headed for a break at International where 40145 was to be joined by the Western. A quick dash upstairs for decent coffee and along to the buffet car for the excellent bacon rolls followed, whilst D1015 - wearing the identity of it's long lost sister "Western Firebrand" - dropped quietly onto the front of the train. Once we were off, any notion of quietness was forgotten as the pair of locos made an impressive racket. A pause on the through roads at Oxford, then around the west curve at Didcot and onto the Great Western Main Line. With the easy grades and straight alignment, the pair on the front really began to stretch their legs and with the sun shining and the bar open, the atmosphere on board became one of easy camaraderie between the unlikely coupling of 40 and Hydraulic followers!
A short wait at Bristol before heading off south once again, on very familiar territory for me! It always seems strange to pass this way on a railtour, but I make a point of occupying a window and watching my home county pass by. Noted some locals out on the platform at Highbridge as we sped past, then settled in to enjoy some of the local cider to celebrate our thunder through Somerset. Two things were now on the minds of most of the tour participants - the classic journey along the sea wall at Dawlish, and the assault on the South Devon banks. We were running consistently early now, and the locos were checked briefly at Exeter before pressing on and gaining speed before the sea wall - a brief concern we'd be held at Dawlish Warren was soon dispelled and we rocketed through the resorts with an amazing amount of people watching our progress it seemed. Next stop Plymouth, where the locos switched to top and tail the train in preparation for the branch lines we'd cover later in the trip. Fully intended to wander off the platform here, but instead enjoyed the atmosphere among the photo taking crowd and got some pictures of D1015 and 40145 in the sun. It had been a long day, and the progress down into Cornwall was a little slower and sleepier as we crossed the ever-impressive Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar. Found myself dozing slightly in the warm afternoon, feeling for the first time in a while thoroughly relaxed.
And so we arrived at Penzance, pretty much on time after our epic journey from the North West. There was the customary gaggle of photographers at the end of the platforms admiring 40145 which had brought us into the station, so instead I headed off into town to find my hotel, along with a fair amount of the train's other passengers. More 'Fawlty Towers' style silliness followed as another guest was assigned the same room as me. After blustering around the place apparently telling us how it was our fault, the owner soon sorted the problem - not before the other guest - a fellow tour passenger - had submitted him to an impressively withering display of sarcasm however. When the owner said he wished everyone could be as patient as me I explained it had been a long journey. The owner replied, rather enigmatically "We've all had a long journey Sir....". Pondered this curious response as I headed back to the station, via the supermarket, for the evening's entertainment.
The plan was to use the long, light evening to head out to Falmouth Docks. A Western had been here before on the former London through service in the 1970s, but a 40 probably hadn't! Once again we departed on time, with D1015 leading out to Truro. Some curious characters sighted on the platform here, as we reversed with 40145 leading us across the tracks and onto the branch. My first use of the innovative loop at Penryn too, which allows two passing trains to occupying a single platform face. We past one of the frequent units here on this increasingly busy line as we headed down to the coast through pleasant, leafy countryside. At the end of the line, a scramble for pictures at the somewhat deserted terminus. A real sense of pride too, that this tour which we'd backed with our cash and cheques from the outset had made it here to the buffers - and consequently the return trip up the branch took on the atmosphere of a celebratory Beer-ex. As 40145 drew us back into Penzance and passengers scattered either to their digs or to local hostelries to continue celebrating, it was hard not to feel that we'd all been part of a very special day indeed.
And the best part? We get to do it all again tomorrow...
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
