28th April 2014 - Two brief incursions into WalesMonday 28th April 2014 Another sociable start time this morning though not quite as late as yesterday and it was also possible to walk to the station again. Today's route would take us from Bristol to Grange-over-Sands with Black Five 44932, yet another substitute for 70013 "Oliver Cromwell", then 70000 "Britannia" then 46233 "Duchess of Sutherland"; all of which were unavailable for various reasons by the time of the tour. The load of 11 coaches would be a tall order for a class 5 and we had wondered whether it would be assisted in some form or another by a diesel but our "little shadow" 47746 was seen scuttling off ahead of the railtour so solo assaults of Filton and Llanvihangel banks would be the order of the day. 44932 at Bristol Temple Meads28th April 2014. Arriving with the empty coaches to form 1Z71 08:16 Bristol Temple Meads to Grange-over-Sands, day 3 of "The Great Britain VII" tour. Fortunately there was no sign of the rain that had interrupted the previous two days but it was still overcast and 44932 made a competent if rather slow ascent of Filton bank before turning left towards the Severn Tunnel, under the river Severn and into Wales where there was a water stop on the Down Relief line at Magor. The ascent of the notorious Llanvihangel bank was expertly performed and the sun even tried to appear but we can't help thinking that it could have been a very different scenario if it had been raining though, presumably, there was the option of attaching 47746 if the conditions were too bad. Further time was lost at Hereford as 44932 had to leave it's train on the Up Relief, not a platform road, whilst it went off to the bay platform for water. Passing Shrewsbury, there was the chance to grab a couple of photos of Severn Bridge Junction signal box, now the largest mechanical box on the national network, and some of the other items of signalling interest. More water was taken at Chirk where we could at least get off on the platform for a leg-stretch, unlike Hereford, then onwards through Chester, Helsby and Warrington to Preston where one final stop was made for more water and to attach 47746 on the rear to assist with taking the empty stock back to Carnforth this evening. 44932 at Preston28th April 2014. Taking water away from the train whilst working 1Z71 08:16 Bristol Temple Meads to Grange-over-Sands, day 3 of "The Great Britain VII" tour. 47746 did give a gentle push out of Preston but 44932 did all of the work from there and we arrived at Grange-over-Sands just under an hour late in bright sunshine. Despite being late, we still had to wait a short while for a fleet of road coaches to take us to our hotels which all overlooked Lake Windermere; ours was the Lakeside Hotel, directly opposite the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway terminus. The trains had finished for the day so we made do with photographing the items of signalling interest and some of the lakeside scenery. Lake Windermere28th April 2014. Looking north from Lakeside.
Keywords:
Great Britain VII,
Railway Touring Company
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