6023 King Edward II Ascends a 1 in 5. The “Blue King” Leaves the Dartmouth Steam Railway.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ต.ค. 2018
- The 5th and last video documenting the arrival and operation at, and departure from the Dartmouth Steam Railway.
“All good things come to an end” as they say and here we bid a fond farewell to 6023 after a very successful season on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. What a wonderful loco this has proved to be and to think that before restoration at Didcot, “experts” scoffed at the idea of bringing her back to mainline condition. One day I watched as she climbed to Churston on the twisty 1 in 60, tender first with 11 coaches plus a dead class 25 without the slightest fuss. Torbay is surrounded by hills and the route from Churston takes us up one of the steepest: Kings Ash Hill and although short, hits a gradient of close to 20%. I arrive just in time to catch the depart from Churston and with two attempts to round the very sharp turn in the yard the “real” experts of Allelys Heavy Haulage coax the mighty load safely out. About 20 minutes later after negotiating the road-works near Tweenaway the escort vehicle passes in order to stop the oncoming traffic. We watch the climb from towards the top of the hill at the steepest part and what an impressive sight and sound of the tractor (with it's huge 680bhp V8 engine) and trailer makes as it passes me and heads away towards the A380 and the motorways back to Didcot. Let’s hope that the next time we see 6023 back in Torbay it will be at the head of a mainline excursion.
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What a fantastic view of her going past, a great opportunity to get a good look at the running gear. A marvel of engineering! Always scares me seeing a loco on a low loader, they always look so vulnerable out of the natural environment.
Hi and thank you for your kind comments. You are right; it was pretty intimidating from the roadside! Best regards, Alan
Hi Alan, a really wonderful video about the transportation of one of the most beautiful British steam locos.
Hi Norbert: thank you for your kind remarks, glad you enjoyed the clip. Best regards, Alan
Beautiful film. Bloody impressive driving from the trucker in the yard. Tight place to turn with an abnormal load.
Hi and thank you for your kind, interesting and very much appreciated comments. Best regards, Alan
Superb video !
Hi and thank you for your kind and much appreciated comment. Best regards, Alan
Superb video.
Hello Philip and thank you for your kind and much appreciated comment. Best regards, Alan
A serious case of lèse-majesté. It looks like a giant piece of jewellery.
Hello Henry and thank you for your thought provoking comment. One might describe it as an impressive indignity! Regards, Alan
Great shots Alan. Shame to her leave Torbay? KE2 was well admired on the PDR . Kind regards C&A
Hi folks: thank you for the nice feedback, I am already missing her! Best regards, Alan
That's the only time it's needed diesel assistance all the time it's been there! Very interesting the way the trailers can literally turn through right angles with the rear wheel steering.
Well said Andrei! If you look at the tyres closely you can see the rubber being literally torn off. Cheers, Alan
Now that is some serious grunt!
Amen to that Gordon! Many thanks for your comment. Regards, Alan
Nice, wish I could've seen it.
Hi and thank you for the kind comment. There were very few who knew of the timings of the departure, I think they like to keep these things quiet! Best regards, Alan
Yep 6023 king Edward II is going bk to didcot Railway Centre
Saw her going through Clevedon and Portishead on the M5 - some big motorway hills there. No link to the main line to tow then?
Hello Steve and thank you for your comment and question. The DSR is directly linked to the main-line but there are three issues (at least) regarding transportation by rail. The first is "mainline certification"; which has not been applied for yet, the second is cost; perversely it is (apparently) cheaper to transport her by road! and thirdly, transportation by road does not entail any wear or strain on the locomotive. Once she is certified for main-line tours she can undertake "re-positioning" moves under her own steam at much lower costs. Regards, Alan
I did wave :) For info, tomorrow morning we are bring out the Class 25 'Mercury' from Churston and taking it to Buckfastleigh.
Hi: you nearly caught me out! unfortunately the angle of your windscreen reflected too much. Hope the rest of the journey went well and thank you for the info. regarding the 25. Best regards, Alan
I really hope they keep her in BR blue.
Hello Kevin and thank you for your valued comment. If she ever makes it to the mainline it would be pretty special to see a B.R. Blue (King Edward 2) and a B.R. Green (King Edward 1) double-heading a train! Regards, Alan
Is This the King class that had it's driving wheels cut at Barry?????
Hello Michael and thank you for your question. You will find the answer here: didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/75/6023-king-edward-ii Regards, Alan
Sorry for the dumb question but........why wasn’t the loco just moved by rail to it’s new destination ?
Hi and thank you for your perfectly reasonable question. If 6023 had been certified to run on the mainline, it could have travelled back to Swindon under it's own power. As an uncertified locomotive, it would have had to be towed as a "dead" engine and that comes with a whole string of complicated conditions and regulations, add to that an exorbitant charge by Network Rail and a freight operator for shipping it as freight and also a long wait before it can be scheduled into the freight programme. Ultimately (and perversely) it is far cheaper and more convenient to transfer by road. Regards, Alan
Interesting and well-shot video - thanks. A mad thought occurs to me which is that a 57XX pannier could climb this hill light engine though it may do a few funny things to the water level and it would be useful to have rubber tyres. But the power is there!
Hi and thank you for your kind and thought provoking comment, I have all sorts of images in my mind! Best regards, Alan
1 in 5 is around 12% gradient. Not enough froction steel on steel. The wheels might go round and round but the loco would stay still ! Need to add a rack & pinion to get up there.
I always wonder....what about the tender??
Hi and thank you for your interesting query. The locomotive and tender were delivered together as you can see here: th-cam.com/video/GRPpBLb54zU/w-d-xo.html however it was logistically more advantageous to bring the tender back on the Saturday when the haulier returned to carry out a diesel move from Churston to Buckfastleigh. Regards, Alan
There it goes to didcot for restoration and next thing is after that Onto the mainline it goes Alan
Hello Scott: let's hope that it does not take too long. Regards, Alan
yeah hope so fingers crossed hopefully it will be a short restoration because everyone is determined to see king Edward ll return to the mainline for the first time since the end of steam
Hope those in the traffic holdup were engine fans.
Hi and thank you for your comment. What amazes me is that the cab crew have to wave cars back in order to stop "tailgating"!! Regards, Alan
I can't do it. I can't do it.
I have often wondered if a "light" locomotive without a heavy tender could actually climb a 1 in 5? Thanks for your comment. Regards, Alan
@@Steamclips A regular standard gauge mainline engine? Maybe... light engine... with lots of sand... if it had a really really good run at it, doing 80-100mph at the base, but would be crawling at the summit.