I was a fireman in the banking link from 1962/63. We had the 41xx, 51 and 61xx classes of engines. Hard but enjoyable and satisfying work. I lived in the hostel (at 14.04) and the shed was at the end of the platform. It has all changed out of all recollection.
Super video, very enjoyable. I always wonder at the very unpleasant conditions in these long tunnels in the age of steam. The footplate crew must have suffered! Passemgers could close windows and hope there weren't too many gaps!
Ah, home sweet home. If it weren't for the pandemic my commute would take me up the cycle path alongside Filton bank. Nice to see what it looks like from the front of a train. Also a nice view of the binliner climbing the bank at 36:38 - the empty containers go back via the Severn Beach line, past my back window, late at night.
The Bishton Flyover is one of the reasons I like British Rail. Double and quadruple main lines, which diverge or converge. At the Bishton, four trains rockin' and rollin'.
3 locos at same time in view at Llanwern east Jn. I've been on that bridge many times and never seen that...... good job as I couldn't of photographed them all
Fantastic lockdown entertainment on a stretch of line I knew so well in the 50/60’s as a trainspotter living in Lydney and able to cycle to Severn Tunnel Junction where so much steam existed with Kings and Britannia’s on The Welsh Dragon, Castles, Halls, Granges, Manors abounded plus 2-8-0’s, 2-6-2T ‘s in abundance plus my favourite 2-8-2T’s. All this ended with the end of steam but in the late 70’s restarted as photography following in order Westerns/ 45 & 46 Peaks/ Class 47’s & 50’s. Many hours were spent at Platform ends at Gloucester Central & Eastgate, Bristol Temple Meads, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction and all the best lineside locations. Oh if this life could return. Keep up the good work.
Lovely! I've been looking forward to the Bristol area segment for a while!. It's changed a lot from my time 'growing up' in the area. I remember the tracklifting of the two now-reinstated tracks.
At 16:05 Caldicot station is behind the bushes on the high ground to the right, where the Severnside line is. Can't catch sight of it here, bushes in the way. It used to be that from a tunnel train, you could look up and see the backs of the platform signs.
Another beautiful video. I was over this line in the other direction when it was being doubled and part was electrified on a Hastings tour. Nice to see it done. Thank you.
Good to see it all now that the OLE is complete! Interesting to see what the transition to Overhead Contact Rail (OCR) looks like at the entry to the tunnel - and at the exit, around 23:40. Lots of stories in the usual publications about the problems with that which are worth reading if anyone is interested in it all. W.r.t. the Bishton flyover, ISTR that it’s construction was roughly in tandem with the new steelworks at LLanwern, along with the last batch of remodelling/resignalling around Newport in the early 1960s. Obviously the yard at Severn Tunnel Jc was active then, and it was important to move the relief lines into a pair so as to serve the new works and reduce the conflict between the main & relief lines. There was a lot of heavy freight to/from the works, especially when it had a blast furnace which processed iron ore from Port Talbot docks plus coal etc from the west.
@@RailMart Indeed it is. Also used in some other tunnels on the GWML, probably Chipping Sodbury on the Badminton line. The unique feature of the Severn Tunnel one is that they’ve been forced into using Aluminium contact (not Copper mounted in an Aluminium contact rail) on account of the somewhat saline environment down there.
Finally SUNNY WEATHER footage + lots of historical info. Except for Pilning for some reason, which had a branch line to ferry crossing and from this branch had a connection to Severn Beach line.
Great video. I've just worked out which train this was and where I was that day! Caught it from the south side at Bishton Crossing immediately after the Freightliner Intermodal had passed on the Up Relief. Now to watch again on the TV and see if I can be seen!
Great video thanks. The overhead line structures are very massive for 25 KV. I can see why the electrification cost so much. Shame Bristol and Bath were not included. The tunnel has overhead rail conductors.
And what you can’t see is the depth of the underground foundation of the structures 😊! The voltage used is actually 50 kV, between the contact wire and the return one above your head to the left of the structures, and 25 kV between the track and the contact (+25/0/-25) with autotransformers every so often, so most of the current from the feeders (not many of them) uses 50, so it’s more efficient overall (and keeps the grid happier ‘cos it’s a unbalanced load!). NR have published quite a bit about it online; quite novel here.
Watched this on the tv you tube with no description and enjoyed it ,wondering if we were on board a class 47 !!!!!! on the pc now with the full description and yes a class 47 ..The horn was the give away lol.
Brilliant! Cabbed a Brush and got a ride too at Romsey station when I was a lad of 12 back in 1969. Will never forget the acceleration when we ran back through the station uncoupled. Don’t know how I stayed on my feet! Thanks for this much longer ride!
At Bishton ( typo ) theres also a road the goes under the tracks for smaller traffic like cars and such, its farm traffic and the local bus service that uses the crossing. Between the hours of 8 am and 4 pm if i remember correctly. its fascinating to watch the mechanism that operates the gates.
At 48:46 was that the Village People that we passed? 😁 What an interesting journey. The line between Pilning and Patchway is very distinctive, almost unique, in the way it's separated. One thing that surprised me; I don't think we passed a single GWR HST on the journey. I thought there were more of them about in these parts. Thanks for taking us on another fascinating trip and, I must admit, it was nice having sound this time. A 47 isn't the most thrilling to listen to but still better with sound.(I do understand why many of the videos lack sound though.)👍👌😁
HI, I like you channel but not so much the videos with no sound LOL, oh well. You say that this is the final part of this run, Can you please tell me as to what the other parts are and please list them so I van go from the start to the finish. Many thanks. keep up with the good work and more vids WITH sound please
Yep Sorry about the sound thing but they were the restrctions placed upon us at the time of recording. Our new videos are all recorded with sound but as part of agreements for filming all in cab voices have to be removed. The previous are the Crewe - Shrewsbury - Leominster - Hereford - Maindee Jn videos.
Hi, great video footage and plenty of interesting facts, unfortunately for me living up in the north of England I hardly ever got chance to travel over these lines, would loved to have seen some of the old steam `castle` class traversing these lines, that would have been an awesome sight, is this brush type 4 hauling a freight train or is it travelling light loco.
been enjoying your cab rides..I remember taking the overnight train from Paddington and alighting at Severn Tunnel Jnc on 5th Feb 1966 and waiting on the freezing cold station to join a South Wales tour of sheds and scrapyards. We visited Severn Tunnel Jnc, Cashmores, Canton, Radyr and of course Barry, plus a couple of others. Now what shall I watch next?
Thank you for making this great film, so relaxing to watch and to see a train journey from the driver's cab position.....only question is how did your passengers get off the train seeing you parked in the middle of the track lol.
The headlights are largely to help track staff see approaching trains and is the reason they are illuminated during the day. Until fairly recently all traction units had to be painted yellow at each end to aid visibility, nowadays that interferes with the design of modern privatised liveries so headlights are fitted and the ends need not be yellow.
Fascinating and immersive as always! It's a shame that these high-quality videos can't be made interactive so that we mere mortals can drive the route ourselves, as in a Train Sim. (Or can't they.................? C'mon, you computer whizz kids, let's see what you can do!)
An excellent quality video. Shows up the incompetence of DfT however. Where is the electrified link from the Severn Tunnel to Bristol TM? Instead of investing in the infrastructure on a comprehensive, co-ordinated rolling programme they throw money down the throats of TOCs.
Silly how they removed the bridge at pilning station and never replaced it. Must make it a fun commute into bristol. Are there not headlights on that loco for the tunnels? If you open the window can you hear the water dripping in the severn tunnel?
No it was an ECS from Crewe to Bristol for the Summer Steam. 47805 leading. You can just make out the GO-pro on the second mans side window at the bottom th-cam.com/video/_ZRrtTGDKKA/w-d-xo.html
Great video. Couple of questions, why did the driver not use headlights in the Severn Tunnel, and why was the train put in Pilning loop when nothing past it on the fast?
The Headlight was on. The Old BR style Headlights on the Class 47 are not a patch on the new build stock. The Camera just didn't pick it up well at all. Also see reply regarding the loop in an answer above. Cheers for watching.
No it was an empty stock train. Although I cannot qualify. The train was booked in to recess for a GWR service to pass. I would imagine ARS routed it in and the GWR was late so the Signaller just ran it out the East end.
Great video, but I was amazed that 50 million litres of fresh water is pumped into the R. Severn each day, where does it all come from, and what a waste of a natural resource, cheers
Upon My research I thought that also, due to ground seepage I would assume and wondered the very same. Although in terms of rainfall not exactly the driest part of the world so would need a cost / benefit analysis.
I can't find my book on the Severn Tunnel, but from memory it's about 143ft below sea level at the lowest point. The Great Spring is an undergrond stream originating from valleys to the west (Welsh) side. It flooded the whole tunnel during construction and was only solved when one very brave guy got down there in an early diving suit and somehow blocked it! The water is (or was?) put to good purpose. I can't recall what that was, maybe bottled as spring water?
I was a fireman in the banking link from 1962/63. We had the 41xx, 51 and 61xx classes of engines. Hard but enjoyable and satisfying work. I lived in the hostel (at 14.04) and the shed was at the end of the platform. It has all changed out of all recollection.
Super video, very enjoyable. I always wonder at the very unpleasant conditions in these long tunnels in the age of steam. The footplate crew must have suffered! Passemgers could close windows and hope there weren't too many gaps!
Glad you enjoyed it
Ah, home sweet home. If it weren't for the pandemic my commute would take me up the cycle path alongside Filton bank. Nice to see what it looks like from the front of a train. Also a nice view of the binliner climbing the bank at 36:38 - the empty containers go back via the Severn Beach line, past my back window, late at night.
The Bishton Flyover is one of the reasons I like British Rail. Double and quadruple main lines, which diverge or converge. At the Bishton, four trains rockin' and rollin'.
Brilliant, what better to watch on cold wet Monday morning, thank you!
Our pleasure!
3 locos at same time in view at Llanwern east Jn. I've been on that bridge many times and never seen that...... good job as I couldn't of photographed them all
That was so lucky!
Fantastic lockdown entertainment on a stretch of line I knew so well in the 50/60’s as a trainspotter living in Lydney and able to cycle to Severn Tunnel Junction where so much steam existed with Kings and Britannia’s on The Welsh Dragon, Castles, Halls, Granges, Manors abounded plus 2-8-0’s, 2-6-2T ‘s in abundance plus my favourite 2-8-2T’s. All this ended with the end of steam but in the late 70’s restarted as photography following in order Westerns/ 45 & 46 Peaks/ Class 47’s & 50’s. Many hours were spent at Platform ends at Gloucester Central & Eastgate, Bristol Temple Meads, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction and all the best lineside locations. Oh if this life could return. Keep up the good work.
Fabulous story....
Excellent footage passing so many freights! Perfect timing too of freight passing over bishton flyover 👍
It sure is!
Lovely! I've been looking forward to the Bristol area segment for a while!. It's changed a lot from my time 'growing up' in the area. I remember the tracklifting of the two now-reinstated tracks.
More to come!
great video, have lived in Australia most of my life, so i love these trips through the country side.
Glad you like them!
At 16:05 Caldicot station is behind the bushes on the high ground to the right, where the Severnside line is. Can't catch sight of it here, bushes in the way. It used to be that from a tunnel train, you could look up and see the backs of the platform signs.
Another beautiful video. I was over this line in the other direction when it was being doubled and part was electrified on a Hastings tour. Nice to see it done. Thank you.
Many thanks.
Excellent smooth ride from Wales into England - most enjoyable trip!
Glad you enjoyed it
Good to see it all now that the OLE is complete! Interesting to see what the transition to Overhead Contact Rail (OCR) looks like at the entry to the tunnel - and at the exit, around 23:40. Lots of stories in the usual publications about the problems with that which are worth reading if anyone is interested in it all.
W.r.t. the Bishton flyover, ISTR that it’s construction was roughly in tandem with the new steelworks at LLanwern, along with the last batch of remodelling/resignalling around Newport in the early 1960s. Obviously the yard at Severn Tunnel Jc was active then, and it was important to move the relief lines into a pair so as to serve the new works and reduce the conflict between the main & relief lines. There was a lot of heavy freight to/from the works, especially when it had a blast furnace which processed iron ore from Port Talbot docks plus coal etc from the west.
The contact rail is a very different set up.....
@@RailMart Indeed it is. Also used in some other tunnels on the GWML, probably Chipping Sodbury on the Badminton line. The unique feature of the Severn Tunnel one is that they’ve been forced into using Aluminium contact (not Copper mounted in an Aluminium contact rail) on account of the somewhat saline environment down there.
@@johnkeepin7527 Correct, Chipping Sodbury and the Patchway tunnels.
Finally SUNNY WEATHER footage + lots of historical info. Except for Pilning for some reason, which had a branch line to ferry crossing and from this branch had a connection to Severn Beach line.
I’ve watched this 3 times now . Great video, thanks
Wow, thanks!
Great video. Enjoyed that. Thks for sharing.
Thanks for watching
Great video. I've just worked out which train this was and where I was that day! Caught it from the south side at Bishton Crossing immediately after the Freightliner Intermodal had passed on the Up Relief. Now to watch again on the TV and see if I can be seen!
Sounds great!
Great video thanks.
The overhead line structures are very massive for 25 KV. I can see why the electrification cost so much. Shame Bristol and Bath were not included. The tunnel has overhead rail conductors.
Very over engineered, But I am not a OLE expert.
And what you can’t see is the depth of the underground foundation of the structures 😊! The voltage used is actually 50 kV, between the contact wire and the return one above your head to the left of the structures, and 25 kV between the track and the contact (+25/0/-25) with autotransformers every so often, so most of the current from the feeders (not many of them) uses 50, so it’s more efficient overall (and keeps the grid happier ‘cos it’s a unbalanced load!). NR have published quite a bit about it online; quite novel here.
Very nicely done, great quality footage.
Glad you enjoyed it
We always watch when having breakfast. Coffee n toast.....
Prefer tea and toast myself.
Amazing! Cheers for this as always.
My pleasure!
I can't believe this is a BR Standard class 47. Seems so quiet in the cab.
Watched this on the tv you tube with no description and enjoyed it ,wondering if we were on board a class 47 !!!!!! on the pc now with the full description and yes a class 47 ..The horn was the give away lol.
Yes it was!
Brilliant! Cabbed a Brush and got a ride too at Romsey station when I was a lad of 12 back in 1969. Will never forget the acceleration when we ran back through the station uncoupled. Don’t know how I stayed on my feet! Thanks for this much longer ride!
At Bishton ( typo ) theres also a road the goes under the tracks for smaller traffic like cars and such, its farm traffic and the local bus service that uses the crossing. Between the hours of 8 am and 4 pm if i remember correctly. its fascinating to watch the mechanism that operates the gates.
Yep Typo. Was not going to re-render and upload.
Much more enjoyable with cab sounds.
Yes I know.
Nice video, enjoyable watch.
Thanks for the visit
loved it, more please.
Will do.
Never realised overhead pantograph wires go side to side, presumably to stop wear on the pantograph head. Clever.
It's called the "stagger'.
Excellent video, the quality is very good although I am watching on my laptop
Cool, thanks
Excellent video. How many GALLONS of water are pumped out of the Severn tunnel daily?
At 48:46 was that the Village People that we passed? 😁
What an interesting journey. The line between Pilning and Patchway is very distinctive, almost unique, in the way it's separated. One thing that surprised me; I don't think we passed a single GWR HST on the journey. I thought there were more of them about in these parts.
Thanks for taking us on another fascinating trip and, I must admit, it was nice having sound this time. A 47 isn't the most thrilling to listen to but still better with sound.(I do understand why many of the videos lack sound though.)👍👌😁
I am looking to have sound on future videos, by following the suggestion of recording sound from the back cab.
@@RailMart Good plan.👍👌😁
Five star coverage
Cheers!
out of this world
An awesome video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Great stuff !
Glad you enjoyed it
HI, I like you channel but not so much the videos with no sound LOL, oh well.
You say that this is the final part of this run,
Can you please tell me as to what the other parts are and please list them so I van go from the start to the finish.
Many thanks.
keep up with the good work and more vids WITH sound please
Yep Sorry about the sound thing but they were the restrctions placed upon us at the time of recording. Our new videos are all recorded with sound but as part of agreements for filming all in cab voices have to be removed. The previous are the Crewe - Shrewsbury - Leominster - Hereford - Maindee Jn videos.
Hi, great video footage and plenty of interesting facts, unfortunately for me living up in the north of England I hardly ever got chance to travel over these lines, would loved to have seen some of the old steam `castle` class traversing these lines, that would have been an awesome sight, is this brush type 4 hauling a freight train or is it travelling light loco.
been enjoying your cab rides..I remember taking the overnight train from Paddington and alighting at Severn Tunnel Jnc on 5th Feb 1966 and waiting on the freezing cold station to join a South Wales tour of sheds and scrapyards. We visited Severn Tunnel Jnc, Cashmores, Canton, Radyr and of course Barry, plus a couple of others. Now what shall I watch next?
Thank you for making this great film, so relaxing to watch and to see a train journey from the driver's cab position.....only question is how did your passengers get off the train seeing you parked in the middle of the track lol.
It was ECS , Empty Coaching Stock.
i.e. No passengers.
Headlights don't seem to be particularly effective, if that tunnel portion is anything to go by.
The headlights are largely to help track staff see approaching trains and is the reason they are illuminated during the day. Until fairly recently all traction units had to be painted yellow at each end to aid visibility, nowadays that interferes with the design of modern privatised liveries so headlights are fitted and the ends need not be yellow.
Fascinating and immersive as always! It's a shame that these high-quality videos can't be made interactive so that we mere mortals can drive the route ourselves, as in a Train Sim. (Or can't they.................? C'mon, you computer whizz kids, let's see what you can do!)
An excellent quality video. Shows up the incompetence of DfT however. Where is the electrified link from the Severn Tunnel to Bristol TM? Instead of investing in the infrastructure on a comprehensive, co-ordinated rolling programme they throw money down the throats of TOCs.
Cheers
Silly how they removed the bridge at pilning station and never replaced it. Must make it a fun commute into bristol. Are there not headlights on that loco for the tunnels? If you open the window can you hear the water dripping in the severn tunnel?
Is this a light loco move?
Excellent footage, I'm wondering why he looped you at Pilning, ARS maybe???
No it was an ECS from Crewe to Bristol for the Summer Steam. 47805 leading. You can just make out the GO-pro on the second mans side window at the bottom
th-cam.com/video/_ZRrtTGDKKA/w-d-xo.html
You couldn't have scripted the bit at Bishton flyover better.
Amazing really.
I bet the typo is bishron (bishTon) have a good one!
Certainly was.
Great video. Couple of questions, why did the driver not use headlights in the Severn Tunnel, and why was the train put in Pilning loop when nothing past it on the fast?
The Headlight was on. The Old BR style Headlights on the Class 47 are not a patch on the new build stock. The Camera just didn't pick it up well at all. Also see reply regarding the loop in an answer above. Cheers for watching.
I don't suppose you have done, or will be doing the run north out of Bristol?.
Not as yet sorry.
@@RailMart Thank you :).
Excellent video, but someone else has posed this question. Why were you routed through Pilning Up Loop? Was this requested track for enthusiasts?
No it was an empty stock train. Although I cannot qualify. The train was booked in to recess for a GWR service to pass. I would imagine ARS routed it in and the GWR was late so the Signaller just ran it out the East end.
Love the sound of the big diesel engine.
Bristol a beautiful station.
Brush Sulzer type 4
Class 47s being my favourite Locomotive. Used to work the 47 Push Pulls from Edinburgh to Glasgow QSt. Parcels&Postal trains,Sleepers etc.
Great video, but I was amazed that 50 million litres of fresh water is pumped into the R. Severn each day, where does it all come from, and what a waste of a natural resource, cheers
Upon My research I thought that also, due to ground seepage I would assume and wondered the very same. Although in terms of rainfall not exactly the driest part of the world so would need a cost / benefit analysis.
I can't find my book on the Severn Tunnel, but from memory it's about 143ft below sea level at the lowest point. The Great Spring is an undergrond stream originating from valleys to the west (Welsh) side. It flooded the whole tunnel during construction and was only solved when one very brave guy got down there in an early diving suit and somehow blocked it! The water is (or was?) put to good purpose. I can't recall what that was, maybe bottled as spring water?
@@Crepello100 It was sold to a brewery , because it was of such good quality. But I don't know if it still is or no .
@@Crepello100 ISTR that some of it was (maybe still is) used as part of the local water supply in the Caldicot area.
Great video, didn't a certain Mr I K Brunel have something to do with the Severn Tunnel?
No
Not that I know of
@exileinderby51 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Tunnel
He died 13 years before they started building it.
Is Lawrence Hill where that 67 took a ride on a coal train a few years back.??
I believe so,yes.
Certainly was I was in the control the morning it happened.
Best Monday morning for a while, thanks! Q. Does the Rhubarb Loop still exist at Dr Days junction?
Yes it does! Named after the local pub.
@@RailMart I also understand Dr Day advocated Rhubarb as a universal cure for many ailments!
Yes I read that and wondered if there was any relation with the naming of said loop and also the Rhubarb Tavern?
do trains pass in the tunnel?
Yes there is a passing in the video. The only exception to that is if a train is carrying Dangerous Goods. i.e. Petroleum etc...
@@RailMart thanks for the reply, I did wonder about safety
@@petesspark And if you want to, search for the term “severn tunnel accident” in the usual place. Lots to read there.
Rollercoaster eye view
49:46 he went through a red light there.
Not quite. If you look the subsidiary signal, two white lights to the left are lit which is an indication to proceed to the next Sub signal and so on.
Is that a tamper your driving please
I wasnt driving. The footage was taken on a class 47 loco.
...F..K Me...Since when has the S. Wales track been rigged and wired...??