Created 30-Nov-22
Modified 30-Nov-22
The proper title of this UK Railtours excursion was the Medway Valley Christmas Pullman, a trip round the middle of Kent with the Belmond British Pullman train. The intended steam traction had been the rake’s usual partner, Bulleid’s Merchant Navy class No 35028 Clan Line, but problems with its thermic syphons had delayed its return to traffic.
The call must have gone out for a replacement, and the exciting reply was that unrebuilt Bulleid Pacific, Battle of Britain No 34067 Tangmere would head south from Carnforth to cover Clan Line’s absence.
So it was that an almost deserted London Victoria (ASLEF were on strike) echoed to the unfamiliar sound of a West Coast Railways Class 47 bringing in 11 Pullmans, two support coaches and at the head of the train, the sparkling and magnificent Tangmere, with its ‘flat top’ and bedecked in spectacular Golden Arrow regalia.
All too soon it was time for the locomotive’s admirers to take their seats in the gleaming and opulent Pullman cars and begin to savour all the delights that lay in store for them.
Right on time, we began the climb to the Grosvenor Bridge and it became clear that the steamer would be assisted by the diesel, rather than be expected to lift the full load itself. This was confirmed when we moved smoothly from Herne Hill round the steep curve to Tulse Hill in the high teens of miles per hour. Notwithstanding, we were six minutes late through East Croydon at 38, and despite reaching 54 through Merstham, Redhill was reached nine minutes down.
Here we turned left to head East along the foot of the Notth Downs towards Tonbridge. The sun shone weakly on the pretty autumn countryside, and locals were out in force to see us pass. Mostly we were in the 40s and 50s but there was a boost to 62 after Godstone and we reached Tonbridge only two minutes down, and took water in the disused Post Office platform.
We continued a short way down the main Folkestone line to Paddock Wood, then turned sharp left (rattling the crockery!) to head north along the valley of the River Medway. The countryside in the Garden of England remained pleasant as we ambled along in the 30s and 40s until we reached Strood, after observing Rochester’s impressive Castle and Cathedral on a bluff to our right. The 47 then pulled us backwards into Rochester station where we had a break to stretch our legs and admire the engine.
Departing from Rochester, we left the Castle and Cathedral on our left to take the North Kent main line back towards London. The loco scarcely seemed to notice the five miles of mostly 1 in 100 to Sole Street, reached at 37 mph. On the ups and downs to St Mary Cray, we had some brisk running in the 50s and 60s, with a maximum of 69. After this we were running ahead of schedule and despite the mostly empty tracks, we kept being checked all the way back to Victoria.
Whilst no meaningful performance data was obtained, it had been an excellent day out, with outstanding food and service, and glimpses of a magnificently turned out locomotive on its home territory. As Spamcan81 observed on the National Preservation website: “A flat top on the Arrer – superb!”
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© Peter Hewitt's Transport Pictures