Created 9-Mar-19
Modified 18-Dec-22
The restoration of this historic loco was complete in mid-2018 but its return to the main line was delayed by the transformation of Vintage Trains into an independent TOC.
So there was special excitement on Birmingham Moor Street platforms when a cloud of white steam was spotted in the distance in the drizzly twilight. Slowly it transformed into the GWR Castle class 4-6-0 No 7029 Clun Castle, whose driver wore the eagerly anticipated red neckerchief. Following was REG the water carrier, 2 Vintage Trains Mark 2s, 4 Riviera Trains Mark 1s and the VT Class 47 in green.
After photos and greetings it was all aboard, and the diesel pulled us out of Platform 4 and round to Bordesley, so that Ray Churchill at the Castle’s regulator could take us back through Platform 2 and on to Snow Hill and Worcester. We were put out behind a late-running Kidderminster stopper, and running was sluggish to say the least, not reaching 45 until we were running down Old Hill bank towards Cradley Heath. As a result we lost another four minutes to Stourbridge Junction, but then the rasping four cylinder beat was heard right down the train and we passed Hagley at 52 and got up to 72 through Blakedown before heavy braking for Kidderminster. We were soon back up to 61 before Hartlebury (more braking) then 59 before Droitwich Spa, passed at 40. Our last effort before Worcester reached 58 and we were still 5 down when we stopped at Shrub Hill.
After just a few minutes the diesel pulled us round the corner past Foregate Street to Henwick, where the Castle took us back and round the third side 0f the triangle for the return journey. On leaving the tunnel we got away smartly and were soon up into the 40s and 50s, reaching 58 before braking for Droitwich Spa. Then we reached 62 by Cutnall Green and flew on through Hartlebury at 65, staying in the sixties (67 maximum) until a slight slowing through Kidderminster (40). We were soon back up to 61, then 56 through Blakedown, 58 after Hagley before slowing to walking pace through Stourbridge Junction.
Our biggest challenge was now ahead of us: the three mile climb of Old Hill bank, half of which is at 1 in 51, would have to be climbed in the continuing fine drizzle. Ray had us up to 42 through Cradley Heath but over the next two miles our momentum slowly but surely weakened through the thirties and twenties, and down into the teens just before the tunnel, entered at 17. The gradient slackens in the tunnel and we burst out at 22 and by Rowley Regis, the top of the climb, we had reached 28. On we went, passing Langley Green at 55 but we were slowed through Smethwick. We were back up to 40 at the Hawthorns and on a last blast hit 55 near Winson Green before we were back in the city.
I really enjoyed my first run ever behind Clun Castle and it was good to see the bigwigs of the new Vintage Trains working the train and building support for all the changes they intend to make. Exciting times are ahead for the new TOC on the block.
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© Peter Hewitt's Transport Pictures