WITH FULL REGULATOR LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

THIS issue of Heritage Railway is published on July 8, which happens to be the 55th anniversary of the last Saturday of steam on the Southern and one day before the very last day of steam in normal service. Therefore, I have picked a few of the best runs in those last weeks, and also include two very good runs with rebuilt Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line from 2017.

The first has been set out in Table One, alongside a high-speed run with the same engine in 1967. On Tuesday, November 18, 2017, UK Railtours ran a circular trip at 10.12am from Victoria via Staines, Woking, Andover, Grateley Romsey, Southampton, Basingstoke, Woking, and Staines, back to Victoria. The train paused at Grateley from 12.41pm to 12.56pm for water, and I have shown the section from Basingstoke to Woking. The load was a heavy one of 13 coaches for 510 tons gross, and in charge were Rob Binstead and Paul Major with Traction Inspector Geoff Ewans. I spoke to the crew at Basingstoke and did a bit of stirring in that I asked if they might be able to reach Woking in 23 minutes, even with the big load and a 75 mph speed limit. It seemed to do the trick and the start with such a load was quite superb, with much Bulleid thrash. To pass Hook, 5.59 miles in seven minutes and 21 seconds at 71mph was outstanding, and Rob let the engine run until well up to the limit before easing for Farnborough, where I suspect adverse signals were sighted in the distance.