Saphos Summer Steam with Britannia & Royal Scot - August 2020

Описание: Following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England, Saphos Trains were able to operate a small number of railtours from their Summer programme, with social distancing measures in place to enable safe travel. This video focuses on three of the railtours which ran to and from the South West during the first two weeks of August, with either 70000 'Britannia' or 46100 'Royal Scot' at the helm from their summer base of Bristol, usually taking over there from their LSL stablemates, D1944 'Craftsman' and D1935 'Roger Hosking MA 1925-2013', who would have worked the tours, in the early hours, as far as Bristol from their starting points of Exeter or Cardiff, for example.

We begin the video on August 2nd with 'The English Riviera Express' which started from Bristol, with Britannia as the motive power, and ran down to Kingswear. For this run - and a run to Carmarthen the previous week - Britannia ran as scrapped classmate 70022 'Tornado', one of the Brits allocated to the Western Region in steam days. While I, and many others, were in favour of this temporary change - emphasis on temporary - it did prove rather controversial among those who dislike locomotive renaming/renumbering in general and some die hard fans of a certain new-build A1 Pacific. The unprecedented amount of wibble generated from this change was equal parts stupid and hilarious!

Anyway, enough about the wibble, our first shot sees us at Bartletts Bridge, less than two miles out from the tour's start point, where 'Britnado' is seen accelerating out of the city on her way down to Devon. After this, we moved over to Beambridge, a location which I haven't done since 2013, due to the trees and general vegetation along the embankment growing up too high. However, I discovered back in June that it has recently been cleared, so this classic spot is now doable once again! Britannia makes a fine sight, as she digs into the final 1:80 section of the climb up Wellington Bank, unassisted by D1935 on the rear. The final shot of the outward leg bring us to one of my favourite secluded spots, overlooking Goodrington Sands. Having crossed over onto the metals of the Dartmouth Steam Railway at Paignton, Britannia sinks her teeth into the initial 1:76 gradient of Goodrington Bank, which begins immediately after Goodrington Station.

During the interlude between the out and back legs, a couple of shots were taken of DSR resident, 75014 'Braveheart', working her way up the bank with a train for Kingswear. She is captured making some fabulous soundtracks at Oyster Bridge and over Hookhills Viaduct. Note the blue name and number plates, which she is currently sporting in reference to her time spent working in Scotland during her preservation career. For the first shot of Britannia's return run, it was over to Cockwood Harbour, where she makes a fast pass on her journey home. We finish up at Huntspill, where we are first treated to the appearance of a GWR Castle set, followed by the Brit flying across the Somerset Levels at 75mph.

The second tour to be featured is 'The Welsh Borders Express', which ran on August 5th from Exeter to Shrewsbury and back. Britannia was once again in charge of the steam leg out of Bristol and now back running as herself. We start off at Llantilio Pertholey, in South Wales, where Britannia is seen storming up the 1:86 section of Llanvihangel Bank, with a spine tingling blast on that beautiful chime whistle as she passes by. Having crossed back over into England, she is next seen speeding past Moreton-on-Lugg, following a water stop in Hereford. We next see her at Bayston Hill, accelerating up the 1:127 gradient away from Shrewsbury, on the return journey. The last shot sees her taking a leisurely approach to the 1:100 southbound climb to Llanvihangel.

The third and final tour to be featured is 'The Devonian Express, running on August 12th from Cardiff to Plymouth and return, with Britannia and Royal Scot double heading from Bristol, for the run over the South Devon Banks. Beginning at Newton St Loe, the pair are seen at speed in the morning haze, followed by a shot at Bunns Lane, just west of Frome. Next, we see them taking on Rattery Bank with ease, working up the more gentle 1:95/90 gradients after Tigley. Three and a bit hours later and after being thoroughly cooked from the scorching heat during the day, we catch up with them on the return journey, working up the 1:42 gradient of Hemerdon Bank, where a close encounter with a Castle set almost scuppers the shot! We then finish up the video with a fast pass at Cogload Junction, as they take the Berks & Hants route via Westbury back to Bristol.

Filmed on a Panasonic HC-X1500 with a Pro Sound L92AA microphone.

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