17th December 2010 saw Steam Dreams run their "Cathedrals Express" steam charter train from Ashford to Oxford, as part of their Christmas programme of tours.
The train was hauled by preserved ex-LMS Stanier 4-6-0 "Black 5" type loco no 44932. The Stanier Black 5 was a mid-power general purpose loco, designed by William Stanier based on the GWR "Hall" class loco, after Stanier joined the LMS from the GWR. It was a very successful design, and over 800 were built. Eleven have been saved from scrapping, and several examples are currently certified for mainline operation.
The Black 5 is designated as a Class 5 loco, on a scale of "powerfulness" that ranges from 1 to 8. This means it is not as powerful as the mainline express locos such as the LNER or SR pacifics, or the GWR Castles and Kings. However, on this tour, it was pulling a load of 12 fully laden coaches, a train which would normally merit a class 7 or 8 engine. The train was originally meant to be pulled by SR Pacific "Tangmere", a more pwerful loco. As you will see from the video, 44932 struggled with the load in the poor conditions.
A further sub-plot to the video is that the train was sent in to the wrong platform at Ascot. It was to take on water there, which means it has to come in on p1 where the fire engine is alongside for laying the hoses to the tender. This is the normal process for steam trains at Ascot, and they put the service trains between Reading and Waterloo, in both directions, onto p2. On this occasion, they put the steam train on p2, which caused total confusion, and meant in the end that the hoses had to be laid across the line between p1 and p2, totally stopping traffic through the station whilst the engine took on water. In the end, the water stop took an hour instead of the scheduled 10 minutes!
The weather came in while all that was happening, giving a very difficult departure that the train crew managed superbly.
Video shot with my iPhone.
