Flashback Friday: The Royal Duchy, 3 April 2010, a railtour remembered

 

2020 has seen so many of the things that we normally take for granted denied us. Every walk of life has been affected in some way by the restrictions that have, of necessity, been imposed upon us. Those of us involved in any of the many facets of the railway hobby will be all too familiar with the things that we haven’t been able to do, from club evenings and model railway exhibitions through to steam galas and railtours. Although some railtours have run in the second half of the year, and heritage railways have managed to stage a few events, all have been run under strict social distancing guidelines with greatly reduced numbers of participants.

Looking back through some old photographs, I came across a set that I took ten years ago in April 2020, when I travelled on the Royal Duchy railtour, from London Paddington to Penzance, which I joined at Reading. I’d originally booked on the tour as it was scheduled to be double-headed from Bristol Temple Meads to Penzance section by 34067 Tangmere and 30777 Sir Lamiel. As a fan of Southern steam locomotives, the prospect of experiencing these two over the South Devon banks was an enticing one. I’d been trying to get a mainline run behind the King Arthur since the early 1980s and had always been thwarted by circumstances. Alas it was not to be on this occasion either as both Sir Lamiel and Tangmere were side lined. The Southern duo were replaced by LMS Black Five 44871 and BR Class 7 Pacific 70013 Oliver Cromwell, while the steam-hauled leg of the tour would now start at Exeter St Davids. All was not lost however, even this curtailed section provided several hours of steam haulage with the added bonus that the non-steam legs of the tour, from Paddington to Exeter and from Penzance back to the capital, were to be in the hands of the Class 52 diesel hydraulic D1015 Western Champion.

I remember it as being a super day and the presence of the Western only enhanced the experience. The Black Five and Oliver Cromwell certainly didn’t disappoint on the South Devon banks and the Cornish mainline. As the train departed Penzance for the return run in the late afternoon, my feelings were not so much those of disappointment that the steam leg was over but more of anticipation to see what D1015 would deliver on the long run back to London. We were not disappointed.

Let’s hope that it won’t be too long before railtours are running fully booked and platforms are once again crowded with onlookers.