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AT CHELTENHAM ON 16 JULY 2009
Scheduled to arrive at 1417, the Riddles designed 4-6-2 in fact sounded its chime whistle under Cloddymore footbridge about half an hour later - just as I was considering going home! Happily though, having already waited at the southern end of Platform 1 for a procession of second generation diesel hydraulic multiple units, Voyagers, High Speed Trains and even a northbound train of bogie oil tankers headed by 60 085 I was able to take the colour photographs that illustrate this feature.
The first of these - above - shows 70013 drifting in at the head of a mixed liveried rake of Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages under the bridge carrying Lansdown Road over the two track main line and past the junction signal for the refuge loop under Cloddymore footbridge beyond it. The arch just behind the junction signal once bridged the line from Lansdown Junction through central Cheltenham to Cheltenham Racecourse station, now on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway.
The train - with the reporting number 5Z84 - then passed through West Ealing and Acton Main Line before climbing the incline at Acton East Junction - away from the Great Western route into Paddington - and over London Transport's Central Line before passing Willesden South West sidings and swooping south over Mitre Bridge at the eastern end of Old Oak Common locomotive depot. 5Z84 was then scheduled to depart Kensington Olympia at 0703 -after a seven minute wait at Platform 3 - before negotiating Latchmere Junction and passing Stewart's Lane locomotive depot before crossing the Thames on Grosvenor Bridge and arriving at Victoria at 0736.
The Cathedrals Express - as far as the passengers were concerned - left Victoria at 0845 behind 70013 as the much more prestigious 1Z84 ( requiring two lamps on the outer ends of 70013's buffer beams ) with the Class 47 that had hauled the train in acting as a banker as far as the middle sidings at Clapham Junction. This banking movement was coded 0Z84, timed to end at 0906 and was subject to the following regulations:
"The Assisting Locomotive may only remain in contact with the steam train until it has reached the top of the bank. The assisting locomotive may then closely follow the train as far as the down Chatham fast line signal VS35 on the country side of Grosvenor River Bridge where it must be brought to a stand. The driver of the assisting locomotive must not pass signal VS35 until it has been cleared.IF THE ASSISTING LOCOMOTIVE LOSES CONTACT WITH THE STEAM TRAIN BEFORE REACHING GROSVENOR BRIDGE, Driver of the assisting locomotive must bring the locomotive to a stand at the next signal and remain at the signal until it has been cleared for the locomotive to proceed.
The driver of the assisting locomotive must not make any further attempt to assist the steam train after contact is lost. If the assisting locomotive is stopped at a signal before signal VS35 the driver is not required to stop specially at signal VS35 if it is displaying a proceed aspect."
By 0908 however 1Z84 was scheduled to be past Clapham Junction and Putney at Platform 3 of Barnes station before crossing north of the Thames again, under London Transport's District Line and reaching Brentford at 0916. Continuing along former Southern Region metals, Hounslow, Feltham, Staines, Egham, Virginia Water, Longcross and Sunningdale all slipped astern en route to the first water stop at Platform 1 of Ascot station, taking 10 minutes from a scheduled arrival time of 0957.
Suitably refreshed, 70013 then drew 1Z84 in a generally north western direction through Earley and Reading West ( timed for 1047 ) to the Great Western Main Line with a run through Platform 3 of Didcot Parkway scheduled for 1105. Arrival at Platform 1 of Swindon station was due to be followed by a two minute pause from 1225 as 1Z84 waited for regular diesel powered service 2B92 to clear the single line section to Kemble - which 1Z84 was scheduled to reach at 1255.
Deeper into Gloucestershire, Standish Junction was the target for 1315 although four minutes later 1Z84 was supposed to pull into the Haresfield Loop Siding to allow another everyday service -1S47 - to pass by. It was an extension to this planned wait of 44 minutes - due to problems with the water hydrant - that caused the late running into Cheltenham.
1Z84 was cleared by Network Rail to travel up to 50 mph, all other restrictions permitting, and - with safety valves lifting to indicate a full head of steam - made a smooth, fast getaway from Cheltenham en route for Ashchurch, Abbotswood Junction and Worcester Shrub Hill Platform 1.
Once the rolling stock had been moved and 70013 turned, The Cathedrals Express was due to have returned to London Victoria as 1Z85 with an advertised departure of 1733. The route east was largely as it had been going west in the morning, the only deviation being to travel from Feltham via Whitton, Twickenham, Richmond, North Sheen and Mortlake to Barnes. Finally, 5Z85 was the code for the empty stock working - led by a Class 47 with 70013 coupled tender inward to the carriages at the rear - back through Kensington Olympia to Southall.
Robert A. Riddle's railway career began on the London & North Western Railway and continued with the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). During World War II he designed the well known "Austerity" 0-6-0STs as well as 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives for the Ministry of Supply. In 1948 he became Chief Mechanical Engineer of British Railways and his first "Standard" engine appeared in 1951.
This was the pacific 70000 "Britannia" , built at Crewe with design input from Brighton, Derby, Doncaster and Swindon Works under Riddle's direction. The Class 7P6F mixed traffic "Britannia" bore a close front-end likeness to the "Princess Coronations" of the LMS, albeit with smoke deflectors resembling those used by REL Maunsell on his Southern Railway engines.
This styling blend was perpetuated in the "Clan" pacifics of 1951, the unique "Duke of Gloucester" and the 251 strong 9F class, both introduced in 1954. Despite Riddle's hope that his engines would still be working in the 1970s, dieselisation decimated these doyens of the track.
However, the first 25 of Riddle's Standard Pacifics required a number of technical modifications, many of which led to design changes in the second batch - numbered 70025 to 70044 and built at Crewe in 1953.
The balancing of the driving wheels was improved to counter bad riding and the tendency of the wheels to shift on their hollow axles. Also, the specification of the rods coupling the driving wheels was changed from the original fluted type to a stronger plain-forged section.
Similarly, the first seven locomotives - 70000 to 70006 - were originally built with squat steam domes but after April 1951 all subsequent Britannias were given a higher dome and the original seven machines similarly modified. The low steam dome of the original specification risked boiler water entering the steam circuit which in turn caused damaging and dangerous "priming" when it condensed steam in the cylinders. This effect could break the piston rings or even smash the cast cylinder head.Rubber bellows were installed between the cab and the tender to reduce severe draughts when running at speed, and the tender itself was of an improved design. Known as a BR1A it could hold 5 000 gallons of water, as opposed to 4 250 gallons on the BR1 variant it replaced. Two small steps at the front of the engine were also substituted for one wide one and in later years many Britannias had the top lamp bracket moved to between the hinges of the smokebox door.
It will also be noticed that 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" has lost its original smoke deflector handrails in favour of holes cut in the metal. This change was made as a result of the Milton accident in 1955 when 70026 "Polar Star" derailed at speed with an Up excursion train near Didcot. The handrails on the deflector plate had obscured the driver's view of a speed restricting facing point and eleven people died in the resulting catastrophe.
The offending handrails were gradually removed from most Britannias with 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" being modified at Doncaster Works on 9 May 1959. In all, Britannia pacifics carried four different smoke deflector variants.
Despite the multitude of modifications made to them the Britannia pacifics remained rugged machines that could work most routes with a minimum of maintenance. Indeed, the final ten examples, built in 1954, had the BR1D tender with a nine ton coal capacity and high curved-in sides. This not only stretched their radius of operation but finally cured the cab draught that had beset their earlier Southern Railway inspired BR Standard tenders.
70013 was outshopped from Crewe on 30 May 1951 and initially allocated to 32A Norwich depot. The introduction of Britannia Pacifics revolutionised express services in East Anglia and some of 32A's diagrams required two return trips a day to London totalling 460 miles. However, following the introduction of English Electric Type 4 diesel electrics on former Great Eastern metals from 1958, September 1961 saw 70013 transfer to March (31B) having covered 698,000 miles in just over ten years.
By January 1964 all British Railways Standard Pacifics were allocated to London Midland Region, 70013 having joined 12A Kingmoor in December 1963 for freight, parcels and occasional passenger work when diesels were not forthcoming.
However, 12 August 1968 saw 70013 steam back to Norwich depot before being taken the next day to Bressingham Steam Museum by low loader. At Alan Bloom's combined museum and garden 70013 continued to give footplate rides into the 1980s and in 2004 plans were announced to return "Oliver Cromwell" to main line standards for he 40th anniversary of the Fifteen Guinea Special.
After restoration on the Great Central Railway by the 5305 Locomotive Association and running there for the first time in May 2008, 70013 went on to re-create the Fifteen Guinea Special on 10 August 2008 and hauled a Scarborough Spa Express later in the month.
On 9 September 2008, 70013 also regained its 32A shedplate when hauling "The Norfolkman" from London Liverpool Street to Norwich while on 8 November 2008, the locomotive was temporarily re-numbered as 70048 and re-named "The Territorial Army 1908 - 2008" on the Great Central Railway. The naming was performed by HRH The Duke of Gloucester and recalled the naming of sister locomotive 70048 "The Territorial Army 1908 - 1958". During the 2008 re-naming, 70013 carried this name on the right-hand-side smoke deflector as a reminder of the original name and as a link with the past association with the Territorial Army.
On 23 May 2009, 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" hauled a railtour from Norwich to Poole in Dorset, and then re-instated the link from there to Swanage via the preserved Swanage Railway.
However, for all the links of 4-6-2 70013 to the past, Oliver Cromwell himself pointed towards the future. Born in 1599, he opposed the claim of King Charles I to rule by Divine Right and when Civil War broke out in 1642 formed a regiment of horse from among his fenland neighbours which he made the most formidable fighting force in his New Model Army. After defeating Royalist forces at Marston Moor and Naseby - and after the death of King Charles I - he expelled the corrupt Rump of the Long Parliament and made himself - uniquely in British history - Lord Protector until his own demise in 1658.
From that day until this, Britain has been ruled by a balance of Royal and Parliamentary power that enhanced its role as a trading and industrial nation. However, not so well known is the plan by Oliver Cromwell's brother in law John Wilkins to trade with the inhabitants of the Moon.
Wilkins, who experimented with flying machines in the gardens of Wadham College, Oxford around 1654, was convinced the Moon was inhabited by a race known as the Selenites and planned to reach them in a wooden chariot powered by springs, gunpowder and feathered wings - just as Drake and raleigh had set out across uncharted oceans a century before. Sadly for the inventor of the airgun, mileage recorder and prototype pneumatic tyre, the next 30 years saw the discovery of vacuum and other phenomenon which would make such a journey impossible - until 16 July 1969, forty years before 7003 steamed through Cheltenham, when Apollo 11 was launched.
Although the Phantom has long since yielded to more modern aircraft in both American and British military inventories, the distinctive plan - and smoke trail - of one of the St Louis Missouri built twin engined jets was noted from the southern end of the platforms at Cheltenham station, heading south to the puzzlement of those gathered there.
It turns out that it was a photo-reconnaissance RF-4E from the Royal Hellenic Air Force travelling to the forthcoming weekend's Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, and just to prove that we were not hallucinating, above is some proof from YouTube!