7903 'Foremarke Hall' & 35006 'P&O' On The GWSR 14 Coach Special + Bonus 

To kind Ernest, all the best.

Thank you, you're welcome.

Thanks Bob, you're most welcome.

Thanks Kevin, we're lucky to have the Cotswolds close to home.

Glad you enjoyed this fine display of GWR elegance.

Cheers Richard, was dissapointed with the no show S160, but this was a great replacement.

Cheers Dave, sorry for the late reply. You can't go wrong in the Cotswolds, thankfully only a 55 minute ride away.

N/p. Nice part of the country, Cheers..Dave

Cheers Liam .Dave

Thanks Bob, the Hall was the standout on this heavy operation. I filmed the Merchant Navy last year on this load and it was much better then ! Yes, that was indeed Mr Edkins, his appearance fee has gone for a Burton !

Thanks Christopher, they couldn't fill a 14 coach Pendo that's why !

Well I wish they did have 14 coach Pendos - when I have been to London and come back home to Manchester on a night, I have had to walk through pretty much the entire length of the train to get a forward facing seat! It's crazy - you have like 3 or 4 first class carriages with only a couple of people in them and then the standards are all rammed with people sitting on floors in the gangways in Jeremy Corbyn style! lol

True, but the Caledonian Sleeper has 16 carriages !

We're very lucky over here ! Thanks for watching.

Yes, 14 coaches is longer than all mainline steam trains - but the Caledonian Sleeper trains out of Euston (hauled by AC electric traction) have 16 coaches - they go past my house in Harrow !

Got to agree with you about the Modified Halls . On the WSR they have 6960 Ravingham Hall , not main line certified but the enginmen on the WSR certainly rate the loco . To see Foremark Hall pulling 14 + that Pacific was quite impressive , the Halls were only a Class 5 after all .

Thanks for that LuckyTrucker. I don't doubt the WSR crews appreciate "Raveningham". We are lucky that three "Modified Halls" are running in Britain at the moment ("Witherslack Hall", "Raveningham Hall" and "Foremarke Hall") with a fourth to join them hopefully by the end of the year ("Wightwick Hall"). It would be great for one of them to get onto the mainline or for them all to be re-united at a Gala event on a Preserved Railway!

My thoughts exactly , Although 6960 performs admirably I do believe it would cost considerably more to get it certified for mainline use , maybe JH for it is he who owns it , may consider it next time it has a major rebuild . Thinking on though , there might be gauging issues with the sticky out cylinders . As he has a rake of Black 5s I don't suppose he would want to take possible work away from them . Kind regards Paul ,

Hi hawkeye, No, these locos are coal fired. I think the 'roundish vessel' you are referring to is the water dome located toward the rear of the tender. It was intended to deflect the rush of water back into the tender tank in the days when these locos could replenish their water supply at speed by lowering a scoop into a trough full of water laid between the tracks. Water troughs haven't existed on Britain's railways since the 1960s so these are now a redundant feature. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I accept your explanation. I am from South Africa where the ash content of coal is higher than say in the UK and that may explain the lack of visible smoke on your steam engines.

Hi hawkeye, You're absolutely right when you imply that coals mined in different regions of the world vary in terms of their qualities. This would come as news to the layman who would assume that coal is coal is coal. Not so! Great Western engines like "Foremarke Hall" were designed to burn best Welsh steam coal though this became increasingly hard to obtain after the second world war. Since the end of Britain's coal mining industry our preserved steam locomotives now run mainly on imported coal. You are right to say that a smokey exhaust can be caused running on coal with a high ash content. It can also be caused by inefficient firing. If too much coal is added at once black smoke is produced. If insufficient airflow is allowed either through the fire (controlled by the dampers) or above the firebed (controlled by the firehole door) then again black smoke is produced. In this film the fireman is obviously a master at his craft. The coal is burning cleanly and the loco is shifting the better part of 600 tons unassisted - that is an exceptionally heavy load for a "Hall" class loco.

Great Western locos - very clean runners normally.