The Cornishman - 10th July 2011 

That's got to be a 10/10 Keith, three amazing clips, superbly executed, and congratulations for your choice of locations...Bob

Fabulous video once again Keith, great performance from loco and crew. That's some weekend you have had with two of the best, and noisiest railtours for many years..Austin

Simply superb Keith. The second climb was fascinating - just what the Castles were made for :-)

absolutely ace - mesmeric ascent, that last one!

Super vid! Great stuff. We made a standing start from sig E100 (1/2 mile W of Totnes) so the climb was actually rather good,certainly looked good! Hemerdon,unforgettable!

Excellent film ! great sound thanks for sharing Brian

@bkendlerA4 Thank you very much. One of those tours that will live long in the memory.

Thanks for sharing, really enjoyed the video. Excellent locations.

Brilliant - you can't beat a Castle on the Devon banks! Cheered up my Monday morning no end.

Good you pointed out your vid to me Keith, nice one! What a difference in the power to weight ratio!! A single chimneyed Castle with 8 on vs a Britannia and double chimneyed King with 6 each!! I sensed that (beautiful) Nunney Castle might not have been running at full boiler pressure. Very sure footed. Being a lover of steam myself (living in a somewhat remote place!) I posted this about a month ago Techno Music: Steam Trains At High Speed

@willhayfield Thanks for your comment. It was certainly wonderful to be there and watch.

Thanks for sharing Keith. I wish I now made the effort to follow the tour and not stop at Parson Street, at least you filmed from the locations I would of headed for.

@stephengthompson Thanks Steve. It was a great sight to see.

Lovely video, well done. We were just a bit further down Hemerdon from you, and wouldn't have missed it for anything!

I too sensed that Nunney was well down on boiler pressure (not a wisp of steam from the safety valves) and was probably full reg and full gear and only just made it. A free-steaming Castle could manage a steady 14 mph with eight on but who knows what coal they had to contend with or other adverse conditions. In steam days they were allowed nine, which left little to spare. A nicely-produced vid. Thanks.

@acw71000 Thanks Austin. Yes that was one of the best weekends for some time. Always a challenge for a single Castle with its maximum load over the banks.

@PGD5051 Thank you. Nunney is always worth going to see.

Amazing

@alberta45562 Thanks Mark. I've watched your on board film, gives a real feeling of the dramas unfolding. Considering you almost stopped at the bottom of Rattery, Nunney looked comfortable by the time she reached me at Tigley. On Hemerdon, watching from the lineside three quarters of the way up, I thought you would make it to the top ok. From your on board view I might have been a bit more worried.

@SDartmoor Thanks for your comments. I think where we were was the right place to be.

@BristolCastle Thank you.

@robmasterman Thanks for your kind comments Bob. Nunney was certainly a star performer. Keith

@ntsteam59 Thanks for your comments. I had thought about also doing Whiteball and Bodmin....wish I had now. Keith

@churchward82c Thanks Nigel. It was a great weekend.

@Rosie6857 Many thanks for your comments.

@campainr Now that will be one not to miss! Thanks for your comment.

@782sirbrian Thanks for you comments Brian. Keith.

@bluewhitepete Thank you. I think the driver must certainly have been relieved to reach the top.

One slip and it would've been interesting to restart. One carriage too much. But she sounded awesome.i live in Newcastle Australia and we have some steep hills like Cowan bank 5 miles of 1 in 40 with with tight curves and in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney we have 33 yes 33 miles of 1 in 33 to Katoomba and these both are double tracked. One Aussie happy🇦🇺👍👌. Have a great day.

@thebunkline You certainly can't beat it for noise. Thanks for your comment.

@hemerdonbank From on board I certainly knew she could do it,just was begging there wasnt a slip! This was even more the case on Dainton,with the amount of times we have slipped on the tunnel entry I was amazed when it kept its feet,especially with those big drivers........

Must be the first time a Castle's worked west of N. Abbt solo for quite some time. Every time 5043's ventured down it seems to have had company.

@moormanpete Thank you.

@locomotive67 Thanks for your comment.

Will be interesting to compare this with 5043 if it EVER runs solo over the South Devon Banks after its been to Scotland, Shetland and Iceland first!

@AndreiTupolev You can't beat a Castle on it's own over the Devon banks. Always a spectacle.

yea bit of editting (no hst) i filmed it from the bridge,its on here

3 great clips. The sound and smoke of Nunney slogging up Hemerdon was a remarkable bit of filming. Great stuff. A like and thanks for sharing.