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Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 10:16 Saturday 17th June 2017
by TimBrown
Pictured early this morning at Worcester Shrub Hill is Deltic D9009 (55009) 'Alycidon' on a marathon Pathfinder charter 'The Welsh Central Liner' from Burton-upon-Trent to South Wales, The Central Wales line and Shrewsbury.
The return train is booked through Droitwich at 19-37 and Worcester Shrub Hill at 19-47 tonight.
Note the typical light grey smoke when both Napier Deltic two-stroke engines were opened up departing from Worcester station.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 19:07 Saturday 17th June 2017
by AdamH
Not a train person, but those first two photos are superb.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 21:03 Saturday 17th June 2017
by MattW
Awesome. I spent most of the day lying under a Ford otherwise i would have been there.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 11:08 Sunday 18th June 2017
by ANDREW
I saw the train depart from Bromsgrove in the morning , looked and sounded superb.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 19:57 Sunday 18th June 2017
by chason
Thanks for the splendid photos. Mrs Chason and I were lucky enough to be on the train living it up in Premier Class with a splendid cooked breakfast, 'light' lunch and a four course dinner. Eating so much without exercise and on a roasting hot day has taken its toll and today has been one of recovery. I hear cries of "Serve you right" and I don't expect sympathy but I shall need to avoid the bathroom scales for the next week or so.
I have to confess at not being a great diesel fan but I am sure no-one could be unmoved by the healthy roar from the might engines of the Deltic. The best part of the journey was from Swansea along the single line through Central Wales to Craven Arms with the engine sounds reverberating around the hills and surely scaring almost to death the thousands of sheep that frequent that part of mid Wales. I am not so sure about the exhaust emissions though with a good deal of smoke being left in our wake. I have a feeling that if such runs by heritage diesels are to continue, ways will need to be found of reducing the pollution to more modern acceptable standards.
Timekeeping throughout was pretty good with a ten minute or so late return to Bromsgrove caused by the need to reverse at Gloucester. In the days of good old BR steam such a manoeuvre took around six or seven minutes but seems to take around half an hour on the modern rail system but, as they say, that's progress.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 14:37 Wednesday 21st June 2017
by TimBrown
chason wrote: ↑19:57 Sunday 18th June 2017
Thanks for the splendid photos. Mrs Chason and I were lucky enough to be on the train living it up in Premier Class with a splendid cooked breakfast, 'light' lunch and a four course dinner. Eating so much without exercise and on a roasting hot day has taken its toll and today has been one of recovery. I hear cries of "Serve you right" and I don't expect sympathy but I shall need to avoid the bathroom scales for the next week or so.
I have to confess at not being a great diesel fan but I am sure no-one could be unmoved by the healthy roar from the might engines of the Deltic. The best part of the journey was from Swansea along the single line through Central Wales to Craven Arms with the engine sounds reverberating around the hills and surely scaring almost to death the thousands of sheep that frequent that part of mid Wales. I am not so sure about the exhaust emissions though with a good deal of smoke being left in our wake. I have a feeling that if such runs by heritage diesels are to continue, ways will need to be found of reducing the pollution to more modern acceptable standards.
Timekeeping throughout was pretty good with a ten minute or so late return to Bromsgrove caused by the need to reverse at Gloucester. In the days of good old BR steam such a manoeuvre took around six or seven minutes but seems to take around half an hour on the modern rail system but, as they say, that's progress.
The attached link gives the reason for that light blue-grey smoke and gives some other interesting facts about Deltic locomotives.
http://thedps.co.uk/reference/frequentl ... questions/
I managed a trip for the length of The Central Wales line some time back which took about 4.5 hours from Shrewsbury to Swansea on an Arriva single car class 153 unit. Unlike the charter with it's luxury Premium dining service and cooked meals the service train doesn't even have a buffet. Thankfully it is equipped with a toilet! I can thoroughly recommend a trip on this scenic line, but do take plenty of food and drink if you decide to go on the service train.
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 09:01 Thursday 22nd June 2017
by chason
Thanks for the fact sheet, Tim - it would have been useful if they'd distributed it on the charter .
I went to Kingswear and back on another charter behind the same loco a couple of years ago. We were in the first coach on the return with the windows open as most wanted to get the full sound effects but, in so doing, we inhaled a lot of the fumes which left an unpleasant oily taste in my mouth for a day or so afterwards. I must say it didn't seem quite so bad on the Central Wales trip but perhaps I'm getting immune to it!
Re: Deltic D9009 'Alycidon' on charter through Worcester Saturday 17 June 2017.
Posted: 09:35 Thursday 22nd June 2017
by TimBrown
chason wrote: ↑09:01 Thursday 22nd June 2017
Thanks for the fact sheet, Tim - it would have been useful if they'd distributed it on the charter .
I went to Kingswear and back on another charter behind the same loco a couple of years ago. We were in the first coach on the return with the windows open as most wanted to get the full sound effects but, in so doing, we inhaled a lot of the fumes which left an unpleasant oily taste in my mouth for a day or so afterwards. I must say it didn't seem quite so bad on the Central Wales trip but perhaps I'm getting immune to it!
Burning oil seems to be a trait of the big V12 and V16 English Electric engines too. Class 50s also filled the first few coaches with the tang of oil if the sliding windows of Mk. 1 and Mk. 2 coaches were even slightly open - most noticeable at speed between Reading and Paddington when at, or close to, their 100 MPH maximum speed!
Here is another link with technical details and reference to the ships that used the Napier Deltic engine or engines.
www.revolvy.com/topic/Napier%20Deltic&item_type=topic