The long awaited charters with Bluebell Railway based Dukedog 4-4-0 No. 9017 at the South Devon Railway finally took place in the week commencing 4th April 2011, having being postponed from last autumn due to the unavailability of the engine. As usual the SDR were very welcoming and accommodated our requests with great enthusiasm and the cafe at Buckfastleigh kept us fed and refreshed in between photographic sessions.
- No. 9017 running alongside the River Dart at Stretchford on 4th April.
The first charter on Monday 4thApril was greeted with bright but largely cloudy weather and good quality shots were hard to come by, but due to some careful planning andcalling the train forward on the two way radios we achieved 5 shots in sunshine through the day. Our train formation on this day was No. 9017 with 3 Red/Cream ex GWR Collett coaches, a real gem of a combination and rather different from the usual Mk.1′s at most heritage lines. Weather rating 4/10.
Day 2 saw the Dukedog matched up with a BR pick-up goods rake, unfortunately the weather was poor all day with rain in the morning, although it brightened up later there was no prolonged sunshine and no meaningful shots were obtained all day, except a few posed shots around Buckfastleigh station during the afternoon. Weather rating 0/10.
The Wednesday and Thursday charter were run by Russ Hillier and Geoff Silcock (Sentimental Journeys) and offered two further train formations, Wednesday with two milk tanks and a red/cream coach and full brake (BG) vehicle and Thursday the 3 coach passenger set. The weather was much brighter with sunshine all day, but rather too warm for any steam effects after mid morning – we photographers are never happy with the weather! The SDR crews did their very best to get some noticeable exhaust with some success during the evening session on the Weds. Personally I took the “day off” on Thursday (my birthday!) to attend to other pressing issues, I believe however that the weather was again fine and warm.
- No. 9017 running through Stretchford woods with the milk train on Friday 8th April.
The third day under my Steam Recreations banner was on Friday 8th April when I paired No. 9017 up with the two 6 wheel milk tanks and the Collett BG - meaning no seats for the photographers all day! The day was fine and sunny throughout with some decent shots obtained during the morning session when the cooler air allowed some white exhaust to be visible. It warmed up considerably and during the mid day session and it was very difficult to get any visible exhaust. As a result a wip round was held between the photographers which collected £47 which was duly taken to the local garage to buy some cheap oil which was then divided up into small plastic drinks bottles and given to the crew on the evening session to “assist” in creating some good exhaust effects in the warm air – it worked and the crews enthusiasm was excellent and a joy to behold, even after the oil bottles ran out they improvised with other materials and produced some excellent run pasts for our cameras. Its worth mentioning that the effects only last a few seconds so no real damage is done to the environment. Weather rating 8/10.
If you want to sample the Dukedog on the South Devon line yourself, it will be running again over the Easter weekend at the railways “Cambrian Gala” event on 22nd – 25th April. Full details available on the railways website at; http://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/
Superb exhaust effects from No. 9017 at Riverford bridge on Friday 8th April.
Hello Don
I just wanted to say that your train photo books have been an inspiration. I now have 3 of yours and it is really making me try and step up my game.
I was gutted to learn of these 9017 charters of yours on the SDR after the event, but oh well, I’ll just have to see what I can do at the gala this weekend.
Keep up the excellent work, I look forward to seeing what your next publicationwill bring.
Adrian