LMS 6233 - The Duchess Attacks The Lickey Bank With Gusto !

Please stand back from the edge of Platform two ! Wise words indeed from the automated station announcement. LMS Princess Coronation Class Duchess Of Sutherland rolls back the years with a barnstorming run through Bromsgrove station as the loco approaches the bottom of the 1/38 Lickey Bank on the evening run of the Lickey Bank specials which also featured Clun Castle In The Morning !

This topped off a memorable day for steam enthusiasts and hardcore purists. Steam is incredibly rare up the Lickey Incline and even rarer with only one loco, so this was an event not to be missed. If you've watched the morning run with 7029 and now 6233 through Bromsgrove and want to no which loco performed better then I'll tell you.

Both locos have just less than a two mile run towards the foot of the Lickey Incline and its all uphill at 1/283 towards the new railway station meaning no half measures would be acceptable, so full power is needed. So the morning run with Clun Castle would see the loco accelerate from Stoke Works at 30mph , just over 1.5 miles later the Castle roared through Bromsgrove at 63mph, now there's just a little bit of little bit of 1/105 and 1/186 for less than 1/4 of a mile and than you're into the 1/38 Lickey Incline. Clun Castle crested the Summit at 33mph ! How would the Duchess compare ?
6233 passed Bromsgrove at 61mph with a speed just a shade under the Castle, the bigger and more powerful loco did not better the Great Western Castle and remarkably matched Clun's 33mph minimum over the summit.

A tremendous day for all concerned and I hope you have enjoy the videos !