Two Castles and a Western - Z48 Fifty Years On

On Saturday the 9th of May 1964, a special railtour ran from Paddington to Plymouth and back. To celebrate 60 years since 3440 'City of Truro' unofficially became the first steam locomotive to travel at 100mph, supposedly hitting 102.3mph whilst descending Wellington Bank on the 'Ocean Mails' special from Plymouth to Paddington. Locomotives chosen to work the tour came in the forms of 4079 'Pendennis Castle', 7025 'Sudeley Castle', 7029 'Clun Castle' and 5054 'Earl Ducie', of the four, only 4079 and 7029 survive in preservation.

Known as 'Z48', the tour became famous for its high speed runs, with 7029 hitting 96mph on the descent of Wellington Bank, and an attempted 100mph by 4079 which caused her to melt her firebars, resulting in her being withdrawn from the train, and 6999 'Capel Dewi Hall' taking her place.

Fifty years later, Z48 would rise again, two railtours had been scheduled to commemorate the run of 1964. Featuring 5029 'Nunney Castle', 5043 'Earl of Mount Edgcumbe' and D1015 'Western Champion. The first of these tours would be 'The Anniversary Limited', organised by Pathfinder Tours. Running fifty years to the day after the 1964 run, it would see 5029 working from Westbury to Plymouth and back to Bristol, the same route as the original Z48. The second of these tours, running the following day, feature 5043 and D1015, and titled 'One Zulu 48', running from Solihull to Plymouth, via Swindon and back. D1015 would take the train to Plymouth, where the tour would split, the Western would take four coaches to Tyseley via the Lickey Incline as part of a separate tour, the 'Western Lickeys the Banks'. 5043 would take the remaining six coaches, plus support coach and REG, and continue 'One Zulu 48' back to Solihull.

Before we start, I'd like to point out that on both days we encountered very high winds. This made filming very difficult at times, so some shots might appear shaky. I've tried to stabilise them as best I could without distorting them too much.

Our video begins with Nunney's run on Friday 9th May, at Langport Viaduct. Where we see the Castle running at high speed along the line from Westbury to Taunton. Getting caught behind a tanker out of Langport, and stuck in heavy traffic on the approach to the M5 meant that by the time Nunney had left Tiverton Loop we were 12 minutes behind, rather than 25 minutes in front. So we bailed on our planned location at Dainton and went for somewhere on Rattery Bank. So the next shot shows Nunney climbing up the last mile of Rattery towards Marley Tunnel, taken from a rather noisy road bridge on the A385.

Hemerdon Bank was the obvious choice for the first return shot. Although Nunney isn't the first thing we see, running 105 minutes early, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is seen running down the bank to Plymouth ready for her tour the following day. Originally the two Castles were due to pass between Totnes and Dainton, as it was, they passed just outside of Plymouth. Around 50 minutes later, Nunney is seen (and heard!) slogging her way up towards the summit at Sparkwell Bridge. Not having enough time for a proper service, the crew were unable to get her fire hot enough, and as a result her boiler pressure was severely reduced. However, her crew soldiered on and Nunney made it to the top of the climb with a minimum speed of around 7mph. A bit more speed for the last shot of the day though, as she is seen racing out of Whiteball Tunnel, beginning the descent of Wellington Bank, where it all happened with 'City of Truro' 110 years ago.

We move on to the following day now, and to 'One Zulu 48'. D1015 is seen at high speed passing Ashbury Crossing, near Shrivenham in full sun. She is next seen climbing Dainton Bank. Our last sighting of D1015 comes from Hemerdon Bank, where she is seen approaching the summit on her split off tour from 1Z48. Around 40 minutes later, and it's the Earl's turn to tackle Hemerdon, which she does in fine style.

Our next port of call would be Yatton Foot Crossing, however, 5043 missed her ten minute stop at Dawlish, although we had managed to claw our way in front of her somehow. By the time she had reached Exeter she was running a good 18 minutes ahead of schedule. As we were still in front though, we decided to go for it. Luck was on our side, and we managed to get to Yatton with around 5 minutes to spare, by which time 5043 was running 27 minutes early!

With a water stop scheduled at Bristol, we could take it a bit easier to our next location, and one I've wanted to do with Great Western steam for a while, Dauntsey Bank. The wind was at its worst here, I was nearly blown over several times whilst waiting! It was all worth it though, as 5043's performance was simply stunning. Roaring up the 1 in 100 as if it wasn't even there!

Of all the chases I've done over the years, these two will go down as one of my favourites. Congratulations and a big thank you to all who made these tours possible, it won't be forgotten for a while!