31 August 08 - The Torbay Express

6024 continues to perform well on this season's Torbay Express's. This weekend's trip was no different with a stirring perfomance away from Exeter on the way home.

We continue to have some fun with the reporting numbers on the front of the loco. This week along the sea wall we carried a birthday special for the wife of one of our working party members who'd been taking a "surprise" walk along the sea wall at Dawlish.

03 August 08 - The Torbay Express

Another excellent run from Bristol to Kingswear and back, the loco again running well. With the load a coach lighter, some excellent driving saw the 10 coach train lifted into Whiteball tunnel at 51mph on the down leg, a personal best we think.

The return run was again of the nature we've come to expect of this service and the latest installment in our "Flax Bourton Challenge" saw a very creditable 69 mph at the summit. Another fine performance and we now have a few weeks off to catch up with a few routine jobs.

01 August 08 - The Dorset Coast Express

A trip to Weymouth has alway been an incident filled day out in the past, something of a bogie destination, so there were a few nervous folks in the support coach as departure time arrived at Bristol Temple Meads. Departure time soon went as we were still awaiting the off... then news filtered back, a unit had failed before Dr Days Jct and the following Voyager service was blocking the points while sat at the preceding red signal, leaving us and every other Bath bound service stuck in the station. About about 25 mins the Voyager reversed back into the station and we got the tip.

The loco was soon into her stride and getting up to our permitted maximum before slowing to pick up passengers at Bath station. Onward then down past Trowbridge & Westbury and then a short stop at Frome where water was taken. A swift ascent then of Bruton bank before dropping into Castle Cary and the single line section to Yeovil Pen Mill. Here the loco came off allowing the train to proceed to Weymouth while 6024 moved the short distance to the Yeovil Railway centre for servicing & turning. After a couple of hours it was time to leave and head tender first down to Weymouth.

The run up Upwey Bank is nearly always diesel assisted and with a class 66 giving a healthy shove out of the station 6024 was making plenty of noise up the bank before dipping into the tunnel. From here on though the diesel was only taking its own weight so the climb to Evershot tunnel was pretty all the loco's own work. With the diesel removed at Yeovil we made our way to Castle Cary where Geoff Ewans got the loco moving once out onto the mainline making a very good climb of Brewham bank before sailing down the other side and into Westbury. The run from Westbury was a fairly calm affair been pathed behind a local service, but we still arrive back into Bristol Temple Meads only a few minutes late.

Another fault free day and hopefully the Weymouth ghost laid to rest.