Roger Salter Emma Shard and Roger Winnen
Brian Pibworth
The A4 pictures were definitely taken in, what we call round here, "dimsey" and most of the photo-pack had given up and gone home. The more intrepid of us just cranked up the ISO setting and hoped "Mallard" would appear soon. This she did, but after passing under the A30 there was an eruption of steam and noise that made us think she had failed. Apparently a Network Rail tamper had pumped up the ballast and lifted the rails to a point where there was a risk of fouling the bridge. I suspect these days there would have been an immediate cancellation of the special, but this time there was just a speed restriction for the bridge. Having built up a good boiler pressure for the gradient the result of closing the regulator was spectacular and it took the crew some time to regain traction and continue to the crossing stop at Gillingham. For a full record of the day and views of "Duchess of Sutherland" at Buckhorn Weston and Castle Cary I have appended this link to my Flickr collection https://www.flickr.com/photos/rabbipx/6796604477/in/album-72157629116879415/.
As ever I have no great faith in any of the links or captions working so have written it out for yoiur consideration. Please shout if you need more.
With kind regards, Brian Many thanks indeed for three super pictures
Roger Geach
Ron Kosys
John Cornelius