Some really great footage of the trains and love you were able to capture the token handover. The locomotives look magnificent and lovingly restored. Always makes me smile when a steam locomotive looks like it's going backwards rather than the way we always see them in photos.
Thank you Graham. Glad you enjoyed both this, and my recent 'Lost Railway Walks' video that featured part of the S&D. Thanks for your kind words. Take care, Paul
Hi Paul, Fancy that, the whole train to yourself, lets hope none of the Beeching family were watching ...... As you mentioned elsewhere the train is a great place to get things done when traveling. For a period of time I went to London once a week for a course, I went once by car never to be repeated. From here we had a period doing a lot of travel and writing reports whilst flying is not relaxing at all ..... the joystick was always in the way😂😂😂😅😅. What was the phrase? ... Let the train take the strain, how right they were. I followed your walk on trainmaps online, it looks deceptively like most of the track bed could be used again but I'm sure some parts make an impossible barrier. Enjoyed taking in the atmosphere at the Spa station it felt like I was there, well done!! Interesting to see the token exchange at close quarters. Pete Waterman often comes up in the railway press. I remember reading about a visit to his offices in a book apparently the hall way had all the golden discs from his music career together with lots of model engines, the fruits of his success. I think he was a part owner of the Flying Scotsman at one time. A great visit, well done. Have a great weekend!!
Thank you David! Yes, Trainmaps Online is a great resource. The chap that does the website follows me on Twitter. He added a couple of lines in Gloucestershire that were missing after I told him (they were very obscure lines - one of which I did a video about a while back). The issue heading south from the race course is the bit where the access road to the new houses have sliced through the railway embankment. Very expensive to surmount - question is, why was it given planning permission?! Heading north to Honeybourne (Cotswold Mainline) is much less of an issue - just the costs to do it! I am sure they will get there - maybe they could run through charters then from Paddington & Oxford via Honeybourne to Cheltenham Racecourse - ah, well, we can dream! I have heard that he (PW) is a thoroughly decent and a nice guy - not many of them in the music industry! Thanks again, Take care, Paul.
What a lovely walk from Cheltenham Spa to Cheltenham Racecourse. So pleased that the inclement weather didn't dampen your spirits. Superb railway activity. Great camera work and commentary enhanced by all those old photographs you inserted. Thanks so much for taking me along. I thoughourly enjoyed it.
Thank you Michael! Glad you enjoyed the tour and the journey. Yes, as ever, the GWSR didn't disappoint! It is a superb line, and one I am sure, we will return to again soon here on WW. Take care, Paul 👍🙂
Thank you Sumac! Woof Woof! Glad you enjoyed this video of steam and diesel trains. Yes, the quality of restoration of all three locos on display here was nothing short of outstanding. A credit to all involved with it. Thanks again, Paul
Thank you Roy! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the GWSR is a lovely heritage line with very friendly volunteers. Thanks again, hope you are having a good week. Take care, Paul 🙂👍
Great video Paul, you certainly had to put up with a lot of weather. I loved the old photos you put into the video. I didn't know Pete Waterman loved trains of all sizes.
Very interesting and enjoyable video, with some beautiful footage of the immaculate GWSR. Looking at the OS map, south of the tunnel makes you wonder whether an extension into the St James' area would be feasible. I understand there was a fairly recent proposal to connect with the main line via a 1000m new section of track, south of the tunnel. As you intimated, the cuts which saw Cheltenham lose all of its stations bar one, were short sighted, and left the town centre some way from the station, when a little foresight might have served it better.
Thank you Malcolm! Yes, St. James was the best sited station for Cheltenham central, and the nearby Malvern Rd was best for through services heading up to Stratford and the West Midlands. The main issues with the present Cheltenham Station is size, and capacity. It is simply too small to handle the sheer number of passengers (over 2,500,000 every year, and growing fast) and the vast number of diverse, and very frequent, rail services from just two platforms. There is very little contigency or room for manoevure, and no room for expansion. I don't know what the answer is! I suspect it may be a dreaded 'Parkway' style additional station, similar to what neighbouring Worcester has done with Worcestershire Parkway, which, sort of, helps, but is a rather cold and clinical option. With the severed embankment and recent roads (as I showed in the video) and more housing planned across the former line, I can't see, unfortunately, how the GWSR can link to the mainline in a southerly direction. Hopefully, it will be able to link northwards to Honeybourne and the Cotswold Mainline (where there is already a retained platform for it, and no building across the trackbed in that direction) at some future point, but probably not for many years. With building around Stratford -upon-Avon too, that, sadly, is now an impossibility for a rebuilding and restoration of the original line. It still, however, remains a most excellent heritage railway, and what they have achieved to date is nothing more than miraculous, and a credit to the many volunteers and fundraisers and visitors that support it. Thanks so much! Take care, Paul.
@@westcountrywanderings Thank's for your reply. It's a pity that expansion of the GWSR southwards looks unfeasible, since a terminus nearer the city centre, or nearer/adjacent to, the mainline would be a desirable objective, in my view. But, as you say, the major problem is Cheltenham Spa which seems no longer fit for purpose - if it ever was. If the present site cannot be enlarged with extra platforms, then a likely option might be re-siting of the station northwards. Which, as you imply, might mean a park and ride arrangement - with its attendent problems of traffic congestion and access to the city centre and surrounding districts. What a mess!
This was an interesting walk and as someone from Cheltenham, it is always nice to see it from someone else's perspective. I live not too far from the race course and hear the steam trains toot all the time which is nice. I also actually also helped build the track many years ago when there was no track up there as GWSR had a vision to create this heritage line. We had a large amount of volunteers working together to install new sleepers by hand which was not very easy. I was a teenager at the time so many moons ago now.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Despite growing up very close to Cheltenham in the 1960s and early 1970s, I don't know the town well at all, as I often headed well away from anything remotely urban - I never feel at home in these sorts of places. Well done for helping to ressurect the GWSR from the ashes of BRs abandonment. Thanks so much for commenting and watching! Take care, Paul.
I did enjoy that visit to the GWSR in Cheltenham. I think you were very fortunate to have missed that downpour. I remember Waitrose opening in Cheltenham and wondering where the site could have come from- now I know. It did seem a bit deserted at the station when you got there! Can you imagine how ultra busy it gets at Race time? I agree with John Timbrell that the showing of the driver & fireman hard at work was particularly enjoyable and never really focused on by others. Thank you!
Thank you Diana. Glad you enjoyed it too. Yes, the GWSR is a super heritage railway with much of interest especially the excellent stations en route. I try and include all of the little details that happen on railways, rather than only focusing on locomotives. I particularly enjoyed editing the rain sequence when I was in the dry at home! Thanks for watching👍Take care, Paul 🙂
What was it about “XO1”? I missed that. 🤔 A very interesting walk, Paul. I’d like to see the path improved for public access all the way, why not? Have been on that line a couple of times, really nice trip to Broadway Stn. The Santa Christmas one was fun for the kids. Well done!
Thank you! Yes, the 1X01 is the head code of the Royal Train; I think it may have been The Queen's visit (1953?) to Cheltenham Races, and the train returned to St. James for stabling pending return journey. Yes, I agree! I do think that there should be safe pedestrian and cycle access all the way to both the racecourse and GWSR's Racecourse Station from the main Railway Station. At the moment after the Leisure Centre, there is just a narrow footpath alongside the very busy A435. Not befitting a major sport event venue and major tourist attraction! Everything seems to hinge around the car, and coach, transport here. There are buses, but not on Sundays, when I filmed this, even though Sundays are a major day for the GWSR. Thanks so much! Take care, Paul
Thank you! Yes, I think they (the two diesel locos) were just double heading for cosmetic reasons though, as the green one (techincal term!!) was on loan from the president's own fleet before heading north, so it was getting a Sunday airing before leaving. Always a pleasure to visit the GWSR - everything is immaculate, and the attention to detail is wonderful. Take care, Paul.
32 to 35 minutes in was just a long series of shots of the train with their attendents going about their very mundane business. I loved it. What a welcome change from 2 second shots filmed by so called professional film makers. I like your style Paul. A question. Why do restored trains need a second motive power? Is it just to save the engines wear and tear?
Thank you John! Maybe because the'professional videographers aren't really railway enthusiasts! My types of video are quite 'mindful' and in the moment, whereas TV style ones tend to be very fast paced - the very opposite of what both my channel, and heritage railways are all about. I think the reason for the double headed diesel locos is because the green one (technical term!) is currently on loan, although the president of the GWSR owns it, it is normally in Derbyshire. It will be heading north again soon. Thanks for a great comment! Take care, Paul 👍🙂
They don’t need more than one, although on the Toddington - Broadway section they sometimes prefer to use a pair, with one at each end - the so-called “top and tail” operation, which avoids the need to run round at that end. Still some work to be completed on Broadway signal box at present. Both of those two on this production were working individually on 7 carriage trains there recently, on their “diesel gala”: ua-cam.com/video/1ZA2_mCiTTk/v-deo.html
@@johnkeepin7527 I could accept your explanation except that many videos of steam trains passing Dawlish show steam trains hauling passenger carriages with diesels where the guard van used to be pushing the trains. I have seen an explanation that this is necessary because 'old' trains did not have efficient brakes but I think that information like yours is not based on fact.The train in the video still ran around the carriages.
@@johntimbrell Many (but not all) steam hauled specials do have a diesel loco attached, for a few reasons. One is that they use electric train heating (ETH) on those carriages, which the steam loco cannot supply. Some special rakes do have built in generators, though. Some movements are easier without having to “run round” at the end of the trip, and just occasionally the diesel one can provide a bit of assistance as well, but I’m not familiar with the operational rules for doing that. If you view some of the footage, you can hear that they are not doing much more than idling when they on the tail on steep gradients. By way of contrast, the GWSR (and most of the others) only have traditional steam heated & vacuum braked stock. In the winter, they sometimes use a steam and diesel together with the steam loco providing the heat - although one or two of the preserved diesels do have steam boilers, so they can provide the steam heating kit.
Paul you got the site of Malvern Road station correct with the high wall and railings indicating indicating the site of the booking hall at road level (similar to the one at Racecourse but built in brick) with a footbridge leading down to a single island platform (much of which was reused in the construction of the platforms at Winchcombe although some traces remain on site) Your accompanying photo shows a former SR U class (an example of this class is currently working the Swanage line) which would have come up from Swindon on the former M&SWJR (passing Cricklade) terminating at St James Also the white buildings behind you mark the site of Malvern Road engine shed which survived for many years (until 2012) as a builders merchant (Sharpe & Fisher) however it's fine GWR emblazoned wrought iron entrance gates were saved for preservation by the Vale of Berkeley
Thank you Stephen 🙂 Yes, I had not walked along there before. Shame that there aren't interpretation boards at the site of Malvern Rd Sta. And the graffiti!! New levels of it in Cheltenham! Good to know that the platforms were recycled for use at Winchcombe Station. Thank you for the additional information. Cheers, Paul 👍
Nice one Paul. That's a place I intend to visit this summer. I can get to Cheltenham by bus but is there a service running out to somewhere near to the Racecourse station? From there I hope to explore the line. You really got caught by that heavy rain. Luckily there was some shelter around.
Hi Lionel and Mary. Thank you for your comments and watching. Yes, there is a bus service to the racecourse but it does not run on Sundays. I use an app (there is also a website) called Traveline, which is excellent for showing bus routes and how to get from A to B via the bus. You can find a link here: www.travelinesw.com/ That takes you to the South West version, but it covers all of the UK. Hope this helps! Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Take care, Paul
Wow! That was a corker of a video, Paul . Really interesting railway content! Thanks for that!
Thank you Michael.
So glad that you enjoyed it.
Take care,
Paul
Some really great footage of the trains and love you were able to capture the token handover. The locomotives look magnificent and lovingly restored. Always makes me smile when a steam locomotive looks like it's going backwards rather than the way we always see them in photos.
Thank you Jesse! Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, the GWSR is a lovely line. Thanks for watching and commenting ☺️👍
many thanks for this , also really enjoyed your S&D walk to midford always excellent production ,well done sir .
Thank you Graham.
Glad you enjoyed both this, and my recent 'Lost Railway Walks' video that featured part of the S&D.
Thanks for your kind words.
Take care, Paul
Hi Paul, Fancy that, the whole train to yourself, lets hope none of the Beeching family were watching ......
As you mentioned elsewhere the train is a great place to get things done when traveling. For a period of time I went to London once a week for a course, I went once by car never to be repeated. From here we had a period doing a lot of travel and writing reports whilst flying is not relaxing at all ..... the joystick was always in the way😂😂😂😅😅. What was the phrase? ... Let the train take the strain, how right they were.
I followed your walk on trainmaps online, it looks deceptively like most of the track bed could be used again but I'm sure some parts make an impossible barrier.
Enjoyed taking in the atmosphere at the Spa station it felt like I was there, well done!! Interesting to see the token exchange at close quarters.
Pete Waterman often comes up in the railway press. I remember reading about a visit to his offices in a book apparently the hall way had all the golden discs from his music career together with lots of model engines, the fruits of his success. I think he was a part owner of the Flying Scotsman at one time.
A great visit, well done. Have a great weekend!!
Thank you David!
Yes, Trainmaps Online is a great resource. The chap that does the website follows me on Twitter. He added a couple of lines in Gloucestershire that were missing after I told him (they were very obscure lines - one of which I did a video about a while back).
The issue heading south from the race course is the bit where the access road to the new houses have sliced through the railway embankment. Very expensive to surmount - question is, why was it given planning permission?!
Heading north to Honeybourne (Cotswold Mainline) is much less of an issue - just the costs to do it! I am sure they will get there - maybe they could run through charters then from Paddington & Oxford via Honeybourne to Cheltenham Racecourse - ah, well, we can dream!
I have heard that he (PW) is a thoroughly decent and a nice guy - not many of them in the music industry!
Thanks again,
Take care,
Paul.
What a lovely walk from Cheltenham Spa to Cheltenham Racecourse. So pleased that the inclement weather didn't dampen your spirits. Superb railway activity. Great camera work and commentary enhanced by all those old photographs you inserted. Thanks so much for taking me along. I thoughourly enjoyed it.
Thank you Michael! Glad you enjoyed the tour and the journey.
Yes, as ever, the GWSR didn't disappoint!
It is a superb line, and one I am sure, we will return to again soon here on WW.
Take care, Paul 👍🙂
Hi Paul, thank you for making such an interesting video! What beautiful restorations on those locomotives. Sumac
Thank you Sumac! Woof Woof! Glad you enjoyed this video of steam and diesel trains. Yes, the quality of restoration of all three locos on display here was nothing short of outstanding. A credit to all involved with it.
Thanks again,
Paul
Hi Paul nice video nice walk and nice steam train at the end 👌
Thank you Roy! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the GWSR is a lovely heritage line with very friendly volunteers. Thanks again, hope you are having a good week. Take care, Paul 🙂👍
Great video Paul, you certainly had to put up with a lot of weather. I loved the old photos you put into the video. I didn't know Pete Waterman loved trains of all sizes.
Thank you Faith! Yes, the weather was a bit, um, changeable, last Sunday! Still, it meant for interesting filming. Glad you enjoyed. Take care, Paul.
Very interesting and enjoyable video, with some beautiful footage of the immaculate GWSR. Looking at the OS map, south of the tunnel makes you wonder whether an extension into the St James' area would be feasible. I understand there was a fairly recent proposal to connect with the main line via a 1000m new section of track, south of the tunnel. As you intimated, the cuts which saw Cheltenham lose all of its stations bar one, were short sighted, and left the town centre some way from the station, when a little foresight might have served it better.
Thank you Malcolm!
Yes, St. James was the best sited station for Cheltenham central, and the nearby Malvern Rd was best for through services heading up to Stratford and the West Midlands.
The main issues with the present Cheltenham Station is size, and capacity. It is simply too small to handle the sheer number of passengers (over 2,500,000 every year, and growing fast) and the vast number of diverse, and very frequent, rail services from just two platforms. There is very little contigency or room for manoevure, and no room for expansion. I don't know what the answer is! I suspect it may be a dreaded 'Parkway' style additional station, similar to what neighbouring Worcester has done with Worcestershire Parkway, which, sort of, helps, but is a rather cold and clinical option.
With the severed embankment and recent roads (as I showed in the video) and more housing planned across the former line, I can't see, unfortunately, how the GWSR can link to the mainline in a southerly direction.
Hopefully, it will be able to link northwards to Honeybourne and the Cotswold Mainline (where there is already a retained platform for it, and no building across the trackbed in that direction) at some future point, but probably not for many years. With building around Stratford -upon-Avon too, that, sadly, is now an impossibility for a rebuilding and restoration of the original line.
It still, however, remains a most excellent heritage railway, and what they have achieved to date is nothing more than miraculous, and a credit to the many volunteers and fundraisers and visitors that support it.
Thanks so much!
Take care,
Paul.
@@westcountrywanderings Thank's for your reply. It's a pity that expansion of the GWSR southwards looks unfeasible, since a terminus nearer the city centre, or nearer/adjacent to, the mainline would be a desirable objective, in my view. But, as you say, the major problem is Cheltenham Spa which seems no longer fit for purpose - if it ever was. If the present site cannot be enlarged with extra platforms, then a likely option might be re-siting of the station northwards. Which, as you imply, might mean a park and ride arrangement - with its attendent problems of traffic congestion and access to the city centre and surrounding districts. What a mess!
This was an interesting walk and as someone from Cheltenham, it is always nice to see it from someone else's perspective. I live not too far from the race course and hear the steam trains toot all the time which is nice. I also actually also helped build the track many years ago when there was no track up there as GWSR had a vision to create this heritage line. We had a large amount of volunteers working together to install new sleepers by hand which was not very easy. I was a teenager at the time so many moons ago now.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Despite growing up very close to Cheltenham in the 1960s and early 1970s, I don't know the town well at all, as I often headed well away from anything remotely urban - I never feel at home in these sorts of places. Well done for helping to ressurect the GWSR from the ashes of BRs abandonment. Thanks so much for commenting and watching! Take care, Paul.
I did enjoy that visit to the GWSR in Cheltenham. I think you were very fortunate to have missed that downpour. I remember Waitrose opening in Cheltenham and wondering where the site could have come from- now I know.
It did seem a bit deserted at the station when you got there! Can you imagine how ultra busy it gets at Race time?
I agree with John Timbrell that the showing of the driver & fireman hard at work was particularly enjoyable and never really focused on by others. Thank you!
Thank you Diana. Glad you enjoyed it too. Yes, the GWSR is a super heritage railway with much of interest especially the excellent stations en route. I try and include all of the little details that happen on railways, rather than only focusing on locomotives. I particularly enjoyed editing the rain sequence when I was in the dry at home! Thanks for watching👍Take care, Paul 🙂
What was it about “XO1”? I missed that. 🤔
A very interesting walk, Paul. I’d like to see the path improved for public access all the way, why not? Have been on that line a couple of times, really nice trip to Broadway Stn. The Santa Christmas one was fun for the kids. Well done!
Thank you!
Yes, the 1X01 is the head code of the Royal Train; I think it may have been The Queen's visit (1953?) to Cheltenham Races, and the train returned to St. James for stabling pending return journey.
Yes, I agree! I do think that there should be safe pedestrian and cycle access all the way to both the racecourse and GWSR's Racecourse Station from the main Railway Station. At the moment after the Leisure Centre, there is just a narrow footpath alongside the very busy A435. Not befitting a major sport event venue and major tourist attraction! Everything seems to hinge around the car, and coach, transport here. There are buses, but not on Sundays, when I filmed this, even though Sundays are a major day for the GWSR.
Thanks so much!
Take care,
Paul
Interesting to see two diesel engines supporting each other whereas the superb steam engine pulled the long train of coaches unaided ☺
Thank you!
Yes, I think they (the two diesel locos) were just double heading for cosmetic reasons though, as the green one (techincal term!!) was on loan from the president's own fleet before heading north, so it was getting a Sunday airing before leaving.
Always a pleasure to visit the GWSR - everything is immaculate, and the attention to detail is wonderful.
Take care,
Paul.
32 to 35 minutes in was just a long series of shots of the train with their attendents going about their very mundane business. I loved it.
What a welcome change from 2 second shots filmed by so called professional film makers. I like your style Paul. A question. Why do restored trains need a second motive power? Is it just to save the engines wear and tear?
Thank you John!
Maybe because the'professional videographers aren't really railway enthusiasts!
My types of video are quite 'mindful' and in the moment, whereas TV style ones tend to be very fast paced - the very opposite of what both my channel, and heritage railways are all about.
I think the reason for the double headed diesel locos is because the green one (technical term!) is currently on loan, although the president of the GWSR owns it, it is normally in Derbyshire. It will be heading north again soon.
Thanks for a great comment!
Take care, Paul 👍🙂
They don’t need more than one, although on the Toddington - Broadway section they sometimes prefer to use a pair, with one at each end - the so-called “top and tail” operation, which avoids the need to run round at that end. Still some work to be completed on Broadway signal box at present. Both of those two on this production were working individually on 7 carriage trains there recently, on their “diesel gala”: ua-cam.com/video/1ZA2_mCiTTk/v-deo.html
@@johnkeepin7527 Thank you John!
@@johnkeepin7527 I could accept your explanation except that many videos of steam trains passing Dawlish show steam trains hauling passenger carriages with diesels where the guard van used to be pushing the trains. I have seen an explanation that this is necessary because 'old' trains did not have efficient brakes but I think that information like yours is not based on fact.The train in the video still ran around the carriages.
@@johntimbrell Many (but not all) steam hauled specials do have a diesel loco attached, for a few reasons. One is that they use electric train heating (ETH) on those carriages, which the steam loco cannot supply. Some special rakes do have built in generators, though. Some movements are easier without having to “run round” at the end of the trip, and just occasionally the diesel one can provide a bit of assistance as well, but I’m not familiar with the operational rules for doing that. If you view some of the footage, you can hear that they are not doing much more than idling when they on the tail on steep gradients.
By way of contrast, the GWSR (and most of the others) only have traditional steam heated & vacuum braked stock. In the winter, they sometimes use a steam and diesel together with the steam loco providing the heat - although one or two of the preserved diesels do have steam boilers, so they can provide the steam heating kit.
Paul you got the site of Malvern Road station correct with the high wall and railings indicating indicating the site of the booking hall at road level (similar to the one at Racecourse but built in brick) with a footbridge leading down to a single island platform (much of which was reused in the construction of the platforms at Winchcombe although some traces remain on site)
Your accompanying photo shows a former SR U class (an example of this class is currently working the Swanage line) which would have come up from Swindon on the former M&SWJR (passing Cricklade) terminating at St James
Also the white buildings behind you mark the site of Malvern Road engine shed which survived for many years (until 2012) as a builders merchant (Sharpe & Fisher) however it's fine GWR emblazoned wrought iron entrance gates were saved for preservation by the Vale of Berkeley
Thank you Stephen 🙂 Yes, I had not walked along there before. Shame that there aren't interpretation boards at the site of Malvern Rd Sta. And the graffiti!! New levels of it in Cheltenham! Good to know that the platforms were recycled for use at Winchcombe Station. Thank you for the additional information. Cheers, Paul 👍
@@westcountrywanderings
I think that rather than being discouraged
graffiti is actually positively encouraged!!
I blame Banksy 😉
Nice one Paul. That's a place I intend to visit this summer. I can get to Cheltenham by bus but is there a service running out to somewhere near to the Racecourse station? From there I hope to explore the line. You really got caught by that heavy rain. Luckily there was some shelter around.
Hi Lionel and Mary.
Thank you for your comments and watching.
Yes, there is a bus service to the racecourse but it does not run on Sundays.
I use an app (there is also a website) called Traveline, which is excellent for showing bus routes and how to get from A to B via the bus.
You can find a link here:
www.travelinesw.com/
That takes you to the South West version, but it covers all of the UK.
Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
Take care, Paul