45690 Leander Storms & Slogs Up The West Country Hills

Amazing, isn't it? You wait for years to get an LMS Jubilee up the South Devon Banks, then you get two in the same month! Following the successful run of 45596 'Bahamas' on the Taunton to Plymouth section of 'The Royal Duchy' at the start of August, exciting news came that 45690 'Leander' was due to move down from Carnforth to work the last two of these trips on August 29th and September 12th, likewise between Taunton and Plymouth.
Until Bahamas, no Jubilee had ever seen action on the notorious South Devon Banks; certainly in the preservation era at least. While Bahamas was the first, she is a modified member of the class, having been kitted out with a double chimney by BR in 1961. Leander, then, holds the honour of being the first unmodified, single chimney Jubilee to ever tackle the banks.
We kick things off at the Somerset location of Marlands, where Leander brings the thunder with a rousing performance up the final 1 in 80 stretch of the climb up Wellington Bank. Until this moment, I had never filmed Leander before; she certainly made an impression! After this, it was a dash down into Devon to a spot just after Tigley, where Leander is heard raising the echoes once again, as she powers up the lesser gradients of Rattery Bank. Hemerdon Bank was once again the area of choice for the return run out of Plymouth, with its ruling gradient of 1 in 42 for around 2 miles. Having filmed Bahamas' run from lower down, I opted for Sparkwell Bridge, this time, near the summit. In the final hour of sunlight, Leander puts on a steady slog with her 8 coach load, with a minimum speed of 10mph before the gradients ease and she triumphantly reaches the summit the other side of the bridge. A superb spectacle to close out the day.
Timestamps:
00:00 Marlands
01:40 Rattery
04:30 Hemerdon
Filmed on Sunday August 29th 2021, using a Panasonic HC-X1500 with an Audio-Technica BP4025 microphone.
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[@RailwayPakistan]

Natural beauty around Railway tracks. I enjoyed it alot.

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Thank you 😄

[@RailwayPakistan]

@@SpeedToTheWest Welcome dear.

[@RailwayVideos.]

A pleasure to watch !

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Thanks! 😄

[@robmasterman]

A superb performance from both loco and crew Kris....and of course the man behind the camera.

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Thanks very much, Bob 👍 I'd never filmed her before and she made one hell of an impression!

[@peterdovey5182]

Great bit of work.

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Thank you, Peter 😄

[@kipsome45]

Classy camerawork as always. 🙂

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Cheers, Trevor 😄

[@caerphillycastle]

Lovely video Kristian, well captured. It was good to see you & your Dad on Sunday. Please thank him again for helping me out with my flat tyre.
I got home safely, the tyre didnt go down significantly. Best Wishes, Geraint

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Many thanks, Geraint. Likewise, it was good to see you. It's great to hear you got back alright and I shall pass along your message 😉

[@michaelhall8586]

Stunning, I most enjoyed the shot of the steam train passing with the wind turbines in the far distance

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Thank you, Michael 😄

[@callumthornelow2936]

Great footage Kristian, there's probably been (and will be) more LMS Jubilee hauled trips in the south in this one year than the whole of the last decade.

[@SpeedToTheWest]

Cheers, Callum! It's been great to have a duo of Jubs down here to spice things up. Certainly looking forward to seeing Leander again on the 12th, all being well 🤞

[@trainsyork4608]

why does it havea red nameplate and a black one on the other side