44871 & 45407 "The Lancashire Fusilier" spearhead 'The Great Britain XVI' | Day 1 13/04/2024

Spring has settled in, and with it comes ‘The Great Britain’; the prestigious annual excursion chartered by the Railway Touring Company, which traverses the British Isles over numerous days, featuring exclusive steam haulage throughout. The tour, operated by West Coast Railways, is now in its 16th edition, with ‘The Great Britain XVI’ opening proceedings with a jaunt through Kent.
This opening day would see Ex-LMS 'Black 5' Class 5MT - 44871 lead the tour out of London Victoria onto the Chatham Mainline, working through to Margate via Bickley and Whitstable. 44871 would then continue through Ramsgate onto the Kent Coast Line, working its length to Dover Priory. Now on the South Eastern Mainline, 44871 would lead the tour to Ashford and onto the Kent Downs Line back to Swanley, before navigating the fabric of suburban lines woven around south London to Southall. From here, 44871 would be joined by 45407 “The Lancashire Fusilier” for a charge along the Great Western Mainline to Swindon, before turning onto the Golden Valley Line to Cheltenham Spa to conclude the day. Support would be provided by West Coast Railway Class 47 - 47812.
The early morning schedule around the south-east would provide the perfect opportunity to catch 44871 crossing Horton Kirby Viaduct, with it gliding through the rolling Kent countryside. A pathing stop at Newington would see 44871 digging in as it restarted the train, heading for the coast. Among the fields of yellow rapeseed, 44871 made assured progress on the climb up to Martin Mill, passing Ripple. Subsequently, the 'Black 5' put in a turn of speed through Sandling as it powered away from the coast. As the winds picked up, and with a strong sun, 44871 would provide a powerful showing at Cators foot crossing, as it climbed away from Otford leading the tour back into the capital. After collecting 45407, the pair would make a gliding pass at South Moreton. More dramatic atmospherics would be had on Sapperton Bank as the pair climbed past Oaksey 5 foot crossing, with strong winds beating the exhaust down.
One main feature of the GB, is the normally spectacular variety of locomotives which could be seen hauling different legs of the tour over its course. However, due to the recent debacle surrounding West Coast Railways and their lack of central door locking on heritage coaches, the set in use for this 16th edition would be a CDL fitted, but air braked, rake of primarily BR MK2 coaches. The use of air braked coaches would result in a limited locomotive pool with compatible air braking equipment. As such, the heavy lifting would fall to a pool of 44871, 45407 “The Lancashire Fusilier”, and 34067 “Tangmere”.
00:00 44871 Horton Kirby Viaduct
01:05 44871 Newington
02:38 44871 Ripple
03:38 44871 Sandling
04:36 44871 Cators foot crossing
06:37 44871 & 45407 South Moreton
08:03 44871 & 45407 Oaksey 5 foot crossing
All footage filmed on Saturday the 13th of April 2024.

[@bernardshieldstysonfive1009]

Brilliant video love to see the old steam engines and the sound of them keep up with your brilliant work and videos Bernard

[@malminstral]

That Black 5 was looking smart. Thank you for the video, it is lovely to see when I can't get to see for my self.

[@Benji_transport_vids]

Great footage, hope I might see it possibly

[@chriskrebill1842]

Amazing! Cools to see these locos double head. What brute strength!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@fphtrains]

Great video like always, the second shot was amazing!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@barrythedieselelectricstea5217]

excellent shots at different locations 👍pity it wasn't double header from London Victoria to southall via margate when the rest of the tour over 9 days is I found a footage I filmed with the same 2 loco's about 2010 through minster thanet don't why it didn't happen this time i fill we missed out 😟

[@Liamrockz09]

Well filmed as always. Keep up the good work!!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@Liamrockz09]

Ohh by the way its me we meet at RHDR

[@bobingram6912]

Double headed heaven, look and sound good👍👍👍 Great to hear that low tone hooter down south. Thanks Matthew, weather's getting better???!!!!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

They definitely appeared in fine form Finally brightening up Glad you enjoyed the video

[@crunchynutsteamfilms5043]

Great video mate, the sequences at Cators Crossing and Sapperton were excellent. Regards, Dan

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thanks very much

[@michaeltaylor1869]

Another lovely video well done great camera work as usual I am really looking forward to seeing your next video I hope you get a nice video next time also when is your next video going to be on KZbin bye for now Philip

[@ceanothus_bluemoon]

Super footage!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@Northerner_Transport_Hub]

Thanks for this footage. Was hoping to see what this consist looked like, so many thanks.

[@ntsteam59]

Great Video looks like you had a long and full day chasing, I was filming next to you at Oaksey

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you Was a pleasure to meet you, and thanks again for being so accommodating.