A GWR Castle at speed - 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe racing alongside the M5

GWR Castle Class No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe races alongside the M5 motorway in Devon with the returning Cornishman railtour which ran from Bristol to Plymouth and back. 28th April 2012
/ 323162907706536
Available on Mainline Diary 2012: Part 1, available from July 2012

[@Erny_Module]

I worked at Tyseley many years ago... probably in the 1980's - I'd have to check. We had two main line engines back then - Clun Castle and Kohlapur, plus two GWR pannier tanks, B1 Mayflower and the Lady Armaghdale. At the back of the top shed was the graveyard, and that's where Earl of Mount Edgcumbe stood - just the frames, boiler and driving wheels - everything else had been stripped, so it just stood there, quietly rusting away. Every so often, the question came up of what to do with it - it came *that* close to being cut up. I have a box of photos somewhere that I took of it in it's derelict state, and I did a painting of it. I grew quite attached to it in an odd way. I only recently learned that it had been restored and actually looked like a proper Castle again! Hello again old friend.... you're looking considerably better than me after all these years!

[@williamtaylor5733]

I just can't understand why 9 people gave this the thumbs down! In the heyday of steam, the only way to film something like this was from an aeroplane. This is an excellent piece of film and whether by luck, chance or maybe planning, has produced one of the best pieces of film of steam in action at speed. Well done to the cameraman/woman.

[@MrDaiseymay]

You have said it all William--no point in me repeating it.

[@larrytrask3491]

64k views, 9 morons, that is better than average. Kudos to the videographer. This is poetry. Just beautiful !

[@PieAndChips]

Harry Potter fans

[@owenmeschter9888]

Maybe they didn't like all the trees in the way. They're still dumb tho

[@MrJimbaloid]

I agree

[@lukewheeler4888]

I love how you Brits really let these old girls stretch their legs. Cheers from the US 🇺🇸

[@bigben5051]

We don't have too much choice in some ways. These old girls have to keep up with everything else as our railway are quite busy :)

[@sawspitfire422]

75mph is nothing for a castle

[@julianbassett5172]

My Uncle Ralph (RIP) drove Castles from Cardiff to Tenby.

[@XenoMobilePhones]

@@julianbassett5172 lucky you

[@richarddutchholland4780]

Julian Bassett my dad was a fireman out of Cardiff to Paddington....Canton Sheds

[@wasitacatisaw83]

There's something magical about an 80 ton 90 year old glorified kettle keeping up with motorway traffic. Magnificent.

[@alistairsandilands1358]

Poetry in motion. Beautiful!

[@linwood131]

Running like a 100 ton wristwatch what a sight

[@antonypatterson145]

This has to be the best recording of a Steam Locomotive at speed I have ever seen- Incredible

[@musicurio]

Is this not one of the BEST videos ever of a wonderful old machine doing exactly what it used to do, and STILL can do so many years after it was made? What a testament to the designer and engineers, and restorers. Thanks so much.

[@grindupBaker]

My mum's grandad Maurice Vaughan drove the Cornish Riviera and wrote a small book about locomotive mechanicals.

[@vean2004]

The last time I saw anything like this was back in 1960 when travelling down to Cornwall, approaching Taunton, 'Usk Castle' ran neck and neck with us at Cogload Junction. It was only for a minute or so, but these things stay with us forever, don't they?

[@Thursdaym2]

Those were the days, down the old A38.

[@bcshelby4926]

...I wish that here in the states more steam locomotives would have been so lovingly preserved. So many were lost to the scrapper's torch including a number of rather "iconic" ones. Incredible to see these grand old ladies still pushing 90 - 100 mph. I look forward to when I can make a visit and hope to time it out to take a run on one of them.

[@saintmartins6729]

It's a British thing that some outside the UK understand. It's very personal, we feel attached and responsible to these machines. There's a pride you don't often find.

[@iainnunn5023]

GWR Castles rank as my favourite locomotive and this video amply defines why. Awesome and handsome engines built to precision by the finest British engineers designed on global best best practice of the day. Beautiful.

[@Jiskpirate]

Beautiful to see her running at full speed but still in the centre of the screen. Beautiful shots.

[@gerry284]

very good vid as a ex gwr man 46 yrs service that was good worked on all loco's from B;ham.

[@richardananedickinson4812]

Brought back happy memories of my railway career I was a fireman at old oak common 81A back when the trains ran to time I have fired quite a few castles in my time if the driver set it up perfect you could have an easy time but if he decided to work against you it was hard work

[@jerry36852]

I used to stand on bridge in the 60s as they passed through, I still remember it like it was yesterday.such memories.👍 you can’t beat them. Also the deltic’s lovely sound.

[@enikata7349]

Look at her go! Such a marvel of mechanical engineering.

[@waynenob1]

That is a beautiful train. My favorite all time train, that's coming from the States.

[@aniruddhapal6838]

I keep coming back to this video if I want to see train action. This is an excellent piece of film. The sheer brilliance of mechanical hardware and design is aptly evident as the train paces through the countryside.

[@alistaircoulson1106]

I get the impression that she's not even trying. Magnificent loco - thanks for posting.

[@davidfmelbourne3473]

There is nothing more beautiful than a steam locomotive at speed. The greatest contribution the Victorian era made to transport and it's both miraculous and glorious that some of these engineering masterpieces are still available for us to see in action and ride on as well. Knowing that most of these trains are restored, maintained and operated by volunteers supported by donations just makes it all the more special.

[@oddviews]

I have a serious soft spot for the GWR. I worked for them from 1959 when there were still plenty of steam trains all over the country. And all over the country I travelled free for many years enjoying myself as a young man. Now I live in Thailand and it is just wonderful to see and hear these wonderful machines doing nothing different from those old days. Thank you for the time, effort and skill you show in these videos that will give me pleasure into my old age!

[@takefivevideos]

Finest fast running alongside footage I've ever seen. Magbloodynificent! Thank you.

[@jordanjohnyeates7577]

The true power of the GWR.... amazing.....

[@johndavies5826]

This is a lovely piece of controlled driving. The engine is running fast and smoothly. Now and then there is just a whiff of steam from the safety valve, showing full pressure is being maintained but without any wasteful blowing off. The real hero of this performance is the fireman. You can see him bending his back and packing it in without much time for rest breaks. Remember the big Great Western shovel can hold up to 20 pounds of coal. That's hard work!

[@highphysics3617]

Wow!....that's a busy steam engine. Brilliant footage. Who couldn't enjoy watching that??

[@andrewwilliams2353]

The old GWR just got everything so right. Mechanically and visually !

[@steamandsmoke97]

One of the best 3 minutes spent in my life is watching this video with "A walk in the Black Forest" by Horst Jankowski playing as background music. Just seems to match the sheer classiness of a GWR Castle and the way she effortlessly glides along the rails, practically waltzing.

[@keithdurrans8070]

This took me back to 1960, when I got the last stopping passenger train from Bristol to Swindon via Badminton as a 10 year old. 5068 Beverston Castle. This is a fantastic record of the day they tried to reach 100mph. Wish I had been in the UK for it.

[@Rainhill1829]

Year after year, still my favorite video on KZbin.

[@barry5787]

These vids are so good, they capture the very essence of steam locos. Old technology, very heavy kit flying here there and everywhere and it all comes together to defy the none believer.

[@snellredbrook]

Fantastic film... green with envy....passed this way last week and said what a view of the line if only we could stop and film...you had the right idea...

[@christophernewman5027]

Please don't ever delete this video...

[@SteeleyGTi]

Beautiful machine, going like the Clappers!!! 😊😊😊😊

[@AceEngineeringWorks]

I just keep coming back to this video. Such a treat and running locally to me.I love to see the motion working, great camera work too.

[@mauricelaidler4789]

Just fabulous. Thanks for sharing. My one and only train set, when I was a kid in the early sixties, was a Hornby Dublo 'Cardiff Castle' Castle Class engine with two or threes coaches, an oval of track, a de-coupling section of track and a very heavy cast metal transformer. I absolutely loved it. I was mesmerised watching the running gear moving. At the age of 62, I wish I still had it.

[@everythingGWR]

I dont think I've ever seen a more exciting bit of video of a Castle in full flight. Fabulous bit of filming.

[@Bazzabear1]

Churchward, Collett, Hawksworth, Castles - legends all, and British engineering at its best. I grew up with the Southern Railway, but would cycle over to Maidenhead frequently to watch Castles and Kings at speed. Awesome and unforgettable. Thanks Ben - great video, and how I envy the crew!

[@petersaupe7455]

One of the finest bits of film ever seen.I live a few miles from this track and as youngsters we would race the trains as this piece of the M5 road was the Cullompton bypass.We used to meet by the old Little copse cafe and try and keep up to the roundabout below Charlie Goffs garage .I had no chance but my brother had and has a 500 Speed twin and he could.

[@richarddutchholland4780]

Peter Saupe that’s pretty awesome 👍🏼

[@logotrikes]

Magnificent sight. And the camera person did a fantastic job of staying in frame. Magic.....

[@ichabodon]

What a marvellous bit of filming

[@thebadger2101]

Bloody brilliant!!! Could watch this over and over again!

[@robertbate5790]

Well done to the car driver for keeping such a steady pace!!! Brilliant filming.

[@davesowden4907]

That’s ace! The only time I’ve seen a steam hauled train on that section of line was when Braunton passed me heading towards Exeter a good few years ago. I was on the M5 heading north. And driving!

[@morrisvanmokum6174]

How on Earth does a video like this get thumbs down? There are some very strange people out there in cyberspace.

[@ottovonmaybach]

+Morris van Mokum They are sour Gresley freaks

[@pf32900]

I can only guess because of the trees getting in the way.

[@Jiskpirate]

Americans with dozens op pipes along their boilers

[@Jiskpirate]

tman008 The majority does however :(

[@superpadave2]

tman008 American locomotives aren't ugly, they're ruggedly handsome, they look like locomotives, not like they're made out of plastic, Still, nice to see any steam train at speed.

[@jamestownsend5573]

Best video ever of the most elegant of the GW engines. Shame about the double chimney, still...you can't have everything. Brilliant! Many thanks.

[@brianclark8709]

To whoever the cameraperson well done indeed. You deserve a medal. What a beautiful sight!!.. Wonderful engine working flat out and going along magnificantly. Excellent work by the fireman, on the mark and not blowing off. You can keep your diesels and electrics long live the Swindon expertise. I left the railway as a firemen at Cardiff Canton/ East dock, we had "The Earl" with us. I can never recall it being this clean!. God Bless the GWR.

[@SydFlix]

What a beautiful sight that is. Power and elegance perfectly combined. Great piece of film!

[@MrJimbaloid]

That's why people put all that work into restoration. That's simply AWSOME.

[@aschliov]

i must watch this once a week when i feel down or overworked it brings such joy and emotion watching a crew hard at work bring that loco to live. i think a big thank you to all that saved and restored this mighty loco for all to young to see this type of working on the main line wonderful simpily wonderful. wipes a tear from eye:)

[@rogercorbett3601]

Just love watching this video, congratulations on the way you caught this so beautifully

[@trevorcox3020]

Just how beautiful is that

[@martinbayliss3868]

Art and science combined to absolute perfection. There is a God!

[@philipbradshaw4050]

Superb loco and filming. Best I have ever seen.

[@Guy_de_Loimbard]

It's amazing all that reciprocating mass doesn't just fling itself apart at those speeds.

[@theeveningstar9235]

Look at her go! What a locomotive!

[@vincentneale2620]

What a beautiful sight to see this lady doing her stuff - camera work first class

[@petersaupe7455]

This was an every day sight in my childhood.My uncle lived in Cullompton and we often watched trains race up to Tiverton Junc tion station.They really sounded great as they climbed up to Willand. As a youth we used the Cullompton bypass as a race track which is now part of the M5 and tried to keep up with trains.

[@HeavensGremlin]

OMG....WHAT a sight.....I know that road so well......what timing....and so great you used your gumption to get this epic footage.... Kudos to you.....I'm almost in tears watching that...........!!!!

[@petersaupe7455]

To add to my previous posts,the really amazing thing is this used to happen several times a day in the days of steam.Even now in 2020 the times to London are not much shorter than when I used to go to Paddington from Taunton in the late 1950,s.Some trains stopped at Tiverton Junction a mile further on from were the filming stopped.I used to get the returning empty milk trains early in the morning to get home .

[@kebl0597]

Thought I'd commented on this one but it appears not - which is quite an oversight! Fabulous bit of film, I enjoyed it very much indeed, right up there with my all time favourite pacing sequences. Thankyou! Tim

[@paulkibbey4055]

Truly poetry in motion.I must have travelled the main line behind GWR express locos but it maybe hard to believe but I am not old enough to remember. Many thanks for posting.

[@Belfreyite]

The Camera work is magnificent and the action on the footplate silhouetted against the sky is brilliant. Bravo!!

[@1977ajax]

Great footage. Well done for capturing this.

[@stephenwilliams1269]

Fascinating. I drive on the M5 frequently and I have never noticed the section where the railway is so close to the road. How lucky yo have captured this footage. Its awesome. Such a magnificent locomotive.

[@jasperedwards81]

What a thrill it must have been to actually be present to get this footage. Well done. Thanks so much for posting. Have watched this dozens of times it's so good.

[@markiliff]

But how sad to have been driving with eyes on the road ahead

[@davidellis279]

Absolutely fantastic piece of camera work,what a beautiful sight seeing the best of British Engineering still working all these years later,it just goes to show how this country has lost its way over the years,we were world leaders in trains and ship building as well as car and truck building and what have we got now??? Mac Donald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken,it’s a sad country we now live in,it’s no wonder the country is Skint we have to buy everything from abroad because we don’t manufacture anything anymore, it’s sickening.

[@jonathanparry7824]

its no surprise, as the standards of living goes up the workers want higher wages and soon manufacturing starts to become un profitable because their is always another country willing to do the same for cheaper. im sure if people were still getting paid a few shillings a week we would still be making everything

[@hughhogarth3343]

Excellent, well done Ben, nothing encapsulates more the power and grace of the Castle loco..congratulations.

[@jimyoung2188]

Magnificent i keep coming back to this

[@Neryosangha]

what a gorgeous video. What a gorgeous subject.

[@Hard-Boiled-Bollock]

Nothing looks better than a GWR Castle or King at speed

[@ads1066]

Gorgeous, the "Sewing Machine" ticking and throaty growl reminds me of the King's thundering along from Snow Hill to London Paddington, sight and sounds never forgotten, great parallel filming along the Exe valley (Cullompton), Magnificent machines unfairly scrapped before their time, with the fitting of double bast pipes and 5-row superheaters in the late fifties/early sixties gave these locomotives many more years life before their untimely replacement by dubious diesel hydraulics. Well done Ben Jervis!

[@gregorymartin6488]

It never ceases to amaze how a scoop of coal and a bucket of water can create such energy and speed...

[@Colin21454]

Great capture, poetry in motion

[@johnfarnell219]

brilliant video ,brings tears of joy every time i watch .

[@aschliov]

this should be showen in every school to let the children see wot they missed back in the day fantastic shot . beer sofa repeat button and volume control up sorted :).

[@stuarthawkins7045]

Fantastic footage, weather by planning or fluke, it's just brilliant 👏

[@helenteague1734]

Absolutely terrific piece of film. I shall watch it again and again. Well done!

[@1964dangerous]

coming down from taunton to Exeter I would think.....majestic grace and power,,,churchward and collet got it spot on for the GWR.

[@therailwaycatuk5477]

Amazing footage!!!!! Have yet to get lucky enough to spot a steam loco on that stretch of the M5. One day!

[@portobellotent973]

Beautiful sight! Absolutely first class camera work! Thank you and thanks to all for hard work preserving this engine in running order!

[@owenmeschter9888]

My favorite british steam engine. Highballing. In english countryside. So beautiful.

[@paulcaswell2813]

Reminds me of the double-page spread of 'Berry Pomeroy Castle' at speed in the Bradford Barton 'Great Western Steam in the Midlands' volume.

[@Paulywarp]

Absolutely brilliant. Wow.

[@robhaigh4068]

Excellent footage

[@bmwnasher]

Great video, what a truly beautiful site, I remember these as a boy in Paddington station. They were always spotlessly clean. Thanks for posting

[@frankcollins5109]

There is no denying the power and grace of the castle class. Collett's Finest!

[@marsvltor2]

Direct quote from Bradford Barton's 'Great Western Steam in the Midlands', with a broadside shot of Berry Pomeroy Castle used as a double-page spread!!!

[@philipthomas2918]

Magnificent sight and sound.

[@oscillation9814]

Evidence for the beauty and grace of a steam locomotive... 👏😍

[@JPoulAndersson]

Incredible footage, absolutely flawless film work! Thank you!

[@heinzbreuer2674]

🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃 super Video toll gemacht weiterhin good Lucky steam train. God save the Queen and England 🇬🇧

[@wossisname4540]

Quite remarkable! Thank you. I was looking for a John Huntley film of a GWR "Star" on the wheel lathe at Wolverampton (which is breathtaking). Harry Lee (stalwart of the West Somerset) was very fond of that class and he would have really been impressed by this video! He was a real gem, and so is The Earl!

[@timw6928]

That thing is hauling arse absolutely magnificent

[@hughhogarth3343]

Brilliant Ben....just brilliant, tons of nostalgia also. Thanks.

[@hughhogarth3343]

Chris, Your Profiles of Castles, absolutely brilliant. Do youhave info on "Restormel Castle" when painted 'lime' green? OK, so it was back in 1950, (I'm 76) and was a locospotter back then! Also,wiukd love to do a trip in a Pullman hauled by steam on GWR but cannot find any info on how to get details of bookings/schedules. Your help much appreciated. Please keep up the excellent work that you do. Robert H in penzance.

[@tattersall3915]

The same engine came up the Copypit incline at the back of our house last year with a train of 15 coaches and made it look like a walk in the park! That Churchward guy must be the Enzio Ferrarri of steam engines!

[@timcaldwell4305]

It does my soul good to watch this. A wonderful sight and great camera work.

[@peckelhaze6934]

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

[@christmasduck2]

Great video of the simple graceful lines of GWR loco powering along well done.

[@robertcrewdson8611]

Fantastic video. Thanks for posting.