Great Railway Adventures - Swanage

[@marvwatkins7029]

The host/narrator's voice is so soft, calm, and laid back, it's almost disconcerting.

[@keithchowney6190]

Hi . I am here today 17 Oct 2022 sunny day railway is great place to visit.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Lucky guy!

[@martynwalker8499]

As with all your films, so professionally done. The earlier films you made such as steam at Manchester Victoria and the industrial archives are now priceless for future railway historians and enthusiasts. Thanks.

[@timgage8972]

Happy memories of camping at Harmans Cross, waving at the trains going by. As soon as we parked up my wife realised why we’d chosen that precise spot!

[@Peasmouldia]

I've always loved Swanage since our family holidays in the late fifties/early sixties there. Our caravan park was next to the line, and we would sprint down there at the sound of a whistle. Great video, thank you so much.

[@rodneymaennling5963]

Thanks Johnathan for a good update about The Swanage line. Very needed, as support is very necessary and sparce of late... I'm a Southern Railway person as my modelling has been focused on West Country class locos. Good footage. Thanks Best regards to the Swanage team! Rodney Vancouver Island

[@davemitchell9941]

I was sweating with the poor ol fireman jus watching this.🙄 Secret with a Bulleid is to fill the back end right up over the mouth piece, in the morning blacked out & keep it that way all day. They will help themselves by the blast. Run with the doors on 2nd notch so you can fire over the front n keep back corners up. Remarkable how much more comfortable cab is on a hot day. No black smoke or blowing off either. Needle stays put on red line or (wherever you prefer it) & you just work injectors accordingly. Works a treat!! Simples.🙂 Learnt this off my ol BR mates who used to work these for real. Coal consumption goes down too!!🙂

[@stephensmith799]

Great to hear the voice of experience. Thanks

[@davemitchell9941]

@@stephensmith799 Thanks. It’s all learnt by listening, experimenting & applying what those ol boys taught me. For which I am very grateful. They were a joy to work with, miss that now, but never lose the memories.🙂

[@stephensmith799]

@@davemitchell9941 I was struck by your comments because I read from a fireman’s memories of firing the first UK 4-6-2, The Great Bear. I can’t remember if I’m repeating myself (!) but he wrote that he stuffed the box at Paddington, shut the doors and left the fire an awful long way. I think he said Swindon but that must have been joking. Point being that firing practices vary so much across classes and even within a class. Can’t call myself a fireman ‘cept for 7 1/4 inch gauge! That can be a struggle as things happen so fast.

[@davemitchell9941]

@@stephensmith799 yep can imagine 71/4” keeps you on your toes. Secret with any engine is keeping one step ahead n knowing the road. All the ex western men I worked with ran with big back ends too, so sounds about right.🙂

[@stephensmith799]

@@davemitchell9941 And they had good Welsh Steam Coal. I’ve only had two ‘firing experiences’ properly speaking: at Snowdown Colliery, Kent (an Austerity and an Avonside) and on the Mid Hants ‘Schools’. At Snowdown they kept very thin fires (amazingly so) while on the Schools, the Scottish coal swelled up about three times it’s cold size. So much for firemen to be on top of. But my goodness they had to know the road on filthy nights in driving rain, sleet and with indifferent coal at high speeds on a hard schedule spotting paraffin lit signals at night. Meanwhile passengers didn’t give them a second thought. Respect👍

[@stephensmith799]

So nice to have the lubricator oil box inside the cab with lines leading off from there. Peace of mind.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Hi Stephen, it was my first time on a Bulleid and I was very impressed with the well thought out cab controls.

[@stephensmith799]

@@GandyDancerProductions You may know it already but maybe try Bert Hooker’s memoire ‘Legendary Engineman’. He loved the Bullied Pacifics, claiming that it steam chest pressure was kept at or below 60lb they could be started without slipping. He felt they wouldn’t link up much beyond 28% while the A4 he drove on its visit South would time a train on 4%. I’ve never understood how!

[@GandyDancerProductions]

@@stephensmith799 With this Battle of Britain class the driver Andy said it shouldn't be link up below 45%. That might be the problem with the steam reverser.

[@stephensmith799]

@@GandyDancerProductions Hah! 45% is still quite a long cut off. I did notice a couple of times behind 34067 setting off backwards for two or three revolutions instead of forwards. Should have used the flawless Ashford steam reverser which works so beautifully in the P Class (not the Brighton rubbish 😉).

[@djsarahjones]

That fire reminds me of when I was younger and we used to get them all the time on the Embankment coming into Widnes North from Manchester. Don't know how Steam Trains kept setting them on in the 1990s. 😂 Love classic trains. Good work 👍

[@TheGWR0-4-0]

A brilliant film as always!

[@jonathoncary6097]

Best ever. Wonderful to watch.

[@MrEagleofthe9th]

I came here for my Birthday last year. Great fun!

[@busterboy7505]

Thanks for your video Johnathan, your a lucky boy getting to be on the footplate 👍.

[@TheSynthnut]

Beautifully done as ever!

[@laaity]

2:03 Ha that happened to me the other day I was filling the water tower Then the over flow was on and around the shut off valve Let's just say after clean a fire box It was kinda pleasant

[@susanclayton5863]

Been on this trip many times including last month

[@steamgent4592]

Alright Gandy posted some brand new recordings of steam. Very nice great to see you making videos. I look forward to each one. Shame we never met at a live steam club when you were still in the States. We would have had lots n lots of fun steam conversations.

[@briankay4713]

Love this ...gets across the hardship and accomplishment of driving a powerful Pacific....well done ✔️ 👏

[@davidsheriff8989]

Great video..Swanage is a fab place

[@TheFjmtb]

Excellent work. Has the feel of one of the original steam videos with the tone of the narration. If you made it black and white and cut the modern bits out it would be tricky to tell !

[@kevincoles2934]

Mommy,

[@ade9685]

Brilliant that Jonathan , great flavour of the line. Camped there in the field adjacent in Harmans Cross. Based purely on the location! As another comment says very similar to your archive videos so same great quality. Cheers for sharing

[@stuartbroome1258]

Great documentary on the footplate, top job.

[@westhavengwr4613]

Excellent video.I used to work on Swanage Railway. You have captured the hard work out in very well.

[@michaelmiller641]

I'm old enough to have visited Swanage and corfe castle in the days of br steam, a br standard class 4 tank and 2 bulleid carriages

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Hi Michael, what a wonderful memory. It's was the present Swanage Railway has recreated.

[@djburland]

The connection to Wareham has been restored, and is dependent on operations by the TOC.

[@laaity]

13:37 That engine has a lekker proper British whistle

[@Hjerte_Verke]

Lekker, man!

[@laaity]

@@Hjerte_Verke het ek pas n suid afrikaner gevind?

[@handyandy6050]

That's the benefit of driving the loco backwards - you don't get a tender behind!

[@andyml1]

Beautifully filmed and edited…subscribed. 👍👍

[@juleshathaway3894]

When running into Corfe on the return at 9.02 there’s my brother Danny in the light shirt and tie standing at the booking office door. 😁

[@andyash5675]

What a great vid!😃

[@xr6lad]

Imagine still closing railways in 1972. I never know why ‘memorials’ are not put up to remind people of the names of those that destroyed our railways. No wonder they get away with it; we let them off. We need to let them know they will also be marked out in history for their actions.

[@owenslanejunction7544]

me and my mate were there when the loco caught the grass on fire

[@haymantom_7584]

The man that got an unwanted shower was he called Steven. If so he is my neighbours son

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Sorry, I don't know the guys name.

[@juleshathaway3894]

You do not mention the fact that the footage of the T9 is at least 2 years old as it’s boiler ticket expired in August 2020 and therefore is not currently running.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Hi Jules, thanks for the update on the T9. It was filmed in 2019. I check on their website and though it was still in ticket. Hope you still enjoyed the film.

[@juleshathaway3894]

@@GandyDancerProductions Yes it is very good. I’m an expat Wareham boy living in Fife and ex Swanage volunteer. I was there on day 1 on 14th Feb 1976, came back in 1978, was the second man on the very first train to carry fare paying passengers in August 1980. I stopped volunteering in 1984 but my son spent many summers working there. I have many friends from the early days there on the footplate and am lucky enough to have had numerous footplate and cab rides. My elderly brother works on the railway and is seen at 9.02!!

[@dinxsy8069]

I'm waiting for the day the Environmentalists start chasing after the remaining steam Locos being maintained and ran. I'm hoping they fall under some type of preservation act.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

I'm sure they will be protected, they bring a lot of money into the community. The problem could be getting coal at a reasonable price.

[@xr6lad]

@@GandyDancerProductions Coal also brought a lot of money in, as well as the power station’s employing thousands. We’ll all now where’s those ended up; money doesn’t come into it. Has no one actually woken up to the Woke environmental culture yet ? It’s got nothing to do with logic or bringing in money - that’s not a concern for them.

[@steamgent4592]

I'd have taken a footplate ride on the "Ancient" loco. Lol. I have a love affair with pregrouping passenger steam. Then it's off to the big stuff. Not a fan of the Rebuilt Bullied but his air smoothed originals aren't bad.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

With the erratic reverser on the originals I'd rather have the rebuilds but I do like the eccentricity of the air smooth look.

[@justahillbilly7777]

Question for the more knowledgeable then me out there: What’s with the rags drivers use whenever they operate the throttle? Is it to just keep any grime from their hands off of the throttle bar or something else?

[@aidanstrand4864]

That and some of the controls can be hot, particularly the brake ejector.

[@Hjerte_Verke]

Everything in there is super hot from the boiler. They can use rags but thick leather engineer's gloves would probably be better. Obviously the driver prefers rags and is probably so well used to wrapping the handles in rags, that he never forgets. It's muscle memory.

[@juleshathaway3894]

@@Hjerte_Verke Thick gloved will retain heat and take several seconds to remove where as a cloth can be dropped in a fraction of that time. I know through experience.

[@danguinan7238]

I’ve seen several videos of engines running without baffle plates while working on the Swanage Railway. Why is this? Thanks.

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Hi Dan, I don't know for sure but maybe it's because the fire is kept so thin.

[@adrianpeters2413]

Yes baffles me to!???!

[@juleshathaway3894]

A baffle plate is essential for directing the secondary air over the fire as it enters through the fire hole door. A loco should never run without a baffle plate.

[@salohein2742]

Hi Johnathan! I'm 16 and love live steam! Always have and for the past few years I've been collecting knowledge and I feel I know a good amount. The thing is I only know live steam in the hobby sort of manner and I'm thinking on saving up for a miniature coal-burning locomotive. So I was wondering if you have any good sources to correctly learn about all the parts so I can keep my fingers. Thanks!

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Take a deep dive into my channel if you haven't already done so. I have 77 film covering many aspects of coal fired miniature and large steam engine.

[@salohein2742]

Will do! Thanks!

[@likklej8]

I think if the governments of what ever political persuasions had their heads screwed on properly would give financial aid to these heritage lines so they can connect to the railway network for Tourists and Tourism. Don’t forget We British were the first at Railway’s

[@GandyDancerProductions]

Here's always has been resistance from the government and the train operators to allow the preserved lines into mainline station. Some have won the day and others are getting close.

[@marvwatkins7029]

At least that brushfire didn't spread. Lucky. Otherwise a lot of English countryside could have been more than chinged. That would not have put the railway in good stead with the authorities or public.