The Timeline Explorer is a 9 day railtour of Great Britain operated by Railway Timelines Limited. 2024 was the inaugural Timeline Explorer, featuring locomotives from all across RTL. Not every leg of the tour is shown here, but the clips that survive have been compiled in this video.
The tour departed London Victoria on the morning of Saturday 27th April. Fortuitously, Merchant Navy No. 35028 'Clan Line' was due to leave the same morning with a Belmond British Pullman to Bath to commemorate 50 years since its first public run in preservation. Shortly after, West Country No. 34100 'Appledore' left Victoria with the first leg. Day 1 of the tour took the train down the Portsmouth Direct line to the south coast and through Eastleigh and Salisbury to Westbury, where 34100 handed over to Stanier Mogul No. 13254 and Ex-GWR Manor No. 7829 'Ramsbury Manor' from the North Somerset Railway to take to the overnight halt at Kingswear. We see it at Victoria, Haslemere, Cosham, Mottisfont & Dundridge, and Castle Cary.
Day 2 kept the NSR pair for the run back up to Taunton and on to Bristol, where they handed over to fellow NSR resident West Country No. 34094 'Mortehoe' and 34019 'Bideford' from the Bristol-based Ottery Preservation Society, which took the train into Wales and along the Welsh Marches to the next overnight stop at Shrewsbury. We see the train on Greenway Bank, Torre Bank, Bishton Crossing, Cwmbran and Leominster.
On Day 3, Class 55 No. D9002 'King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry' from the Churnet Valley Railway and National Railway Museum continued along the North Wales Coast to Holyhead. The next day, it went back as far as Chester and up the West Coast Main Line to Preston. It remained on the back for now, but the train was taken over the Settle & Carlisle by Maunsell Schools No. 30917 'Ardingly' and Gresley A3 No. 52 'Prince Palatine'. The train is seen at Abergele & Pensarn, Conwy Castle, Llanfairpwll and Sheriff's Brow.
The train spent the night and the following day in Glasgow, before returning south on Thursday behind Class 86 No. E3150 'Robert A. Riddles' to Stoke-on-Trent, mainline connection of the Churnet Valley Railway. It would be taken to the northern terminus at Leek by WD 2-10-0 No. 90773 'North British' where it would spend the next two nights. We see the 86 at Lancaster and Mill Lane, and the departure from Stoke towards Leek.
The penultimate day is the last one recorded in this video, and the train leaves the CVR behind Gresley A4 No. 60009 'Union of South Africa' before being dragged by Class 37 No. 37508 to Tyseley. We see 60009 on the CVR and the diesel drag at Norton Bridge.
0:05 - 35028 Grosvenor Bank
0:49 - 34100 Grosvenor Bank
2:34 - 34100 Haslemere
3:12 - 34100 Cosham
3:39 - 34100 Mottisfont & Dundridge
4:03 - 13254 + 7829 Castle Cary
4:36 - 7827 + 7829 Greenway Bank
5:37 - 13254 + 7829 Torre
6:29 - 34019 + 34094 Bishton Crossing
6:53 - 34019 + 34094 Cwmbran
7:17 - 34019 + 34094 Leominster
7:46 - D9002 Abergele & Pensarn
8:08 - D9002 Conwy Castle
8:29 - D9002 Llanfairpwll
9:07 - 30917 + 52 Sheriff's Brow
9:38 - E3150 Lancaster
9:57 - E3150 Mill Lane
10:17 - 90773 Stoke CVR
10:59 - 60009 Caldon Canal
12:16 - 60009 Baddeley Green
13:14 - 37508 TnT 60009 Norton Bridge
Thumbnail - 34100 and 35028 prepare to leave London Victoria with their respective trains on the morning of Saturday 27th April.
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This was recorded in Train Simulator in April/May 2024 using the Xbox Game Bar and edited in June 2024 using Microsoft Clipchamp. I apologise for the sporadic lag in this video, there's a lot going on.