BR(W) 4073 'Castle' Class - 7029 "Clun Castle" would grind to an unfortunate stand on Hemerdon Bank, while working ‘The Great Western (1Z48)’ 60th Anniversary Tour, requiring the aid of BR Class 47 - D1755 / 47773.
The tour, chartered by Vintage Trains, would see 7029 retrace some of the route traversed by the ‘Ian Allen Great Western High Speed Railtour’ of 1964, which had the reporting code of Z48. The original running would become the swansong of ex-GWR mainline steam under British Railways, with the tour working the from London Paddington to Plymouth via Westbury, and back to the capital via Bristol Temple Meads. Four ‘Castle’ Class locomotives were selected to work legs of the tour: 4079 working London - Westbury, 7025 working Taunton - Plymouth, 7029 working Plymouth - Bristol, and 5054 working Bristol to London. 4079 failed at Westbury with melted firebars, with ‘Modified Hall’ Class - 6999 substituting for the leg between Westbury and Taunton. The tour would be famed for some exception high-speed running across the Ex-GWR mainlines with BR making every effort to ensure its success, including the cherry picking of the ‘Castle’ locomotives in order to provide the best of those available, providing two firemen per loco, and obtaining the finest quality Welsh coal available.
This 60th anniversary edition would be split over two days, with 7029 working from Birmingham to Plymouth via Oxford and Bristol on the first day, and then retracing its original allocated route from Plymouth to London over the second day.
Departing Plymouth on time on the second day, 7029 would stall on the harsh 1-in-42 gradient of Hemerdon Bank as it approached the summit, viewable from Ledgate Lane. Class 47 - D1755 / 47773 would then be dispatched from Plymouth to provide assistance. Rumours circulating suggest that lineside foliage caught the butterfly pressure release valves for the vacuum brakes on a couple of the coaches, causing a loss of pressure; enough to drag the brakes on the effected coaches, but not enough to show any indication on the gauges. With no indication of the problems at hand, and assistance immediately available, no attempt was made to restart the train before the 47 arrived.
All footage filmed on Saturday the 11th of May 2024.