Classic Steam Train Collection - Castle and Manor

Until as recently as the 1960's, it was the railway that held far-flung communities together and brought the seaside closer to the cities. In the high summer of 2003 and in glorious August sunshine, the Manor-class locomotive 7802 Bradley Manor set out on the first of a series of Torbay Express excursions between Bristol and Kingswear. Built in 1938, Bradley Manor was the 3rd of 30 manors ever made, but steam engines were always subject to such things as burst pipes and hot bearings, and when the engine failed in South Devon another mainline certified engine preferably something great western was needed to take over. The race was on to prepare the Castle-class locomotive 5051 Earl Bathurst/Drysllwyn Castle to take over (at the time the engine was paired with a Hawksworth tender which has since been swapped). But how would a museum piece cope with a 78 mile and hour dash to the seaside and in particular some of the daunting Devon banks. As of 2022 no 7802 Bradley Manor until recently using 7812's Churchward tender is awaiting fitment of a new cylinder block following an incident at the West Somerset Railway & 5051 now wearing it's Drysllwyn Castle nameplates and a Collett tender is a static exhibit at Didcot Railway Centre. It's unknown what's gonna happen to 5051 but with Didcot having ceased interest in mainline running for the moment and with 4079 Pendennis Castle about to re-enter traffic following a long overhaul after rescue from Australia is not expected to run for the foreseeable future. 0:00 Intro 1:26 Part 1 - 5051 Earl Bathurst on Torbay Express 33:18 Part 2 - 7802 Bradley Manor on Torbay Express 1:02:03 End Credits All content in this video is © of it's original owners Go Entertain/Green Umbrella and was released in 2009. No profit is being made on this video by myself & all rights belong to respective owners. #ClassicSteamTrainCollection #7802BradleyManor #5051DrysllwynCastle