Great Western Coffee Shop

From the Bodmin Railway Facebook page:

[pedant mode]
My highlighting.............. I think you will find that Tornado has visited Kingswear, so this statement is slightly incorrect.
[/pedant mode]

Pedant **2 - how can something be "slightly incorrect"?   Either it's correct or not, isn't it?  ;D ;D

Another pedant alert.  "On" Tornado.  Are they offering footplate rides.  Wow!

It has also visited the West Somerset Railway which is west of Taunton....

More pedantry...

Well, longitudinally its west. However, directionally, the start and end stations are north-west of Taunton.

That is still west as opposed to east!   ;D

D*mn and Bl*st...

Holiday in Cornwall already booked, from 24th to 31st May, so I'll miss the opportunity of pulling the levers for Tornado during one of my shifts in Bodmin General signalbox.

I wonder if Tornado will arrive via the Bodmin Parkway Exchange siding, or on the back of a lorry?  If the former, making sure it's pointing the right way round could be a problem.  All steam engines on the B&W run nose-first when climbing from Parkway to General, so Tornado would have to run tender-first from Penzance to Bodmin Parkway.  Then, after its stay on B&W, it would then have to run tender-first from Bodmin Parkway to Plymouth, to then turn on the Laira triangle.  So the visit to the B&W would, paradoxically, obviate the need to use the newly-renovated St Blazey turntable.

I don't think that the PDR is classed as a heritage line. As far as I'm aware Its run as a commercial business and doesn't use volunteers.

Still a heritage railway. Just one that's owned an run by a PLC.

CORRECTION - and in a good way!
Tornado is doing some staff-only traction-learning runs on 31st May, and I've been rostered as signalman!
This is so that Tornado's crew can learn the B&W route, and the B&W drivers can become familiar with how to work a new engine.

Oooh, you lucky bustard!  :o ::) ;) :D ;D

They don't have bustards in Cornwall - they are from Wiltshire!

I know: they have choughs in Cornwall - just to be different.  ;) :D ;D

So rower40 is now a chough?  :D

I take exception to that last post. I thought I was the only chuff(ed) around here.....and very much alive...(if only to thwart trainer who would be dead chuffed to be able to announce that I was indeed, dead. Chuffed).

I was extremely "choughed" to be chosen as signalman on that day...

It's official:
http://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/U55235/2017-05-29 (http://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/U55235/2017-05-29)
This is the schedule for the light-loco (*) move of Tornado from Penzance (having brought the railtour in) to Bodmin Parkway Exchange sidings.

(*) Plus support coach.  Hence the need to run round at Penzance Up Loop Siding.

Tornado on its way to Penzance with the Cornishman Rail tour this morning.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/torntgm.jpg)

Closely following was the support loco which will then take the coaches forward on their trip while Tornado goes to Bodmin.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/tornsup2.jpg)

With a stopping train in the loop at Dawlish Warren and an HST hard on its heels, the loco was run on the reversible line as far as Teignmouth to allow the HST to pass on the inside.

Tornado duly arrived at Bodmin before the light failed too much

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/tornbod.jpg)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/tornjun.jpg)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/torn3.jpg)

Not the normal view out of a workplace window...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/SDC15398_zpstww7bf4p.jpg)

The view from the office signal box steps.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/SDC15399_zpsrfgn1237.jpg)

And collecting the token as Tornado approaches the Bodmin General bufferstops.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/SDC15408_zpskagaj0dk.jpg)

And people say we don't make anything in the UK anymore......

Took the Otter pups up to see Tornado earlier, and my daughter was massively impressed to learn that Tornado was a lot 'newer' than the down HST that pulled in alongside !

Those white lamps above the buffers, that look like oil lamps?  Housings for ultra-bright white LEDs, with red LEDs in the black boxes underneath - switchable from the cab.  I had to wear my sunglasses when venturing onto the platform to collect the token.

These do not feature on the original A1 Peppercorn drawings...

Another invisible-to-the-general-public modification; there's no water scoop in the tender, allowing more space for water.  This could be something to do with the fewness-and-far-betweenness of water troughs on Britain's railways nowadays.

Many thanks for posting those absolutely brilliant pictures and the snippets of information here on the Coffee Shop forum, rower40.  ;)