7029 Clun Castle blitzes the 1 in 51 Old Hill Bank unassisted! The Volunteer & 4150 | 2/11/26

Today's video features WR Castle Class 4-6-0 7029 Clun Castle hauling Vintage Train & the Heritage Rail Association's "The Volunteer" from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stratford-upon Avon, Bridgnorth and return. The train was commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the HRA, and travelled from Snow Hill, tender first, up the North Warwicks Line to Stratford-upon-Avon via Henley. It then ran round, going for a smokebox first mainline run back towards Birmingham, travelling on the Chiltern Mainline via Dorridge and Solihull, then through the Black Country through Stourbridge to Kidderminster to meet Severn Valley Railway metals. From there, BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 75069 was rostered to work the train over the SVR to Highley and Bridgnorth, but unfortunately she failed, being replaced by GWR Large Prairie class 2-6-2T 4150. 7029 turned and survived at Kidderminster, being reattached for the run back to Birmingham through the Black Country and up the taxing 1 in 51 gradient. Today's run was unassisted, making a very refreshing change, and the performances today were sublime throughout, in mostly sunny weather and autumnal colours, making for some of the best footage this year! Today I was out driving, so that made it possible to achieve far more. First up is Birmingham Moor Street, where 7029 is held for a signal check outside the platform. As the signal to enter the tunnel to Snow Hill clears, 7029 accelerates away to get a run up at the gradient through the tunnel, making for an incredibly impressive shot in GWR-esque scenery, just as the sun comes out! Following this, I headed to Lapworth for 7029's mainline run at speed, and she absolutely roared by at speed, making excellent progress back towards Birmingham, in beautiful autumnal colours. I was worried that the signallers would mess up the speed run beyond Dorridge by not lowering Bentley Heath Crossing, and I was right to be worried so I'm glad I chose Lapworth. Following this, we raced 7029 to Hagley - we had intended to do Blakedown, but got stuck in engineering traffic on the A456 and decided not to risk it. this proved to be the correct choice, as 7029 roared by through the beautiful GWR station with a whistle, shutting off shortly afterwards. At that, we headed onto the SVR for a few hours. Unfortunately 4150 was bunker first, however bunker first running is prototypical and she made a lovely sight passing Tenbury Wall in the evening light. We had planned on doing Arley for the smokebox first return, however the lights at the station weren't switched on so we didn't go ahead with this shot and instead headed straight to Old Hill, where after a long wait 7029 absolutely flattened the bank, roaring up with a brief slip before turning the corner, seemingly making light work of the gradient. An extremely impressive show and one to be remembered for years to come! At that, I headed home. Thank you to everyone involved in making today possible; this includes all the volunteers this run is scheduled to celebrate, VT, SVR, 7029, 4150 and their crews for the absolutely brilliant performances today, particularly on Old Hill. Thanks also to @lukealforduksteam who I was with today, as well as ‪@MarshSteamVideosTM‬ ‪@LiamsLocos‬ ‪@blackcountrysteamvideos8021‬ ‪@heritageinthe21stcentury13‬ and many more. I hope you all enjoy as I did!