Nunney Castle

Tom, we run two 7 coach rakes as standard, as you say not every day will all coaches be used/filled but I guess it's safer not to have to start shunting /splitting sets. As for platforms, Cheltenham race course can take 13/14 coaches and the new broadway platforms are 10 I think? Todd and winch are 6 platformed but loops long enough for the std sets. The gold cup race specials in march make use of crc's length!

 

And your (much more informed than my) opinion on a castle on the GWSR is...?

Blimey do we use the whole length of platform for the races, I assumed it was two trains that crossed each other, but it's just one big train!?

 

Thanks - it's been a few years since I last went to the GWSR; I seem to recall 6 coach sets in use, and Cheltenham racecourse was only a single platform as I recall.

Tom

 

CRC is still (just) one platform, albeit a very long one! Second one is still being rebuilt, meaning if we had enough coaches and, err, flying engines so no need of a run round loop D) we could have somewhere in the region of 26/28 coaches all in the station! That's almost as much as the SVR's carriage shed - now if we had a canopy over CRC..

 

Running 7 coach trains and NEEDING to run 7 coach trains are two different things. The GCR run 8 coach trains but the last time I was there, the only passengers were a coach party having afternoon tea and three others. Last year the GWSR advertised running on 168 days and their T/T seems based around 6 trains each way/day. On 200,000 passenger journey's, that works out at about 100 passengers/train journey. Hardly warrants more than three coaches. OK, that's an average but you don't do 200,000/year. (Beginning to sound a bit like Paul Hitch here!)

 

Oh I quite agree, but given that with current numbers we can justify 7 coaches, it doesn't stretch the imagination to think that one day a few years from now we will be able.to justify 8, even if we don't need to. Bearing in mind also that although there is a certain number of seats on a train, people still like their own bay/compartment, so if this is perceived as important by the comical department then might make it more likely to get an extra coach sooner (that's if we can provide one or course) I expect Paul Hitch will come and tell me off for trying.to justify 8 coaches just to justify a bigger loco, but I don't care!

 

Maybe the GWSR should think about running 4 coach sets at off peak periods then combining them to form 8 coach sets at busier times. It would save wear and tear on locos, rolling stock and track.

 

Woulden't say no to a Castle at Toddington with a uniform rake and Cornishman headboard, 7029 and 5080 were no strangers in the distant past.

Seems reading that list that Crewe already has far too much workload, most of them valuable mainline types we really could not afford to lose for too long, no thought of outsourcing work to Riley, Tyseley etc to speed up one or two ?.

 

Good point. Have too many locos in ticket at any one time and there is the potential problem of insufficient work for the fleet. Then when they go out of ticket at the same time, insufficient locos for the work available.

 

isnt that why bittern is going to see out its boiler ticket up on the MHR, and why Nunney is going into storage, and in the meanwhile 46100 is coming out,and 34046 later, its replacing 2 class 7's with 2 of simular power output,assuming a scot is a 6 or 7 and not a 5xp

 

So, no Great Western mainline steam (apart from Vintage Trains) for the foreseeable future?

 

4936? - though I would agree that one doesn't look very likely for much use on NR (based on the WSR for 2015)

 

Not yet!

 

4079

 

Still under overhaul.

 

I think even 1450 could handle load 8 on the GWSR!

 

I'm really saddened about this news. I didn't realise that this was what was going on with this wonderful jewel of locomotive. My 2 cents about all locomotives being allocated to Crewe. I think that this is a bad situation that needs to be reviewed because obviously there's a line that is getting long. Hopefully, Royal Scot and Braunton shall not be in Crewe for much longer. Several of the loco in line will need longer periods of time in the shops.

Once King Edward I is back keeping that engine at the WSR would be wise in my opinion.
Southall, Crewe, Carnforth, Riley's (moving shortly). It is not enough.