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CathEx to Weymouth, 9th July 2015

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by Steamage, Jul 6, 2015.

  1. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    Merely pointing out, as you have contributed, that there are myriad reasons that contribute to why a steam engine might slip to a stand, rather than glibly blaming the driver. One of them, like it or not, is the type of loco.

    And tangmere will slip to a stand again, somewhere, sometime.

    One of the reasons I love it, it provides drama nearly all the time.
     
  2. free2grice

    free2grice Part of the furniture Friend

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    Was the problem near Upwey rather than Wareham? If so this may be of interest to you.

    A message passed to me from a rail employee. <BJ>

    ''There is currently a 20 mph temporary speed restriction throughout the entire length of Bincombe Tunnel on the 'up' due to 'condition of track' which would not have helped the performance today!''
     
  3. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    The problems were all on the bank out of Weymouth after Upwey station. The Class 37 was really struggling at full power and slowed down to walking pace before stopping; it sounded like it was going to conk out. We then sat on the bank for a while before it tried again and then it struggled over the summit after the tunnel. It seemed to be okay after that but it was a tense time on the bank. I will add that I was in the front coach behind the Diesel and it was loud and very smoky.
     
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  4. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    1) Mud hole door seal. What I thought of straight away as a possible for the boiler fault as when a volunteer many years ago working with the K1 on the NYMR we had a similar, unexpected, incident. All looks fine and properly seated when cold but shows up the leak when hot and expanded.

    2) 37 -v- 47. I appreciate WCR didn't expect it to struggle but to me it seems illogical for the type 3 to have been on the front going home. The type 4 would have been the more powerful for the return leg which IIRC has the uphill sections stiffer in the northbound direction all the way back to London hence surprise it wasn't leading up the bank. Are there obvious logistical reasons, such as where the ECS originated or a short, steep, bank I have forgotten about in the London area, for why the choice for the loco marshalling order had the least powerful engine on the back for the outward leg rather than the converse?

    (Edited)
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2015
  5. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    WCR dropped diesel due to a leak or was it there before the incident with the 37?
     
  6. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    For those of us not familair with the finer points of the anatomy of a steam loco, is this a relatively simple fault to fix or does it require a boiler lift?
     
  7. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    Likely to be relatively simple fixed in situ.
     
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  8. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    For those of us not familair with the finer points of the anatomy of a steam loco, is this a relatively simple fault to fix or does it require a boiler lift?

    They are an oval plate with an edge gasket to seal. That fits inside the boiler and is clamped shut from the outside.
     
  9. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    But only after the boiler has cooled down, and that's what takes the time.
     
  10. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Completely routine. The mudhole doors (which sit at the base of the firebox) would typically be removed in order to carry out a boiler washout. Sometimes when they are replaced, they don't quite seal properly, but this only becomes apparent when the boiler is bought back into steam. Unfortunately when that happens, sometimes the only remedy is to allow the boiler to cool down and then adjust.

    There is a photo of one from a Merchant Navy, along with a description of the washout process as practiced on the GWSR:

    http://www.gwsr.com/news/features/steam-locomotive-features/boiler-washouts.aspx

    Tom
     
  11. tromba

    tromba New Member

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    Apart from the very minor point that you need to empty the boiler first!

    I cannot imagine it is much fun opening a mud-hole door and getting drenched in high-pressure boiling water!
     
  12. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Probably as risky if you get it wrong as releasing manure into a field :D
     
  13. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    Interestingly (related?), emergency bus replacement today Wey - Dorch due to emergency engineering works at Upwey.
     
  14. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    Although I guess you could get rid of most of the water via the blowdown, but there is the need to let the boiler cool gradually, thermal shock and all that.
     
  15. mrKnowwun

    mrKnowwun Part of the furniture

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    You wont get a mud hole door open with the boiler at pressure!
     
  16. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Certainly not if you are following the terms of your SMS ;)

    It may be apocryphal, but I've heard stories of locos going off shed in pre-preservation days without the retaining clamp (presumably shaken loose at some point). All the time there is boiler pressure, the mud hole door would be held perfectly soundly against the inside of the outer firebox shell.

    Tom
     
  17. parowozy

    parowozy New Member

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    There really was no drama with the 37 at all on this trip and it's not sensible to create one! The signalman advised of a recent track circuit failure (as subsequently mentioned by another poster here) - for those observant ones may have noticed we started on a red at Weymouth, with permission to pass and hence the slight delay. The 37 was taking it steady at the signallers request to look to see if there was anything obvious amiss. The stop at the top of the bank before the tunnel was similarly related as we passed out of the problem area.

    As for the reason why the 37 was on the front from Weymouth - due to the reversal at Southampton the 47 is required on the front for most of the day out and back as the more powerful loco for acceleration reasons etc. It does mean however that the 37 gets the harder sections in terms of gradients from Weymouth to Southampton, but it managed them with no problem and we were RT from Bournemouth, despite the signalling delays.
     
  18. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    Thanks for clarifying, especially re-47 on the front and that the 37 wasn't ailing. Would that signalling issue be what they were fixing today with the line closure/bustitution?
     
  19. burmister

    burmister Member

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    Once was on a ship with 60bar steam plant which was sold off to a third world shipping company. I was retained for a voyage to 'train' the new engineers as the new chief had only sailed on steam plant with triple expansion engines with scotch boilers before. Went down one morning to demonstrate how to descale evaporators and found the new second engineer had undone the nuts retaining the water drum inspection door on one of the boilers (still in steam at 60bar) for reasons only he understood. Advised him to replace and tighten up if he knew what was good for him and his crew and made my way to have another breakfast in sun on the poop deck whilst this was done.

    Eventually the new owners deemed it prudent that the ship sailed for the rest of its career with redundant UK engineers on board 'advising' the engineers how to run the plant. It was a world away from the standards of the UK Merchant Navy - my mates who did this told me it was not unknown to arrive in port with only a few hours bunkers left etc where as we kept 5 days reserve at all times.

    Real story - truth often stranger than fiction.

    Brian
     
  20. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    Thanks for this. It clears up the worry some of us had about the loco. I have been hauled by this particular Class 37 before and it failed so I was worried it was going to do it again!
     

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