Cathex Victoria / Faversham 24th July

Someone who too was waiting to see the train had a phone call from a friend of his at Lenham, and the message was "one of the diesels had caught fire", but I don't think this was the case. When it arrived at Charing the 37 behind 34052 was not ticking over, (shut down?),but the 47 on the rear gave the train a shove upon departure

 

No, to have a diesel loco front and rear from Dover to Faversham and back I think.........

 

Why is that necessary - I would have thought it was possible to run round the train at Faversham. At least it appears that way looking at the track plans from the comfort of my sofa! Is it more a reliability issue that causes WCRC to prefer trains to be top'n tailed?

 

Posted on this thread by Johnb on Friday: I think you'll find its more for operational purposes, the train reverses at Deal so 34052 goes off to turn while the diesel runs the train back to Faversham, if the coast line was open they would have the option of returning via Folkestone

 

Possibly the most extraordinary and surreal video I have ever taken. Braunton at Kemsing.

 

SD and RTC have run trips to Canterbury and Faversham before with a diesel on the back, the whole train being turned on the triangle at Sittingbourne, and being stabled in the Sittingbourne DGL
I suspect it is either, there is nowhere to stable the stock at Faversham or they are not allowed to.

 

But on previous trips the train didn't reverse at Deal, I still can't see why it needed two diesels.. Just as well I didn't waste my time going out for this one

 

Late back through Ashford. 47 working hard

 

No you mean "Braunton and friends at Kemsing". It really is surreal as you see a Bulleid approaching sounding just like a Class 37........ Don't know whether to laugh or cry! Well done for recording it anyway!

Seems like the question we now have to ask before booking a "steam" tour is not "will there be a diesel?" but "how many diesels??"

 

Can someone help me here. Why would anyone splash out so much money for a steam tour from Steam Dreams with a Class 37 working hard behind the steam locomotive and now we hear the Class 47 is working hard through Ashford. I just put myself in their shoes for a moment. I would feel cheated. That said, the popularity of mainline steam continues to grow despite these diesel intrusions. Maybe it is us old steam fans who despair and yearn for the a return to how it was in the good old days of the 1990's and 2000's.

 

It's nearly 2 years since I went on a steam tour now. I've decided to give it one more chance and have booked a Torbay Express in 4 weeks time (and even that was diesel hauled today). Many on this forum clearly feel the same. I can only suppose that the Great British Public are not very discerning in these matters or that those who patronise Steam Dreams today don't remember the good old days of the 1990s/2000s. I do - I starting doing main line tours in 2000 and I went for 25-30 trips with no diesel assistance at all! So I'm not prepared to settle for the farcical situation that you see today.

I don't know whether it's fair to single out Steam Dreams but they seem to be more affected by this kind of thing than RTC and others. Things just aren't the same since Mr Bunker left them - there is probably no-one there now who has sufficient knowledge of the industry or clout with Network Rail and WCRC to make sure they get their tours run the way they want. Or maybe they just don't care that much - they still manage to fill the trains after all as far as I can see.

 

Ok very good except the Diesel Nighmares trip will have a DL but UKR won't

 

Nor from me until they run pure steam

 

The RTC CME was pure steam yesterday so it can be done

 

But on all these trips no loco has run around in the Sittingbourne down goods loop. It appears it is not allowed or too difficult for Network Rail.

 

Gave up trying once I knew it was steam with two diesels, but this is what it looked like at a very hot & sunny Brixton.

 

Both Braunton and the Class 47 (rear) working hard at Shortlands, probaby to make up the slight deficit that had grown before the Bromley stop.

Regards,

Dan

 

Bizarre. Although it explains why the Class 37 is at the front. It seems SD have now arranged for optical illusions to be performed as part of the "magical days out with steam" with them. From a head on view it looked like 34052 was clagging well. But the illusion was ruined as the train approached by the sound of a Bulleid Pacific sounding like a tractor What a con. No doubt the SD staff were saying to the passengers the smoke was coming from 34052.

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More likely to get rid of some of that coal they hadn't used.

 

You don't get your demands met on todays railway by simply having more 'clout' - the real secret to success is having the right people in the right places to spot and smooth problem areas well in advance and supply reassurance or guide the decision makers when required.

In any case the uncomfortable truth is NR is not there to expatiate the requirements of pure steam enthusiasts. The network is a LOT busier today with far more franchised and freight services being run than back in 1990s or even the period up till 2010 which you sight as a 'golden era' for unassisted steam.

As such until charter operators start paying their way (in terms of delay minutes compensation) like TOCs then they will have to comply with NR demands as to train performance - i.e. not expose NR to large compensation payments for delaying franchised services (which is a big part of why diesels are used to shove steam locomotives around more frequently than used to be the case).

As a traveller, am I disappointed if steam is effectively only there for show? yes of course I am. Do I expect charter trains traversing the incredibly busy railways of the South East to not have a diesel available to give a push? No - charter trains must play second fiddle to franchised operations so the diesel is a necessary insurance policy. Similarly if NR have fire risk concerns their concerns must be respected however much people try and dismiss them.

However having said the above, I would expect that if the train is on schedule (and thus not holding anything up) then the steam loco should be doing the work. This is what disappointed me on the trip to Weymouth during the week, because on the return leg there did not appear to be any reason why Scots Guardsman could not have done most of the work rather than being shoved about (unless it was out of concern for the steam crews fatigue on what was a extremely hot day and the potential of them having a SPAD for example).

 

The Weymouth trip could have been fire risk concerns, what I can't understand is why the Kent trip needed two diesels, are there now no runaround facilities at Faversham or Sittingbourne?