60163 North Briton 24/2/18

Showing a little more steam as she approached Cononley this morning.

 

Must admit I am with you on this cannot understand why the tour was not diesel hauled only, or postponed/cancelled.

 

Same issue that stopped it doing the Paddington Bear special?

 

Short (and not very good clip) exiting Moorcock Tunnel

 

Apparently the TPWS failed this morning. I'm glad the tour wasn't cancelled, as I was on it! Tornado was definitely doing work on the return leg to Tyne Yard, where I expect 66 014 took it to Grosmont.

Plus there was the 'bonus' of a red engine at Carlisle - Galatea.

Still, looking forward to the 'real deal' - The Ebor Flyer.

 

A bit late to cancel and it was the positioning run to get Tornado to the NYMR

 

Possibly whoever took over at Tyne Yard, signed for the EVL, so made no sense to go direct, and be stuck without staff to move her.

 

I hope you had a vey great trip, even with a class 66 in front of Tornado.

Knut

 

There may have been no reasonable alternative on this occasion. All the same it's been a sad start to the season, with Tornado being unavailable for the "Paddington" train, then failing its FTE for this one, and Oliver Cromwell failing out on the line. (There have also, of course, been a few good runs, notably the WCMEs with the Jubilee.)

 

I would say it has been a mixed bag - Clan Line and Oliver Cromwell both had great runs on 10 February and, as you stay, the CMEs have been great.

Sent from my SM-J330FN using Tapatalk

 

Oh I did, thank you A good friend joined me at Doncaster and it was a great day out - I've never been to Carlisle, never been over the Settle and Carlisle before either. Didn't get out of the station at Carlisle - time taken photographing Galatea as well meant there was little time to go out and explore so instead we went to the 301 Miles From London on Platform 4 and enjoyed a couple of pints of Kelburn's Dark Moor in amazing architecture. The trip back was long but it meant that unlike my last trip, I had enough time to eat and enjoy my dinner on the train!

Yes, pity about the 66 but it wasn't a show-stopper for me (as I have said so many times before, you're paying as much for the experience and when you're right at the back of the train, what's pulling it is largely academic!) and indeed, on the way back (where we were much nearer the engine) Tornado was definitely doing some work and not just along for the ride. It clearly didn't bother some people on arrival; I'll try and upload a photo from my phone later which shows a group of people smiling and apparently, sharing photos they'd taken.

 

I agree there was no point in taking 60163 for those of us interested in pure steam haulage, but I'm sure the majority of the train were glad it still came along regardless of whether it was working. Not the best start to my travels behind steam this year after the failure of 70013 on Thursday, but it was third time lucky as I changed onto 45699 at Carlisle for a good run back over the S & C.

 

Not my photo but worth sharing:

 

A great disappointment. This was my third mainline tour behind Tornado and they have all disappointed in different ways. I'm booked on the Ebor Flyer and I sincerely hope I don't jinx it for the rest of you!

From where I was sitting there was little evidence of any effort from Tornado on the run to Carlisle. The driver told me she had been making a contribution and he had been keeping 50psi in the steam chest. I was also told that the TPWS kit had been checked several times in the days before the tour and had not shown any problems until it failed on the day.

As has been said above, the A1 made more of an effort during the run across to Tyne Yard, though this was interspersed with periods when the 66 seemed to do all the work.

It is true that few people on the train seemed bothered by what had happened. I feel uncomfortable about this, because if people are not bothered about what is hauling the train then I can see little point in steam railtours.

At least I got to see Galatea leaving Carlisle. It carried just the right amount of grime to look like a seriously working locomotive. Wish I could have joined them!

 

Tornado being dragged by 66014 crossing Ribblehead Viaduct

https://www.dropbox.com/s/03rmzavbnfhwg6k/tornado1.JPG?dl=0

 

A little perspective here: the majority of that tour was 67-hauled anyway - the bit from Cambridge to Doncaster and then from Tyne Yard to Cambridge again. So it wasn't a fully steam-hauled tour, which would have been disappointing but that is the nature of the game; also, it is worth remembering that it wasn't the 'old' technology that failed. If TPWS wasn't a requirement Tornado could still have hauled the train. The previous tour I travelled on was supposed to have been 60009 and 46233 and we know how that turned out: 46100 and a 'Bodysnatcher'!

Also, as the rail network gets busier it is going to become increasingly difficult to find paths for slow-accelerating steam railtours on main lines.

 

But as you say, Tornado’s performance was not an issue and she is one of the best (if not the best) steam performer on the mainline, with 90mph on routes that allow, she can use fast lines and passenger paths if necessary

 

Sounds like you've been very unlucky with Tornado as in defence of the loco we've had 8000 trouble free miles with her up to this weekend. To echo some other comments about passengers perhaps not being concerned what's up front it seemed from the dismissive attitude that this included the train announcer (from UK Railtours?) who was "sure we would have a wonderful day because the sun was shining and we could see Tornado". He obviously hadn't checked with the steam fans like us who return trip after trip and contribute vast sums to the steam scene. Our thoughts were with the volunteers who must have worked tirelessly to repair the issue only to have it reoccur.

 

Tornado's next mainline foray is The Sulis and Sarum on 24th March, which I'm booked on, so they've got a month to try and sort out the pesky TPWS. Last year's epic 450 mile Border Raider is still one of my favourite all-time steam trips so 60163 will have a special place in my heart just because of that.

 

But equally, how many people on that train were just there because it was "a steam train" and largely don't care what the engine is? There'll be some on that train just there for a couple of expensive meals and a day trip to (insert destination here).