Tornado

It's fairly obvious, isn't it? If water is being blown out of the drain cocks it is sensible to keep them open but this won't be for long in most cases. Once the cylinders are up to temperature I rarely open them unless the loco is stationary for an extended period or I'm leaving the cab (in accordance with the rules.) Certainly not for short station stops.
It amuses me when I see a slide valve loco being driven around with the drain cocks open. The cylinders won't come to any harm as, if there is any water in the cylinder, the slide valve will simply be lifted off its seat. Hudswell Clarke and Manning Wardle to name but two builders rarely fitted drain cocks to the cylinders of smaller locos, only a single cock in the steam chest, the main purpose of which was to prevent the build up of steam pressure from a leaking regulator. The big problem with this arrangement though is the tendency to emit black oily water out of the chimney when the loco is cold.

 

In my experience from who taught me to drive, a former LNER man, after 2/3 cycles they are shut. There is very very rarely an occasion if ever that water is still in there past this.

This is coming from someone far more qualified than myself, and who drove steam for a living.

And from an engineering perspective that makes sense. Most water is out after the first half cycle by virtue of the pressure difference and that the water collects in the bottom of the cylinder.

I don’t see any reason why you would leave them open for half a mile or more, which there is plenty of evidence of online.

To prove the point, yes it’s a model, but for anyone who has done their fluid dynamics this is directly applicable. No water after 3 cycles.

 

Whilst agreeing with you that drain cocks are often left open far too long and opened too frequently, your video proves nothing, It depends very much on how cold the cylinders are. With a steam tight regulator the cylinders will be cold when the loco is first put to use and it will take a more than three revolutions to warm them up sufficiently to prevent steam from being condensed. Similarly, if you have a leaking regulator the cylinders may well be hot enough already.
Responsibility does come into to play, though. No one wants to be responsible for blowing the end off the cylinder so people will generally err on the side of caution. Better to blown a bit more steam out of the cocks than blow the end of the cylinder. In addition, depending on the loco, you might be able to see the pipes from the cocks on your side but you certainly can't see those from the opposite side. If you are blind to the emissions, the common sense of caution should prevail.

 

In all fairness to Dexter, his replies are valid in my opinion. Those standing starts with that amount of quick acceleration cannot be good from what looks like a cold loco. I for one would not allow one of the 5's to be driven like that if I was owners rep.

Now, something I would like to find out about on a serious note. Looking at the video again and never having done a photo charter before, how is it agreed for the loco to be driven? Is it something the charter organiser requests or demands or do the crew just do it?

 

The organiser would just request some exhaust, the more dramatic the better but it’s up to the crew how they interpret that, they are in charge. I wasn’t on this one but from what I can understand this was late in the day so the engine would not have been cold and we don’t know how many run pasts it had already done that day. I’m sure there would have been an owners rep on the footplate

 

Somebody commented that Tornado was thrashed whilst on the NVR. The following video shows that no damage seems to have done to this beauty with twelve coaches on its tail, and surely a representative of the owning group was on the footplate at the time.

 

By way of comparison, for starters you could look at the relative cut-off positions on the two videos.

 

Not just here, but why do so many loco crews feel the need to give a second blast of the whistle?

 

Do they think that the whistle valves will stick open if they don't?

 

Because the rules forbid excessive use of the whistle. That's why not. To quote TW1 Section 45: "You must only use the horn as much as is necessary to give an effective warning or to make sure safe working takes place."

 

One of the most common questions I get asked by children of all ages is 'Can I blow the whistle?' As the driver, the answer is always no. Unfortunately, there is rarely someone to say no to the driver who wants to play with the whistle.

 

For PWay trackside is the first blast a warning and the second short blast an acknowledgement that the driver has seen their response?

 

That’s how I understand it. Certainly on lines where I’ve had authorised trackside access.

 

Agreed

 

Maybe to give a nice "hello" to the photographers. Rules or not, I think that is very joyful and gives a great friendship and atmosphere between train spotters and drivers at work

 

Not quite sure what your point is here really? A video taken in 2013 compared to the one at the NVR a few weeks ago, both of which are completely different. As Sheff states, the cut off positions are completely different and so is the exhaust out the chimney.

I think its fair to say that Tornado has unfortunately had its fair share of problems since your quoted video was taken on 14th September 2013!

 

Any news on plans for test runs? Judging by what happened with the North Briton, we are getting fairly close to the wire for the Auld Reekie on 3 March, which I have a small investment in.

 

She's at the Wensleydale Rly, running this Friday, so I'd hope that the test run would be part of the transfer to there.
https://www.wensleydalerail.com/future-events/#Tornado