RHDR webcam - Black Prince sighted!

I have been keeping an eye on the RHDR webcam, eagerly awaiting my first sighting of Black Prince (my favourite loco, ever - since the Liverpool Garden Fesitval).
And here's (s)he is! My first sighting. Magnificent.
Also a red double header...

 

Brains are wonderful things… I can't remember what I went to the kitchen for just now, but I can remember that the first three locomotives I travelled behind on by first three trips to the RHDR 40+ years ago were No 8 Hurricane, No 9 Winston Churchill and No 11 Black Prince, in that order…

Simon

 

Update from New Romney webcam

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She's been at Ravenglass since start of July running test trains in between our regular services. Runs magnificently. Taken from one of my guarding trips behind the locO

 

And from Hythe:
Heading to turntable and departing back to New Romney.

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Very jealous! Would love to see some video of Black Prince in Eskdale.

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All I could manage from that day

 

Wonderful, thank you.

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Black Prince was the first steam locomotive I ever saw - or at least, that I remember. I was only two and a half!
If you want to know why it made such a big impression:

(Not my video)


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I wonder how Black Prince compared to Whillan Beck? They are basically close cousins.

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It was quite similar, but the difference between a Romney engine and a Ravenglass engine is quite obvious at Ravenglass. Prince managed to lift 8 coaches up the banks no bother on a nice summer's day. What would happen in wetter conditions with no Sanders is a question for another day

 

And there’s me thinking this one had been regauged

 

I think I understand the principle of "minimum gauge"; the narrowest that is viable for a real public service railway as distinct from a theme park ride. And I think I understand the rationale for locos like this, nothing like normal narrow gauge locos, but instead essentially models of standard gauge locos on a scale just large enough for a driver to fit inside the cab. But I don't really understand the rationale for combining those two concepts on the same railway. Is it really just for fun, or is there a deeper reason? Please don't shoot me: this is not at all meant as a criticism but I would like to understand better.

 

The original 15 inch railway at Ravenglass was used for moving granite and slate out of the Eskdale Hills, that was the main business with passengers only coming during the summer season, so one of those rare occasions that freight was more important than passengers. It wasn't until the 1960s when passengers became the main focus at the railway. 2 of the original engines built for the stone traffic, River Irt and River Esk, are still going strong on daily services, with Esk turning 100 in 2023.

 

Essentially Fifteen Inch Gauge "proper" railways like RHDR, RER, Bure Valley are a hybrid between the "minimum gauge" concept (i.e. a small narrow gauge railway) and a very large miniature railway (i.e. scaled down locomotives).

The RHDR in particular has a strong "mainline in miniature" feel which was part of the concept of JEP Howey (and Count Zborowski) who started it.

Nevertheless they are proper railways, not rides. The RHDR and RER have both carried freight and the RHDR has operated school trains and even an armoured train during the war. They provide a proper public transport service.

As to the rationale for doing this: it was essentially to combine the "for fun" element while remaining serious enough to provide a proper railway service.

I suggest you read "Narrow Gauge Railways: England and the Fifteen Inch" by Humphrey Household which traces this very nicely.

Or "One Man's Railway" by John Snell for the RHDR story.

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RHDR certainly used to be passed for 25mph running (I assume that is still the case?), so the locos were basically doing 75mph scale speed. Great fun!

 

It’s somewhere I want to check out for that reason

 

Last time I was at the Ratty, we had to have two goes at one of the banks (damp morning, first train) with Irt IIRC.

 

RH&DR Black Prince (ex-Fleißiges Lieschen) is sort of 'next size up' from La'al Ratty's Whillan Beck (ex-Pintar). Both were designed by Roland Martens, a friend of Henry Greenly. Given Jack Howey's antipathy to all things German (he'd been a 'guest of the Kaiser' during WWI), quite what he'd have made of No.11, we can only guess. For my money, the RH&D's modifications have resulted in a very business-like appearance on the big'un and the livery applied at Ravenglass to t'other is jaw-droppingly stunning.

Jack Howey (a racing enthusiast) indulged his penchant for speed several times. The Greenly 'pacifics' were, t'is alleged, perfectly capable of over 40mph, which although hairy enough on the 15" gauge, pales into insignificance next to a Rolls-Royce powered pre-war contraption loco which is claimed to have exceeded 60mph, though not in public service!

One thing unique among heritage lines, I recall the repeated syncopated 'clickety-clack' of rail joints coming closer, down the length of the train and the impressive closing speeds in mid-section, on the double track. Knee high to a grasshopper, I've also fond memories of an impromptu tour of the engine sheds at New Romney (thank you, Mr Barlow), where Dr.Syn stood under sheets, which is still the closest I've got to actually seeing the loco to this day!

Re: the armoured train, some claim it's one "kill" was more the result of the German pilot mistaking his altitude (or lack thereof), due to the size of said train (or lack thereof). Whatever the truth, certainly the RH&D has to be one of the strangest wartime requisitions anywhere on the planet.

Just an aside, but I still wonder why Hythe's platform 4 (which had access from release road to the turntable) went, rather than platform 1 (no release road). Road transfers? Surely, those are more readily accomplished at New Romney.

 

I've certainly had some entertaining runs over the years. The ride was, err, interesting at times!