North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Didn’t it get packed of to Loughborough for a while after it first returned to traffic in the early ‘90s due to its inability to climb hills?

 

Repton was out on the diner today and viewing on the Goathland webcam seemed to be making hard work of the ascent into the station. Not sure whether it was greasy rails/coal problem but the crew were certainly working hard.

 

It stalled when first returned to traffic on a 5 coach traiu at Green End. It was therefore banked by the S15. The problem if I recall correctly was that the weight distribution was incorrect on the driving wheels. It has stalled on occasion since but then so have the other engines. There was a case some years ago where it arrived back at Grosmont very late on an evening diner having stalled in Newtondale on the wayback, but that was inclement weather and people on the train told me later that the enginemanship that night was of a high order. I find it a rather quiet engine that handles the 7 coach trains with little fuss or bother. Drivers have told me that it has proved it be a very suitable engine for the Moors.

 

That’s me told

 

There may have been an issue with weight distribution but at the time it came back from its 18month or so stay at the GCR it also had its tyres turned and I believe their profile was altered. Could be either or both needed changing I suppose!

 

Not sure how you can ascertain the crew were working hard from the Goathland webcam.

 

The NYMR are quite keen on correct load distribution and have the facilities to check this. As you say, it had its tyres turned when it cam back from the GCR and it was a different loco. A couple of years ago it started to get light on its feet and had the tyres reprofiled and this again restored its sure-footedness. It can still be a problem with the wrong rail conditions, though. I don't like it and I'm not alone but it's not just because it's a four coupled loco.

 

Closest thing we're likely to see to a D49, though. If only the SRPS would do a swap!

 

Never say never. There are a good number, myself included, who would like to see Morayshire at the head of 4/5 Gresley Teaks simmering in Goathland Station!

Just the (small) problem of an overhaul to finish first….!

 

The most important of all questions though, in Green or Black!

 

And get the owners to agree. That might be harder than the overhaul.

 

As long as it's LNER and not BR, I don't mind!

 

The National Museum of Scotland have never objected to a visit proposed by the SRPS to date; we are trusted to make sure adequate provisions are in place to look after the loco which we always do and I am confident could be put in place for a visit to the NYMR!

 

Out of curiosity, why else don't you like Repton?

 

I seem to recall a video of Roger Barker driving the loco at night, that may have been the same occasion.

From what I've seen over the years, overall it has performed no better or worse than other locos. Indeed, the fastest run I've had up the bank behind steam or diesel was 30926 a few years ago!

 

It's worth remembering the route for which the Schools Class was built. It happens to be one of two lines I sometimes take when I have to visit London, so I know it fairly well. The Hastings line branches off the Charing Cross--Ashford-Dover line at Tonbridge. It swings round a curve of almost 90 degrees whilst climbing a gradient which, in part, is as steep as 1 in 47. This is thankfully only a short stretch, but overall, for almost five miles from Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells the line is climbing continuously, with other stretches including a short 1 in 72 and over half a mile of 1 in 97. It must have been a real challenge to take an 11 coach train up a gradient like this from a standing start with a big-wheeled 4-4-0, but the St Leonard's and Bricklayers' Arms crews did it day in, day out. There is also a continuous climb of over seven miles in length northbound from Etchingham to Wadhurst which includes a section of 1 in 75 and some fairly sharp curves.

I wouldn't attempt to guess whether taking seven coaches up the twisting three miles of 1 in 49 from Grosmont to Goathland is even more challenging than taking eleven from Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells, but it shows that a Schools is certainly capable of climbing steep gradients. I would suspect, however, that 30926 probably takes a bit of getting used to on the part of the drivers and needs careful handling. Still, they seem to have mastered her. I had one run on the NYMR northbound behind her in 2007 and she coped extremely well, with no hint of slipping

 

According to their website,the NYMR has made the decision not to run on the day of the Queen’s funeral. A sensible decision in my opinion. Why the website has to include details of Operation London Bridge, though, I don’t know; the more so as it is now totally out of date and wrong.

 

The main Reason because it’s a three cylinder loco with all that entails Awkward to oil up and poor at starting. If you don’t know about the latter you need to read Holcroft’s Railway Adventure. Other non-friendly points are the lack of effective rear sanders and the fact you can’t practically drive it sat down and I like my creature comforts. Mind you, S15’s are similar and I like them.

 

926 will happily take 7 coaches up the 1 in 49. It needs a good railhead condition to do so, though. First thing on an autumn morning can be a challenge that even steam sands can’t overcome. I usually work out of Pickering so also have the challenge of running tender first on those autumn mornings when it can be slippy on even the relatively level stretches of the line. On such days your arms work overtime finessing the regulator and reverser.

 

When I went on Cheltenham, I'd got into my head that the cab layout would be like an S15, whereas it is much closer to a U Boat: it has Ashford hallmarks, not Eastleigh ones. (Just in small things, like the design of firehole doors or injector steam controls, for example).

The thing that really struck me was how small the cab was: makes sense, since it is sat over quite big wheels, and the side sheets slope in to meet the Hastings gauge restrictions, but again, until you go on it, you don't think of the consequences. In particular, it felt like the cab roof was only just above your head, whereas on an S15, it's high enough to have its own climate patterns ...

Tom