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Scarborough Spa Express 2011

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by bobbler, Apr 10, 2011.

  1. stephenhe

    stephenhe New Member

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    This mornings outward run of the SSE has been held up at Hunslet but I do not know the reason. It is still at the signal near location of the Hunslet old station (long gone). I can see the spot from my flat window so I will post when it moves.
     
  2. 76079

    76079 Member

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    Just had message from my control telling me hunslet junction is messed up because of a failed steam train, an assisting unit has been dispatched from York

    More disruption!!

    What is it with steams awful reliability at the moment?
     
  3. 5098

    5098 Well-Known Member

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    According to the guard, who was protecting the track with detonators, it is something to do with one of the rods (he said he was not a technical person!).
     
  4. 76079

    76079 Member

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    Now being towed at 25mph to york
     
  5. sunstream

    sunstream Member Friend

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    Thanks for the updates guys.
     
  6. worldsteam

    worldsteam Member

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    Up at 05:30 to get to York today to catch SSE. Arrive Nottingham station to find everything cancelled due to total signal failure (from 06:50). Indeed, every signal at station was blank, showing no aspect at all. I gave up at 09:30 and returned home. Did I do better than those actually on 46115 I wonder? Fingers crossed for 46115 next week .....
     
  7. 5098

    5098 Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like a lucky escape, Dave.
     
  8. royals pete

    royals pete Member

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    Thats two big problems for steam within a couple of days again. Seem to come together !! Not good. Fingers crossed engine ok.
     
  9. steamingyorkshire

    steamingyorkshire Well-Known Member

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    Did the diesel take it off to Scarborough in the end or did they terminate the train at York?
     
  10. dalrypaul

    dalrypaul Guest

    It seems to me that the small fleet of mainline steam locos are being worked harder and harder, particularly during the summer months. Couple that with what must be an ever diminishing amount of experience from those who worked with the locos back in the day and knew them inside out, and it's not really a surprise that failures are more common. The addition of modern equipment / materials to the locos, such as air braking, has also accounted for a few failures too. Not sure of the statistics though, have the miles per casualty actually reduced in recent years, or is it simply that there are more steam miles with all the repeat summer workings and therefore more failures? I guess this isn't the place to go into the details, so perhaps we could think about starting a new thread? Mind you, I have no idea if anyone on NatPres can (or would) provide the information needed to judge the current situation.
     
  11. 60525

    60525 Member

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    I am holidaying in York next week. Can a forum member tell me how these trains are loading. I'd like to take my son on a trip but don't know which day yet. Will I be able to turn up and pay on the day???
     
  12. ADB968008

    ADB968008 Guest

    This discussion happens every year, and every year a whole bunch of locomotives fail, and the others rally round picking up the work.
    Take it out of perspective...
    Every day sprinters / pacers etc are scheduled for services, when one fails another picks it up.
    Back in the 80's when a 47 failed on a service train.. whatever was local would pick it up..
    that process goes back to 1829.. and maybe back to Roman Times, by swapping lame horses for others..

    Fortunately those running rail tours look at steam locomotives as a pool, but aim to run what is booked and schedule whatever is available when it fails.
    In short.. nothing has changed since time began ...except our expectations.
     
  13. david1984

    david1984 Resident of Nat Pres

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    46115 presumably dislikes it's rods, isn't this the third time it's had issue of one sort or another with them ?.
     
  14. J Shuttleworth

    J Shuttleworth Member

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    Quite - and, of course, not forgetting the ability of the internet to whip up rumour and speculation to drama pitch, in moments, usually fuelled by the un-informed.

    Leave the problems of managing and fixing to us. Those posting on here are almost certainly not party to the events and, if they are, they most certainly shouldn't be discussing it on a public forum - and that goes for any operator, WCR or DBS.

    JS
    WCR
     
  15. Enterprise

    Enterprise Part of the furniture

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    Yes but if TOCs and tour companies were a little more open with information there would be less speculation and more goodwill.
     
  16. johnnew

    johnnew Member

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    Hi Simon

    Left for scarborough with the 37 just before 4pm about 250 late. Happened to be on nrm view spot and saw it go. At least WRC got the folks to the sea if a tad late!!
     
  17. steamingyorkshire

    steamingyorkshire Well-Known Member

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    Thanks John, credit to West Coast for making it to Scarborough. As they say better late than never.
     
  18. Macko

    Macko Member

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    I was on the train when the failure happened today. It was confirmed by the train manager that Scots Guardsman had suffered a major valve failure on the centre cylinder and that the valve rod was "bent like a banana". After waiting for about 1hr 20 mins for the 37 to rescue us, we set off round the loop through Castleford never exceeding 25mph all the way back to York, a very painful trip! WCRC made sure people knew the options of going on to Scarborough or getting their money back. They also arranged or a late departure from Scarborough (18.55) to give sometime in the resort, but most people left the train at York. People on the whole were very stoic, and WCRC did the best they could. The damage did look bad at York before the loco was quickly towed to the NRM. I've sent the pics to a magazine, but I will stick them on here at some point. Any ideas what will replace 46115 next week?
     
  19. dalrypaul

    dalrypaul Guest

    While I generally agree with what you're saying, which is why I suggested it was unlikely that such information would be made available on a public forum such as NatPres, it is still the public who pay for tickets and keep the trains running. If they lose confidence because their days out are regularly affected by failures, then they may be less willing to plan their day out around a steam trip. As I said, I wouldn't be surprised if preserved steam on the mainline was doing just as well miles per casualty wise as it always has. I'm sure this information is essential for the operators, but it's not surprising that enthusiasts also have an interest in it. In this instance, if you wanted to stop rumours and speculation, then all you needed to do was tell us that WCRC steams mpc figures for this year are at least as good as anything in the last ten years, or similar.
     
  20. dalrypaul

    dalrypaul Guest

    I'm well aware of all of that, not that it makes a blind bit of difference to know there's a pool of locos assigned to a working, if the reserve loco is cold on shed and unable to take over the tour. This is of little comfort to what I suspect is a majority who only ride on a small handful of tours each year. The question was, has the number of failures got significantly worse? My guess is that it hasn't, but as enthusiasts who wish to see steam keep running, I see no reason why we shouldn't have an interest in that figure, even if ultimately the solutions are down to the locomotive owners and operators to find.
     

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