Cathedrals; Thurs 5 July Lewes-Oxford with Tornado

Only in the form of a voucher if they do I suspect. Full marks though for having a plan B. I guess this is thanks mainly to there being a process in place, as well as a number of locos based at Southall in between duties that can be called upon to substitute when a booked loco fails its FTR.

 

Out of interest why can't Bittern be put on the front of the train and then towed down from Southall to Eastbourne as they were originally going to do with Tornado then steamed hauled up to Lewes?

 

Steam Dreams have just tweeted back to me that Bittern cannot be used beyond London due to gauging issues. I'd hoped she could be used all the way back to Lewes at least but sadly not.

 

Tornado is the only LNER 'Pacific' that can be gauged for the ex LBSC and Brighton lines due to being built with reduced boiler mountings cab sides chimney and dome.

 

Damn, oh well I guess we'll have to wait for another year before we see steam on the Eastbourne-Lewes line again if they repeat this trip :-(

 

I think it might be more to do with the Valances on the A4 as 4464 has passed through Haywards Heath a few times on RTC Bath and Bristol trains and a Cathedrals Express to Chichester when in Brunswick Green. I remember 4464 was down to do last years trip but was then replaced by 70000.

So thats 2 Sussex trips in a few days where there has been no Steam on the Brighton Line as scheduled. In some ways its a shame that 35028 can't stand in again as she's on a VSOE on Friday and then the Cathedrals to Weymouth on Monday. Also a shame that it seems 71000, 70013 or 44932 can't be used as these 3 are based at the moment at Southall (according to UK Steam).

 

It was replaced by 70000 for gauging reasons that have nothing to do with the valences.

 

Bittern has indeed done at least one Haywards Heath to Bath trip 6/12/2008.I was on it. The gauging issue could be between Keymer Junction and Eastbourne?

Steams Dreams TOC is DBS and they rarely operate vacuum braked locos ( 61994 Inverness to Kyle and return is only vacuum braked train they have operated recently) so that would rule out 70013 and 44932.

 

Oh yeah forgot about SD using DBS now.

I remember seeing 4464 on the Monday morning after the tour you mentioned . Having looked back 4464 also passed Haywards Heath on 12th December 2009 on its way to Chichester but also maybe there may have been some work done on the line which restricts an A4 now or as you say maybe problems between Keymer Junction and Eastbourne might also be stopping it.

Tornado just doesn't like Sussex does she

 

A little bit of info from the A1Steam.com

"Following Tornado's appearance on 'The Cathedrals Express' from London King's Cross to Durham on Saturday 30th June a tiny steam leak was discovered in her firebox when she returned to Southall depot. Upon closer inspection it was revealed to be a small, pinhole crack in a weld adjacent to a fixed stay very close to the firehole door. After a detailed examination by the Trust's boiler inspector a full penetration weld repair and a replacement of the stay has been agreed. The Boiler Inspector advised that a repair of this sort is to be expected with a boiler at its stage of certification and intensity of use. It is anticipated that the repair will be completed on Monday 9th July with Tornado then able to return to her tours schedule. Tornado will be replaced by 4464 Bittern on 'The Cathedrals Express' on Thursday 5th July."

 

Great to read that Tornado won't be out of traffic for long but just goes to show how close to being unfit to run a steam loco can be before warning signs are visible, and a repair essential to allow further use.

 

That Oakfield, is not a bad thing. It actually goes to show the FTR examiners are doing their job correctly!!!

Wear and tear incidents happen but least it's being picked up and not ignored.

 

Its a good thing FTR examiners are doing their job correctly yes but why can't pre emptive FTR checks be done on the loco so improving chances of any faults being picked up and hopefully rectified before the FTR itself, and in time to prevent locos being pulled at the last minute, or am I missing something here ?

 

I think "FTR failure" has been used recently as a generic term when a loco is found at a late stage that it is unable to take up its booked duty, rather than just for things found during the actual FTR examination (e.g. 60163 doesn't appear to have got as far as having an FTR, and I believe that one other recent failure was after the loco had passed its FTR).

Thought - if every other item of rolling stock on Network Rail underwent the same stringent checks etc as steam locos, I wonder how many services would be cancelled.

 

Thanks for the information. That's an interesting thought albeit a potentially concerning one.

 

If your using a loco that particularly busy (say it's high summer and it's doing 3 runs a week), there not time between the previous run and the next to do a pre emptive FTR and make alternative arrangements, indeed the fault may only occur on the previous run.

 

Yes, that does make sense re Tornado which has been very busy since 26 June and clocking up a lot of miles.

 

Which all comes back to the post I made on another thread ,a couple of weeks back, about the current fleet being worked too hard and often with little or no downtime between runs for the largely volunteer workforce to fix minor problems.

 

I would agree about the often and the downtime 60163 and 70013 in particular. I am more concerned about 70013 since it is proposed for far too many tours. I suspect is it down to them having a larger support crew than some locos, but it seems to be out of traffic more than most and miss tours due to minor problems being fixed. Perphaps we should start a seperate thread?

 

Well exactly - there are nothing like the number of locos we need to cover all the main line tours right now and sooner or later something is going to have to give. I just hope it isn't any of the 3 tours I am booked on this month.