Warning: Tour Promoters Can Die in Hot Summers

Just dress it up like a MK1, that'd do better.

 

Here is 5029 Nunney Castle stopping for signals at Goodrington on a LE movement to Paignton after hauling the first leg of the Torbay Express. Interesting to see how little coal it used on the first leg.

 

No one suggesting a water carrier guv and a conflat with a water cannon on it... yet ?

 

Whilst I can understand why a diesel was added to the TE, I'm not interested in the slightest in going on a run where the steam loco is window dressing only for the most part. Booked on a Weymouth on the 28th so hoping for rain.

 

Likewise, luckily I'm not booked on another steam tour in 2013 currently, though Galatea in late Autumn is having some consideration.

Though that said, I might do a Shakespeare after it rains, spending a few hours in a Stratford pub between trains A & D is an appealing concept.

 

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion...
(Bonnie Annie Lennox)

Heavy rain falling around Oxford this morning. Will it be enough, and wide-spread enough, to save this weekend's steam tours?

 

And Abingdon, just to the south, other than a heavy brief shower yesterday evening has had virtually nothing - can be very localised

 

Just like Reading, about 2 minutes worth of spots of rain then nothing. Just the bleeding sun just beating down & down plus stupid humid conditions & ridiculous temperatures.
Nothing of the threatened thunderstorms etc. Not much change in prospect either in the foreseeable future.
Met Office & accuracy, I don't think so!

 

I think the Met Office were spot on. Thunderstorms are always going to be localised - just because you didn't get any doesn't mean they didn't happen elsewhere - suggest you read the news reports of lightning strikes, fllooding etc.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23415544

 

Erm... thunderstorms are a localised phenomenon. Here in Salisbury, I sat and watched flashes of lightning about 6pm last night with thunder rolling all around, yet we didn't have a drop of rain, at least not until much later.

It's the weather - it obeys complex laws of physics. It doesn't have anthropomorphic characteristics like being "stupid" and "ridiculous". It just happens. Deal with it.

Tom

 

I think I've tried dealing with it for long enough now. How else would describe virtually a month without rain & temperatures not going below the mid 20's (often much higher in the daytime, well over 30) even at night.
If that is not stupid & ridiculous, then what is? Especially when it is affecting my (and many others) health.
All grass in the area looks like burnt straw.

 

How would I describe a month without rain and temperatures not going below the mid 20s? The first month of summer in Southern California. To be followed by another 8 months of even dryer, even hotter weather. Follwed by winter, in which it rains about one day in three and everyone crashes their car on slippery roads.

The point is, we exist on the edge of 3000 miles of ocean, that carries warm and cold currents that have profound, but unpredictable effects on the air temperature above and thereby unpredictable effects on our weather. Not so long ago, we were bemoaning whether it would ever stop raining during the spring, and before that whether it would ever warm up above freezing in the winter. But that's the price we pay for living next to an ocean. It's neither stupid nor ridiculous, it's just physics. If you want nice predictable weather, go and live somewhere thousands of miles from either mountains or seas - like the mid west of the USA, or the Ukraine, or north Africa, or central Australia. I don't suppose you'll see any fewer mainline steam engines than you are seeing right now

Tom

 

Strange as it may seem - we're not really outside the norms for this country. Blocking high pressure systems are reasonably common and the temperatures we've had have not been that excessive if you deal with them sensibly. For example our house inside has never been above 28C in this spell and even that was in the kitchen with the oven on (don't ask!) - typically we've seen a fairly constant 24/25C indoors which many people get fairly close to with their winter heating!

Back on topic the rain so far in Bath won't touch the steam ban - some places have had more than the 0.7mm we had overnight but its the dry spots that will determine safety to run steam again.

 

I for one have enjoyed us having a bit of a summer this year, back in 2009/10 we had a number of camping holidays spoilt by torrential rain and trudging round in a mud bath. I hope the recent weather has given the economies of those areas of the Britain who rely on tourism a boost. I have been quite happy to work in the sun all day without having to pack a fleece, waterproofs and the rest of the gear that our recent British summers have required. I'm sure the weather will soon return to being around 17c with cloud and rain, August is nearly upon us...

 

The spring is like a young maid who does not know her mind
The summer is a tyrant of most ungracious kind
The autumn is an old friend who pleases all he can
And brings the bearded barley to glad the heart of man.

(English Trad. Collected by Alfred Williams "It was popular at Stanton Harcourt, where I obtained of Henry Serman, a farm hand.")

 

BBC weather web site now not showing rain until Saturday for the Winchester area. I wonder how many days of rain would be required to remove the steam ban on the Southren region? Anyone hazard a guess?


Cheers

 

That's the other thing, we get all these threats of thunderstorms/rain/cooler weather etc. But when it comes to the crunch it doesn't happen.
All this talk of non-stop thunderstorms on Tuesday followed by more rain & a cooling down just didn't happen, not here anyway.
Temperatures staying in the mid/high 20's & all threats of rain have now disappeared.
My barometer has been stuck on around 1015 or above for weeks now. The high pressure that just won't shift.