'The Royal Duchy' 2013

You might like to consider the damage wet summers does the UK tourist trade and the lost income many tourism related businesses suffered last year due to people staying away when the weather was poor (and, actually, it wasn't "summer" that was bad last year so much as "Spring" and "Autumn" - the later being unusually wet). Jobs and livelihoods have been lost due to bad weather in recent summers - are you saying that is a price worth paying so you can sit at your computer secure in the knowledge that steam is running unassisted somewhere out of sight on the network?

I am afraid comments like that portray those who like to watch steam specials from the lineside or read about them on the internet as somewhat selfish, which for the vast majority is grossly unfair. You might also like to consider what bad weather does for the heritage railway part of the tourist trade and whether there would be the equipment and infrastructure (people and places) to back the endless list of steam specials you long for running through sodden countryside if that heritage railway movement was much smaller due to successive poor summers' of business.

Or actually whether there would be the paying passenger business to make the steam specials viable would be there in a wet summer, given the seaside destinations of many of the specials.

Steven

 

None of these problems would have reared their ugly heads if enthusiasts had been rather more appreciative of the problems our much loved antique engines could cause. Your normal steam locomotive is a vacuum cleaner sucking hot gas, non-burning particles and more importantly a range of burning ones and then expelling them into the atmosphere. While the bulk of the combustion air requirement is drawn through the firebed then you will continue to have a problem. You can try to filter the particles out of the exhaust stream but this filter can create problems of its own. Not only that the bombardment it undergoes can cause a failure out on the road.

So you can either convert some engines to oil firing. Or not run excursions during the Summer.

There is another option but there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm for taking it up. A blanket denial on the part of some that any improvement could be made. Hostile to the very idea.

It is only a matter of time before NR make the easy decision.

 

It seems to have been a brave decision from NR to allow 44932 out yesterday knowing that it had the potential to cause problems. Perhaps this was seen as doing the steam charter industry (and operator?) a favour or taking an optimistic risk. It backfired, and perhaps attitudes on the Western will harden as a result (?).

 

Problem with oil firing in 2013 is cost more than anything else, plenty of narrow gauge operations have switched back to coal for a reason, , would most passengers in the current climate be willing to incur another price rise to pay for such a thing ?.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Ffestiniog and Rheidol have not had major fires since switching back to coal, so what are they doing differently ?.

 

I can't state what the FR engines have, nor the Rheidol tanks, but the NG/G16s on the WHR have very extensive spark arresting equipment, ashpan drench and meshes surrounding the ashpan to catch any ash that escapes. In hot weather drivers drive very carefully and responsibly. No matter what you do there is always a risk of starting a fire but what the NG/G16s have seems to work pretty well.

 

The Ffestiniog and the Rheidol have a number of advantages. They operate on a daily basis and their engines are seldom more than 80 minutes away from the works. The locomotives do not as a rule return to home base late at night or early in the morning. If a locomotive has an issue it can readily be replaced by an alternative in the sure knowledge that the passengers are not going to complain overmuch. Remember that these are companies in their own right without the bureaucratic mess that afflicts the national system. You could go on.

Yes, oil is expensive, ever increasingly so. You do not actually need it. Three engines of the 5AT type would have worked through the Summer with very little or even no chance of causing a fire. And would have been able to cover all requirements with the exclusion of the Jacobite. In truth it is the combustion system that you need plus the exhaust system to make it work. However I do not expect to see the system developed and implemented for use on the UK mainline. Not unless a very wealthy individual takes up the challenge.

 

I don't disagree with anything you say but as a very frequent paying passenger who talks a lot to other passengers, no-one enjoys travelling behind steam in wet summers. For the destination passengers it ruins the view from the train and for enthusiasts it means we can't have windows open wide to listen to the engine. We've had hotter summers than this without so many problems. The major reason is there for all to see on the excellent videos many on this forum kindly put on YouTube and other sites for us to watch - the overgrown and poorly maintained state of the lineside. It's getting more and more difficult for timers to 'find' mileposts too.

 

The one shot I did manage to get of 44932 running solo on yesterday's Duchy, seen at Whiteball on the outward run.

 

Yes indeed that is the 'root' cause of the problem but to my suspicious mind its also the risk/blame culture which means that NR play safe. They would rather not have steam on the main line anyway. I am both a linesider and a tour participant but so far this year I have only been on 2 trips instead of 6 at this point last year. The reason? Diesel substitution or the threat of it. I am waiting now before I book my next trip to see if autumn arrives. And who has lost out from this? The Tour operators of course, so I for one would rather have a 'normal' English summer. We must also remember that this summer hasn't been exceptional in any way compared to the long term average.

Don

 

Nice shot. Didn't seem to matter much that you were "wrong side" on a sunny day. Listening to the sound track, one exhaust beat is significantly louder than the others, though not to the same extent as on the return trip. Also, I notice a whisp of steam from the rear of the valve on the visible side. The DL wasn't really audible, so I guess 44932 was doing most or all of the work at that point.

 

It was a miracle that 44932 made it back to Bristol last night. Does anyone else feel this way?

 

Lucky maybe, and probably a testament the footplate and support crew's judgement and determination, but I think "miracle" may be overstating it. ;-) Steam locos are simple and robust enough that breakdowns are often gradual, and they can be nursed along rather longer than a diesel. Having said that, it didn't sound like 44932 was being nursed through Tiverton Parkway...

 

I know the parts of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 that impact on my areas of interest, (Owls) and the habitat they use and share with other wildlife. But I am not totally sure if NR are legally obliged to follow that Act. I need to read it again some time.

But their website http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/1034.aspx gives an indication that they at least try and protect wildlife and their habitat. At certain times of the year that will inevitably mean a conflict between the best interests of the wildlife and the less risky operation of steam hauled trips.

 

Well an eventful day.....I had 8 shots planned but after the problems with 44932 I ended up with 5...

heres my video.....

 

Not having done any mainline steam for years but having seen plenty of people trying to make the best of a wet day on a steam train over even longer, I am not surprised by your view that wet summers don't make for great railtours!

The problem with lineside maintenance is that, in these days of a diesel and electric railway, there just won't be "the business case" for trimming back the undergrowth. Larger trees have been seen as a problem due to the leaf-fall season - a joke to the media but not the Railway! Hence, tree clearance takes place - when the powers that be allow it. One of the risks Network Rail runs by allowing steam is prosecution by Natural England if a fire caused on railway property destroys or damages sensitive habitats, as Bryan as alluded to. I am sure that the delay bill for a certain run a couple of years ago remains firmly in their minds but these costs are unlikely to sufficient to make a large scale programme of lineside clearance worthwhile. On selective lines, perhaps a joint effort with steam operators may be a more realistic possibility. Remember, the rules of Open Access don't allow "the marginal cost of the additional operations" to be specific, but calculated by standard formulas.

There is unlikely to be much to change the economic case for keeping undergrowth cut back, so the steam business will need to make sure that it does all it can with the very best available spark and ash arresting/damping equipment of the sort Neil described as in use on the Welsh Highland to minimise risk. I not saying it isn't already used, but it's use needs to be not only fully maintained and strengthened but needs to be seen to be happening too.

Steven

 

Very nice filming Nick. Well done. <BJ>

 

Some great footage guys of a good day out, the return shots capturing a little of a struggling Loco sound I've rarely heard.

Departure from Taunton was loud, off beat and very poorly sounding, the crew were amazing getting us all home as early as they did.
Hauling us out of the tunnel to accelerate away from walking pace to speed when the 47 packed in to get us to Newton Abott was memorable too.
Most of the passengers I overheard seemed in good spirits especially when we continued with steam only.

 

Marks footage of the Black 5 was amazing. From the chuffs in the distance, it seemed it was trundling up to Whiteball at barely 25mph then it flew past - quite the oddest thing I have ever heard from a steam locomotive and quite off-putting in a strange way.