Kent Circular - November 11th

Railtour standard time - one hour later than the booked time.

 

5944 just beat me to it. 'Railtour Standard Time' I believe... Basically anything other than booked!

 

Railtour Standard Time. I.e An hour late.

Well, that was what I was brought up on, and I guess others too?

 

glad the 47 is w/44932 given her difficulties as of late.

 

Only 15 late into Vic! I wonder how much of that was down to the box.

 

Well it was giving a hefty shove in this video at the top of Bearsted Bank:

What a Bearsted!

 

Does 44932 always leak steam from the cylinders so freely? Was doing it a lot on Saturday (and from elsewhere) and seemingly today from the above vid.

 

Let me ask you a question, you were on 45699's trip on Saturday weren't you? How would you of felt if 47773? stayed on the train all day & pushed you throughout 45699's stint? Not very happy I would of thought, so why is it good enough for others to suffer?

 

From looking at the video the steam is in cycle with the beat so its only a cylinder drain cock which isnt sealing well.

As to the 47, given that the speed of the power unit is basically constant. the only guide to how much it is helping is the raspiness of the exhaust. It would have been helpful to have heard a longer clip but the note was not as raspy as it might have been. It is however a subjective view based on memory of a 47 at full chat.

 

So a very wet, Autumnal day meaning the possibility of tricky rail head conditions so assistance maybe required, therefore a sensible decision under the circumstances.

No doubt Buseng, if 44932 had gone out solo and come a cropper somewhere causing lengthy delays, lets just say 3 hours for example, you would have been the first person on here stamping those little tap shoes of yours, moaning about those passengers getting back late, missing connections home and so forth.

I'm afraid to say it's still the case of put up or shut up!

 

For obvious reasons I don't want to discuss this subject or drag it through the forum. But please do not play guilty card. We have all seen/heard this on the news & I think it is totally wrong to use it to play other people down.
Just noted your first sentence as well, another make people feel guilty comment.

 

A quick peer over the over bridge just short of Guston Tunnel on the climb out of Dover revealed rails which were quite badly contaminated. Certainly the preceding electric unit was struggling to maintain normal speed up the bank. Even busy sections of line such as west of Faversham showed signs of railhead contamination with a broken black film of crushed leaves.

In view of problems experienced in East Kent over the years, I would have said DL assistance was an absolute requirement between mid October and early December.

Cheers, Neil

 

Cough < tangmere > Cough

 

I was on 44932 on Saturday, and after 45 mins if 5-10mph running around Croydon, personally I would have preferred they stopped at East Croydon and let us off... It was at times painful... And that wasn't due to the engines performance..just bad paths and everything over taking us.