The Steam Ban around York

According to Tony Streeter's column in The Beano this month (arrived this morning), each region of NR reviews the situation in their district twice a week, on Mondays (for the following weekend) and Wednesdays (for the following mid-week). They're supposed to take the weather forcast and reports of ground conditions, among other things, into account. They then declare the fire risk to be Red, Yellow or Green. Red means no steam (or perhaps a "figure-head" in front of a DL doing the real work); yellow means no steam without taking extra precautions (e.g. DL assistance on climbs or across sensitive areas like The New Forest, etc.); green means no restrictions. It seems there's room for negotiations on details - hence VT can run RAH to Stratford on a relatively light train without assistance, provided they take things very gently, and so on. Following the problems of last summer, they've tried to come up with a method that all districts can use, that is flexible enough to account for local conditions, and gives train promoters time to contact passengers when arrangements have to change. NR say they will review it with their customers in September to see how they can improve it. At least we've had nothing this year like Bittern's high-speed trips being postponed at the very last moment.

Taking the 23rd August CME as an example (mentioned in another thread), WCRC should hear from NR on Mon 18th. No doubt they already have a "plan B" in mind (e.g. Steam from Darlington to Hellifield, perhaps?) ...

 

It does seem a sensible progression from the old system, with plenty of room for common sense, is it really that dry up Yorkshire still though ?, the Midlands is most certainly in the green category currently!.

 

West Coast aren't very happy. http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/press-release.cfm

 

I get the impression that said Mr. Verster is not a steam enthusiast.

 

Maybe Mr Verster should have to justify his actions to the rail regulator?
The summer ban on the North Eastern region is nothing new and one fire is all it takes.

 

David Smith has often taken pendantic and unreasonable positions with others but he obviously doesn't like it when others do likewise to him!

 

Given the ground conditions which in horse racing terms are still firm or good to firm around Leeds, I'd describe the LNE zone decisions as conservative with a small c rather than unreasonable. They could have gone for amber like part of last summer but it looks like they went for red. With the showery weather of the last week which seems set to continue, I'd be disappointed if the light isn't switched at least to amber next Monday which I'm guessing might bring LNE into line with adjacent zones. I do agree with others that the amount of lineside vegetation this year is a problem. There's a bit of an issue about what constitutes fitness for purpose of the infrastructure if part of the problem with steam is the amount of combustible material lying around. Maybe WCR should do a deal on the weedkiller trains.

 

Good that this is out in the open at last. It has been evident for some time that there was an anti-steam agenda at York.

 

Agreed, he should show justification for his decision and based on recent rainfall levels, there is very little on the face of it, certainly his colleagues in other area's/regions do not share his opinion, while it was most likely the correct call at the time of the 5972 incident, I have a hard time believing this is still the case, certainly I doubt David Smith would break silence if he didn't have similar thoughts.

Earlier I praised the new NR fire risk system, but it only work when someone uses it fairly...

 

the biter,'bit'?

 

Well for the last 2 hours in this bit of the Republic it's been thunder, lightning and torrential rain.............as in minor flooding.

 

It's not just the last 2 hours either. Over the past week parts of our garden have been under water, the water butt has filled three times over, and exterior decorating jobs are on hold as we just don't get long enough between the showers/downpours for the paint to dry. And we are in the supposedly tinder-dry Vale of York.

 

I have seen lineside vegetation increase over the last few years,although non of it ever seems to be cut back to minimum, yes councils are planting more trees,but they are not caring for them either , and most grow wild increasing the risk of fires.
Both NR and councils don't seem to be clearing these 20 or 30 foot trees, but allowing them to spread everywhere,and really they should be responsible for them.

 

WCRC bashing seems to be a popular sport on certain other forums, most likely one or two with a nose out of joint after they lost a contract/job.

 

I didn't think it would be too long before you leapt to his defence!
As Big Al says he now knows what it is like when he makes life difficult for others.

 

Do tell...

 

Fair do, mainly watching WNXX it seems to pop up now and again from one or two members, reads as fairly axe to grind ish, the latest one being about a recent Compass tour that got into the kind of difficulty most tour promoters have nightmares about.

Edit: here we go, certainly XC01 has a bee in his bonnet it seems: http://www.wnxxforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3283