The Steam Ban around York

That was for public consumption; the true facts - I am told - are somewhat different.

 

Is it not your beloved steam as well?

Not really Ralph, with the greatest of respect, you cannot trust it to meet the story told in the sales literature. In many instances, it is pure fiction.

That was for public consumption; the true facts - I am told - are somewhat different.

And in true NP tradition, I know something, and will not divulge it, its no wonder RTC, are desperate for punters, with ever more increasing offers.
If the REAL truth were told, many more people would have a bit of faith in the way steam is operated on the mainline, too many long term punters have lost faith.
Maybe the REAL story should be told.....

 

Haven't heard from the 'know all know nothing brigade' for a while Ralph

 

The reason I can say no more is that I know no more; my contacts within the industry simply noted that - when reporting the news at the time of the incident - be careful how I reported the news because the reality differed from the reported facts but for reasons of confidentiality no more could be said.

That is the reason that I posted my note because it seems that WCRC are being blamed because the public record says WCRC was at fault but the private record says otherwise and - given the anti WCRC comments that were being made - I felt it worth pointing this out before rash statements were made.

It is not a case of "I know but won't tell" but more a case of "I don't know the full facts and I suspect that neither do you hence be careful what you say on the matter".

 

Unfortunately reading the above, this has all the makings of going legal.
There's no winners at that point and months will be lost, if not more.

 

Every industrial dispute has people and personality clashes at the core. This will be no different. There is a smokescreen of procedures and protocols to hide behind on both sides but the root will be differences of opinion, egos and unwillingness to compromise.

 

Do the NR zones have any independent legal status? Surely if the dispute is between WCR and NR it is a bit odd if the TOC is operating steam quite acceptably on various other NR zones but not this one. As soon as the reason for the ban ceased to be the FBU/ground conditions which IMHO was last Monday, there must be a risk to NR if access is denied unreasonably with commercial consequences to the operator and his subbies (RTC etc). Surely there must be hope at this stage that NR central will call them in and broker a settlement.

Just stressing I have no links with the rail industry, and have no idea what the rights and wrongs of what happened on July 12 are, just a fan.

 

Was an investigation into the ECML fire last year ever carried out, and are the findings public???

The reason I ask, is if Fred Kerrs comments about "not believing what has been reported", somebody, somewhere, is backing themselves into a corner here.

With respect to WCRC, it seems, if the comments are true, they could be victims on a York Area NR witch hunt, and I wish them ever success in restoring there reputation, and gaining financial recompense.

Without doubt this has hurt them, RTC and others, who foots the bill?????

Taxpayer probably.....

 

and the Flyer on the 29th bites the dust -
......................... e mail came through this afternoon re my bookings.

 

It does seem strange that David Smith's press release said:

The fire, at the beginning of July, was caused by ‘Hogwarts Castle’,

If WCRC were not actually at fault,as some have suggested,why on earth would he have said this?

 

Everybody has a boss. Who is Mr Verster's?

 

There may be some confusion between posters; whilst some mention the fire caused by Hogwarts Castle others are referring to the ECML fire caused by Sir Lamiel some time back but which also had consequences for the ECML. In fairness to WCRC they have never denied responsibility for any problems arising from the operation of steam traction but they have queried the consequent penalties as there seems little consistency in the NR approach.

 

Interesting angle about this on The Works, started by an ex-member of here.
Nothing sinister in the postings by the way although there is an interesting revelation if true.

 

What did old Frank reveal? Nothing that's already been said so far as far as I can see.

 

Just really confirmed what's been suspected - the NR gaffer at York is very anti-steam...

 

If that is the case then it is very much like putting the fox in charge of the chicken run ! The problem is that the chickens being killed are not just steam-hauled trains but the tourist centres whose economies depend on the visitors brought in by those steam-hauled trains.

 

Fred-- sure there is a back story. 777 on the ECML, 48151 on the Scarborough line. Fact remains that before July 12 the LNE zone was open to steam. After July 12 it wasn't. We now understand there is a dispute. Something must have happened as a consequence of that day beyond the fact of a small fire at Gargrave.

I was re-reading Brian Basterfield (sp?) blog the other day, the section on steam tours in the 70s and 80s. Standards have clearly changed quite a bit since those days!