'Torbay Express' 2014

Nuuney Castle Yatton on that last run of the season.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16582147@N07/15397761286/

 

Bittern by The River Dart.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16582147@N07/15428154286/

By The River Dart - heading to Kingswear.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16582147@N07/15264948038/

 

Been a great summer, hope the accounts match and we're set for TEs in 2015

 

It would be cool to have a duo of 5029 and 6024 next year if that is possible.

 

It would indeed, but given the TE is DBS operated, and they don't do double headed haulage anymore, I can't see it happening.

On the subject of 6024 however, is she slated for a return to steam in 2015 ? Be good to get 35018 steaming first. Let's hope it doesn't take as long as it did for 34046 to turn a wheel on NR, : )

 

I recently had a look at the frames of 6024 at Minehead.It will be 2016 before she's up and running again.

 

Thanks for the information.

Meanwhile, whatever happened to 6023's mainline career ?

 

Expected to go mainline in 2015. I posted in one thread what was stated in the Great Western Echo, but cannot remember which one.

 

No date has been given in the Kings Messenger or newletters, but there is still a lot of work to do, based on the various reports.

 

Regarding 6023 (and I'm straying way off topic here), I was intrigued by the piece in one of the monthlies recently where the GWS were looking for volunteers to train as mainline firemen for the King. I'm led to believe that firing 6024 is a tough ask for an experienced fireman and that she has broken a few in her time - I'm not sure that Didcot's single chimney version will be more forgiving. I will await events with interest.. BTW, getting somewhere near back on topic, have DBS ever put it on record that they won't do doubleheaded steam again or is it just that they might find it challenging to resource with their current numbers of steam-qualified men?

 

The way it was explained to me was they had to avoid the longer trips, because of crew availibility, etc. Part of the reason for this is that DBS have (how shall I say this?) a "less flexible" approach to crew duty hours and rest periods between shifts than WCRC. The example given to me of the sort of trips they couldn't take on was Bristol-Par and back on the same day. This was immediately after SD switched back to WCRC. Maybe the revised internal arrangements that Sheff alluded to will make a difference in the future next year?

 

Yes DBS has the site at St Blazey, but I wouldn't say they manage it! have you seen the rundown state of the turntable? the vacuum pumps on it don't work it takes 5 to 6 men to manually turn it around, you can only bring the engine on and off one way and the recess is full of weeds and vegetation, in fact it was so bad that some of the crew used a spade to trim down some of the stuff when they turned the 2 ACE locos, you only have to ask some of the support crew to know how bad it is, DBS have said that they have no need to use it so don't want to spend money on repairing it, it is not rumour that they don't want to go in Cornwall, they couldn't resource the extra crews that would be needed for a long trip like that, and the fact that they are not bothered about the turntable confirms it. and the same crewing difficulties applies to double heading.

 

Thank you Maureen for confirming what I had already concluded..

 

....and I wish they would have another crack at the "Bath Spa Express" I gather it would have run fairly full were it not for loco availability issues 2 years back.