jnc's Recent Activity
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jnc liked Dead Sheep's post in the thread Kent & East Sussex Railway.
It was a Mess Room invention on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, which then spread elsewhere. The term was used partly as a mildly derogatory observation on the seemingly endless appearance of these engines on the weekly roster. However, beyond...
May 11, 2026 at 6:53 PM -
jnc liked Dan Hill's post in the thread Strathspey Railway.
Strathspey seems to be building quite a fleet for the future. The 2 Ivatt Moguls, 5025, 92219 and now 76079, that's without 828 at the Spa Valley.
May 11, 2026 at 6:51 PM -
jnc liked jonathonag's post in the thread Strathspey Railway.
80105 is currently at Aviemore, arrived last week, for boiler repairs.
May 11, 2026 at 6:51 PM -
jnc liked Gladiator 5076's post in the thread SVR General Discussion.
Maybe some of the possible realities need to be thought about. We often talk about such schemes as some TOC (GBR I suppose) running over a heritage line. With all the issues we have with he likes of the DfT, ORR, NR, TOC's and the unions how...
May 11, 2026 at 6:47 PM -
jnc liked 35B's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
It always was a distress sale - the question is how much the distress has been compounded. But, given a choice between an NYMR without the resources to overhaul her, and a Strathspey with those resources, I'm glad she's moving on
May 11, 2026 at 6:46 PM -
jnc liked torgormaig's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Sorry to see her go - a capable and user friendly loco and in my opinion well suited to the Moors, especially with the lighter trains that we seem to run theses days. But she does need a lot of money spending on her which it seems that Strathspey...
May 11, 2026 at 6:46 PM -
jnc liked Jamessquared's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
“Proceeds the sale [sic] will be reinvested in the NYMR’s heritage fleet and infrastructure” (my emphasis) Which rather sounds like they have sold a loco to pay for a bridge. Probably pragmatic in the circumstances, but even so … Wasn’t 76079...
May 11, 2026 at 6:45 PM -
jnc liked jonathonag's post in the thread SVR General Discussion.
Ah yes. Looking forward to the TOC claiming delay repay from the Severn Valley, due to the rostered signaller being busy on the phone to Coach Company X about a large booking of afternoon teas for the following weekend, diatery requirements and...
May 10, 2026 at 9:36 PM -
jnc liked brennan's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
The Stokers Poem; Set the burners open wide Do not touch the valves at side, Keep the pressure on the pump and up the bally steam will jump If the smoke is black and thick Open up the fans a bit, If the smoke is thick and white To slow the fans...
May 10, 2026 at 11:45 AM -
jnc liked 35B's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
To me it’s really simple. Minehead is “somewhere” so many holidaymakers, once there, won’t wish to travel. Especially not to “nowhere”. On the other hand, day trippers will wish to go “somewhere” and a steam train to a destination worth a few...
May 9, 2026 at 10:26 PM -
jnc liked Steve's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Whether oil or solid fuel fired, the air flow is primarily controlled by the blastpipe and the driver. It is a wonderfully simple arrangement whereby the more steam that is used, the more that is exhausted through the blastpipe, whether through...
May 9, 2026 at 10:23 PM -
jnc liked torgormaig's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
I think that you need to think carefully which locos are suitable (in their current form) for conversion to oil firing. S160s, yes- WD 2-10-0s yes- Bulleid Pacifics yes - but the rest, I'm not so sure. As I understand it, the rapid temperature...
May 9, 2026 at 10:22 PM -
jnc liked brennan's post in the thread West Somerset Railway General Discussion.
Cast your minds back a couple of years ago when the future of the railway looked bleak. The new management introduced the policy of running trains when there is a passenger demand and of reducing the number of operating days. The main tourist...
May 9, 2026 at 3:25 PM -
jnc liked Fred Kerr's post in the thread SVR General Discussion.
This depends on the timetable; if the service allows for a split shift then employee could be used by the railway on other tasks - possibly administrative. It could be that some administrative staff at Kidderminster could be trained to undertake...
May 9, 2026 at 9:36 AM -
jnc liked Jamessquared's post in the thread SVR General Discussion.
Even if the line is not running heritage services on a particular day, it doesn't automatically mean the line is available - railways use days (and weeks) with no trains to have planned infrastructure maintenance. That all gets more fraught if...
May 9, 2026 at 9:35 AM
