Steve's Recent Activity
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Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
If you travel to the North York Moors by road from various directions you will see the brown tourist attraction signs. They don’t point the direction to the NYMR, they simply say ‘Steam Railway’. The NYMR must have agreed that wording when they...
Aug 2, 2026 at 8:58 PM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
A diesel loco is definitely cheaper to run whilst it runs. However, when it comes to a major overhaul, that is when the problems will start to arise. Steam loco engineering is basically simple engineering and, as has been shown, nothing that is...
Aug 2, 2026 at 8:11 PM -
Steve liked Jamessquared's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Didn't use to be a problem is the key. Lots of things have changed in the last 20+ years. Worse roads, more deer, brighter headlights, wider cars while roads have stayed the same width; (whisper it quietly) probably a less strict attitude to...
Aug 2, 2026 at 8:00 PM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
As I've said on more than one occasion on this thread, there are logistical problems in running the lunchtime diner out of Pickering. There was once a plan to have a third platform at Pickering (an extended Beck Siding) but this fell by the...
Aug 2, 2026 at 7:59 PM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Back in the day, for train crew, working the evening diner was THE turn and there was never a shortage of crew to man it. Not sure about signalmen and catering staff but they were largely volunteers and I don't think it was much of a problem in...
Aug 2, 2026 at 7:43 PM -
Steve liked Trevor Beglin's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
They do want to travel behind a steam locomotive but the lack of flexibility in the 60163 only fares, a return trip that doesn't amount to a full day out or offer Whitby as an option or a hefty premium close to a full line rover they'd have to...
Aug 2, 2026 at 5:38 PM -
Steve liked Sulzerman's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
I think when they book they hope for steam. They also want Whitby. They're putting up with diesel for the sake of the journey.
Aug 2, 2026 at 5:34 PM -
Steve liked Jimc's post in the thread Oil Firing.
Umm, whatever the technical merits, a solution that requires the operator to keep a coal storage and distribution infrastructure alongside the new oil one is a lot less than ideal from the POV of logistics.
Aug 2, 2026 at 9:27 AM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
I'm told that the recent Thomas event 'covered its costs' and some 75% of visitors rated their experience as good. On the face of it and in isolation, that has to be good news. However, how the overall income compared with normal operations to...
Aug 1, 2026 at 10:36 PM -
Steve liked LMS2968's post in the thread Oil Firing.
I'm not sure we're all on the same wavelength here! There are two separate issues: (i) the use of coal or oil firing; and (ii) the use of copper or steel inner fireboxes. In practice, each of these has advantages and disadvantages over its...
Jul 31, 2026 at 8:56 AM -
Steve liked torgormaig's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
I had a memorable run to Battersby one glorious spring evening firing to Fletch (the late John Fletcher) on Tornado. We only went from Grosmont, not Whitby, and as you say it was a short lived experiement but what a lovely evening turn it was - a...
Jul 30, 2026 at 4:25 PM
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Steve liked LMS2968's post in the thread Oil Firing.
They might have been used widely by the private builders for the export market but they were not used, at least extensively, by the Big Four. I don't know of any GWR use of steel boxes, and bearing in mind their tendency to use brass and copper...
Jul 30, 2026 at 4:16 PM -
Steve liked torgormaig's post in the thread Oil Firing.
Considering that Ahorns died a century ago his comments are hardly relevant to subsequent locomotive development. Steel fireboxes were widely used in the British locomotive construction industry between the wars, just not by the Big Four...
Jul 30, 2026 at 4:13 PM -
Steve liked torgormaig's post in the thread Oil Firing.
A couple of points about this oil firing lark, if I may be permitted as someone who knows very little about it. The issue that Tom raises about the need for a steam supply surely refers to the heavy Bunker C type oil used in Holcroft's day...
Jul 30, 2026 at 10:52 AM
